“I have more to tell you about your stepmother, Vanessa. If it makes you both feel more comfortable and trusting of me, I will tell you, although it is forbidden.” She shrugged. “Here on Cortica rules are meant to be bent, even broken.”
Van nodded and laid back down on the bed. Ferox took his seat.
Madame Vang sprinkled what looked like gold dust over Van’s wound. It began to slowly heal before their eyes.
“It will continue healing over the next several days,” the madame said. She went to the desk and picked up a roll of tape, scissors, and a new bandage.
“At an early age, your stepmother’s parents recognized the monetary value of her unusual beauty.” She cut pieces of the tape. “They sold her to the demimondaines at age five. They fetched the highest price in history for such extraordinary prettiness. She did her training in Osney.”
“Being betrayed like that by your parents…being sold…how do you ever get over it?” Then, Van asked the harder question, at the same time uncertain she wanted to hear the answer. “Did she ever get over it?”
“The life of a demimondaine is a good one. We know no other way.” She shifted her eyes toward Ferox. “Most of us find it quite pleasant.”
Van had grown weary of Madame Vang’s overt flirting with Ferox.
“Getting attention from men makes you feel validated,” Van said, as the madame dressed what remained of her wound. “You’re always trying to get power through a man rather than using your own power. Sounds like a sad life to me.”
Rather than be insulted, Madame Vang finished taping the dressing and grinned at Van. “Here.” She clasped Van’s hand. “I will show you. Stand.”
Van hesitantly rose from the bed.
Ferox stayed seated and, perhaps a bit curiously, watched the scene unfold.
“Dance with me.” Madame Vang swiveled her hips and waved her arms.
Van heard upbeat music playing that she hadn’t noticed before.
Madame Vang’s fluid movements artfully blended into the rhythm, creating an alluring dance of seduction.
Van had no desire to dance—yet, she danced, along with the madame.
Madame Vang’s hypnotic presence made dancing fun, and—Van admitted—healing.
“Sway your hips, like this.” Madame Vang placed her hands on Van’s hips.
Van feared the movement would hurt her injury but followed the madame’s instructions anyway. She swiveled her hips and didn’t feel any pain in her side.
Ferox remained silent, eyes steady as if both curious and wary of the seductive show.
Van enjoyed herself until she became acutely aware of how she moved her arms, hips, and legs. She began to feel stupid, especially with Ferox watching her.
Madame Vang clasped her hand, reengaging Van in the dance.
Van’s thoughts and concerns drifted away and she, again, found joy in feeling the motions of her body.
“Notice the life energy as it flows through you,” the madame said, with glee. “Accept it with your heart and soul. Feel. Create. Express your feelings through your movements.” She blissfully twirled Van. “Feel your power as a woman. Laugh. Cry. Dance!”
Van felt a wave of embarrassment, dancing intimately with the madame. She was no demimondaine. “My side aches.” Van pulled her hand out of the madame’s grip and sat down on the bed.
Madame Vang shrugged as she continued dancing and turned her attention to Ferox. She reached her hands to clasp his, attempting to lure him into joining her.
“Enough.” Ferox stood, ignoring her gesture.
Madame Vang stopped dancing at once. “As you wish.” She submissively bowed her head.
“Tell us how to get the Cup of Life,” he demanded.
Ferox’s idea hit Van like a lightning bolt—it was brilliant. As the madame of the Treasure Chest, she must hear a lot from her customers and probably knew everything about the area.
Ferox seemed to intimidate the madame like he did everyone, plus he had paid her a lot of money. She didn’t put up a fuss.
“You must cross the River Shade,” she said, ominously. “You will need to pay Kharon, the ferryman, a fairy’s tear. Beyond the River Shade, lies the Cup of Life. That is all I know.”
If they needed a fairy’s tear, then they were in luck. Ferox had one. Van saw the fairy give it to him before she flittered away.
