Imperative: A Quinn Larson Quest

by P. A. Wilson

  “Found?” I asked.

  “Yes, I found it in Fionuir’s library.”

  “So The Morrigan was in Fionuir’s court?” I was getting a bad feeling about this.

  “Not exactly. I took the book outside for the light. And the crow was there.”

  Man, he attracted that woman like a trailer park attracts tornadoes. “And you fought.”

  “And I beat her.” He chirped what sounded like a victory cry. “I got the book, and I got her to agree to a truce.”

  “I’m impressed. How long a truce?” I asked.

  “Well, until the next full moon. And that gives us time to solve more than one of our problems.”

  And by then the Sidhe would have a new queen. “What does this book contain?”

  “I don’t really know. I couldn’t get it open, but it is supposed to contain spells to undo spells, to identify spells so they can be undone, that kind of thing.”

  “That’s a myth.” There was no way that Olan had found a Key book. They didn’t really exist. “Where is this book?”

  “Here.” I felt his feather on my hand and a sudden weight on my lap.

  “This book is bigger that you are. How did you manage to get it here?”

  “It’s a pixie thing.” Olan stepped onto my lap. “Maybe Lionel can figure out how to open it. Then we can find a spell to give you back your sight.”

  “That would be useful right now. But we only have a bit of time to deal with the fairies.”

  It took a while, but Lionel finally had the spell memorized. He walked through it six times without stumbling.

  Burr and Sting congratulated him on his success.

  “Okay, take your time,” I kept my voice gentle. “You know this spell and we all know you can do this.”

  “Okay.” Lionel sounded a bit more confident than he had before but still doubtful.

  “Everyone is going to leave the room; you and I will be the only ones here. I will sit in a corner, so I’m out of your way. I have a blanket spell ready.” I had shown every charm and amulet I had in my pocket to Lionel and he’d identified them for me. I had a blanket and a freeze spell in my hands. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, ready as I’ll ever be.”

  I waved Clarence over, or at least if he was where I thought he was it would have looked like I was waving him over. He took my arm and led me to a chair we’d placed in the far corner. We’d set Lionel up in the center of the room, a brazier and a small wooden table in front of him. On the table, all the ingredients and vessels he needed. In the very center of the table sat the Gur amulet. I could feel the power emanating from it even from the corner. The spell would not affect the souls of the Druids. There was no way that could happen—I hoped.

  I counted to ten then said, “Okay, start when you are ready, go nice and slow.”

  There was silence for a few minutes. I hoped he was centering his focus, not getting ready to faint.

  “I call on spirits of love and peace to cover this spell with their presence.”

  It seemed he was able to summon the spirits because I felt the air in the room dampen and his words became muffled. If I could see, all I would see is a shadow of his movements. The suspense wasn’t exactly killing me, I just wish it was.

  I listened to the cadence of the muffed words. He seemed to be going through the process smoothly and there were no dreaded hiccups.

  His voice suddenly became clear as he closed the spell.

  “… for your blessing.”

  I waited, the power still emanated from the amulet, so we hadn’t accidentally release a horde of annoyed druids.

  “Lionel?” He should have said something by now.

  “Sorry, Quinn, I just needed a minute. I think I did it.”

  “Come over to me and bring the amulet.” I would be able to make sure that there was no taint of Fionuir’s spell if the amulet was close enough.

  Lionel touched my hand and dropped the amulet into it.

  I sent my senses out, enveloping the amulet in my energy. It did feel cleaner.

  “Let’s get out of here.” I held out my hand and Lionel led me back to the others.

  “It is done,” Lionel said with all the gravity of someone three times his experience.

  “Where are Burr and Sting?” I asked.

  “We are here.”

  I heard two sets of feet hit the ground. “You know what to do.”

  I heard them run and assumed they were on their way to tell the fairies to start procreating.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Everyone except Olan and Lionel had gone home. There was nothing to do now but wait. We should know in a couple of days if we were going to be knee deep in fairy babies any time soon.

  Olan was resting; I could hear little chickadee snores coming from the region of the couch. Lionel and I were in the kitchen drinking clover tea. The book Olan had stolen on the counter in front of us.

  We’d managed to open the book with a simple command spell. “It’s in some sort of code,” Lionel said.

  “Well, it’s probably spelled to keep secrets. If we knew the right spell we would be able to read it. If you remember the myth of the key book, it is a spell inside a spell. The key to opening the first spell will be the key to the spell inside.”

  “So, if we figure out how to read the book, that same thing will be the spell inside?” Lionel’s confusion came through in his tone.

  “No, let’s say we need walnut powder to read the contents of the book. We shake a little powder on the page and the words are suddenly legible. Whatever the spell is that we find inside, will need walnuts in some form or another to work.”

  I heard pages flipping. “There must be four hundred pages. Will each one have a different key?”

  “Well, in four hundred pages there will probably be about two hundred spells. I don’t know if there are two hundred keys. But the only way I know to find out it to test every powder and filter I can think of.”

  Lionel groaned. A sound that every apprentice makes many times. “Can we narrow it down? Like trying things that we know are included in spells that do something to sight?”

