“Might I remind you how you died?” Alexi asked.
Savanna was shaking, tears rolled down her face. Alexi reached out and slid her finger down Savanna’s arm. Her porcelain skin clashed with Savanna’s dark brown. She pulled her friend tight to her in a hug.
“When they had us, the zombies, after you showed up, I tried to help Sing. He was bitten. I—I could sense the infection in his system, killing him, changing him into—them. He had minutes, Alexi, maybe less.”
“You did something, he lived, and I’m assuming that since we killed the main zombie, whatever magical connection there was to the disease was lost. Otherwise, he would have turned, right?”
Savanna shook her head.
“No, the disease, or whatever it is, still exists. Sing didn’t turn because—I absorbed it.” She lifted her hand out from under her and placed the back of her hand on Alexi’s leg. A jagged, red swollen, wound ran up the middle of the palm. The skin was black around the edges. Her fingers were curled slightly, and her nails were a sickly yellow.
“Savanna— why didn’t you say anything?” Alexi asked. She couldn’t believe her friend would keep this from her. What on earth would possess Savanna to think she wouldn’t help her?
“At first, I thought my witches blood would protect me. When it didn’t I tried magic, but it has had little effect. I’ve slowed it down, obviously, but I can’t stop it.”
Alexi loathed to mention Illyana but if there was no other choice, “Can we go to your mom? She gave you the book—”
Savanna shook her head. “That’s where I went tonight, to ask her about something I found in the book, a possible cure. She—she wasn’t helpful.”
Alexi hugged Savanna tight. She ran her hands through the witches hair and whispered reassurances to her. Alexi felt the buzz in the back of her head, the slight pressure of magic. She focused on Savanna’s hand, the pressure increased slightly, but it was slippery. She couldn’t push against it. Her will slid off it and wouldn’t take hold.
“I can sense it, the way I sense it when you cast, but I can’t push it.”
“It was worth a try,” Savanna said.
“What about the Arcanum?” asked Alexi.
“They didn’t even admit zombies existed until after we destroyed them, no they won’t be any help. If I just knew who wrote this book,” she leaned over and pulled the old, leather-bound book out of her satchel, the one her mother gave her. Awkwardly, she flipped the pages using one hand until the Well of Eternity came up.
“What’s the W—” Alexi began.
“Don’t say it.”
Alexi looked at Savanna curiously, and received a stern gaze in return.
“Don’t say the name out loud,” Savanna said. “That’s the one thing my mother chose to tell me. There are forces at work that we don’t want to disturb.”
Alexi couldn’t read anything on the manuscript, but the name of the well was printed in English. Inside Savanna’s satchel was the other book, the one they borrowed from the shop. Not nearly as old, nor was it written in magic, it did provide clues to the nature of zombies.
“That guy—I forget his name, but the one who had the magic in his shop. He might be able to point us toward…” she waved her hand at the picture of the Well.
“He’s just a shopkeeper who sells occult, I didn’t sense any magic on him. I doubt he can help.”
Alexi jumped up and walked over to the corner where her sword leaned against the wall.
“One way or another, I’m going to find this artifact, and I’m going to cure you. If he can’t help, then maybe he can tell us about something that can,” she strapped the leather over her shoulder and chest so that the hilt stuck out over her right shoulder, “Either way, I’m not giving up on you. Understood?”
“Understood,” Savanna said back with a glimmer of hope.
TWELVE
The little shop was quiet now. During the day he had a few customers here and there, but it wasn’t until after dark his real clientele came to visit. Tonight they had been especially demanding. Mostly he sold supplies to witches with little, or no power who hoped to take advantage of the spring equinox. The one time until the fall that even a mundane with only a spark of talent, could use magic.
None of them came close to matching Savanna Grace. He hadn’t the time to say something when it had happened. It was over too quick and then they were gone, chased off by another truly powerful witch. He wished he could have at least gotten her number, from the looks of her clothes she could use a job, and he could use a witch of that magnitude.
He busied himself with the minutia of shop keeping now that the door was closed. If he was lucky she would return, but for now, shelves needed dusting, inventory replaced, and the books had to be balanced. The shop often kept him until well after midnight. Yet another reason he could use more help. For now, it was the price of freedom.
The air buzzed for a moment so brief he thought he imagined it. Something tickled the back of his spine, a feeling he hadn’t had since…
“Hi Pix,” he said to the dark room.
Light flashed in a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors. Where no one stood seconds before, a young girl with blue hued skin and solid black eyes appeared. She fluttered her long eyelashes in time with the translucent butterfly wings which sprouted from her back. They splashed color on the walls as the light refracted through them.
“I always wondered how you could do that,” she said demurely.
“We all have our gifts. It’s been a long time, how are you?” He managed to keep the pain he felt in his heart from his voice.
“Bored mostly. I got lucky tonight. A witch needed a love potion, so here I am,” she said with a wide smile and a curtsy.
Warren couldn’t help but smile, she was infectiously adorable.
“I’m happy for you, the human world is a wonderful place. Are you going to stay?” he asked, knowing the answer. Few stayed, and even fewer visited him. He was both weary of her appearance and overjoyed at the same time. His heart longed for a home he would never see again. A home she represented.