Ferox had everything he needed to get the Cup. Van, who was the only one who could retrieve it, the fairy’s tear, and now the location. But, Van didn’t want to waste time recovering the Cup. She needed to change his mind and get him to help her check the seal. Then, if the team had time, they could get the Cup. Which reminded Van of her other quest, her personal one.
“Do you know how to remove a curse? Asking for a friend.”
“Curse? What curse?” Ferox narrowed his eyes at Van.
“There are many ways.” Madame Vang raised her brow. “What is the nature of your friend’s curse?”
Van squirmed. They both knew Van was asking for herself. Her desire to find a counter-curse overrode her discomfort.
“Okay. It’s me,” Van confessed. “My ancestor Amaryl accidentally cursed her own bloodline. Now the Anchoress is doomed to die giving childbirth.”
“And you’re required to have a child who can inherit the Anchoress light,” Ferox said, looking concerned.
“I mean, not anytime soon.” Van twitched. “Not that you meant now.” She felt her cheeks flare. “I meant in the future. You know. Way future, like maybe—”
“Ancient magic is potent and binding.” Madame Vang graciously interrupted Van’s moronic babbling. “I am sorry to say its complexity extends beyond my training. However, as a favor, I will peruse our ancient texts and scrolls. I will send word by morning if I find something that will help.”
Ferox remembered to ask the madame for a tincture that would help strengthen both Brux and Paley.
She got to work, mixing drops of liquids into a small amber glass jar with a dropper. She handed it to Ferox. “Anything else?” She asked, solicitously.
Van couldn’t wait to get away from her.
“If you find anything more about the Cup, send me word,” he said.
The madame nodded, graciously.
Van and Ferox followed her back through the dimly lit hallway and into the foyer room.
As Van and Ferox bounded down the porch stairs, Madame Vang gave them some parting words of wisdom.
“The best cure for everything is love,” the madame said, loud enough for them to hear. “Love heals, and love feels.”
As they reached the sidewalk, Van leaned into Ferox and whispered, “She’s a bit…different. Don’t you think?”
Ferox gave her a charming, amused grin that melted Van’s heart.
“How’s your wound?” he asked.
“Great.” Van patted her side and winced. “Still a bit sore.”
“I wasn’t sure, you know. Because of all that dancing you were doing.”
Van grinned as her cheeks burned. She playfully whacked him on the arm.
He laughed, seeming to enjoy her company.
They passed a large fountain marked by age with grime and cracks. A stream trickled from the chipped mermaid’s mouth. In the basin, golden-orange fish leaped in and out of the discolored water. Van wondered how such a beautiful fountain came to be in such an undesirable place.
Although distracted by the dancing fish, Van remained acutely aware of Ferox’s powerful, masculine presence and how it made her feel warm and safe, and excited.
Van felt certain that Ferox had developed feelings for her. However, his affection might not be strong enough for him to let Van check the seal, and not retrieve the Cup. Heck, his feelings for her might not even be genuine.
If she did retrieve the Cup with his help, it would only cause problems. He would want to bring it back to his family at Balefire.
Van and her team would never let that happen.
She dreaded facing that dilemma.
Despite their growing connection, she decided the best path for her was to steal the fairy’s tear and ditch Ferox.
Chapter 33
Van couldn’t risk Ferox going for the Cup of Life on his own and possibly finding a way to retrieve it, or, more likely, die trying. To be safe, she needed to take the fairy’s tear from him so he would have no way to cross the River Shade.
She was still furious with Uxa for not telling her about the other Items of Creation. That fact alone made Van not want to retrieve the Cup. Certainly, the Grigori could find another way to cure the demon illness.
But the Cup wanted to be found. Van could not escape the pull she felt inside toward the Cup. The item called to her like a beacon.
Once it was in her possession, then what? She’d have to place the Cup in its designated statue in the Celestial Tower, essentially handing it over to Uxa.
Or Ferox could find her and forcibly take it. Then the Balish would have both the Coin and the Cup.
Which reminded Van, not only did she need to steal back the tear from Ferox but also the Coin of Creation.
