by Krista Walsh
The images in Vera’s mind altered, in some ways growing more violent and hopeless — a kaleidoscope of blood and death, with corpses impaled on spikes and being eaten by creatures of horror, a flaming, horned devil tearing its way across the battlefield — and yet also more detached. She was no longer in the midst of the scene, but in a projection of it. A reflection in a mirror placed in the center of the room surrounded by books.
And yet, seeing the destruction of the guardians at the hands of creatures who couldn’t see that their survival depended on the very balance the guardians maintained set Vera’s blood aflame. As though she were standing alongside the Collegiate at the time of the battle, she found herself sharing the deep swell of their despair and fury. She wished she could have been there to stand on the side of order and do her part to preserve it. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.
“What was expected to be an easy victory ended in a devastating defeat,” Fendal said. “Although in the end the demons were put down, the losses were too great to consider it a success. The balance remained fragile, and no one remained who could open the doors to what had become our prison.”
A dark curtain descended over Vera’s mind as the women closed the mental connection, and she was left cold, shaking with unsatisfied rage. Never before had she felt such a desire to embrace her role as vengeance goddess and rain her wrath on those who had wronged the world.
But reason called to her through the haze of emotion, and she breathed deeply to ground herself in the present. The damage had been done a hundred years ago, and the corpses were buried and rotten in the ground. There was no going back. She could only look forward to whatever now attempted to tip the balance further into chaos and play her part to prevent history from repeating itself.
“If no one survived to let you out, how are you here?” she asked Fendal, although she still had no driving wish to take the Collegiate members at their word. She had seen what they had shown her, but she knew all too well their capability to manipulate minds. “And what does this have to do with my book?”
“We escaped due to a new trouble rising in this world that has set a different game in motion,” said Fendal, “and the book is what helped us recognize the danger.”
Vera couldn’t hide the confusion that must have been showing on her face. Fendal frowned. “You must understand that we have been watching this book for some time. Well before the loss of the Justicia, we would often turn our gaze to the Book of Universes, what you call The Book of the Fettered Wolf. Through our glass, we watched the generations of your family take possession of the text, each one fulfilling the duty that was originally sworn.”
Vera’s shock kept her silent, and Fendal continued. “Since our entrapment, we have followed the keepers of the book very closely. We know that you’ve experienced an increase in your vengeance contracts. Have you never wondered why?”
“Of course,” Vera said. “I sense the change in the air, but have no idea how word is spreading.”
“Secrets are being revealed,” Kurlow said. “Information that was before kept sacred is now being used to barter for power.”
Fendal nodded. “Because we were watching you, we became aware of your interaction with the warlock Jermaine Hershel, and were witness to the events of his clever trap with the magically sealed room. Through the stories that were shared around his table, we recognized the signs of something greater and darker lurking behind his actions. We also saw the hand of Destiny at work. In the face of this new threat, you six survivors, each of whom held a separate clue to the mystery, became our only hope. In our trapped condition, we were helpless…unless we made use of the tools we were provided.”
Vera reached for her chest as her pulse raced. She wished she had somewhere to sit down. Suspicions of what Fendal meant circled her thoughts, birds of prey waiting to feed on the power of her revelation.
Fendal didn’t let her remain in the dark for long. “It took very little effort — a few mental shifts to bind you all, to ensure you remained close enough to the threat to be ready to act when the time came. From there, Destiny played her hand again. We never could have foreseen how quickly the energy in this city would change. New threats rise daily, each one a symptom of the greater. Even as they wreak havoc on the mundane world, they have worked to bring you closer together as you rely on each other as allies.”
Vera reached out her hand to find something to catch her weight, and her fingers brushed against the top of her parents’ gravestone. The memory of Allegra’s visit flashed through her thoughts with new significance. The succubus’s inability to leave the city, her insinuations that she had already been in touch with other members of what Jermaine had called the “invisible entente.”
Now she was being told that, while he had been the one to name them, this Collegiate had forced the issue. The six survivors had been coerced into saving the world from whatever plan Jermaine had let slip as Fendal watched through her mirror.
Some of Vera’s anger returned, but she had no time to speak before the woman continued. “Out of these fated events, the spell to our binding was broken a month ago when the last pure Justicia soldier fell. A failsafe in the College’s security system in case they perished. Now that we are free from our trap, you are no longer a necessary piece of our plan. As soon as you hand over the Book of Universes, the Collegiate will once again take its place in creating and preserving order in this world and will stop the threat before it tears the otherworld down around us.”
In the whirlwind of new knowledge, Vera had almost forgotten the Collegiate’s reason for coming here, the reason these women had shared their story in the first place. But after learning how she and the others had been manipulated, her desire to trust the women had only shrunk further.
She slipped her hand off the gravestone, once more steady on her feet, and eyed the trio warily. “What purpose does the book serve for you? Why does everyone want it so badly?”
