No children to be seen. Hopefully, they’d gone shopping.
“Not a concealer?” she said. “Well, well. What else might a First Year student come to my shop to buy? A sachel of herbs to convince your professors you’ve already passed your final exams?”
I shook my head.
“Interesting. Then how about a bag of snack crackers guaranteed to make you lose twenty pounds by the time you finish them?”
Such a thing existed? I glanced down at my waist before I realized what I was doing. I wasn’t here for something silly like that. “Actually, I’m here for a charm.”
“Yes, that would make sense.” Katya cocked her head, her beady black eyes narrowing on my wounded hand. Did she sense what was happening to me? “Charms are my most popular items.” Turning, she skittered around the tables overflowing with dusty skulls and finger bones, scorched wooden boxes with brass hinges, and sacks with things trapped inside that squirmed, their rounded limbs bulging against the sides.
As I followed her to the back of the room, we passed tall, slender statues that remained perfectly motionless. Except for their eyes… The tight network of creases encircling their gazes told me they must be in great pain. Their mouths opened as I scurried by, releasing unheard screams.
“Don’t touch anything, now,” Katya said over her shoulder, and I snatched my hand back, realizing what I’d been doing.
Pay attention. Don’t let her ensnare you.
“So, you’d like a charm?” she said pleasantly as she waddled around to the back of the glass display case in the back of the room. “The last one I made was for a boy.”
Behind her, a door marked No Admittance creaked open an inch, and a tiny furry face—identical to Katya’s—peeked out before the smaller spider ducked back and slammed the door closed.
Katya kept speaking as if she wasn’t aware of her child spying. But she must be. I had a feeling nothing slipped past this sorceress. “Such a cute boy he was, with thick dark hair and eyes bluer than a stormy sea.” Her low, deep chuckle made my belly spin into a ball so tight, it threatened to explode. “His name began with a…C?” Scowling, she tapped her pincers on the glass counter. “Or was it a V? No…” Her face cleared. “It was a D.”
“Don’t play games with me. You know what you did to Donovan.”
“Can’t take a little joke, lovie?”
“There’s nothing funny about charms that drain someone’s power.”
“My work is highly complex, and I don’t give anything away for free. There’s a price to be paid for everything, though some things come at a higher price than others.” Her lips twisted around her fangs. “If you must know, he insisted.”
My arms went slack at my sides. He’d agreed because he hadn’t wanted to hurt me. My throat closing off, I blinked fast.
Show no weakness.
“While I know you charged too much for the charm, that’s not why I’m here.” I said, drawing on the well of strength curling inside me. Glaring at Katya, I infused my words with a bit of the black thread magic I suddenly found gleaming inside my moonstone. I had stored some inside. Why had it hidden when I was with Donovan?
Katya winced, confirming she felt something, but other than stumbling into the wall, she gave nothing away. Her thick lips curled up but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Like pools of ink—or the endless outer space—her deep wells drew me in, sucking at my soul until nothing remained inside me but…
I wrenched my gaze from hers and clenched my fingers into fists. “Don’t do that.”
She huffed and reared up on her back legs before stomping her front legs back down. Tap-tap-tap, she moved closer. “The boy demanded the charm. Who am I to deny someone magic?”
“I also need magic.” I held up my right arm. “Serum spilled on my hand, and I think you can fix it.”
She rolled her eyes as if she’d dismissed me already. “You don’t need me for that. Locate a healer and let them cut it off.”
“I won’t do it.”
“Then you’ll die.”
“You’re a Bespeller. You can make a charm that will stop the Serum’s progression.”
“Perhaps.” Her lips stretched wide. “There are risks. Such a thing would be quite costly.”
“Naturally. I wouldn’t expect you to work for free.” It was all I could do to hold in my sarcasm. No need to offend the person who might be able to help me. “I imagine a Bespeller like you could even make a charm that would eliminate the Serum.”
