by Clare Kauter
And then Henry broke the surface, launching straight up into a majestic breach that all the tourists watching from the bank would claim as a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster and rave about in pubs for years to come.
CHAPTER 17
WHEN WE NEARED THE BANK, Henry dumped us all into the water and transformed from a whale into a wolf to make his way to shore. He padded up the bank, stopping to shake his fur dry.
"Sorry about the Zombie Juice," Daisy whispered, quietly enough that Henry couldn't hear. "I honestly didn't think it would be that bad."
I shook my head. It never ceased to amaze me how naive light dwellers could be – even hundreds-of-years-old fae like Daisy. Of course the potion would hurt. It killed us. Turned us into walking corpses.
"Next time maybe we should just use oxygen tanks," I said.
Hecate shook her head. "Not an option. If the dragon had seen us coming in dive gear, he would have thought we were non-magicals and hidden from us. We had to use magical means."
"And we couldn't use a spell because –"
"Because of the dragon's dampener, I know," I said. "I still think there had to be a better way than Dora."
"Dora?" said Henry, whipping his head towards us. "Is that what you just said?"
"You couldn't have kept your voice down?" Hecate hissed at me. I shrugged. So maybe I hadn't been speaking as quietly as I could have. Whatever. It wasn't like I was going to go to jail for this, and after what Hecate had put me through lately there was definitely a part of me that wanted to see her punished. Yeah, I'd feel bad if Daisy went to prison, but only a little.
"Tell me the three of you did not just risk your lives by drinking Dora to get into that lake?"
Henry stalked over to us, glaring and growling, fangs slightly bared.
"I didn't know what it was before I drank it," I said. "Not my fault."
He rounded on the others. "You fed her Dora without even warning her?"
"We didn't want to make her anxious," said Hecate. "It's not that bad, really. People exaggerate when they describe how painful it is."
How on earth could she keep a straight face while saying that? She'd clearly had plenty of experience with lying to be able to drop a story like that without even a hint of remorse.
"It was the single most painful experience of my life," I said. "And I've been whipped by a grabber. And had Satan cast a 'disciplinary' spell on me. And been mauled by a vampire."
"When were you mauled by a vampire?" Daisy asked. Whoops. I'd forgotten I wasn't meant to mention that in front of her or Hecate – I didn't want to accidentally jog their memories.
"Oh, uh, a while ago," I said, hoping she wouldn't ask me any more probing questions.
"Have you been checked out by a doctor since?" she asked. "You could have caught all sorts of things from that."
I knew it! Great, now I'd never sleep again. I definitely had vampire-borne malaria.
Henry didn't seem to notice that Daisy and I were talking. "Is that what you gave Alora to get her into the lake? Dora?"
Daisy and Hecate glanced at each other. Henry sat back on his haunches, plonking down in a decidedly annoyed manner.
"You gave Alora Dora," I said with a giggle, enjoying how the words sounded together. The others ignored me.
"Right," he said. "So what we should be doing is dragging the loch for her body."
"It didn't kill us," said Hecate. "And I'm old. What makes you think it would have killed Alora?"
"Is Alora a particularly gifted witch?" Henry asked. "Magical blood?"
Hecate crossed her arms. "Why does that matter?"
"Because you three are powerful. You can handle more than most people would be able to. If Alora's just an average witch, her body might not have dealt with Eudora's Curse so well." He shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe we're even having this conversation. I know your coven has special permission from The Department to perform necromancy, but I doubt they'd be so keen on this."
"Are you threatening to turn me in, Henry?" Hecate asked, her eyes flashing.
"No, I'm not," said Henry. "I'm just telling you that taking the Dora was stupid and we need to consider the possibility that it killed Alora. Maybe it wasn't the shock of the potion – perhaps she didn't make it out of the water in time and she drowned. It's a possibility, that's all I'm saying."
I was with Henry. That seemed like a definite possibility to me.
