Spiral Path (Night Calls Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

after all is
said and done.” I was shivering now, grateful for my coat but hesitant to pull
on the sleeves. I did not want to have to explain blood on my coat to my mother
or Aunt Dagmar.
    “ Who
knows what Namid knows?” Marta responded. “Unicorns are long-lived, intelligent
and secretive. They also have their own power, and we know little about that
strength. I suspect many of them are Seers. Perhaps she is right—or at least
she knows that on one path, you may become a powerful practitioner.”
    “ But
if I’m not . . . . ” I started slowly.
    “ Then
she has opened you up to attacks by other powers who crave the title of
strongest mage.” Marta’s words were flat. I did not sense any room for discussion.
    “ What
do we do?” I asked, my voice soft and tight. I had been tricked by a magical
creature. Could anyone just walk into my mind and cause me to do things against
my will?
    “ We
can get you immediate training in ritual magic,” Marta replied, and she sounded
tired. “Plenty of time for me to finish your work with herbs and basic
elemental magic when you return. You’re going to need to jump ahead to setting
permanent wards and other protections.” Marta stopped walking, her arm still
around me. I could see the dark bulk of my parents’ house against the starry
night. Smoke lingered on the faint breeze, that blend of oak and apple wood my
parents liked best.
    There was something in her voice that made me say: “We’re
leaving tomorrow for Cat Track Hollow, aren’t we?”
    “ I
want us on the road before noon. We need to get back and pack your trunk and
get you to Esme as swiftly as possible.”
    Cousin Esme? My mother’s mysterious cousin Esme, the wizard
of Manhattan?
    The blood on my hands was finally dry. I shivered and pulled
my coat closed. “It’s a long way to New York,” I murmured.
    “ Sometimes,”
Marta said in turn. “Don’t worry about it, dear. We’ll explain it to you later.
Right now, you’ll just have to trust me.”
    o0o
    I rinsed the blood from my old skirt and let it dry by the
banked fire. My parents were unhappy that we were leaving so soon, but Marta
must have told them something about the night visitors, for they did not coax
us to stay. We packed Marta’s few things and were on the road by mid-morning.
Ironing could wait until we reached Marta’s home. It seemed wasteful to take
any of Momma’s clothes, since I had my things at Marta’s house, but Momma
insisted I take one of her older dresses and a sponge bath.
    I wish we could have stayed longer. I scarcely got to talk
with Momma and Papa, or let the boys show me what they’re been making and
learning. I could have sat for hours holding Elizabeth. A baby is the only
miracle most people ever get to share in, and it had been a long time since we’d
had a newborn in the house.
    I hoped that she would remember me—would we know each other’s
minds?—but I would be a stranger to her when we met again.
    My heart was heavy.
    o0o
    It was a full day’s ride to Cat Track Hollow in good
weather. It was dark when we finally went east past the small town and followed
the trail edging Wild Rose Run ,
the creek tracing Marta ’s south border . Snow was still heaped, though it had been a few days since
the last storm. The ice was packed enough to walk upon, but the stream had
broken through and gurgled a greeting. I was very tired, and glad to reach my
cousin’s home at last.
    Marta and I rubbed down the horses and left them together in
the big stall in the lean-to so they wouldn’t be lonesome. Sweet William, Marta’s
walker, was over at a neighbor’s place with the rest of her stock. That
neighbor always took over when Marta left her home, and she had headed off to
my rescue over a moon ago. My cousin had not known how long she would be gone in her efforts to retrieve me from
Hudson-on-the-Bend , or if she would return at all. Practitioners are the
most levelheaded of the magical world. You always know