“You can’t afford the price of a charm like that.”
I took my cointage from my pocket and lowered it on the counter. The tiny stone in the corner meant the device had no spending limit, but would it max out paying Katya?
“Put that away. You know money is not what I meant.” Huffing in disgust, she started to turn away. “There isn’t enough money in the world to eliminate Serum once it has taken hold of flesh.”
My ribs grew tight, restricting my breathing. Of course. I should’ve realized there was nothing anyone could do, that I was trapped. Cut my hand off or die. What kind of choice was that? I should—
Wait…
“There are other ways to pay, are there not?” I said quietly. “Perhaps we can negotiate a trade?”
She whirled around, a surprisingly delicate movement for a spider so large. “Sometimes…” The word came out coy. “I accept other means of payment, but I can’t imagine what you—a lowly First Year outling—could offer me.” She snapped her pincer points on the glass, creating a grinding click. “You’re a child. Useless to me. You might as well leave while you’re ahead.”
I wasn’t ahead and that was the point. Leaning forward, I braced my hands on the edge of the counter. “Name your price, your Highness.”
Tilting her head, she ground the skin around her eyes tight, pinching them to tiny black nuggets. “Again, what can a measly student like you offer?”
“Tell me what you need!”
“Do you have bone?” Her lips curled back. “My strongest spells are bone-bled. I use them to…Well, never you mind. You don’t need to know what I use them for.”
To protect herself from her son, the arachnoid king? She’d eaten his father, and he’d vowed revenge.
“To generate bone-bled spells,” she said. “I need bone.”
As if they’d been waiting for me for a thousand lifetimes, black threads as thick as my forearm rushed into the room. They twisted around me, braiding themselves without waiting for my command. I reached up with my mind and ran a fingertip across the bumpy strands. They inched closer and it was easy to pull them inside and store them in my moonstone…
Unraveler warplings. They were seeking me out, protecting me. Why was this so simple when all the other times they’d fought me? It shouldn’t be easy.
“Power,” Katya blurted, yanking my attention to her gray-furred face. Her fangs glistened in the low light, the tips stained deep red. What had she bitten when my eyes were closed? “My children are hungry and you, lovie, you have the means to feed them.” Her pincer stretched above the glass counter. “Give it to me.”
Should I scream the magic out, send it her way?
I’d be unwise to give in so quickly. Everything inside me shouted caution. Like with Sirra, I needed to be on guard or Katya would twist this around until only she came up the victor.
“Not willing to share?” Leaning over me, she exhaled, a blast of stink coming out with her words. “Then you can give me your moonstone.”
“Name something else.” My hand slapped over the hilt of my dagger, where it had been tucked into the sheath at my waist. “I’d rather let you bite my hand off than give you my stone.”
“Thought not,” she grumbled. “So it is, and so it must be.” Her head tucked down as if to hide her expression. “A bargain you say? How about this one, then? To halt the Serum’s progression for one week,” she intoned, “I will accept a shaving.”
“What do you want to shave?” But I already knew. None
of my professors had suggested we could cut into our stones. If I allowed Katya to take a tiny sliver, what would she gain from it and what would be left behind? “Tell me what this means.” Because her motives remained hidden. If only I had one of my friends here to advise me.
I sent out a ping but no one answered. Blocked by a bespelling?
“It won’t cause your stone a bit of harm,” Katya said. “I’ll take a tiny shaving, just a nip and, within a day, your stone will repair itself. In exchange, your rot won’t advance for a full week.”
I pinged again. Patty. Tria. Moria. Even Alys. None of them replied.
I’d have to figure this out on my own.
“You say I lose nothing but what do you get from this nip of my stone?” I asked.
“A taste of the power of an Unraveler.”
“You know my skapti.” Had she always? Is that why she’d acted shocked when we first met? She said she’d seen something in me, something she refused to name.
My future?
