Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Hey, Princess, time to get up,” a voice said in Azure’s head.

  She peeled her head up, to find a blurry figure standing in front of her. Azure had fallen face first into the cloud of delicious blankets and remembered nothing else from her night sleeping in Bed, Bath and Along. Now a woman was standing in front of her, and she apparently knew who she was. Her eyes adjusted to find a girl with blonde hair to match her own snapping her fingers in her face. She had a pointy nose, and an easy smile on her face. “Oh, there you are, Little Bo Peep,” the woman said.

  “Princess. You know I’m—”

  “A bum,” the woman cut her off. “Look, if my manager had found you here, you’d be in the city jail right now.”

  Azure sat up, her head swimming with nerves. The woman probably didn’t know she was a princess. Humans were so weird, always using strange expressions. Virgo didn’t have a jail because, well, punishments were exact, and imprisoning people was cruel. Well, unless they’d cut down part of the Dark Forest. Maybe Terran did need a jail.

  “Sorry,” Azure said, scooting to the side of the bed. Her magical reserves had returned to normal. She stared down at her jeans and shirt, which were once more covered in mud. She could only imagine how her hair looked.

  “Why did you make our bed display your bedroom last night?” the woman asked, tidying up the blankets and pillows as Azure pulled herself upright.

  Azure’s mind scanned acceptable answers. She burst out with, “I had a fight. It was awful. I stormed out of the house, and then…”

  The woman measured her with a sideways glance, then nodded. “Boyfriend troubles, is it?”

  “Yes!” Azure said, too fast. “He’s a pig’s liver.”

  “Pig’s liver, huh? That’s a new one I haven’t heard. Is it from Earth? I would have called him a douche, myself.”

  “Yeah, he’s a fucking douche,” Azure agreed, glad that the woman was commiserating with her instead of calling the authorities.

  “What’s his name? Maybe I know him and can spread a bunch of awful rumors around Terran?”

  “Robert,” Azure said, the guard’s name popping into her head.

  The lady’s face dropped with shock suddenly. “Robert Travolta? The guard at the border entrance? I’m sorry to hear that. He’s like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

  “Well, why don’t you date the douche liver then?” Azure snapped, unsure if her reference made any sense at all. She guessed by the girl’s face that it didn’t.

  “Sorry, I’m sure things are different when you’re intimate with someone. Anyway, I hope you two work it out, but I’ll help you until you do,” she said. “Did he hurt you?” The woman’s eyes were on Azure’s jeans.

  “Oh, no. I just fell when I ran out of the house. And I was going to buy new clothes, but left my money at home,” she explained, hoping this made sense.

  “I totally understand. Look, my name is Heidi. Why don’t you buzz over to my house and clean yourself up? You can borrow some clothes from me until you get things sorted out. Help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen, too,” the girl said, digging in her pocket and withdrawing a shiny key.

  “Oh, wow. Thanks! That’s really nice of you,” Azure said with a wide smile.

  “Of course. I don’t mind. I’ve been there,” the girl said. “I’ll speed over on my lunch break and check on you. Stay there until then so I can grab my key.”

  “Okay, thanks. Where do you live?”

  “One-twenty-six Hollywood Way,” the girl said, handing the key over to Azure.

  She took it, nodding to the girl. However, she was secretly wondering what a lunch break was and why the girl had to wait until then to meet her. Terran was an incredibly strange place.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Hollywood Way, according to the stranger Azure asked on the street, wasn’t too far away. She was grateful it wasn’t one of the houses on the second ridge. Those looked like tiny specks, they were up so high.

  Pushing the key into the lock, she turned it and heard the mechanism release. It felt totally bizarre to walk into a stranger’s house, but Heidi had seemed like the trusting type. Maybe she was a witch. In Virgo there weren’t generally locks on doors, because the citizens respected each other.

  Azure pushed the door open, noticing a small cat in the hallway as she did.

  “I’m a friend of Heidi’s,” she told it, closing the door at her back.

