Katharine Corr - The Witch’s Blood

Finn caught her as she collapsed.

ARYS CAST Asuspicious look at Merry before turning to Jack. ‘Quickly, take her inside.’

Jack lifted Nia out of Finn’s arms and hurried into the cottage with Meredith and Carys. Merry left Finn to deal with the horses and followed them. The interior of the witches’ home was almost exactly as Merry remembered seeing it in the dreams she’d had earlier in the year. One large room open to the roof, with a central hearth and three shuttered windows. Sweet-smelling rushes spread across the floor. At the far end, a door into a smaller room, all in shadow – a bedroom of some sort, Merry assumed. A tripod, with a flat metal plate dangling beneath it, was set over the fire, while a chair, a bench and a couple of wooden stools were drawn up nearby. Jack carried Nia into the smaller room; after grabbing a couple of storage jars from a shelf, Carys followed them.

Merry turned to Meredith. ‘I’m sorry I startled her.’

Before Meredith could respond, Jack returned. Merry couldn’t help herself: ‘So you do know each other? But when I mentioned Meredith to you, you didn’t say anything …’

Jack and Meredith looked at each other. Merry’s throat tightened.

Luckily, Finn came in at that moment and asked Jack the question that Merry wanted to ask. ‘Does this mean you could have brought us straight here? That we’ve wasted all this time?’

‘No,’ Meredith replied. ‘He’s never been here. I would not allow him to know where we lived, for his protection and our own.’

Jack nodded. ‘She’s speaking the truth. And when you and I first met in the forest, I did not know you. I owe Meredith a blood-debt too; surely you would not have had me betray her?’ He took one of Meredith’s hands in his and kissed it.

Merry turned away, avoiding Finn’s gaze, concealing her confusion by taking off her cloak and folding it up. ‘I suppose not.’ She had known that her Jack had been in love with Meredith, and that Meredith had loved him back. The fact that he was in love with her in this reality too really shouldn’t have come as a shock. ‘You saved his life?’

‘They all did,’ Jack answered. ‘She and Carys and Nia. They came to our village, just before it was destroyed by Ronan. Told us we were in danger.’ He glanced at Meredith, and Merry saw the warmth in his eyes blaze again. ‘Told me who I really was. Many more would have died without their help.’

‘We did what we could.’ Meredith crossed her arms. ‘So, Jack I know. But who are you?’

‘This is Finn, and I’m Merry. I’m a witch too.’ On impulse, she added, ‘Merry is short for Meredith.’

The other witch’s frown deepened.

Merry pressed on. ‘We thought you might be able to help us find Ronan. Or that you might even know where he is. Because I’m sure he has my brother confined somewhere. I saw him sitting at a table, but the spell didn’t reveal where.’

‘That’s why you think he’s alive?’ Meredith sat down, gesturing that the others should sit too. ‘Are you certain? Too often magic will show us merely what we wish to see.’

‘No. I’d know if Leo was dead. I’d—’ The enormity of what she was saying, of even using the word ‘dead’ in the same sentence as her brother’s name … it crushed the breath out of her. Finn reached across and let his hand rest lightly on her back. His touch steadied her. ‘He’s alive. You’ll just have to take my word for it.’

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