“Your ability to unravel whatever I bespell has always been known,” she said. “Look at it this way. I’m only asking for a tiny fragment, enough for an unraveling of my choice. A paltry thing in comparison to buying you another week with your hand.”
“I’m not a Level Five Unraveler yet. There’s no guarantee the shaving would contain an unraveling.”
“I just saw you pull black threads,” she barked. “Your Level doesn’t matter. Once in my possession, I can manipulate the sliver to behave the way I wish, when I so choose to use it.”
“What spell do you want to unravel?”
“You will never be able to afford the price of my answer.” The words came out dry, flat, and final.
“What happens to the fragment of moonstone after you’re finished with it?”
“Without an Unraveler to renew its power, it becomes as useless as grit beneath my feet.”
What was the catch? There had to be a trick here I couldn’t see, because this sounded too simple.
But suspending the Serum…
If it stopped progressing, even for a week, I’d have more time to find a way to eliminate it altogether. Assuming that was possible.
“Let’s not be hasty,” Katya said, her voice merry. “I imagine we can make an even better bargain.”
I braced myself, knowing this would escalate. She could help me. The only question was: could I afford the price?
“To slow the progression indefinitely, though the rot would remain.” Her words came out lilting, as if she sang them. “The price will be a cupla stone.”
Cupla stone. Cupla stone. Where had I heard that before?
There are more ways than one to skin a Cerberus. Cloven’s words.
I needed to focus!
Cloven had said… What had he said?
The only way to extract a cupla stone is from a dead Cerberus. The stones are located under their abdominal fur.
I’d asked him what the stones were used for, but he’d gone evasive. He’d only added, they’re exceedingly rare, used for a specific type of magic. Magic not seen by the fae for years.
My friends…
Capria, the baby Cerberus who loved and trusted me, her siblings, her parents. I couldn’t harm them.
“Your price is too steep,” I said firmly. “What can I give you instead?”
“Don’t decide yet. You haven’t heard all my terms, lovie!” She paused, and her brows hunched together. Shrewdness filled her dark gaze. She knew she had me. Holding up a pincer, she said, “There is one other option we might wish to consider.”
Here it was.
She lifted one eyebrow. “The payment to permanently eliminate the Serum from your skin would be a bone.”
I tilted my head, wishing I could make her lay this out plainly. No tricks, no subtle hints. I’d be stupid to trust her.
“What kind of bone?” I asked.
“A bone from a dragon.”
Chapter 25
My insides froze solid.
No. I wouldn’t!
“A toe bone would do nicely,” she said cheerfully. “Though I’d be even more pleased if you brought me one from a thigh.”
This would be worse than cutting off my own hand.
“Dragon bones are such a challenge to find,” she said. “I haven’t killed a dragon for its parts in years. Silly things flee before I can snag them in my web.”
Horror and anger and an urge to kill rushed through me. I’d rip her head off. I’d slit her throat. I’d…
“I’m not murdering a dragon!” I said. I had two choices here. Pull my blade and stab Katya or cry. I did neither. Rounding the display case, I stomped up to her, every muscle in my body quivering with rage. “I won’t do it. There must be something else you’ll take because it’s not going to be a dragon bone.”
“Isn’t this how it always goes? Tsk. Tsk.” Her lips curled down, biting into her fangs. “You silly First Year students storm in here and make demands, assuming every whim is yours to command.” Drawing herself up, she slammed the tips of her pincers on the floor hard enough to crack the tile. “Everything has a cost and the price to remove the Serum from your hand permanently is a dragon bone. And now, because I’m feeling irritable about this, I’m changing my fee for suspending the Serum’s progression. Now a shaving of your moonstone infused with black thread power will only halt the Serum for one day.”
“Wait a minute.” My nostrils flared. “You can’t do that. You haven’t given me a chance to—”
“Lovie, I can do whatever I please.” She held out her pincer. “Do we have a deal or would you like me to add more conditions? I’d be happy to oblige, but know my price will only get steeper.”
