by A. J. Locke
Ethan had given me the rune back, which I was going to keep as leverage against Tielle for the time being. I raked my fingers through my tousled hair and blew out a breath.
“I’m going to have sit tight on the story a little longer,” I said. “I don’t want it to become public knowledge until Kyo gets back into his body. Once eyes are on us it’s very likely that someone will deem it necessary to take his body.”
“And what about Tielle and the dead witches? She assaulted you to try and keep you quiet, so I can’t help but feel like she will come after you again.”
“I have to try and stay a step ahead of her somehow. But we both have our plates full. She’s going to be dealing with the fallout with her son and the issue with the Savages. Hopefully that delays whatever she wants to do to me.”
“All right, but that leaves us with not knowing how to put Kyo back into his body, or get Micah’s soul back into his. Once we’re even able to find him and get his soul from Revath. Him and all the other Savages’ souls.”
I sat there chewing my lip, continuing to feel defeated. I was idly playing with the rune bracelet and it fell off my wrist.
“I have to go see Magda about this,” I said, quickly tying it back on. I did not relish the drive to Queens right now, but I couldn’t handle my dead magic without the bracelet, especially since it was fattened up on dark energy now. I slid off the stool and headed to my room.
“If Kyo comes back let me know. I wanna at least know he’s here. It worries me that he could be wandering around out there too long.”
“Actually…” The tone of Ethan’s voice made me turn back to him with a questioning look.
“I was thinking about meeting up with some of the people I met at NYU and possibly sleeping over in the dorms. Since my bed is occupied and all…”
“Oh? Are you sure you want to be out there with the Savages still lurking?”
“I can stay if you need me to,” he said quickly. “I know there’s a lot going on with Micah and Kyo and I know it’s dangerous out there, but the campus has adopted the mentality of not letting fear stop us so I thought…” He saw me just looking at him and wrung his hands. “Never mind, I’ll stay. I’ll let you know when Kyo comes back.”
“Ethan, look, I’m not your mother, and you’re an adult. If you want to go out, I can’t stop you, although I would hope you would at least consider any advice I would give you. Things are shitty, yes, but they aren’t your burden. As long as you keep your phone handy and don’t stay out too late, I think you should go. You were already a tremendous help today and I appreciate that you went along with my plan even though I know it was not something you were completely comfortable with. So go.”
“Really?” Ethan’s look of disappointment was rapidly fading.
“Yes. Any chance Ailani is going to be there?” I grinned when I saw him flush. He looked away and started scratching the back of his head.
“She might…I think…possibly…”
I walked over and clasped him on the shoulder. “Go turn that nerdish charm on her. And don’t worry, let me deal with the deadly stuff.”
“Thanks, Selene.”
I nodded, and headed to my room to get ready.
* * *
Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes greeted me when I entered Magda’s little area at the bottom of the graveyard. Stormy stalked a circle around me while Snake Eyes slithered up until it was eye-level with me, flicked out a shadowy tongue, then dropped down and slithered off to a dark corner where it continued to watch me. Stormy followed me over to Magda’s worktable where I lay the broken bracelet in front of her. She looked up at me with an eyebrow raised.
“I had a rumble with some Savages,” I said.
“I see,” she said, picking it up. “How close you seem to have gotten to them.”
“Closer than you think,” I muttered. She looked at me expectantly and I avoided her gaze.
“What has happened, child?”
“Bad stuff, as usual.” She continued to stare at me with those fathomless dark eyes until I sighed and told her what had happened today. When I was finished, a tiny smile graced her lips.
“My girl, you found the warlocks.”
“Yeah, but it’s not really a victory. The warlock ghost I wanted to help…I can’t put him back into his body unless I bind myself to a ghost to evolve my reanimation power. But that will put me at risk for the Rot again.”
Magda laughed. It was a thrilling, throaty sound. I couldn’t remember hearing her laugh before. “Oh, child, do you still think in such a linear way?”
I frowned. “What are you getting at?”
“Fact is fact, but that does not mean it applies to you.”
My frowned deepened as I tried to puzzle out what she meant. I sensed she was trying to be helpful, but she was rarely straightforward with her explanations. Then something dawned on me.
“The Rot,” I said. “It is meant to kill, but the way I am now…I cannot be killed.”
Magda nodded. “In your current state of evolution, my intriguing girl, the Rot will have no effect. It will be absorbed and channeled away by the dead magic.”
“So it won’t be like I would get sick and just not die?” I asked. “I will remain healthy?”
“Indeed.”
“Whoa.” I stood there thinking about that for a few moments. It made sense, but there was still another issue.
“I would have to be ghost bound,” I said. “And I can’t just do that to any ghost.” Ethan wasn’t a ghost anymore, and even if he were, I wouldn’t do that to him again.
“Of course you can do it to any ghost,” Magda said. The strange emphasis she put on “any” made me pause and stare at her while she continued to look at me with that knowing smile on her lips. My eyes slid to the corner where Snake Eyes was, then down to my feet where Stormy was curled up. I looked up at Magda in disbelief.
“Ghost animals?” I said. “I can bind myself to the ghost of an animal and my reanimation power will evolve?”