Fendal’s eyebrow quirked. “Do you really not know?” Vera remained silent until the ancient huffed. “Astonishing. You’ve gone through all these lengths without understanding the true power you hold in your hands. Very well. The Book of Universes is an index of every magical creature currently existing in this dimension. It contains their DNA patterns, the very essence that gives them their abilities and their weaknesses.”
Vera thought of the length of the book. “For the number of otherworldly species in this dimension, it seems thin.”
“You don’t seriously think the information is laid out for all and sundry to read, do you? It’s written in Collegiate shorthand and would require a member of our College to interpret it.”
“Then how do these demons hope to understand it?”
The first signs of uncertainty passed through Fendal and her colleagues, a tightening of their shoulders and shifting of their feet. “We’re not certain. They’ve bound their thoughts tightly, preventing us from seeing anything, but from what we’ve been able to glean when their concentration slips, they believe they can untangle the riddle by the same means they learned of its existence in the first place — a revealing spell of some kind. We have no way of confirming whether that’s true, but we’re not about to let them try.”
Vera squeezed her hands into fists, her thoughts spinning with so many pieces of information. But she grasped for one more — the one she couldn’t help but want to know more than any of its history or contents. “And how did this book end up in my father’s possession?”
The woman narrowed her eyes, but again, she did not refuse to answer.
“After the book was first used for its original purpose, the Collegiate agreed it would not be wise to keep it among our common collection. The desire to abuse its power would be too great. So we passed it to a trusted Justicia soldier with the order to keep it hidden. We told him we would only claim it again in a time of great need. This soldier adopted a human persona to remain unseen by any of those who might seek out the book. For hundreds of years,
he fought off anyone who showed an interest — the power of the book being more widely known then than it has come to be now. One such danger cost him his life. At the time, we were prepared to reclaim the book, believing the risk to be too great for anyone else to bear, but the soldier’s daughter insisted she was up to the responsibility. She carried enough of her father’s blood that we agreed. She rebound the book in the guise with which you are familiar, hiding its power in the form of a lesser one, and it passed through her bloodline down to your father.”
Vera stood frozen. Her mouth was as dry as though she had been the one to regale the world with these stories, and her head felt light. Her father? Descended from the guardians?
“Did you never wonder at your immunity to magic?” Kurlow asked. “Your ability to meet the Gorgon’s gaze?”
“I — I just thought—” She didn’t bother to wonder how they knew about Gabe.
“Not even the gods are protected from the abilities of others. Only the Justicia, whose blood was borne of all blood, carry that strength, and you are one of the few remaining descendants of that great race. Of course, by the time your father was born, the bloodline was so diluted that his immunity was the only magic he possessed. It seems Destiny worked in our favor that his daughter was a being of greater strength.”
Vera concentrated on the sound of her breath to prevent herself from collapsing to the ground. Revelation after revelation had broken down her defenses, and she felt as though the Collegiate had been at her mind again, leaving her vulnerable to everything else coming at her.
“If I’m immune, how did you get into my head?”
Fendal smirked, but showed no intention of answering. Curiosity burned through Vera’s concentration, but she forced the issue away.
Focus on what’s important. Deal with this later.
Her gaze fell on her parents’ gravestone, and the same anger that had brought her to this place surged within her. What else hadn’t they told her about this book? Had they known about the Collegiate and what The Fettered Wolf meant to them? It would have been nice to have a chance to prepare. To have someone who knew whether these women were telling the truth or just spouting lies for their own gain.
As she wasn’t able to confirm anything they told her, Vera accepted that there was only one course of action she could take. She squared her shoulders and met Fendal’s gaze. “While I appreciate your candor, and will take what you’ve said into consideration as I move forward, I can’t take the risk that you’re playing me for a fool. The book stays with me. If you want to help me protect it, then keep an eye on Rega and his gang. After we’ve dealt with them, maybe we can have another conversation.”
Fendal frowned, her eyes lighting up with anger. “That is unacceptable.”
“But it’s the only answer you’re going to get,” Vera said, proud of herself for keeping any hint of a waver out of her voice. “I have a plan to keep The Fettered Wolf safe, and I mean to see it through. I don’t care how old you are or what claim you say you have — no one is taking this book away from me.”
She held Fendal’s gaze, ignoring the discomfort created by staring into the eternal depths of the woman’s eyes. With every breath, she braced for them to attack, for their fingers to crawl into her mind and once more attempt to wrangle the truth from her.
“I mean it,” she said. “You might have your protections, but remember who I am. I can tear you apart where you stand if you push me to it.”
Fendal’s eyes narrowed as she no doubt weighed Vera’s words against the likelihood that she would act on them. In the end, she must have decided Vera wasn’t exaggerating, and her expression darkened into a glower. “Very well, Ms. Goodall, you carry on, but know that there will be consequences if you fail. We’ll be watching.”
14
Vera’s legs were shaking by the time she reached her bookshop. The afternoon sun hit the white lettering of her Yggdrasil Books sign with such welcoming warmth that she couldn’t wait to step into the safety of her home. Only after she pushed open the door and experienced the first shock of its wrecked state did she remember that she’d put off coming back for a reason.
