The Poisoned Veil (Accessory to Magic Book 4)

by Kathrin Hutson

  ‘Gateway’s yours, witch. You staked your claim. That thing’s not waking up again until that anchor forces it open. I think.’

  Right. Leandras seemed to think the same thing. So as long as she let herself believe him, at least concerning that, they should be good to go.

  When the Gateway didn’t so much as pulse with a glimmer of green light, she quickened her pace and stopped four feet from the door. “Here?”

  “On the floor is fine.”

  Jessica dropped into a squat to set the anchor stone down in front of her. The idea of dropping it and potentially shattering all their hard work made her grimace. She was used to breaking all kinds of things, but this was probably one of those things where a little extra care was necessary.

  The bank snorted. ‘Probably.’

  Leandras knelt beside her, and before she could take her hand off the stone, he covered it with his own and pressed down with a light but firm pressure.

  She blinked rapidly and stared at the rough grain of the wood in front of them. “What are you doing?”

  “This is the end of the beginning, Jessica.”

  “Okay, but—”

  “Shh.”

  There he went with his damn shushing again. Though when she looked up at him—fully ready to snap back about keeping his hands to himself—the fae’s eyes were closed. He took a deep breath, and a pale purple light glowed beneath his hand on hers, followed by a gentle warmth.

  Okay. So this was just part of setting the anchor. Fine.

  One more unintelligible incantation left his lips in a whisper. The purple light and the warmth intensified, but none of it was unbearable.

  Honestly, it was actually pleasant.

  Jessica let herself relax under the energy of his magic pumping through her hand and into the stone. Until the stone set firmly on the floor rocked beneath both of them.

  Tiny cracks of light pulsed inside the anchor stone, splintering across it like something was about to hatch out of the thing.

  If anything happens, bank...

  ‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll step in and save the day. Again. Go ahead and enjoy yourself.’

  The stone wobbled again, then the purple light bloomed from within the cracks and spread. Like vines growing at incredible speed, the light thickened and wormed its way across the floorboards and through them. The wood groaned but didn’t fracture or chip. A small tremor shuddered beneath them before the lines of glowing purple light reached as far as they were apparently meant to spread.

  Leandras stopped his incantation, and while the setting seemed to be finished now, the snaking tendrils of light remained where they were, undimming.

  For a moment, Jessica wondered if this was just the first part. Should she move? Was he waiting for her to add some kind of Guardian-known secret to the anchoring spell? If that was the case, they were screwed. What this Guardian knew didn’t include setting transmuted magical stones into the floor in front of portals.

  The fae man took a deep breath and slowly turned his head to look at her. They were inches apart. The heat of his body so close contrasted with the coolness of his hand on hers now that the warmth of his magic had faded.

  Jessica blinked, glanced at the door, and found her gaze pulled right back to Leandras’ glowing eyes. “Now what?”

  His growing smile as he studied her confusion was completely genuine, without any of the secretive amusement that normally made her want to zap him with her magic before putting as much distance as possible between them. “Now we wait.”

  “Right. But not...here.”

  “No.” The fae finally removed his hand and pushed himself to his feet. “I don’t have it in me to kneel in front of this door for the next forty-eight hours. I most certainly wouldn’t expect it of you.”

  Jessica slowly removed her hand from the top of the stone and found an intricate network of those vinelike threads of light wrapping over it, through it, and around it, binding the thing to the floor of the upstairs hallway. None of those threads extended far enough to touch the Gateway. For now, the door still seemed off-limits. And in forty-eight hours, they wouldn’t be.

  In forty-eight hours, Jessica Northwood and Leandras Vilafor would be stepping through that damn door into another world.

  She stood abruptly and backed away from the network of glowing purple strands. “So. We wait for two days.”

  “Yes.”

  “And I’m guessing part of that means I can’t leave the bank.”

  Leandras slipped his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks and dipped his head. “Correct.”

  “Well, I guess that’s not anything new.”

  ‘Aw, come on. We’ve had loads of fun here together. Just you and me. Why would you wanna leave now?’

  I don’t. But I’ll have to the day after tomorrow.

  ‘And until then, party-hardy time, right?’

  Jessica rolled her eyes, then turned fully to meet Leandras’ gaze. “Anything else I should know about this anchor? Because I’m just really not in the mood for any more surprises. Not before we...”

  She couldn’t say it out loud. Now that they were so close—now that this “timer” they’d activated with the anchor stone held fast to the ground by what looked like living magical roots—talking about it felt like wholly committing to the next forty-eight hours.

  Like Jessica wouldn’t be able to accept a loophole or a better option if it came her way.

  ‘You know it won’t.’

  Neither of us know, bank.

  But she had to admit she agreed.

  Leandras studied her with a tilted head. “No surprises. No other tasks for either of us to perform. We merely wait.”

  “And when this thing’s finished with its...whatever it’s doing to the Gateway? How do we know it’s time?”

  “We’ll know, Jessica. Trust me.”

  Right. Trust him. That was the only option she had left at this point, wasn’t it?