“I knew you were a smart one,” Magda said. “Once you start thinking off the straight and narrow path. That trickle of knowledge the above world holds is but a drop in a very large ocean. I keep telling you that.”
“Oh wow,” I said, still stunned by this new development. “But I would be bound to a ghost animal. That…that’s weird.”
“Or is it power?” Magda reached her hand toward the ghost snake and it slithered out and coiled its thick body of roiling darkness around her. “This ghost is already powerful. When it gains a connection to you, think of how much stronger both it and you will be.”
I gawked at her. “You’re suggesting I bind myself to Snake Eyes?”
“Were you going to go kill a pathetic little squirrel and use its ghost? That would not do the trick, girl.”
“I…I mean…I don’t…” I sat down on the stool in front of her table, not quite feeling as though my legs could continue to keep me supported. I looked down at Storm Shadow again.
“How about the cat?” I suggested.
“Not strong enough,” Magda said simply.
I blew out a breath. “This is insane,” I muttered. “Bound to a ghost snake that’s spent time in the In Between getting juiced up before being summoned back here.” I shot Magda a look.
“What you gain from it is what you should focus on,” Magda said. “This dark energy you took from the Savages, that’s causing you to feel like you are losing your true sense of self, a connection to another entity, a powerful one, can help give you some ease.”
I frowned. “Really?”
“Have you forgotten what being ghost bound is?” she asked. “You give and you take. You draw on the ghost’s strength, but you can give it some of yours as well. You can share the dark energy with a vessel much more suited to handle it.”
I couldn’t lie, I found that very appealing.
“I could channel the dark energy to the ghost,” I said, eyes widening. “It wouldn’t have to continue
existing inside me, changing me…”
“Indeed.”
“But what about if it changes…it.” I slid my eyes to the ghost snake.
“Such change can only mean greater power, which in the end would be a benefit to the one bound to him, would you not agree?”
“I don’t know…” This was appealing, yes, but could I really do this again? And to a giant ghost snake that was summoned from the In Between no less? I wasn’t sure what I would gain would outweigh what I might lose.
“Do you want to do this or not?”
I hesitated. This was familiar, yet new territory, and I had no guarantees about anything. I trusted Magda’s knowledge, sure, but never had I expected that I would end up in a place where I would choose to be bound to a ghost. The memories of all the horrible things that had ensued after being bound to Ethan were still vivid.
“Well?” came Magda’s soft voice.
I swallowed hard and remembered that Kyo’s body was lying on Ethan’s bed in my house, and his sad ghost was wandering around somewhere. I could do this and help him. And if other dead warlock souls were retrieved from the In Between, I could help them too. I could help Micah and the other Savages. And this time there would be no Rot to worry about. The only deadly threat would continue to be the possibility of Garrus crossing over here. Plus, I had to admit that being bound to an animal’s ghost made me feel more at ease than being bound to a human’s ghost. Even if said animal ghost was a creepy as hell beefed up ghost snake.
I stared into Snake Eyes’s steady glowing eyes for a moment, then slid my gaze back to Magda.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Magda said. She slid a binding rune toward me. I wondered where the ones I had given her were, as well as the skulls she had filled with their power. I had never seen them again after that day.
“Take the rune and go sit down.”
I did as she said, and once I was seated in the middle of the room, Snake Eyes slithered over. Stormy hung back, looking out from under Magda’s table. I wondered if she was sad that she hadn’t been the chosen one.
Magda came over a few minutes later and first tied the repaired rune bracelet around my wrist.
“I’ve made the runes stronger,” she said. “It will help you better handle not only the dead magic and dark energy but the connection to the ghost.”
“Thanks,” I said. I felt infinitely more in control of all the power inside me, but it was unnerving to know that I’d need help once I was bound to Snake Eyes. That was never an issue when I was bound to Ethan.
Magda was using rune powder to draw a circle around the binding rune. Inside the circle she drew several runes.
“Activate the binding rune,” she instructed.
I swallowed hard, trying not to show how apprehensive I was about going down this road again. Everything looked good on paper, but there was always the element of the unknown. Still, I was not the same as I was the first time this had happened. I had to remember that I was changed in a way that would truly keep the Rot away from me. How terribly sad that when it came to the biggest threat to my life these days, the Rot was far from the top contender. If I didn’t do this, I couldn’t get Kyo back into his body. Or get Micah and the Savages back into theirs. I kept repeating that to myself as I placed my fingertips on the binding rune and channeled energy into it. A strong thrum of power surged up my arm and tore a gasp from my lips once the rune came to life. I had almost forgotten how powerful these runes were. The rune circle as well as the drawn runes started to glow.