By returning to Lodestar with both the Coin and the Cup, the Lodian’s Grigori would have the power to defeat demons, whether they rose from the Earth World or were created by the illness. She couldn’t count on Ferox’s family to do the same.
“So, Van.” Ferox smiled at her, breaking into her thoughts. “I know a bit about your stepmother. Tell me something else about your family, or yourself.”
Dammit. Ferox’s interest in getting to know Van filled her with dread. It made her uncertain she could stick to her plan.
Didn’t Ferox say he’s interested in peace?
Maybe it would be in Van’s best interest to befriend him, rather than ditch him. Peace between their tribes was the best way for Van to protect her people.
She found herself eagerly talking to him about her childhood. Van told him about her favorite memories of her father, like the time they went quahogging on Buzzard’s Bay, and about how she and Paley had become friends—living near each other on the island and Paley standing by her when everyone thought Van was a slow learner and placed in special classes.
She was careful to avoid specific details about Providence Island, including where it was located. Van still didn’t trust her feelings for Ferox, or his feelings for her. It was possible he was trying to get secret information from her about the island to pass along to his family.
“Enough about me,” Van said. “Tell me about your childhood.”
Surprisingly, Ferox opened up to Van.
He talked to her about his twin siblings, Devon and Solana, before they died. How his parents and pretty much the entire Balish Council and the Balish Royal Court—something Van had never heard of before he mentioned it—favored Devon, even Solana over him.
“They consider me to be more like my father,” Ferox said. “Fun-loving, irresponsible.” His eyes shifted to Van. “A heartbreaker.”
Van could live with the first two adjectives, but the last one made her worry about his sincerity, again.
“Truthfully,” Ferox said. “I was all those things. I had no interest in running the kingdom until Devon and Solana died. Then, it became my duty.”
“I’m sorry.” Van’s guilt about Solana came rushing back.
“I understand,” Ferox said. “She was no angel. And if she killed my brother and my mother…”
His voice trailed off, and they walked in silence for a while.
“They say I’m kind, nonjudgemental—bad things for a king to be.” Ferox’s eyes seemed distant, the muscles in his face relaxed as if recalling a happy memory. “But my mother, she was the only one who saw my true potential.” He turned to Van and said with conviction, “I will be a good leader.”
Van gently placed her hand on his arm. “I know you will.”
They reached the docks and reunited with Brux, Pernilla, Kopius, Daisy, and Paley who were standing by The Obelus and were guarded by Ferox’s soldiers and Thyra, all impatiently waiting for their return.
“You look better,” Brux said to Van. “How do you feel? Okay?” He gave Ferox a wary stare.
Brux held a sack in his arms that Van assumed was a bag of potatoes. He stood close to Daisy and Paley who both appeared to be trembling from either the cold, the locale, or both.
“I’m fine.” Van didn’t want fists to fly between Brux and Ferox.
“Where were you two?” Pernilla asked like an angry mother. “We’ve been waiting for over an hour.”
“He took me to the Treasure Chest.”
“What?” Brux’s face turned red with fury. He shifted his bundle to one arm and stomped toward Ferox; his other hand a clenched fist.
Ferox’s men snapped to attention and extended their swords, crossing them in front of Brux to block him.
Ferox raised his palms in surrender. “No, no,” he said hastily. “Nothing like that.” He tipped his head toward the soldiers, and they lowered their swords. “The demimondaines are healers.”
“Sexual healing, baby,” Kopius chuckled, not helping the situation.
“Brux, I’m fine. The madame healed my wound.” Van lifted her shirt and pulled a piece of tape to expose a portion of the pink line forming a scar.
“Wow.” Pernilla bent to take a closer look.
Van quickly reattached the tape, annoyed at Pernilla’s keen interest in her wound.
She said to Brux, “We got you and Paley a strengthening potion to help with the drain of the gemstones.”
Brux and Kopius looked agitated.
“I know about the gemstones,” Ferox said. “I figured it out when Brux collapsed. I’m only interested in keeping the peace. Not stealing from you, or dragging you off to the dungeons.” He reached into his pocket and took out the glass dropper jar. “Here.” He handed it to Brux.