  She ran a hand through her hair and puffed out a quick sigh. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you in two days. I’ll give you a call when I know this thing is ready to—”

  The fae cleared his throat and looked genuinely embarrassed by it.

  “What?”

  “I realize you’ve been particularly distracted since we agreed to this plan, so it’s understandable for you to have forgotten...” He looked at the floor and raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for her to put the pieces together.

  What pieces? And Leandras the fae didn’t just trail off like that. He said everything exactly as it was, even if it turned out to be vague and nonsensical and completely infuriating.

  “Leandras.”

  “Jessica.”

  “Tell me what you’re trying to tell me.”

  A small smile returned when he met her gaze. “We agreed I would stay here with you until the Hruandir is complete.”

  Crap.

  She had agreed. She’d told him they could have a goddamn sleepover for two nights and had been joking just to make herself feel better. Apparently, the joke had made her forget that little detail.

  “Right.” Jessica nodded toward the top of the stairs. “Well, I guess you know your way around by now.”

  “I do.” The concern in his raised eyebrows made her palms tingle.

  What was he waiting for?

  ‘An invitation? A thank you? Hey, maybe some gratitude for helping us get the job done.’

  You want me to thank him?

  ‘No, he wants you thank him.’ The bank sniggered. ‘Oh, but wait. I have an idea. Hold on.’

  Jessica had to force herself not to shout for the bank to stay right where it was—or at least to keep its attention on this particular conversation upstairs before its sentience hurried off elsewhere to leave her here entirely alone with an anchoring stone and a subdued Gateway and a fae man who wouldn’t stop looking at her like that.

  “Leandras...”

  He didn’t move, and his silver-tinted gaze never once left her own. T
he fae didn’t even blink.

  “Thank you.” Just spitting out those two words felt harder than anything she’d had to deal with whenever Leandras stepped into her bank.

  His eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything.

  “For helping with this. And for Mickey. And, I guess, for—”

  “You’re welcome.” His voice was low and even but just as soft as hers.

  She couldn’t help but frown. Were they actually getting to the point where saying thank you and accepting it would actually fly without a sharp quip or some poorly timed reveal blowing it all to pieces?

  “We make a fine team, Jessica.” Leandras stepped toward her and stopped way farther inside her personal bubble than she ever wanted. The smell of ozone and wet stone after a rainstorm hit her like a bucket of ice-water. He tilted his head and leaned closer. “At least, when you’re not trying to convince yourself I mean you harm.”

  Jessica snorted. “I’m not entirely convinced either way. Yet.”

  “Hmm. Perhaps that may change.”

  His eyes pulsed with another faint silver light.

  Time to move. Time to get as far away as possible from the fae who was about to drag her through the Gateway and into who knew what waited on the other side. Time to—

  ‘Got it! I got it! I did it!’ The bank cackled fiercely in her head, making her blink and stumble backward. ‘You’re gonna love this, witch. Hell, he’s gonna love it.’

  Leandras frowned. “Is everything all right?”

  “Probably.” She shrugged and finally pulled herself away from whatever the hell kind of moment hadn’t even happened yet.

  ‘Get him downstairs. Come on. Damn, I’m good!’

  “Um...I think there’s something downstairs for—”

  A loud crash rose from the far side of the first floor, followed by a series of urgent thumps and intense scratching.

  Leandras widened his eyes. “There’s no back door here I should have been made aware of, is there?”

  “No.” Without having to say a thing, they both turned and raced toward the stairs as the thumping and crashing continued.

  They both knew what was at stake if some idiotic asshole had tried to break in and stop them from this final venture.

  Maybe even more was at stake now, if the bank was suddenly compromised. Right beneath both their noses.

  Chapter 13

  Jessica’s neck beneath the glowing rune tingled again as she flew down the staircase with Leandras close on her heels.

  Not now. Please, not now.

  She caught herself from bashing against the wall at the end of the first landing, then leapt down the last two steps. This would literally be the worst time for that rune to decide taking another two hours—or five, or twelve—was a good idea.

  “Jessica, did you lock the door?” Leandras asked in a low growl behind her as they darted down the hall.

  “You think I’d forget something like that?”

  “Perhaps you were—”

  Another crash rose on their right as they skittered into the lobby. The lobby itself was perfectly empty, everything still in its place exactly as they’d left it. Something metal and hollow clanged against the ground and rolled across the floor. They both turned immediately to see the silver lid of a cooking pot spinning like a wheel out of the open door to the back office. It slowed halfway to the desk, wobbled, and toppled over, ringing endlessly.

  “And to think.” Leandras shot her a sidelong glance. “You made it seem as if I were your first.”

  “What?”

  “Do you keep all your friends in that tiny closet you call an office? Or just your potential enemies?”

  Rolling her eyes, Jessica summoned a small, warning flicker of black smoke in her palm and headed for the open door. If someone was stupid enough to try breaking into her bank—again—they deserved everything they got. Especially now that the word of Jessica Northwood the vestrohím as the new Guardian was officially out.

