Chapter 5 #2
The last book that soars through my store almost takes me to the ground. It’s massive and hums with the pure sweetness that could only be from a book of Creation. It gently cracks open, its pages fluttering like a newly hatched butterfly’s wings.
There it is. An antidote.
A shivered breath rocks me. “Thank you.”
I take the book with me. I don’t have much time.
Not sparing Jinx a look, I march over to my partially destroyed potion cabinet.
I grab my mortar and pestle of pure olive wood, perfectly smooth on the inside from years of use.
I pour dried herbs, whispering gentle words of healing and light as I go.
My magic teases a comb of honey from its sticky jar and plops it in.
I add heat with my crackling fingertips to melt the wax as I grind.
My poorly healed arm burns, but I cannot stop; every time I do, I glance at Lucas’ barely moving chest and grind harder until finally a paste forms. Jinx watches with large blue eyes as I pour the concoction into my mouth.
I spin around and press my palm flat over Lucas’ heart. His stubbornness is probably the only reason I can feel a small, slow beat. The horrific possibilities of failure nearly have me crumbling again, but I shove it away. I cannot lose him. I will not lose him.
I pour my magic into his chest and get to work.
I suck each puncture, the concoction coating my mouth in a perfect seal.
I spit acid green slime on the ground, the wood sizzling angrily.
Over and over, I fill my mouth with the acrid venom and blood.
My magic pulses, forcing his heart to beat, forcing it to assist in pushing the venom from his body.
Pulse and squeeze. I gag, stumbling, but I go again. Pulse and squeeze. The spit-out is becoming less green. Pulse and squeeze. Now dilute blood. So close. Pulse and squeeze.
Finally, my spit is red blood and the floor is silent when it splatters. Gasping air into my lungs, the sealant potion dissolves and drips from my open mouth. I did it. I actually did it.
Then I vomit.
The concoction kept me safe from the venom, but it didn’t mask the taste. Sick splashes against my shoes until I’m dry heaving. With a trembling hand, I wipe my mouth and straighten.
Jinx stares at me from across the table. “Is he saved?”
I struggle to catch my breath. My sick took the rest of the replenishing potion with it and exhaustion hits me hard as I lean my hip against the table.
“No, but I bought us more time.” I summon the book of Creation, scanning the antivenom formula. “I’m missing an ingredient. I’ll have to go collect it.”
Jinx’s eyes flare. “You’re going to leave Peripetia?”
Fear grips my heart and I meet Jinx’s wide gaze. My lips thin. The moment I leave the protection of my wards, I’ll be exposed. And traceable to every weaver.
Then there’s the darkness.
My skin ripples as another wave of sickness hits me. I wet my dry lips, shoving back some of the loose hair that’s stuck to my sweaty skin. “I don’t have a choice.” My breath shivers. “I need unicorn hair.”
Jinx’s breath hisses through her sharp teeth. “If you buy it within the city, you’d have to gain the Guild’s permission first, which means asking Dimitar personally.”
I mentally scream at the unfairness of it.
There is no fucking way the Amur is going to just let me buy a hair.
No, Dimitar will want to know why. My eyes slide to Lucas’ bare chest where a scar sits hidden beneath a glamour.
It was a nasty wound from clavicle to hipbone that nearly gutted him.
Lucas never spoke of it and I never asked, but I knew.
It wasn’t a coincidence that he showed up half dead on my doorstep the same day he left the Amur Guild.
No one leaves the Guild.
I’ve healed all his curse scars from years of thieving for the Amur, silently smoothing them out to nothing. Lucas didn’t ask why. His eyes had been so dull, a bottle of whisky dangling in his limp hand. But the scar across his chest wouldn’t leave, so I hid it.
Then I offered Lucas a partnership. The Orderless weaver and the Guildless magician. We were the logical pair.
I place my hand on Lucas’ sternum, remembering how it looked cracked open.
My eyes burn. I run my hand down his stomach as if I can hold back the memory of his spilling guts.
“We can’t risk Dimitar discovering what’s happened.
He’d use it against Lucas somehow. If not to celebrate his slow death, then to try to capture Lucas in his weakened state.
There’s no way we could protect him against the Guild as I currently am.
We need time to replenish our power reserve. ”
Which will take days of rest, something I don’t have the luxury for.
Even if Lucas manages to hold out while I recover, there’s the issue of the tithe.
I need to get Lucas well enough to stand beside me when the Guild comes to collect.
It’s a term of the agreement I have with the Amur.
Lucas must always be there when Dimitar arrives.
Jinx eyes Lucas’ chest as well, like she too is remembering how he barely escaped the Amur’s claws before. “What about Nora? Surely Estrella Apothecary has a secret stash of hairs.”
My lips thin. “I don’t think I could ask Nora such a thing. If Dimitar found out she went behind his back for us, the Guild burning down her apothecary would be the least of her worries.”
Jinx murmurs, “You can’t go to a disreputable supplier. Not for unicorn hair.”
I nod in agreement. Unicorns are powerful and must be willing to grant their hair. That means I need someone’s pasture prince or princess to shed. A hair from a shorn or dead unicorn will kill Lucas immediately. I need a full strand from a quality supplier.
I straighten, my hands slipping off Lucas’ cold body. Slowly, I reach into my back pocket and pull out Valen’s calling card, Aunt Vi’s letter coming with it. I slowly pull them apart, the Bauer crest glinting in the light.
Jinx hisses and reveals her eavesdropping. “Why do you still have his card? Burn it.”
I flip the card in my hand to eye the communication rune. My heart races. Jinx’s patchy fur flattens. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Valen was obsessed with the healing arts. The Bauers’ estate has an overflowing medical ward with every sort of ingredient imaginable.” My breath quickens, hope making me light. “Jinx. It’s genius. I’ll convince Valen to give a hair to me.”
Jinx’s lipless mouth curls to reveal sharp teeth. “And how will you convince him to do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. I’ll fuck him senseless if need be.”
Jinx snorts. “Idiot.”
“I was joking. Obviously.” Unless he’s on board for that plan, then win–win for me.
“Think, Tori. What if Vincentius is there? Or Rossana? Or his vicious sister?”
I go cold, my throat working. “I’ll have Valen meet me in Monument Park. It’s neutral ground along the border.”
Jinx shakes her head. “I don’t like it. Playing with the Bauers is like playing with fire. They are possessive and overly protective of what they see as theirs. Valen is more likely to take the opportunity to eliminate a potential romantic rival than to assist.”
My voice scratches. “But what choice do we have? It’s the Amur or Valen. Which is worse?”
Jinx’s silence says it all. She turns away to gaze down at Lucas. A clawed hand gently settles upon Lucas’ forehead and she strokes his hair. Her long fingers tremble. The sight breaks my heart and my breath hitches.
My voice cracks. “I can’t lose him, Jinx.”
“I know.” Jinx’s slitted blue eyes meet mine and she wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I squeeze my eyes closed, tears escaping to dampen her inky black fur. She continues, “You won’t lose him, because you will not fail. Now, tell me. What did Viola say?”
I sniffle, hastily wiping my eyes and I pull back. “I don’t know. She hid her message under a fake. I didn’t have time to tease apart the enchantment before Lucas came in.”
I smooth out the letter, thumb sliding over the familiar writing.
My eyes glow again as the thread glints at me.
I shake out my still-aching right hand in hopes that it stops any hint of trembling and snatch at the thread.
My throat tightens, teeth touching as frustration tries to rush me, but I refuse to allow it.
It’s such a delicate enchantment. I won’t risk breaking it.
Finally, the thread comes free and two glittering words form in looping cursive writing along it.
“He knows.”