Page 69 of Witch’s Ruin

He tried to answer. His mouth opened, then closed. Not a word emerged.

“She didn’t come with you?”

He gave a shake of his head. Something was…something was wrong. Elianna must have sensed it. She called for Viktor, then guided Rixon out of the inn, onto the porch. “Tell me,” she urged.

“We…we had a little disagreement. She was upset with me. She went walking in the garden, so I went in search of…of chocolate.”

“Chocolate?!” Elianna gave a small laugh. “All right.”

“She’s…she’s gone.”

“Perhaps she just needed some time to clear her—”

“No,” he insisted, his voice lifting. “No.”

Viktor shifted closer to his witch, eying him.

He sighed. “She wouldn’t leave without telling me. The guards, they said she left the palace, but…no.”

“You think they were lying?”

His mind flashed over possibility after possibility. “I don’t know,” he said at last. His fear made him too frantic, jumbling his thoughts, making it hard to rationalize. “Perhaps she went into the tunnels.”

“The tunnels?” Eliaanna’s brows pulled together.

He quickly told her about them. What they’d found. Even about the strange room near the library’s archives.

“Why don’t we help you search? I know there’s curfew and all, but…I don’t like this,” Elianna said. “Not one bit.”

He gave a curt nod.

“Is it all right if Anne joins us, too? She’s a wicked good witch, despite her talkative manner.”

He hesitated. “All right, but no more than that. I don’t want to deal with guards tonight.”

Elianna slipped back inside. Viktor was a silent presence as they waited. A few minutes later, Anne emerged, Ronan with her. The five of them left the inn, keeping to the shadowed side streets.

“Keep your eyes open,” he said, feeling suddenly vulnerable. Mina’s ability to sense demons had softened him. Without her, they needed to remain alert.

They spoke little as he led them to the river, to the entry into the tunnels. “You’re sure it is safe to enter, Lord Wielder?” Elianna asked, hesitating.

“Mina and I have spent many nights down here,” he said, lifting the torch he’d grabbed along the way. “You can see the letters she’s etched into some of the walls, if you don’t believe me.”

“This isn’t some ploy to question us further about the demons—you don’t truly suspect us, do you?” Anne said, eying him.

“Fucking gods above,” he hissed. “My lady witch is missing. I don’t give a shit about demons right now—except that you should kill them, if we find any.”

With that, he turned and entered the tunnels, the others on his heels. He searched, calling for her, following the Ms until they reached the library archives. He led them to the strange octagonal room.

“She’s not here,” he said, his chest clenching. It had been a last ditch effort, a small hope that something had drawn her here. A quick glance towards the arch on the fall wall showed fresh blood, still dripping, smeared over its surface. The wall did not waver, and his companions did not ask about it. They stood just outside, waiting.

A strange urge led him to the dungeons next. Silently, they crept past cells, eying each one. Some were occupied, but none of them held Mina. His fear mounted.

Hours passed, and when she did not turn up, he led them back to the inn. “Perhaps she’s simply back at the palace, waiting for you,” Anne said, her voice encouraging. “This whole thing might just be a mix up.” Both witches looked exhausted. Their wielders shifted, hands on the pommels of their Nebrine swords, silent.

All he could do was nod, before bidding them goodnight. When he returned to the palace, he demanded entry. It was denied. So he sat down, right there against the palace walls, surrounded by dread, shaking from head to toe, and waited.

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