Ara and Gabe emerged from behind the stacks as the bell over the front door rang. Gabe rushed toward her with quick steps, while Ara took a slower pace.
“There you are,” Gabe said. “I was about ready to go searching for you. Are you all right? Did you see Rega?”
Vera shook her head, her attention still focused on the chaos of the shop. “The voice in my head found me in the cemetery. It’s…it’s not what I thought.”
She filled them in on the high points of what Fendal had shared with her, not sure she could make enough sense of it yet to go into the details about her own family history. “They said they want to help me protect the book.”
Gabe snorted. “Help? Is that what they’re calling it? But if they’re serious, we’d welcome the allies. What did they have in mind?”
Vera grimaced. “They weren’t clear.”
She passed another glance around the shop, and something in her heart broke. The place was a mess. Books had been ripped apart, their pages scattered across the shelves and floor. Torn paperback covers stared up at her pathetically, and old hardcovers had been mangled and left open, their screaming spines stretched toward the ceiling.
Compared to how much she could have lost if Rega had gotten hold of Ara, the damage was nothing at all. But to her book-loving heart, it was a massacre.
Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but they didn’t fall. Her anger ran too hot to let them. She clenched her teeth and curled her fingers at her sides, holding herself back from marching out the front door and demanding to speak with the demon no doubt waiting for her outside.
Fury will not achieve anything, she told herself, and breathed until her anger released its grip on her. She had to stay grounded. That was the only way she could seek her personal vengeance.
“I’m sorry you have to see it like this,” Ara said, coming toward them at last. “I didn’t have time to tidy up after you called.”
Her green eyes were downturned with concern, as though she were braced for Vera to lash out, but Vera didn’t have the energy to be angry with her anymore. Ara had her reasons for keeping her secret, and if Vera could find it in herself to forgive her father for his silence, she could forgive the woman who had been her only true companion for so many years.
She rested her hand on Ara’s shoulder, assuring her that she was blameless in this chaos, and Ara visibly relaxed.
In a way, seeing her shop in such a state was a good thing. Up to this point, Rega had scared her with the possibility of what he might do. Rumor had inflated his reputation and darkened the image he projected, but the truth was that he was just a petty demon, happy to wreak havoc and destruction in any form, even if that meant taking it out on a collection of words and paper.
Pathetic, really.
Unfortunately, her new perspective didn’t wash the bitterness of fear out of her mouth as she thought about having to meet him face to face and risk receiving the same treatment as her books.
Vera walked past the stacks toward the back of the shop to find that the heavy door to the restricted section hung half off its hinges. Inside, shattered glass covered the floor, and her antique cabinet showed signs of similar unnecessary damage. Rega had even carved his name in large letters on the face of the maple cabinet in front of the safe. The safe itself hung open, empty except for the velvet padding she used to cover the base.
Her throat felt too tight, as though the air in the room were getting thicker. She turned toward the others. “Where are the books?”
“Under the counter for now,” Ara said. “We weren’t sure where you wanted to put them, so we just tucked them away while we waited for you.”
Vera straightened her spine and stepped over the corpses of her favorite classics back toward the front of the shop. Ara pulled both books out from underneath the counter and set them on the granite s
urface. Vera ran her fingers over the leather cover with its silver-leaf imprint. So many memories were tied into this image. Once her plan went through and Rega walked away with it, it would be out of her life forever.
She pushed away the swell of sorrow that threatened to choke her. It was a necessary sacrifice.
The part that actually mattered was safe in the cream file folder, ready to be packed away whenever she was ready to leave.
“Ezel stopped by while you were out,” Gabe said. “She installed the new alarm, and left you this.” He held up a pendant with a tiger’s eye stone inside. “She said it should help against any psychic intrusions until you have a chance to go see her for something more permanent.”
Vera took the necklace and held it up to the light, sending the brown and amber shades sparkling. Although the Collegiate claimed not to be a threat, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have something that kept them out of her head.
“She also installed something else,” Gabe said.
Vera slid the necklace over her head and quirked an eyebrow.
He held up his hands in a defensive stance. “Before you get upset, hear me out. You said you were going to wait here alone for Rega and his gang to show up. I know you can handle this your own way, but the fact is, it would be irresponsible of me to leave you without reinforcements. It’s too dangerous, and I don’t trust Rega not to do something stupid, like come up to your apartment and go after you.”
“I’m not leaving,” Vera said, crossing her arms. “If he thinks I’m not here, he might not try to get the book.”
“I know,” said Gabe, “and I respect your position, but I still won’t let you face them alone. I had Ezel cast an extra spell on the alarm. When the door opens — regardless of whether the alarm goes off or not, because you know they’re going to try to dismantle it again — it’ll send a signal to my computer. So I’ll be watching, even if I’m not here. The second that alarm goes, I’ll rift into the shop. They won’t need to know I’m around. If they grab the book and leave, I can go home without them being any the wiser. But if they go after you, I’ll already be here as backup. Is that a compromise you’re willing to live with?”