"If I'd known you were going to do something stupid to get down there, I would have just gone alone," he continued.
"Oh, Henry, you're such a worry wart," said Hecate. "Daisy is the most skilled potion brewmaster in Australia, if not in the world. There was no risk."
"Other than, say, the potion wearing off while you were underwater and you all drowning," he said. "Or one of you going into shock from the pain the potion caused. Or being caught in possession of such a dangerous substance. Do you know how long you'd get in prison for that?"
"We'd only end up in prison if someone turned us in," said Hecate, cocking an eyebrow at Henry. Now it sounded like she was the one making threats.
"I can't believe that Dora was your best idea for how to get down there," Henry said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"It's a good idea, Henry. You're far less likely to be attacked because you're already dead. The creatures down there can't sense your magic like they'd usually be able to. If the dragon had turned out to be unfriendly, he wouldn't want to eat someone who was already dead," Hecate said. "Believe it or not, we were actually trying to protect Alora."
"By killing her?"
"Only temporarily," said Hecate. "She was a good witch. She didn't die from the Zombie Juice. Something else has happened to her."
Henry didn't look totally convinced by her words, but he let it go. "Fine. If she is still alive, then she must have headed to that other loch."
Hecate nodded. "Exactly. We should pick up our things from the castle and head there immediately."
Pick up our things? We didn't have to spend another night at the castle? I was filled with glee.
"I have a tent," she continued. "We can camp out tonight."
The happiness I'd felt just a moment before dissipated instantly.
"We should try to seek out Alora again," I suggested. "She could be close by, and if so I might be able to find her." And then maybe we wouldn't have to camp out in this creepy forest overnight.
Henry nodded. "Good idea. Scrying?"
I shook my head. "I'd rather just set up a circle," I said. "I can cast out a net and see if I can detect her energy. The last couple of times we tried to scry her, it didn't exactly go well."
Henry nodded. "Fair point. We should set up a circle." He looked around. "Here should be fine."
I grimaced as I looked at the muddy rocks we were standing on. I didn't particularly want to sit on the swampy bank of the lake, but it wasn't like we could go back to the castle and scry there. Besides, I was already soaked through with the dirty loch water. What difference would a little mud make?
Grabbing the bag I'd dumped on the bank before we'd entered the lake, I plonked myself down on the stones in a kind of mini-tantrum. I was wet and cold and sore and tired, and I wasn't going to pretend to be happy. A rock struck my tailbone, and I knew I'd be walking strangely for a week, but I tried not to let it show on my face. Being in pain would undercut my dramatic huff. Gesturing to the space around me, I said, "Come on, then."
Henry padded over, transforming into a gorilla as he sat to my left. I had no idea how he could move so swiftly while morphing from one animal into another, but I guess it was second nature to him. Probably first nature, actually.
The others hobbled over and sat, Daisy to my right and Hecate directly across from me. I rifled through my bag and handed out crystals before placing a candle (grapefruit scented) in the centre of the circle and lighting it with a click. My own crystal was the largest of the bunch and hung on a silver chain which I slipped over my head. I took Daisy's and
Henry's hands roughly and shut my eyes. When they connected their hands with Hecate's, contained energy began to hum around the circle like an electrical circuit waiting to switch on a lightbulb. Although I had to admit, if this had been a circuit, the lightbulb would have been flickering. There seemed to be surprisingly little energy coming in from the witches – the vast majority of my backup was coming from Henry. Even my own energy seemed a little weak. The Dora had knocked us around.
After taking a deep breath, I cast my energy out, feeling around for Alora. Almost as soon as I did so, I realised that my energy had been sapped a lot more by the potion than I'd previously thought. I'd barely started looking when I felt myself slip down, down... into the ether. Once upon a time this would have been cause for panic, however the ether and I were old buddies these days. I allowed myself to slide below the surface for just a moment.
King. You're back.