She sauntered through the store, picking up a piece here, leaning over to read a note, generally doing her best to not look like she was interested.
Warning bells kicked in his head. He mentally checked his wards. They were the most powerful he could craft, and they were centered on a one karat diamond that was all but indestructible. They were also still intact. Pix couldn’t have come through if there was malice in her heart…
“Pix… are you here to kill me? Because that’s not going to work out well for you,” he said softly.
She laughed, her voice like chimes and bells echoing through the shop. “We’re friends, silly. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Even if she ordered it?”
She looked at him seriously. “Even then. No one controls my destiny. Not even her.”
“A real friend would have stood up with me,” he reminded her. The memory of his banishment was fresh, even if it was an age past.
“I can’t live here Warren. It would have been suicide. Is that what you wanted from me?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t mean you’re not important to me.”
Her path around the shop brought her to him. She wasn’t tall. Not by human standards, anyway. Her playfully crested hair and they way she tended to walk on her tip toes added only slightly to her four and a half feet. When she took his hands, he pulled her close and brushed his lips across her cheek. So much time had passed, he had forgotten her smell. Sweet, like honeysuckle.
“Thank you for the visit. It has been a long time,” he whispered to her.
She blushed, a color that made the blue on her face turn almost green.
“Thank you for the gift. I hoped you would do that.” She paused, her tone shifting. “Warren… don’t come home. Not tonight. Not ever.”
He opened his mouth to speak but confusion held his tongue. Why would he return to the Emerald Isle? His banishment was contingent on
his forever living with the humans. If he returned…
“Pix, I appreciate the warning, but I know I can’t go back. We both know.” His chest tightened as he spoke. He had long ago lost hope of ever returning. “Tam—”
She interrupted him with two fingers on his lips. The fear in her eyes filled his soul with dread. Of all the Fae, Pix had the least to fear. She could cross realms as easily as he crossed a room. All she had to do was beat her wings and she was gone. No magic could hold her, and certainly no cage. If she were afraid, things had to be bad.
“Don’t say it. Things have changed, my love, and we must do what we must.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. Her soft skin pressed against his. A thousand memories flooded in at her touch, heady and passionate and bittersweet.
When she pulled away he couldn’t tell if the tears on his face were his or hers. She vanished a second later in a flash of rainbow light.
***
The taxi drove off leaving them on the block where the bookstore was located. The street the store was on was inaccessible to vehicular traffic and was a full block from where they were at the moment. Savanna waited on the sidewalk while Alexi paid the driver. The cold air chilled her to the bone. She pulled her hood up, hunched her shoulders, and disappeared into her long jacket. Alexi waved to the driver as he pulled away. She hooked her arm in Savannas and they walked side by side in silence. The only sound this late at night was their boots on the concrete echoing around the empty street.
Savanna walked in her own silence, imagining Alexi’s condemnation of her. How she shouldn’t have hidden her illness, or she should have let Sing die. How could she have been so stupid?
Each repetition of her imagined conversation brought her shame to the forefront. The silence between them felt like a chasm. Savanna didn’t see how Alexi could ever forgive her. She glanced down at her hand, her fingers frozen in a claw she couldn’t control. If she didn’t fix it soon, she would be dead. At least then she would be free.
Suddenly, Alexi grabbed Savanna’s shoulder and pulled her back. Savanna looked up. A cold wind cut through her, far colder than the time of year produced. Alexi had her sword out, eyes darting back and forth. Savanna yearned to cast something, anything, to help. Fear of what might happen held her back.
“Savanna Grace,” a voice like chimes whispered her name.
The two girls spun as one to face the threat. A man, with skin black as the shadows around him, and eyes that shown with golden light, stepped out of the darkness. His skin shimmered and disappeared as the light played against his body. One second he was there, the next he wasn’t.
“I’m no threat. I bring you a warning from the court. You meddle in affairs that aren’t yours. Do not look for the Well,” he said in his odd, lyrical voice. Savanna stared into his eyes, she couldn’t pull herself away from his gaze.
“Then cure my friend, or tell me that it won't work. Don’t tell me to stop and then not give me an alternate solution,” Alexi said, anger evident in her tone.
“I come not to help, but to warn. There are things worse than death, Savanna Grace, you know of what I speak. Go home. Die. But if you continue on this path, Hades below awaits you.”
Alexi took a step forward, sword at the ready. The being vanished into the shadows. His words hanging in the air even after his physical body disappeared.
Hades below awaits you.
“What does he mean?” Alexi asked as she scanned the street. The streets were empty and there was no one else to have seen him. Alexi slid the sword back into its leather sheath.
“We call it hell, the demons who live there call it the abyss, some people, older creatures, call it Hades, it’s all hell.” She shivered as she spoke. Alexi slid her arm in hers and pulled her down the street. They walked, arms locked, in silence.
“Is it because of your mother,” Alexi asked her quietly.
Savanna nodded. The memories of that awful night were just below the surface. When she turned her attention on them, they threatened to overwhelm her.
