Witch Born(39)

Collum shut the door to any more of Arianis’ poisonous words.

Senna studied Joshen, sadness smothering her anger. “But they were your words.” He tugged her along. She barely felt her hand in his. “Is it true?”

Joshen’s mouth tightened, but the potion compelled him to answer. “I miss my horses. I miss Parknel and the crew. Sometimes I feel as if these walls are a cage.”

“And I your captor?”

He spun her to face him. “No.”

She knew he spoke the truth. The potion wouldn’t allow a lie, unless that person was lying to himself. The thought made her bite her lip. “Would you try to stop me from leaving?”

He swallowed, and Senna could tell he was trying not to answer. Betrayal wrapped cold, steel hands around her heart, freezing her from the inside out. Hugging herself, she brushed past him and started for the clearing.

In two of his long strides he was beside her, his eyes bulging with the effort of keeping the truth behind his lips.

Despite her anger, she couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him. This wasn’t his fault. Not entirely. Perhaps not at all. “You can’t fight it, Joshen. The potion is too strong.”

“Yes!” he blurted. “It’s my job to protect you.”

His words were like a blow to her stomach. “If you couldn’t stop me, would you tell the Heads?”

“Probably.” She closed her eyes.

The one person in the world Senna had relied on, and he would betray her to keep her safe and useless. She couldn’t trust him with any more of her secrets. Maybe her mother was right. “If you’re not strong enough without Joshen, you’ll never be strong enough with him,” she had said.

He rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry, but I don’t care about the Tartens or some foreign Witches as much as I care about you.”

He was so tall she had to crane her neck to look at him. “It doesn’t really matter. If Arianis tells the Heads about my meeting with Espen, they’ll never trust me again. I can’t risk it.”

He tensed. “What are you saying?”

“You have to go with her. She made sure of that.”

His shoulders tensed. “How do you know she won’t tell them anyway?”

“I don’t. But Arianis crossed a line when she questioned you about me. She would get in trouble too. I think this is just her way of taking something away from me, just like I took something away from her.”

Joshen’s departure with Arianis would give Senna the chance she needed to escape. But could she really abandon him? Did she have a choice?

He shook his head. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know.” And she did. “It’s a risk we’ll have to take. Besides, it will only be for a couple days. There will be plenty of boats and something besides fish and greens to eat. And you’ll have a chance to ride your horses again.”

He hesitated. “Senna…”

She smiled, trying to show him she wasn’t afraid. She noticed a Witch coming down the path toward them and dropped her voice. “You will go.”

Still under the influence of the Truth Serum, he nodded slowly, painfully. “We’re to find a glass blower who will agree to work on the island. I’ll be back in a day, two at the most.”

Guilt pricked Senna’s insides. She hated to use a potion to deceive and trick him as Arianis had, hated that their relationship had come to this.

She moved aside to let the Witch pass. But instead of continuing on, the Witch blocked their path. Senna stopped short, surprised that this wasn’t just any Witch. It was Drenelle, her face tight with anger. “You Guardians didn’t do a proper job boarding my windows. A bat has found its way inside my tree house.” When Joshen hesitated, she made a shooing motion in the direction of her tree. “Well, go on!”

He opened his mouth to protest. Senna overrode him. “Joshen, go. I’ll be fine.” She’d nearly reached the clearing where the Witches were to meet before beginning the harvest, not to mention the fact that she was armed with a pistol and knife.

Joshen strode toward the tree house without a second thought; immediate obedience of a direct command was another side effect of the Truth Serum.

How long would it be before Senna saw him again? She bit her fist to keep her emotions in check. She didn’t want Joshen to see how upset she was and become suspicious.

Drenelle rounded on Senna and jabbed her finger into her chest. “And Apprentices aren’t to spend time with the Guardians.” Drenelle suddenly froze and stared at the hollow of Senna’s throat.

Anger burning up her hurt, Senna backed away.