Yes! I am, and I was just wondering if you could possibly tell me what exactly I'm the king of? And why I'm king and not queen? And –
If you go to the place you're going you will find the answers you seek.
The place I'm going? You mean the other loch? The answers I seek are there?
Yes.
You mean I'm some sort of Scottish king? Is that why I can feel the weird energy in the forest and I know that Gladys is –
Not those answers. (I could have sworn I heard the ether laugh quietly at me then.) The witch. The one you're looking for.
Oh. Right. Alora.
That's the real reason you came to us. Continue on your path and you shall find her.
But about the other thing –
I came to as my head smacked a rock. The ether had pushed me back into my own body with such force that I'd fallen backwards.
"You passed out again?" Hecate asked, looking unimpressed.
"No," I snapped. "I just lost my balance."
"You lost your balance sitting down?"
"What exactly is your problem, Hecate?"
"Did you find anything?" Daisy asked, trying to smooth the situation over.
"I –" I hesitated. I couldn't exactly come out and tell them I'd been diving in the ether. They'd never believe it. Well, Daisy already knew, but I wasn't sure about the other two. Henry probably wouldn't be all that surprised at this point, but I didn't want to tell him more than he could cope with. I'd already pushed him to the brink of a breakdown.
People who went swimming in the ether either died or went crazy, and neither of those had happened to me. (Shush, you. I came out no more insane than when I went in.) There was no point in telling the others what had transpired. They didn't need to know. I chose my next words carefully. "I couldn't sense her, but I did feel a strong pull towards the other loch – the one Nessie told us about. We should head there immediately."
Hecate looked unimpressed. "That's all you've got?"
"Don't get snippy with me," I said. "You lost her."
CHAPTER 18
WHILE THE OTHERS went back into the castle to collect their bags (which they'd foolishly left behind for Fach or Gladys or the redcaps to tamper with – steal their underwear or swap the water in their drink bottles with poison or something), I waited outside in the same spot where Henry and I had nearly been attacked by vampires the night before. The sun was high in the sky now, hiding somewhere behind the clouds, but it was afternoon and only early in spring here so it wouldn't be too long before it set.
I shifted uncomfortably as a cool breeze hit me. My clothes were still wet under my robe, and my shoes squelched with every step, like squeezing dishwater from a sponge. Ordinarily I would have cast a warming spell to bring my core temperature up above freezing and dry out my clothes, but after diving in the ether, I was wiped out. I'd stayed down for a little too long, and even though my magic was getting strong, that was not something you really wanted to push yourself on. Thanks in part to the bump on my head and in part to the overexertion, I had a nice headache coming on. I suspected that maybe the Dora was contributing to how crappy I felt, also. Being dead can't be good for you. I tried asking the Doomstone for help with bringing back my magic mojo, but to no avail. It just thought I was being a wuss.
A shower or a bath would have been nice, but to do that I would have to head back into the castle and there was no way I was getting naked in there. Thanks to the dark cloud of magic that hung over the structure, I wouldn't be able to sense anyone sneaking up on me to drain my blood or eat my heart or whatever creepy shit they were into. Nope. Not a chance. I pulled my robes tighter around myself and rubbed my arms, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. It was then I remembered that in my bag I had the small jar of fire I'd bought when Henry and I were on the quest to kill Santa in the North Pole (and in case you're wondering, I'm still not entirely sure where the North Pole is).
I dumped my bag on the ground and rifled through it until I found the glass jar. The flame inside was small and weak, and currently burning without any real heat. (It was designed to be portable so you could pack it in with other things and not set your bag alight or whatever.) As my cold fingers touched it, the flame began to grow and the jar became pleasantly warm. I sat it on the ground in front of me and slipped off my sloppy shoes. After peeling off my waterlogged socks and wringing them out, I draped them over the jar to dry off and held my feet near the jar to warm up. A patch of sun peeked through the clouds above and momentarily everything felt less miserable.
