Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“Cherry Boy,” the figure in the blood repeated endlessly.
Stop. Calling. Me. That.
After the stars knew how long, the blood began to fade. Slowly, the real world crept back in—flickering light, darkness at its edges, the smells of dampness followed by a cloying heat on my skin.
Piece by piece, a tunnel came into view, dirty tiles, a London underground sign.
Station. I was inside a station, smelling of spicy earth.
“Miko?”
I blinked away the last of the haziness, able to take in my surroundings.
An army of candles burned on either side of me, my backside perched on a plastic chair facing the rail pit. Not tied or bound to it, no weapons on me, wearing my indoor clothes.
A toe poked out of my left sock.
Great.
I read the sign aloud. “Camden Town.”
“Very good, Cherry Boy.”
I jumped up, spinning to find the source of the creepy voice.
A bald woman was standing a good ten feet away, waving a gnarled hand at me. She was dressed in red robes, holding a knife.
“You!” I spat. “You did something to me.”
“I did, Cherry Boy.”
Now I could speak, I asked impolitely for the blood magi not to call me that name.
She laughed.
Ugh. “Who are you?”
“Have a seat.”
“Answer my question.”
“Look under your feet.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“So much chaos in your cherry head.”
I was more enraged than afraid in that moment. “Where’s Miko?”
“Look under your feet.”
My eyes flicked down.
“Oh.” I collapsed back onto the chair, almost toppling to the side.
A mark of the oracle sat under my feet.
Camden. Miko’s hunch had been correct.
“There it is,” the blood magi said.
I stared at the blue eye-shaped symbol. “Where’s Miko? I know he’s here.”
“He carried you here, but he’s busy now.”
Carried me? He…he did this? He was working with her? Oh, crap. Had I… Oh, no. Had I bonded to a liar, a traitor to his pack, his one goal all along to get me to a mark? Did everything that’d happened between us mean nothing? The softness he displayed, the kissing, the sex? Had it all been fake?
No. That couldn’t be right. How could you fake a bonding?
Unless a blood magi could…
I swallowed, full of dread. “Why?”
“That’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“I think it is.”
She swayed from side to side. “You’re mine, Cherry Boy.
Your blood…” She wiped drool from her chin, making sucking noises as if slurping down spaghetti.
“Your blood is exquisite, so flavorful, so rich. It’s been so long since I’ve had the pleasure of fae blood.
And here you are.” She drew a needlepoint dagger.
“Mine. But first we must please the alpha.”
Miko. He’d lied and betrayed me and—
“Lance can be a tenacious man. Your blood is too precious to be wasted on such a folly, but he wants to be sure.”
Lance. Not Miko. Of course. Why would I even think of Miko as a bad guy?
You scared me there, Mr. Robot…
“Where is Miko?” I asked as she crept closer to me.
“With Lance. None of your business.”
“Miko is my business.”
“Not anymore. You are my business. We share business. My magic, your blood. Cherries for me. I can make you feel good, send you to the highest of highs. But if you resist me, I’ll plunge you into the coldest depths. Work with me, be my fountain of cherries, and we can be happy.”
That was enough for me to move. Well, try to move. My body froze, pushed back in the chair. The blood magi was in control of my body.
Explained the lack of rope and chains.
The magi wrapped her cold fingers around my wrist. “So smooth.” She lifted my hand, kissing my knuckles with stained lips.
I couldn’t even wince, the magic robbing me of everything.
She pricked my middle finger with the tip of the blade, positioning it so the droplets fell onto the mark.
“Oh my!” she cried. “Oh my! The smell. The smell. The smell. I must taste. I must have—”
My head snapped back, a burst of light behind my eyes.
Flying.
Searching.
Crossing the city.
Searching.
Flying across the rooftops to the awakening.
The oracle wakes…
They are…
They…
He…
He…
He is within the body of violet.
“Trev…” I whispered. “Trev is…”
For a brief moment, I shared his head, the revelation of his true self reaching him at the same time.
“What the fuck?” he said.
Waking up…
“I’m…”
Distant voices.
“Fuck. I’m… I’m the oracle.”
I snapped out of his head, back to the tube station.
My blood had done it. Found the oracle. The sensation fizzled away, feeling very much like a one-time thing achieved through my blood. There were no extra powers of seeing suddenly available to me.
Trev. All this time he’d been there, dormant. Pixie balls! Now what did we do?
My stomach rolled. I needed a lie down to let this information settle.
There went my wishful thinking again.
Miko’s dreams were about me finding the oracle after all, not bonding with him. Right? But what about the golden spark? Where was it? That still made no sense.
I was still trapped by blood magic. The magi sat on her knees before me, sucking on my pricked finger. My instincts were too cold to respond with any horror. I could only watch as she sucked and moaned with her eyes closed.
Get off me! Thinking anger at her was still available.
Stars. Stars. Stars.
She showed no signs of stopping, ignoring the pulsating glow of the mark beneath her.
“Cherries…” She mumbled around my finger.
GET OFF ME!
She opened one eye as if she heard me. Watched me as she sucked and sucked and sucked. Drunk on my blood.
Where was Lance to stop her when you needed him?
Movement on the tracks. A stalking shadow, silent and quick.
The blood magi closed her eye, moaning more.
The shadow climbed onto the platform, crouched at its edge, face hidden in the darkness beyond the candlelight.
My heart beat like a thousand drums.
The magi popped my finger from her mouth. “Oh, Cherry Boy. You taste so good. I need more. So much more.” She stood, the blade glinting in the light. “I will cut and drink deeply. Are you ready for pleasure? Will you let me play with you?”
The shadowy figure leaped at her, grabbing her by the neck and twisting, the snap a sickening crack. She collapsed, landing on the candles, her robes ignited within seconds.
The blood magic left my system.
I gasped on air, hunching forward. “Stars…” My chest hurt, aching as if infected.
The fire began to grow, engulfing the magi’s body.
A hand was on my shoulder. “Come, fae. We must leave this place.”
I lifted my head to a familiar voice. “Is that you?”
“It is me, Orion.”
Daria the vampire smiled down at me. “Hello, again.”
“He—”
“I have a message for the first son of the blood.”
It wasn’t the vampire who spoke, but the troll newly appeared on the platform.
“Trev?”
His eyes blazed white, staring ahead. “I have a message for the first son of the blood.”