I caught Mala up under her one arm and pulled her to her feet. She was light, as though her bones were hollow. That made me wary. Some witches could shift shape, again a throwback to the time that they came from the elemental bloodlines. “What shape can you take?”

She gasped. “How did you know?”

“What shape?”

“A sparrow,” she whispered. “The others don’t know. Please, don’t tell them.”

“Why?”

We were through the main building and at the front door. Norm bumped into me, and grumbled something about being tired still.

I repeated my question to the witch, and she swallowed hard.

“Because they fear me already. I am the daughter of the great Devana. She held more power than the coven now holds together.”

I lowered my face so that we were nose to nose. “Mala, I seek a woman who can shake the earth, and who does not belong here. Is there one in your coven like that?”

Her eyes widened further and she nodded. “Yes. You . . . you speak of Cassandra. She is new to our coven, and so . . . she is stronger even than I.”

Cassandra. Cassava. The name coincidence was not lost on me. “You will help me stop her, then.” I pushed her out the door and into the night. While I needed to rest, we were close enough that I also knew I needed to move forward. The trap was coiling around us and there was no time to do anything other than react. I had to try and spring it on Cassava first.

Mala struggled in front of me. “Let my hands go, I am no help to you if I cannot use my magic.”

“Ah, well, there is a problem,” I said. “Your magic caught me in a spell, one that would have you riding me even now in the hopes of a child. Not acceptable.”

She had the decency to blush. “Yasmine . . . she, I will not defend her. But I would not have taken your body. Not without consent.”

I snorted. I doubted that greatly, but she had a point in regards to her hands. If Cassava came at me, a witch on my side would be a powerful ally.

“I want your words, sworn on your deity, that you will aid me in dealing with this Cassandra.”

We stopped at the edge of the village, the dusting of starlight above us giving the world a surreal, eerie feel I’d not encountered in a long time. Not since I’d been a child and still had my family around me.

Watching the stars appear above the canopy of the redwoods, my siblings and mother with me, laughing as we named every light.

Damn it, where were these memories springing from? I shoved them away and refocused.

I spun Mala to face me. “If I let you go, you need to understand that I will run you through if I think for a second you are going to betray me.”

Her already pale face blanched even more. “I believe you.” Mala put two fingers to the hollow of her throat. “I swear on my connection and power that flows from the goddess that I will aid you in your quest.”

That was good enough for me.

With a swipe of a dagger, I cut her hands free and she stumbled a few steps. I caught her by the arm and helped her balance.

“How far in are they?” I kept close by her. It would be the best advantage I could have if she was going to take a shot at knocking me out of the game.

The game. Just like Talan had said. I gritted my teeth, hating that my mind had veered that way. This was not a game. Peta’s and Lark’s lives could be on the line, and I would not treat them like throwaway pieces on a chessboard.

“We are within a few hours’ walk,” she said softly, her voice trembling.

She shivered and rubbed her arms. Of course, the bite of winter still lay on the land here this far north in the cold of the night, and I’d dragged her out of the brothel with nothing on but a long sweeping dress. “Norm, can you carry her?”

The Yeti stepped forward and scooped her into his arms. “Like this?”

Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “I can walk.”

“Not if you freeze to death. The Yeti will keep you warm,” I said. “I don’t need you dying on me.” The unspoken words were there in the air between us. I didn’t care if she died after she got me to the mountains, to the place where the witches gathered. But until then I would do my best to keep her alive.

Norm curled his arms tightly around her body. “She’s pretty tiny.”

From behind us came a screech like that of a hunting night bird. Mala jumped and clung to Norm. “Yasmine is awake. She will come after us.”

“Can you convince her to help?”

“No, she likes Cassandra.”

Of course she did.

I bolted forward, and Norm kept up despite carrying the witch. “Head for those trees.”

In the wild, I had a shot at keeping the witches busy. The scrubby trees were bare from the winter winds and they looked frail, but I could see the heart of them. They were filled with sap, waiting for the late spring to come and free them. But if I pulled the sap to the trees’ edges, then perhaps . . .

“Norm, can you make it colder?”

“What do you think to accomplish by making it colder?” Mala asked.

“You said you can’t help. So keep your mouth shut,” I growled at her.

We reached the trees as something shot toward us, a bolt of power that slammed into the ground to our left. Mala moved as if to send a spell back and I grabbed her hands. “No. Let them believe I forcibly took you. That will be better.”

Her eyes were wide. “Why would you protect me?”