Magda turned her head in the direction of Snake Eyes, and he slithered closer. The ghost snake bent down and touched his head to the binding rune, and an even stronger jolt went through me, as though a thunderbolt had been thrown right through my chest. I almost fell back under the staggering feel of the connection between myself and the ghost snake, but managed to maintain my hold on the binding rune. It had not felt anything close to this when I had become bound to Ethan. I hadn’t felt anything, which was why I had not known at first that we’d become bound. But Ethan had been a brand, spanking new ghost, only a day or so outside of his body, and had never touched the Afterlife. Snake Eyes was old, evolved, and very powerful, and I felt that power form an intense circuit between us. With relief I realized that what Magda said was true. Much of the dark energy I had taken into myself from the Savages got channeled to Snake Eyes. Not all of it, but enough to make me feel more like myself and less like I would want to rip someone’s head off every time my anger rose. I also felt powerful; my necromancer, reanimation, and dead magic got an insane boost from Snake Eyes’s power. I much preferred this feeling of strength and power over how the dark energy had made me feel.
Once the connection had been formed, the overwhelming sensation of being bonded to Snake Eyes diminished. I still felt it, and always would as long as we were bound, but I could handle it. The runes stopped glowing, and with a nod from Magda, I recalled my energy from the binding rune and pulled my hand back. Snake Eyes raised its huge head and looked at me with those glittering ruby eyes. I had no idea what perception the ghost snake was taking away from all of this. I hadn’t yet fully wrapped my head around the fact that I was bound to it.
“It is done.” Magda held the binding rune out to me and I took it. It felt warm, and I knew it now carried a spark of my reanimation power within it. I carefully slipped the rune into my bag and stood up. A heady rush of magic and power coursed through me as I felt the change that had happened to my reanimation power. I was still nervous about what I had just chosen to do, but I was also excited about helping Kyo, Micah, and the Savages.
“Thank you, again,” I said to Magda, who had risen to her feet as well.
She nodded.
“I hope this goes better than the last time,” I said, running my hand through my hair as I glanced at Snake Eyes. “My biggest concern is anchoring ghosts to tell you the truth. I don’t want to end up in a situation where anchored ghosts are stuck here, even if their unfinished business is wrapped up and they won’t turn into beasties.”
“If you anchor a ghost, it won’t be a human one, child,” Magda said.
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean being bound to Snake Eyes will make me anchor only animal ghosts?”
“Indeed. There are similarities to what is gained when bound to a human or animal ghost, but there are differences as well.”
“I see.” I thought this over. The probability of being around an animal that died and got anchored was slim, unless something unfortunate happened to Luna, in which case I would just reanimate her—again. Therefore, I could live with this caveat. Especially since ghost animals didn’t turn into beasties.
“I’m relieved,” I said.
“Go on now, girl,” she said, moving back to her worktable. Stormy was perched on top now, still watching. “Go write the next chapter of your very interesting story. Show me how it unfolds.”
She left me with a cold smile as I headed out with Snake Eyes following closely behind.
* * *
Snake Eyes didn’t exactly hop in the car for a ride, but when I parked and was walking up to my door, he appeared from the shadows and slithered up beside me. This was going to take some getting used to. I really hoped he and Luna got along. I glanced at the large ghost snake that was enveloped in moving shadows and sported bulbous red eyes. There was slim chance he and Luna would get along.
I opened the door and saw what I hoped I would see. Kyo was coming down the hallway. He’d probably been in Ethan’s room with his body. His energy rune had depleted, but that was okay, soon he would have no need for them. His face was solemn, but confusion and curiosity took over when he saw me come into the house with Snake Eyes. He stopped in his tracks and kept staring from me to it. Luna had run out to greet me but practically flipped over backward when she saw Snake Eyes and ran over to Kyo. I knew she’d been hoping he would pick her up—and maybe flee somewhere far away—but since Kyo was incorporeal, he was little help to he
r. So she ventured forward and started barking her little head off. I found it adorable that she had pushed through her fear to stand her ground against the large and very sinister looking new pet I had brought home. I went over and picked her up, trying to calm her.
“Um…where do I even start?” Kyo said. “I saw Ethan’s note that you had gone to see Magda, but I hadn’t expected you to come home with that.”
“Snake Eyes is here to stay,” I said. The ghost snake had left my side to explore the house, seeming most pleased with any pockets of darkness he found. Kyo still looked confused, but I offered him a smile.
“I went to Magda to fix the bracelet, but I came back with the ability to put you back into your body. Shall we?”
Kyo gaped at me. “Wh-what?” he finally managed to say. He looked at Snake Eyes again and realization dawned on him. “You bound yourself to the ghost snake?”
I nodded. “Turns out I don’t need to be bound to a human ghost in order for my reanimation power to evolve.”
“But…but what about the Rot!” Kyo floated closer to me. “Selene, you cannot put yourself at risk for the Rot just for me.”
“I didn’t,” I said. “Magda told me that my resistance to death will help me avoid the Rot. It will get channeled to Garrus. And as for anchoring ghosts, I will only anchor animal ghosts, which I don’t really think I even have to worry about.”
Kyo stared at me with wide eyes. I could see his emotions warring on his face. Finally, he shook his head, seeming in awe. “It seems too good to be true,” he whispered. “I can’t believe this is really going to happen.”
“Believe it,” I said, smiling wider. “I am going to put you back in your body and you aren’t going to leave it until you are old and gray and it is truly your time to die. No one is going to take your body or your magic away from you again.”