  The feline lifted its black face and blinked at Azure. “And she has no idea that you’re a witch, does she?” the cat asked.

  “No, she doesn’t and I won’t tell her you talk if you don’t tell on me,” Azure replied, walking past the cat and heading for the kitchen. Her stomach had been growling all the way to Heidi’s house, demanding food.

  “Witches aren’t allowed in the Land of Terran,” the cat commented, springing from the floor and onto the countertop when Azure entered the kitchen.

  She scanned the space, ensuring she was alone with the animal. “What’s your name?” she asked the cat.

  He blinked at her. “Toby.”

  Cats were one of the animals witches and wizards utilized as familiars. Soul stones were restricted to Virgoans, but cats were connected to all witches and they were the only ones who could hear them talk, which they did too often, it seemed.

  “Toby, I’m here to find out where my father is. He’s human. I have to use my human magic in order to locate him, but I don’t know how to do that.”

  “You’ll need to fill your reserves,” the cat said from the countertop. “Go to the harvest this afternoon. It will be on the far side of the city, on the western side.”

  “Harvest?” Azure said, remembering that the Duke had mentioned it during their encounter in the Dark Forest.

  “Yes. You need to draw from whatever they bring in to use your human magic,” the cat said.

  Azure yanked open a cabinet to find a row of strange foods. “Where’s the good stuff?” she asked aloud.

  “In the cabinet next to the sink,” the cat said.

  Azure abandoned the cabinet she had been exploring and ducked down to pull open the one next to the sink. “Cat food! That stuff probably tastes like three-day-old fish.”

  “Well, you asked, and I told you,” Toby said.

  “And they don’t even give you real food, but some imitation stuff,” Azure remarked, peering into the bag where round bits of food could be found.

  “It tastes fine to me,” the feline countered.

  “Well, in Virgo, we give our cats real fish, chicken, and beef,” she said, instantly feeling homesick. It had only been a day, but already she missed the smell of the House of Enchanted. She missed her mother, and even the wacky characters who could always be found rummaging around her home.

  “Virgo. You’re a long way from home. I’ve heard my mistress’ guest speak of Virgo. It’s a gross place with horrible people,” the cat informed her.

  “It’s a place where people give their cats proper food,” she corrected, pulling a box from the cupboard. It smelled of sugar, which was a good sign.

  “I didn’t say those were my opinions, or even my mistress’s. I’m simply passing along information.”

  Azure poked her finger at the pastry in the box and then picked it up. It was round and had a hole in the middle. She sank her teeth into it and instantly wished she had a whole crate of these things. “What on Oriceran is this?” she asked, breathing in the deliciousness of the heavenly object in her hands.

  “It’s a donut,” the cat answered. “Mistress takes hers with coffee on the weekend. She’ll be annoyed if you eat them all. They’re for special occasions.”

  “What’s a weekend?” Azure asked, lowering the donut from her face.

  “Oh, you’re a weird one,” the cat said, seeming to smile at her.

  An odor attacked Azure’s nose, so she angled her head down to smell her armpits. “Smelly type, too,” she added, takin
g another large bite of the donut. “Where do I get clean?” Not only did she need to clean the Dark Forest off herself, but the wounds from the mermaid would need to be disinfected. Thankfully the seaweed had helped with the poison, but the cuts were still painful.

  “Down the hall and to the right,” the cat told her.

  “Follow me,” she said over her shoulder to the cat, finishing the donut off with two more bites. “I’m going to need your help figuring out how to work the human stuff and picking out my outfit.”

  “But I’m supposed to be napping right now. Mistress will be sore with me if she shows up and I’m too tired to rub against her legs,” the cat protested.

  “She’ll manage. I’m a witch on a mission, and I need your help. I do believe you’re still obligated to me, aren’t you?”

  The cat jumped off the counter and looked up at Azure, a lazy expression in his eyes. “Yes, felines are forever bound to assist witches and wizards, even here in Terran. But I want you to scratch my belly something fierce after I help you,” he said.