  She snuck toward the corner of the office doorway, Leandras’ footsteps echoing behind her as a flare of silver light from his own warning magic lit up the wall in front of her. “There’s a special kind of pain coming for someone who tries to—”

  A loud hiss stopped her short. Then Confucius came barreling out of the dark office, his eyes wide as he stumbled over loose pens scattered across the floor. His nails dug into the wood but couldn’t stop him from thumping sideways against the doorframe before trying to right himself again and scramble out.

  When he caught sight of Jessica and the flickering tendrils of black smoke in her hand, the lizard froze. His mouth opened to let out more creaking clicks, and his golden eyes darted back and forth between her and the other small side hallway back into the kitchen.

  “Are you serious right now?” Jessica muttered through clenched teeth.

  Leandras stopped beside her, scowling at the reptile frozen stiff in front of them. “This may be an excellent opportunity to dispose of the vermin.”

  “What?” She looked up at him and shook her head. “He saved my life.”

  “That thing is a nuisance.”

  “Okay, no arguments there. But I’m not—”

  Something heavy and wooden groaned inside the dark office. There was another thump, then a repeated creak like somebody jumping up and down on a mattress.

  Confucius skittered around to flick out his tongue at the office, shot Leandras another angry hiss, then scrambled down the side hallway and disappeared.

  Leandras put a finger to his lips and gestured with his other hand for Jessica to wait. She scowled at him but didn’t move as he skirted soundlessly toward the open door.

  Sure. Let the fae handle the actual threat. As long as it didn’t include blasting to bits the immortal lizard that came with the bank.

  With one quick sideways step, Leandras centered himself in front of the open door, pivoted, and launched a stream of rippling purple light into the office.

  Jessica clenched her eyes shut and turned away from the glare, but it only lasted two seconds. Once it faded, she searched the fae for a sign of whatever he’d found inside the room.

  Because he was staring at it like some kind of creature was about to emerge and swallow them whole.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I really can’t say,” Leandras murmured, tilting his head.

  Bank? She slowly approached the open door. If you’re somewhere else screwing around, now’s the time to come back.

  ‘For crying out loud, witch. Just get the hell over there and look!’

  When she approached the doorway and peered around Leandras’ square shoulders, the warning burst of black magic in her hand snuffed out instantly.

  ‘Surprise!’ The bank cackled maniacally. ‘Oh, man! You should really see your faces right now.’

  “What the hell?”

  The office that had once been stuffed with dusty furniture and computer parts and overloaded shelves of useless binders filled with even more useless paperwork—all of which had essentially been destroyed by Leandras’ backfiring magic during their binding—was now a closet-sized bedroom.

  Somehow, the broken desk had been repurposed into a bedframe. An old, dusty mattress fraying at the edges sat on top, the sheet haphazardly stretched across all four corners and slightly stained at the foot of the bed. The broken shelving was now hobbled together along the right-hand wall into at the least the shape of a dresser. Apparently, the lid that had rolled out into the lobby had come from the large cooking pot lying on its side at the foot of the makeshift bed.

  “Um...” Jessica pointed at the transformed room, then slowly looked up at Leandras. “I guess this is for you.”

  The fae wrinkled his nose. “And you had nothing to do with it?”

  “Come on. Would I pretend to be going after someone breaking in if I knew what the hell this was about?”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. “I imagine you would pretend any number of things.”

 
; “Yeah, well, not that.”

  She took another sweeping glance of the room the bank had apparently whipped into poor shape while she and Leandras were upstairs anchoring their Hruandir spell.

  What’s with the pot?

  ‘I mean, sure, there’s a second bathroom down here, but I figured he might not wanna leave his room in the middle of the night. Normally, I wouldn’t know with fae, but he already had an extended stay in me once.’

  “Okay, I’m just gonna take this.” Jessica hurried into the room to snatch up the pot and tucked it under her arm.

  ‘Oh, come on. I was improvising.’

  We’re not leaving him kitchenware as a chamber pot.

  The bank snorted. ‘Well it’s not like you were ever gonna use it.’

  She snuck sideways past Leandras with a sheepish smile. “I guess remodeling’s a work in progress.”

  “Apparently.”

  ‘Okay, well if he doesn’t get the implications already, you might as well tell him.’

  Tell him what?

  ‘Why I did this. Hello? Where were you when we were talking upstairs?’

  Jessica pulled out her phone to look at the time—7:04 p.m. Well, at least they were now officially closed for business, and it wasn’t like she’d be opening the place up again to the general magical public anytime soon.

  “I think I’m just gonna turn in for the night,” she muttered.

  “Yes.” Leandras turned stiffly around to look at her and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll...make the most of the accommodations.”

  “Right. Sure. I mean, it’s better than a broken office, right?”

  “That depends on the origins of that lumpy mattress.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine.”

  ‘Yeah, I have no idea where it came from. I mean, from me, obviously. But the crap I’ve been holding onto for who knows how long—’

  Just stop. I don’t wanna know.

  ‘So tell him...’

  “If, uh... If you need anything,” Jessica added, gesturing toward the kitchen, “just make yourself at home. You know, temporarily.”

  “Indeed.” Leandras’ frown flickered somewhere between confusion and suspicion. “Then we’ll see each other in the morning.”