  Not a bad idea. When he wasn’t so nervous, Lionel showed real promise. “It’s as good an idea as any.”

  “Cate had a bunch of herbs and crystals around because she was learning healing.” His voice moved away as he spoke. “Here are some of them.” I heard him put a box on the counter.

  “Describe them to me.”

  “A quartz crystal, a packet of ground carrot seeds, a packet of spider web, a sheet of rice paper…”

  “Wait, spider web? Is that about curing blindness?”

  “Yes. This is her eye cures box.”

  “I felt a web in the basement.” I couldn’t help but feel a little hope creep into my heart.

  I heard paper unfolding. “We have six webs here. I guess we drape the web on a page?”

  “Makes sense. Okay we get six chances. Where should we start?”

  Lionel pushed the book toward me. “Are you feeling lucky?”

  I pushed it back. “You are the one on a roll, you find the first spell.”

  He took the book and I heard pages whirr.

  “This one,” Lionel announced. “I’m picking up the web and shaking it out.”

  “No need for the play by play. Just tell me if it works.”

  Moments passed, I tried not to fidget, spider webs were difficult to handle. Lionel’s sigh told me everything.

  “Sorry, Quinn.”

  “Okay, can you mark that page so we don’t waste another web on it?”

  “I’ll tack the pages together with a bit of gum. We can remove it later.”

  I took the book and passed my hands across the pages. I didn’t feel any special pull to a page, but I did feel power. It was beginning to look like this might actually be a key book. I let the book choose, laying it on the table and letting it fall open naturally.

  “Okay put a web here.” I smoothed the page
s flat.

  After an age, Lionel sighed again. We went through another three webs without finding a cure for my problem; although one page did reveal a spell for repelling flies from a blood sacrificial altar.

  “Lionel, the last one is yours. You choose. If it doesn’t work, we can always try again. At least we know it acts like a key book.”

  Lionel took the open book from my hands. I heard him flicking through the pages, like he was scanning for a particular spell, even though he couldn’t read what was on the page. Then he stopped looking.

  “Hold the book open to this page.” He pressed it into my hands. “Maybe you have to be holding the book for the spell to work.”

  I held the book out, open to the page he had found. I waited while he unfolded the last web. I felt it touch my fingers as he draped it across the page.

  “Did your sight fade, or did it go all at once?”

  “A bit of both. When I found the brick and released the disguise spell, it seemed to get dark. When I pulled out the amulet, the lights went out.

  “So she’s smart. We need to cast two spells to give you back your sight.”

  “You can see the spell?” I didn’t want to get too excited.

  “Yes, it’s pretty complex. Even more than the cleansing spell.” Lionel raised his voice above noise that was coming from the direction of the front door. “What the heck is that all about?”

  I felt him move away.

  “Be careful.” I said above the noise was coming closer to the door; voices shouting and something being thrown around. “I don’t think I can help you if it comes to a brawl.”

  Lionel laughed and I heard the floor squeak in front of the door. He pulled it open and the noise changed into a single female voice.

  “Answer the door. I wish to speak to the witch.” It was Fionuir.

  I felt my way to the hall. “You are not welcome here, Fionuir.” I called before Lionel could say something stupid like ‘come in’.

  She laughed. “It is not your house. Is the witch in?”

  Lionel coughed. “I am afraid…”

  “No she is not.” I overrode him. “But she hasn’t expressed a desire to have you enter her home.”

  I reached forward to pull Lionel away from the door. “Leave.”

  “Wait, Quinn.” Lionel struggled out of my grasp. “I wasn’t going to ask her in. But perhaps she has something to tell us about…”

  “Lionel, be quiet,” I said. Fionuir was just waiting for a slip.

  She wanted into Cate’s place and thought Cate was alive, so the Sidhe probably didn’t have anything to do with the demon. She was after the amulet I’m pretty sure. We hadn’t done anything to hide it yet. If she got into the living room she would see it on the coffee table. “Fionuir, you have been asked to leave this house. Without express invitation from the resident, you cannot enter.”

  “I know the rules, Quinn. But you may have forgotten that if enough of my property is inside this house, I can enter to remove it.”

  “There is not enough of it here for you to do that.” A book and an amulet were only almost enough. “Leave.”

  “No.” Fionuir laughed and I heard jewels bouncing down the hall. “I think that might be enough.”

  Damn. “Lionel, tell her she is welcome into one room.”

  He stuttered out the limitation just in time. Fionuir walked into the kitchen and spun around. “This will be enough I think.”

  I hoped the book wasn’t sitting out on the counter. I prayed that Lionel had slipped it into his pocket. Fionuir hadn’t noticed I was blind so maybe if it wasn’t sitting under her nose, we could pretend it wasn’t here.

  “Lionel, pick up the jewels and throw them out the front door, as far as you can. This will only work if we let it.”

  I heard him scramble around. “Fionuir, what is it you want?”

  “Your damn bird pet, has stolen something from me. I want it back.”

  “Why did you come here?” I didn’t see the point of denying the theft.

  “You were not at home. I heard you were playing house with her.”