“I summoned the most powerful demon I could think of, an Alatum, a demon lord of the lower plains, like the one mother summoned last year. His anger filled the room and he spent it on killing my mother's coven and freeing their bound demons. His wrath was awful, Alexi. He promised me-promised-that if he ever had the chance he, or one of his kin, would drag me to the abyss and torment me for all eternity. If I open a portal, even a small one, he will come through,” she leaned against her friend, the exhaustion of her confession making her weak.
“I didn’t know, Savanna,” she whispered to her. A gloved hand rested gently against her face pulling it up look into Alexi’s blue eyes.
“I swear, I won't let that happen. You will die old and gray, surrounded by grandchildren if you wish it. I will die before I let a demon take you to hell,” she said, encircling Savanna in her arms and squeezing her.
In that moment Savanna shed her fear and relaxed into Alexi’s arms.
“Look, were here. Now I have no intention of letting you die, and I didn’t come all this way to get scared off by them. Obviously, we’re on the right track or people wouldn’t be telling us to stop,” she smiled, “Ready?”
Alexi’s faith in her buoyed her spirits. Savanna squared her shoulders, clenched her teeth and nodded. She marched forward.
A light shown through the door of the plain looking bookstore. The door chimed as she opened it.
“No,” Warren said as he looked up from behind the counter.
***
Alexi held two cups of steaming hot coffee as she pushed through the door backward. She handed one to Warren, “Pumpkin spice for you and,” she handed the other to Savanna, “Creme de mint for you,” she smiled. Warren, despite his welcome, allowed them in to speak. When he wouldn’t respond she decided a cup of coffee might ease things up a bit.
“You don’t even know what we’re going to ask,” Savanna said. Since it was about magic, and whatever the thing was outside, Alexi stayed quiet. If it were about fighting or guns or any of the things she knew about, it would be different. Her only experience with magic was that she could feel it. Even now, in his shop, she could feel the slight buzz of power hovering over the back of her head.
“I deal in old books, like the one you never paid me for, not in magic. I can’t help you,” he said adamantly.
“How about a trade,” Savanna suggested. His eyes lit up despite his protest. Alexi quirked and eyebrow at that. Savanna pulled out the book her mother gave her and slid it across the table.
“The book mentions what we’re looking for on page one-fifty-three. It is very old and it has to be valuable. If you can help us, you can keep it.” She placed a finger on the cover, “If you can tell us how to find what is on that page,” she said.
Warren looked to Alexi. A sudden surge of pity hit her and she didn’t know why. Was he asking her for help?/
“I know what it is you seek, Savanna. What I don’t know is, why?” he asked.
Savanna pulled the glove off her hand and showed him the wound. The pasty white skin of her hand spread up to her wrist. The skin around the wound itself was ashen color. Alexi winced, her eyes darting away from the wound to rest on Savanna’s face. Pain flashed across Savanna and Alexi could feel it as if it were her own. She took an involuntary step to her friend.
“We found the zombies, and even stopped them. One of our friends—” her voice began to shake. Alexi slid up next to her and put her hand on her shoulder for comfort.
“One of our friends was bitten. I absorbed the infection into me. I hoped my witches blood would protect me.”
“That was a stupid hope,” Warren said with a shake of his head.
“Hey,” Alexi said sharply.
He raised his hand, “I mean no offense, it was certainly a brave thing to do. It’s just…never mind,” he looked down to the book, his fingers playing with the edge of it as he pushed it around in circles.
“Aren’t you going to
look at the page?” Savanna asked in a whisper.
“No, I don’t need to look at the page,” Warren whispered.
“Why not?” Alexi asked.
“Because I wrote it,” he replied casually.
“That book is hundreds of years old,” Savanna said, her mouth hanging open mirroring Alexi’s own.
Warren sipped his coffee, he wouldn’t take his eyes off the book Savanna offered him. He nodded to himself, pushed the book off the counter and scooped it up with one hand. He moved behind the register and slid the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware, to the side. Behind it was a safe built into the wall.
“You know one of the reasons I love this country?” Warren asked as he spun the dial for the safe, “The poorest person born can be the richest or the most powerful. Everyone here has a sense of hope.” He clicked open the safe.
Alexi wasn’t sure what he was talking about. His shoulders slumped as he reached in the safe and pulled out a box. He replaced the box with the book. The box was old, made of wood with an emerald inset on the top. He laid it on the counter and fidgeted with it.
“Our bargain, Savanna Grace. I take you to the Well of Eternity, for the book. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she nodded.
Magic swelled up around them. Alexi’s head buzzed with the power. It wasn’t the pressure she normally felt. It wasn’t anything she could push back against. This was a buzz of power, unlike anything she had ever felt.
“Two things you should know,” he said holding up his fingers, “One. The Fae don’t like mortals interfering with their games, even if it ultimately helps them. They will do everything they can to strike a bargain with you to hurt you, not help you,” he said grimly.
“What’s two,” Alexi asked.
“The Isle is heartbreakingly beautiful and you will spend the rest of your life wishing to return and never able to. You won’t thank me for taking you there. Prepare yourselves.”
Blood Sacrifice (Faith of the Fallen Book 2) Page 11