Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker 3)

Lily breathed an ironic laugh at the thought of joining forces with Lillian, and then the laugh turned to a chill as she considered another enemy-ally. How do you know about Simms, Lillian?

Lillian did not answer. Lily’s skin started to crawl.

Did you worldjump Carrick? Where is he?

Lily felt the connection end and brought herself back to the present. She glanced up at the rearview mirror and saw Rowan sitting in the back, looking at her.

“Lillian?” he guessed. Lily nodded, still not completely sure how he always seemed to know who she was mindspeaking with. “Is she still planning to attack Bower City alone?” he asked.

Lily smirked at him. “She asked me to join her, but she isn’t waiting around for my answer. She isn’t going to like what I have to say about teaming up with Alaric, no matter how much sense it makes.” A thought occurred to her. “There’s only one person she ever listened to, and it certainly isn’t me. Someone we’re going to need to pull this off.” Rowan narrowed his eyes in question. “Forget it,” Lily said. “Just strategizing.”

Rowan nodded and let his gaze drift out the window, a vague smile on his lips. The rest of the coven was sleeping, but Rowan didn’t seem to want to miss one second of the scenery.

“Where is she?” he asked after a long silence.

Lily let her senses drift out to join her other self for a moment. She saw columns of men and women on the move. Loaded wagons, horses, and pack animals hastened with unnatural speed through the heat and haze of a humid forest. Around the army prowled guardians, and above the trees circled greater and lesser drakes to spot wild Woven, flush them out, and kill them before they could threaten human lives. Tame Woven hunting wild Woven. Not even Lillian could avoid using the Woven in some way, no matter how much she hated them.

Lily thought of Pale One, her claimed, and reached out to her. It was far, but Lily could feel the sensory tangle of her mind, a chaotic swirl of scent and information, and she could feel the keen edge of her devotion. Pale One had managed to slip away in the confusion after she had knocked down Grace. Clever little creature. Compared to her, Lillian’s gigantic drakes were mere pets—impressive attack dogs, not true claimed. Unlike Pale One, the tame Woven created by the eastern Covens didn’t have willstones and couldn’t be claimed by a witch. Lillian saw her Woven as animals and nothing more. Lily knew in her heart that was a mistake.

“Lily?” Rowan prompted.

“They haven’t crossed the Appalachians yet,” she answered, shaking herself back to this world. “Lillian’s giving her army strength and speed, but it’s wearing on her.”

Lily glanced up at the mirror and saw Rowan’s worried expression. “Do you want me to drive?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Lily said gratefully.

She pulled over and they both got out, taking a moment to stretch their stiff limbs and wipe the cobwebs from their eyes. They’d been driving nonstop in shifts for sixteen hours. There was a chill in the early morning air and Lily heard Rowan suck in a shivering breath while he looked at the desert around them and the mountains beyond.

Sand dunes rolled on either side of the black stretch of asphalt—a vast golden ocean, its heaving tides held in a moment. Sharp, young mountains spiked the clear sky behind them.

“I don’t know which place is more lovely,” Rowan said. “The ocean or the desert.”

Lily nodded her agreement, feeling the dry breeze brush back her hair and trace across her neck. “I think we’re about to enter a national park. The dunes or something.”

A jeep came up behind them and they got back in the van and shut the doors.

“Start the engine,” she told him.

The jeep slowed enough for the driver to peek in their window. A young man wearing a wide-brimmed hat sat behind the wheel.

“Park ranger,” she told Rowan. “Put your directional on.” She waved at the ranger to indicate that they were fine, and he drove on while they pulled back out onto the road. “Make a U turn. Don’t follow him.”

Rowan did as she instructed. “Where to?”

“We’ll have to backtrack a little and go around the park.” Lily pulled out the map and tried to find an alternate route. She saw in the rearview mirror that the ranger had stopped his jeep. “Go faster,” she told Rowan.

“I think it’s too late,” he said.

“I know,” she replied with a sinking feeling in her gut.

She looked at the impassable dunes around them. They had to get off the road, but their van was no ma

tch for that kind of terrain. The rest of the coven felt Rowan’s and Lily’s anxiety and woke. A moment of viewing Rowan’s replay of the events, and they all understood the situation.

“Don’t speed, Ro,” Breakfast said.

“They’ve already spotted us,” Una said.