  “I’ll do you one better and tell your mistress to pick you up some fresh fish from the market the next time she’s out,” Azure offered.

  “You’re a good witch. I can already tell,” Toby said, taking off down the hallway to lead Azure to the bathroom.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “How do you wash your clothes in Virgo?” Toby, the house cat asked.

  Azure regarded him with an annoyed look. “With magic, of course.”

  “I guessed as much. Watching you trying to operate the washer and dryer was the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in a while,” Toby said, licking his paw.

  “You don’t leave this house, so I’m guessing you don’t see much,” Azure snapped, drying her hair with a plush towel. She hadn’t felt right about wearing a stranger’s clothes. Heidi had already been so generous to offer her the house and food. That was why she’d taken on the complex task of washing her clothes using the electric washer and dryer. Yes, she could have used magic, but she was trying to conserve her resources since she didn’t know what she’d face when she left the refuge of this house.

  “You know, in Virgo cats are allowed to roam free. They are highly respected. Mine is named Finswick, but he’s more a member of the family than a pet,” Azure informed the cat, who jumped off the counter in the bathroom and headed for the hallway where a scratching post stood. He sunk his front claws into the post and kneaded it several times. It was bizarre to see the things humans had created that nature usually took care of. Cats didn’t need scratching posts if they had trees, but Azure hadn’t seen a single plant since she’d entered the Land of Terran. She’d guessed that they’d all been leeched to death.

  “Virgo sounds like a cat’s dream,” Toby said.

  Azure tightened the towel around her, hoping her clothes would be done soon. She was running out of time, and needed to locate her father fast. But using her human magic to enchant her soul stone was currently her largest obstacle. She ran her hands through her blonde hair.

  “Do you want me to teach you how to use a curling iron?” the feline asked, rubbing against the doorframe.

  Azure eyed the device sitting on the bathroom counter. “I think I’ll pass,” she said, grabbing her wand and pointing it at her hair.

  “Oh, you won’t waste your magic to clean your clothes, but you’ll use it to do your hair?” Toby asked, his green eyes skeptical.

  Azure smiled into the mirror at her loose blonde ringlets. “Hey, I have priorities!” she exclaimed, just as the front door closed.

  Azure popped her head out of the bathroom to find Heidi standing in the hallway, a strange expression on her face.

  “Who were you talking to?” she asked, looking around like expecting to find someone.

  “No one,” Azure said. Toby strolled forward, rubbing his body against Heidi’s leg.

  “I could have sworn I heard voices when I was opening the door,” she said.

  “Oh, well, I was talking to myself,” Azure said, pressing past Heidi, conscious that she was wearing only a towel in a stranger’s house. “I used your washer and dryer, so I hope that’s okay. I’ll just grab my clothes and be out of your hair.”

  “Girl, don’t you fret. I’m happy to help. You know, I slept on my friend’s couch for a week after I broke up with my last man-mistake. I could have kicked him out, but I wanted to start over,” she explained, and stared around at her tidy house. “And I think I’ve done pretty well for myself since then.”

  “Yeah, your house is great,” Azure agreed, pulling her clothes from the dryer. They were still hot. Electricity was a strange thing.

  “And I got to keep the cat, so fuck that guy,” Heidi said with a laugh.

  “Good. Toby is a fantastic cat,” Azure said.

  Surprise sprang to the other woman’s face. “How’d you know that his name is Toby?”

  Azure considered pulling her wand from where’d she’d stashed it in her bosom and casting a memory-erasing charm on Heidi. However, that killed brain cells, and she rather liked this lady. She was generous and kind, and besides feeding her cat trash, she was a good pet owner.

  “You told me earlier, remember? You said not to let the cat, Toby, out,” she said, using a complex memory charm on Heidi that might not work without her wand.

  To Azure’s relief, Heidi nodded. “That’s right. Anyway, get your clothes on. The Harvest Celebration starts in less than an hour. My boss gave me the rest of the day off for it.”