I fumed, fury roaring through me like a jet plane. But I didn’t dare give it voice. If I wasn’t careful, she’d make demands I’d never find a way to pay.
“Actually…” she said.
“No more!”
“I’m not finished. If you keep interrupting, I’ll ask you to leave and you can find another way to deal with this on your own. Perhaps by slicing it off?” Her gaze honed in on my hand, seeking bone like the Serum did this very moment. “Whichever charm you choose will not be easy to make. It will take considerable power and mine is not limitless. It’s only fair you give me something equally valuable in exchange.”
“Let’s lay it all out then, so I’m sure I understand.” I couldn’t believe I was even considering this. It was impossible! A cupla stone? A dragon bone? No. “One day’s suspension will cost me a sliver of my moonstone.”
She dipped her head.
“The cost to stop the Serum from progressing further, though the existing rot will remain, is a cupla stone.”
“Exactly.” She clapped her pincers together. “You do understand.”
“Or, I can choose the most expensive option. In exchange for a dragon bone, you’ll remove the Serum forever. I assume this high a price also comes with a full healing?” Why was I bargaining? I had no intention of killing a dragon.
“Since you’re asking so sweetly, I guess I can be generous. Yes. For a dragon bone, I’ll heal your hand as well.”
She was completely unreasonable. None of these options were ones I’d ever consider.
Why was I hesitating?
“Tell you what.” Katya propped her side against the back wall, and it groaned. “To obtain a cupla stone or a dragon bone, you’ll need to go on a quest. Since I like you, I’ll throw in a bonus charm you can take with you today.” After sliding open the back of the glass case with the tip of her pincer, she reached inside and pulled out a pendant shaped like a triangle with tiny runes inscribed across the surface. She frowned at it quickly and mumbled something, then laid it on the glass surface. “This pendant will grant you a helper.”
I grimaced. “Your children can stay here. I don’t need them.” They’d eat me the second I turned my back.
“Send my sweet innocent babes with a wizard on a dangerous quest to find a cupla and drag
on bone? Wouldn’t hear of it. No, I meant another.” Holding out the pendant, she urged me to take it. “Go ahead. It’s yours for free.”
Nothing ever came for free, especially with Katya.
My hands remained by my sides. “Who are we talking about?”
“Whoever touches the pendant first, of course.”
Just my luck it would be Ashton.
“A quest,” I grumbled. “It’s cold outside. And I have no idea how to find a dragon bone or a cupla stone.”
“Do not lie to me.” Her fangs gouged forward, and I yelped and took a step backward. “You know very well where both can be obtained.”
“This is impossible.” I refused to hurt my friends. “There’s not enough time. You said one freakin’ day.” There would never be enough time for something like this.
She tiptoed closer. “But you’re willing to try?”
I growled. What choice did I have? “Yes. I’ll try.” Try to find a way out of this, that is. I’d choose death before I harmed anyone to save my hand.
“Wonderful!” she said.
I took the pendant and slipped it into my pocket. I’d bury it once I returned to the Academy. Forget the “helper”. I’d happily endanger myself but no one else.
Katya kept her pincer outstretched, the palm-side curved up. Her gaze drifted lovingly to my moonstone before settling on mine. I was sucked down into her never-ending depths…
I wrenched my gaze away.
White threads wove around her, through her, as if she and the magic were one.
Bespeller threads.
“Don’t do that,” I said sharply.
“Do what?” Her voice came out sing-song. Lilting. Enthralling.
Yanking a bit of black power from my stone, I shot it at her.
She shuddered. Gasped. And stumbled backward. “What…? What did you just do to me?”
“I am an Unraveler.”
“Your potential, I knew. And you were able to pull in black threads. But you’re untrained, incapable of creating high Level spells.”
High Level spells, huh? Interesting…
She stiffened. “You’ll never obtain full power.”
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 67