Van turned to Paley, who seemed withdrawn. She noticed her friend’s clothes were damp.
“What happened?” Van asked.
Daisy pulled Paley closer in a comforting hug.
“N-nixe.” Paley wrapped her arms around her herself to help stop shaking.
“Water spirit,” Thyra clarified.
Van’s jaw dropped. “That guy you were talking to at the Savage Polder?”
Paley nodded. “He-he was…he was…he lured…” She looked sickened.
“They lure victims into sea,” Thyra said.
“I knew I didn’t like that guy.” Van frowned.
“Males assume many different shapes. Including human.” Brux cradled his odd sack.
“How did you survive?” Ferox asked, looking both concerned and outraged that someone under his care had gotten into danger. “Those creatures are deadly.”
“Sometimes,” Thyra said. “Sometimes harmless and friendly.”
“This one wasn’t harmless,” Kopius said.
For the first time, Van noticed he was also damp, Brux too.
“He-he took me to the beach.” Paley trembled. “It was supposed to be romantic. He tried to drown me.”
“No,” Thyra said. “Not drown. He take you home to his world under the sea.”
“Yeah, we call that drowning,” Kopius said.
“I-I used the d-dagger.” Paley shook. “Stabbed him. I don’t think I k-killed him though.”
“I’m so sorry.” Van gave Paley a hug. “Good thing we took weapons with us.” Van also shivered remembering the coffin incident in the funhouse.
“B-Brux and Kopius came,” Paley said.
“We found her standing waist deep in the water, holding a dagger dripping with blood,” Kopius said.
“The nixe was nowhere to be found,” Brux said.
“Do you think I k-killed him?” Paley said, still shaking. “I didn’t mean to kill anyone.”
“It’s okay.” Van rubbed Paley’s shoulder. “It’s over now.”
“No more fraternizing with strangers,” Ferox commanded. “Let’s keep our team together.”
Ferox takin
g charge made Van feel safe and cared for, until he barked at his men, “Sequester them to their rooms.” He turned to Van, yet continued to speak to his crew. “For their own protection.”
Van fumed. They were getting along so well, until now. He made sure Van understood that she was still under his control.
She questioned the giddy feelings he brought out in her. Maybe her attraction to him was an illusion, to keep her off balance. She had crushes before, like on Brux, but this seemed to run much deeper. Ferox hadn’t done anything to cause Van to feel this way, other than being himself. Yet the feelings were there. Nevertheless, she needed to keep squelching them. Warriors had no use for emotional attachments.
One of Ferox’s men tried grabbing the sack Brux cradled.
“No.” Brux swung away from him, protecting his bundle. “I’m bringing Hiccup.”
Van squinted in the darkness. She noticed a bone-thin, rust-colored puppy. Apparently, she’d missed a lot.
“I found him scrounging for food on the docks,” Brux said. “I’m keeping him. I think he’s sick.”
“It’s fine,” Ferox said to his men. “He can take the dog.”
The puppy hiccuped and cuddled closer to Brux.
“I see where he gets his name.” Van yearned to pet the puppy but it looked so frail she pulled her hand away and wondered if the demon illness afflicted animals.
Van felt as weary as the puppy looked, even despite her healing session with Madame Vang. The other’s seemed to be exhausted too.
Van assumed their rooms would be onboard the ship and was surprised when Ferox’s men shuffled them away from the docks. Van soon discovered that when Ferox had gone off with Thyra, during the time Paley was with the nixe and Van and the others had gone to into the funhouse, he had secured a place for them to stay, as well as visited Madame Vang.
Ferox had rented an entire floor of a nearby three-story inn—a term Van loosely used to describe an establishment called the Wharf Lizard.
Ferox’s men led Van and the others to an impressive suite, while Ferox and his crew occupied the rooms on the rest of the top floor.
The suite slept eight. Three bedrooms, each with a double bed, and two sleep sofas in the main area. Paley and Van volunteered to sleep in the same room.
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