By the time the others emerged from the castle I was not exactly dry, but I was certainly a lot warmer than I had been before. Being dead had really allowed the cold to seep through to my bones. There was definitely something to be said for being warm-blooded.
After I put my socks and shoes back on and gathered up my things, I sat next to Hecate and Daisy on the carpet. (Henry tried to convince us to walk to the lake, but after our trek to the castle the other day no one trusted his judgment of what constituted 'not too far.') Grudgingly, Henry joined us on the carpet, transforming into a small black kitten and digging his tiny claws deep into the fibres of the mat. He really hated flying, and I guess he thought that if he fell off in cat form he'd still have eight lives left.
Unlike Henry, I was thrilled to be flying. OK, so there was a little windchill up here, but I was clutching my little jar of warmth so I was alright. My jeans still felt kind of like they'd frozen solid against me, but at least we weren't down in that horrible forest. Looking at it from above, I thought I saw some sort of wispy, swirling dark energy at the place where the trees gave way to open fields, but I decided my eyes must have been playing tricks on me because no one else could see what I meant when I pointed it out to them.
It didn't take us all that long to reach the other loch, but the sun was setting rapidly so we began to set up camp straight away. Henry and I weren't thrilled about camping outdoors with the vamps on the prowl after our experience last night, so we decided to set up every ward known to man to keep the camp safe. Trouble was, my magic was still on the fritz from the ether/Dora combination. The other witches didn't volunteer to help put up the wards either, since they were still experiencing some magical difficulties too.
"Great. So the potion leaves you helpless and unable to use magic," said Henry, glaring at Hecate. "What were you saying about it being perfectly harmless and definitely not dangerous at all?"
"I'll make us some tea," said Daisy, taking her small collapsible cauldron and potion-making supplies from her bag. "Something to help restore our energy."
"Good idea," said Henry. "I guess I'll start putting up wards alone, then."
I didn't want to tell him at the time because he seemed really angry (and for once I agreed with him), but the fact that he said all that while still in tiny kitten form sort of undercut his argument.
He transformed back into his gorilla self to cast the wards and set about magicking up every barrier he could think of. (Seriously, every one – he even did a kitchen spell traditionally used to keep weevils out of your pantry. Coul
dn't hurt, I guess.)
Meanwhile, I helped Daisy brew a potion while Hecate pitched the tent. The others were out of earshot when Daisy said, "I wouldn't have thought the Dora would knock you around so much, Nessa."
I chewed my lip, wondering how to reply. Giving a quick glance to the other two to make sure they weren't paying attention, I said, "It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't dipped into the ether."
Her eyes widened and she nodded. "You look a lot better than the first time I saw you do it. You must be getting stronger."
I nodded. "I've done it a couple of times since."
"When we were in Hell?" she guessed. I nodded. "I thought so. What else should we add to this potion?"
Shrugging, I said, "No idea. You're the best brewmaster in Australia if not the world, right?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes. "In Hecate's eyes, perhaps."
"So add whatever you think."
"Is there anything in particular that will help you get your strength up?" she asked. "As good at magic as Henry is, I'd feel much more confident in those wards if you'd give him a little boost."
The truth was that the Doomstone boosted my energy more than anything else, but I couldn't exactly tell her that. Besides, it hadn't kicked in when I'd been trying to dry my clothes earlier. It only seemed to work when I was in immediate danger.
"Whatever will make us all strong again," I replied. "Then you can boost the wards too."
She shook her head. "My magic isn't... I don't think the tea is going to make that much difference right now."
Furrowing my brow, I asked, "What do you mean? Why?"
She took a deep breath and sighed before answering. "The Dora has left me – I'm not sure how to explain it. It's like my magic is injured somehow. I felt it when we were performing the circle. "
"Injured?" I repeated. She nodded.
"That's the best way I can explain it. I don't know how else to say it. It's still there; it's just weak and hurting."
"You don't think it's permanent, do you?"