  “Harvest Celebration?” Azure asked, realizing she wasn’t pulling off this human impersonation thing very well.

  Heidi simply waved her hand at Azure. “Oh, maybe you call it something different. Anyway, you know, it’s when they bring in stuff from the Dark Forest for us to leech. My magic reserves have been depleted for over a week, but I don’t want to be like those hikers the dryads froze.” She shivered. “Could you imagine being a statue? So creepy!”

  “I’m sure that they only do it to humans who leech all of the energy out of a tree or whatever,” Azure said, heading back in the direction of the bathroom with her clean clothes in her arms.

  “I’ve often thought the same thing. Emperor Richard says that we should always leave life in the things we leech from. However, the Consumer Party says filling our reserves to the maximum is more important than plant life that can be regrown,” Heidi said.

  “Consumer Party?” Azure asked. It made no sense that the humans were being inundated with incorrect information. Growing a tree took decades or even centuries, depending on the type. No wonder their section of the forest was barren!

  “Candace, I’m getting the impression that you’re not from Terran.” Shock covered her face. “Oh my gods! Are you…”

  Azure’s eyes widened as she reached for the wand in her towel. Heidi held up a finger and beamed.

  “You’re from Earth, are you?” she asked eagerly.

  Azure redirected her movement, hugging her clothes to her chest. “Yeessss,” she agreed, drawing out the word.

  “I knew it! You were smuggled through an illegal portal, weren’t you? That’s totally tubular,” she said.

  “Yes, but you can’t tell anyone. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

  “So there is no ex-boyfriend, is there?”

  “No, and I’m sorry, but—”

  “Don’t be sorry. This is so much better. You’re from Earth!” Heidi said again, and looked down at the cat. “I have a real Earthling in my house!”

  Toby looked at Azure and a hint of a smile crossed his face, like he thought this was incredibly entertaining.

  “You’re not mad? You’re not going to turn me in?” Azure asked.

  “Hell, no! I’m going to pick your brain about all things Earth. You know that we only get information from sources in the black market. Advertisements, old books, magazines. Asking someone from Earth is so much better. You have to teach me all about your ways,” Heidi said.

  It all m
ade sense now. That was why the fashions were so strange and things seemed off. The humans in Terran were using old resources to imitate Earth, but they had obviously missed things in translation.

  “I absolutely will, but first I’ve got to put on some clothes,” Azure said, closing the bathroom door.

  Chapter Thirty

  Azure didn’t think going to the Harvest Celebration was a great idea, but how else was she going to fuel her human magic? She knew it was likely that the Duke of Terran had security looking for her, but he didn’t know that she was in Terran. They’d met in the forest. Actually, he probably thought she’d run as far from Terran as possible. That was what most witches would have done. No one would voluntarily invade the borders of this strange society, except someone who had everything to lose if she didn’t.

  Heidi was waiting for Azure with eager eyes when she exited the bathroom, her skinny jeans and see-through tank fresh and clean.

  “First things first. On Earth, have you been to Los Angeles? That’s supposed to be the entertainment capital, from what I’ve heard,” she asked, speaking rapidly.

  “I have,” Azure confirmed, glad she didn’t have to lie…yet.

  “Wow! Tell me all about it! What’s your favorite part? I hear that the movie stars live there, people like Marilyn Monroe and Abraham Lincoln,” Heidi gushed.

  Azure wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into. Not only was she hiding the fact that she was a witch, but she was now impersonating an Earthling. The only thing that made her feel better was that her intuition told her the people of Terran really didn’t know much about Earth and Heidi wouldn’t know if she was lying. “Well, the shopping is great. You can buy anything you want at the mall. Traffic absolutely sucks. And there are theme parks, like this place called the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”

  Heidi’s bright eyes suddenly dulled. “Oh, a theme park devoted to wizards and witches? That sounds like a horrible place. Why would humans build something like that?”