  I heard her footsteps clacking on the tile floor. “Where have you hidden it?”

  “I don’t have it.” I heard a clank of metal hitting the street. “Time for you to leave.”

  I heard cupboards banging open and closed. I kept my face turned to the noise.

  “I know you have it,” she spat. “Just give it back and we won’t say anything about it.”

  “Well, I don’t believe you. I’m not responsible for what Olan does. If he stole from you, go find him.”

  I felt Lionel’s arm touch my shoulder. “I’ve thrown everything out as you said.”

  Fionuir stomped past me. “This is not over.”

  “I will show you out,” Lionel said.

  His hand left my shoulder and I assumed he was leading her to the door. I felt my way to a kitchen stool and was about to sit, when Fionuir’s voice shout in triumph.

  “Hah, you should have hidden it better. It’s hanging out of your pocket you foolish wizard.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lionel said.

  Fionuir gasped. “You can’t see. Hah, a fitting punishment for something, Wizard.” I felt her presence loom. “I have what I need. I don’t wish to stay here longer than I have to, it smells of witch.”

  She stomped down the hall and slammed the door.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  We were in Bank’s sitting at a window table. I could feel the chill coming in from the glass. Clarence and Edrinda were there along with Burr, there was no news about baby fairies but we were probably a day early for that. I had the amulet deep in my pocket and I had my hand wrapped around it. This wasn’t leaving my control until we could find a safe hiding place.

  The waiter put a platter on the table; it smelled of toast and honey, refreshed our coffees and then left.

  Clarence restarted the conversation. “We should give it back to the druids.”

  “They lost it in the first place. If we give it back how do we know they won’t lose it again? It’s a powerful battery,” Lionel said before the sound of crunching came from his direction.

  “It is a powerful temptation, too. Are you thinking you would keep this power for yourself?” Edrinda’s voice was cold.

  “No,” Lionel sounded appalled. “Imagine how much trouble I could get into if I tried to use it.”

  I laughed. “You have the right attitude boy. He also has a point. The druids lost it in the first place. And they haven’t been looking for it. I thought it was a spiritual object for them.”

  “What else could we do?” Clarence asked.

  “A spell is going to take some work. Lionel can’t cast one strong enough to hide it from close scrutiny. I can’t guarantee anything I cast will work the way I expected. I need to learn how to cast blind before I attempt anything”

  “The fairies could hide it,” Burr’s voice piped.

  “Thank you, but the fairies have been through enough.” I didn’t want the amulet to go missing around the confusion of the fairy kingdom. “Can someone check with the druids to see if they even know the amulet is missing?”

  “I’ll go,” Edrinda said. “You could be right about them not knowing, they have a lot of powerful stuff there. I will also suggest they may want to consider releasing the spirits soon so that the amulet is not a danger any longer.” Her chair scraped against the floor. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “A human collapsed across the street. I saw her fall in the alley,” Edrinda hissed the words.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t something natural. They have heart attacks.” I could hope.

  “No, she grabbed her stomach and then blood started to flow from the woman’s mouth.”

  I threw some coins on the table. “Clarence and Edrinda, put on your day time disguises, we need to investigate this.”

  When I said we need to investigate, I hadn’t thought through the fact that I was still blind. I took
Lionel’s arm and he led me across the road giving me a running commentary.

  “It looks like the human has been poisoned. Her lips are blue and there’s bloody foam around her mouth.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Like a message or something? No, just a dead human.”

  “Is there anyone looking?” Clarence asked.

  “No,” Lionel responded. “The streets are empty.”

  I heard a grunt and footsteps moving away.

  “Clarence is moving the body,” Lionel said.

  “I guessed that, thanks.”

  I couldn’t think of any other questions to ask. “Let’s go back to my place. I don’t know what to do about this.”

  Lionel led me but I could tell where we were based on the sounds and smells; the bakery, the florist, the butcher. Next would come a park, and then we’d pass the school. The park was now a bundle of scents, pine, garbage, someone was smoking a cigar. We would be at my place in five minutes. I could start training Lionel to remove the spell on Princess, and we could figure out what to do with the amulet.

  “Shit,” Lionel said, then jerked me to a stop. “Oh, sorry.”

  “What, why are you sorry?” I waited for the bad news.

  “I swore. I am trying to stop swearing. It’s not becoming for a wizard.”

  “Who the hell told you that?” I almost laughed until I remembered it might have been Cate.

  “I just thought I should be more thoughtful.” He sounded wounded and clearly he hadn’t appreciated my comment.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to act in any way that’s not natural for you. You are a wizard, how you act is how a wizard acts.” I suddenly realized how young he really was. “So why did you swear?”

  “I stepped in something. It’s mucky and sticky.”

  “Where are Clarence and Edrinda?” I couldn’t help him identify it.

  “Up ahead. Look, here’s a bench. You sit down and I’ll figure it out.”

  He sat me on the bench and walked away. I tried to be patient, but it was not my best skill. I concentrated on listening. I could hear birds in the trees, so we must only be about a third of the way through the park. I couldn’t hear children but by the sounds of the voices I could hear, there were humans nearby. They could be on the street, though.