Chapter 9 #2
“You don’t say.” Mother nodded along, with less enthusiasm. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Well, we can’t find ways for people to bleed acid every week, can we, dear?”
My eyes widened. “You can make people bleed acid?”
Mother bent over and ruffled my hair. “Don’t you worry about that now. Apparently that’s nothing when compared to ridding us of invasive earwax.”
I nodded seriously. “The sirens will be glad for Dad’s potion.”
Mother blinked. “The sirens will …” She threw back her head and laughed, the sort of deep witch laugh that sent human children scurrying.
I grinned at the hearty sound as she wiped tears from her eyes.
“Do you hear that, darling?” she called back to Father.
“You’ve done the sirens quite a service today. ”
I awoke with a start, but smiling as the memories that had populated my dreams lingered.
Even as they faded like smoke, they wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
I yawned. The light in the room was already bright.
I’d slept in. It was rare that I had the luxury.
There were always herbs to gather or exotic plants to track down.
The sound of a hacking cough made me blink, as I realized that was what had awakened me.
I sat up quickly, blinking away sleep, to watch Narcissa cough up a black blob of fur, coated in saliva, onto the foot of the bed. “Narcissa,” I groaned, pushing the comforter aside. “Are you feeling …” I took in the four other balls of black fur.
Therese croaked from my nightstand. “Good morning, Mr. Witch,” she said brightly. “I’m sorry to say that Narcissa seems rather under the weather right now. But I think it’s my fault. I wouldn’t feel well if I licked me either.”
Eyes narrowed, I stood and loomed over Narcissa. “You were contemplating eating Therese, were you?” I gestured to the furballs. “Multiple times?”
Narcissa slumped as she finished spitting up the latest ball of fur. “It’s hardly my fault. It’s past noon and I haven’t had my breakfast. You’re all trying to starve me!”
“Are you all right, Therese?”
Therese hopped onto my lap. “She wasn’t really going to eat me, Mr. Witch. She was teasing. Like a game.”
I grunted, not believing her framing of events in the slightest. If Narcissa hadn’t thought about eating Therese, there would be no furballs. I pointed a finger at Narcissa. “Bad kitty. You’re getting what you deserve. We do not eat friends.”
“Friends?” Therese squealed. “Are we all friends? I’ve never had a proper friend before.”
“You don’t say. I can’t imagine why.”
“Is it only because I’m a frog though? You don’t like humans much. But you do seem to like animals.”
“That’s because animals are innocent creatures driven by instinct. Humans are capable of complex thought and make the clear decision to be cruel.” I gestured to Narcissa. “Cats just eat small creatures when they’re hungry. Their hunting instinct kicks in.”
“I am a very complex thinker,” Narcissa protested. “I made a very purposeful decision to chew up those horrid orchids you brought inside.”
I frowned. “Oh, Narcissa. That is cruel.”
“But it’s only my nature. Just like breaking every single coffee mug you leave on the counter. It’s very entertaining to watch them fall and shatter.”
I put a hand to my face. Narcissa was trying to get a reaction out of me, but it wouldn’t work. While a cat’s actions could seem cruel, it mostly stemmed from boredom, curiosity, or asserting themselves. Narcissa just liked to assert herself more than others. The brat.
“So happy to keep you entertained,” I said tightly.
“Also, those orchids smelled dreadful,” Narcissa continued, sitting primly, tail swishing behind her. “You humanoids have such dull senses of smell that you couldn’t discern it. I was saving the shop from being positively overrun by the stench.”
“Then you have my eternal gratitude.”
“I thought they smelled nice,” Therese said, unsure.
“Now, can we please have breakfast?” Narcissa pleaded with wide eyes. “The odor of unborn chickens has been teasing me for a long while now.” She paused. “That was why I was drawn to that girl, you know. The whole room smelled of food. It’s your fault for remaining unconscious for so long.”
I rolled my eyes, quickly getting dressed before leaving the room. Narcissa didn’t wait for me. She slipped out between my feet and sprinted downstairs. I clucked my tongue and retrieved Therese before heading to the kitchen in the feline’s wake.
Lexi had an apron on, flour smeared across her forehead.
She placed a plate of scones onto the counter.
She grinned when I strode in and immediately set a plate of sausages on the floor, which Narcissa made a beeline for.
“You’re all sleeping in today,” Lexi commented, wiping her hands.
She gestured back at Freya, who was wolfing down toast dripping with eggs.
“Except for your new friend. She’s eaten enough for all of you. ”
Freya paused in her chewing as she noticed us watching her. She swallowed, then set down her toast, thumping her chest. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been able to choose what I eat. Under Ambrosia’s thrall, I was rarely given more than gruel or raw meat.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That must have been awful. But what about when she slept? Weren’t you free of her influence then? Or were you locked up?”
Freya sighed. “As soon as she fell asleep, I was locked in place until she awoke. I learned quickly to get comfortable for the night when she lay down.”
“Did she do that to you?” Lexi asked, gesturing to Freya’s extra arms.
“No. After the War of the Covens, I was missing many parts of myself, but I could not die because of the rune I branded myself with. My vital organs would grow back no matter what. Believe it or not, the humans can work their own type of magic. They observe the natural world, create theories, and perform experiments. I am the result of such an experiment. Their prayer magic is powerful when it activates their spells. Whether the words for those prayers come to them in dreams from God or not, I don’t know.
The dead language I use to create my runes comes from somewhere.
Perhaps the same place. That doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful because I don’t know its exact origins. ”
“I suppose even Neanderthals figured out how to create fire,” I muttered. Then I remembered that Auggie was one such human. “Doesn’t the Council frown upon alchemy?”
Freya set down her fork. “Oh, very much so.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “And … ?”
“And the Council wasn’t moving fast enough to help me, so I turned to another source.”
“That seems like a conflict of interest.”
“Perhaps if I was on the Council, but I am not. And missing most of your face makes you lose sight of … obligation.”
Lexi’s face turned thoughtful. “Well, your body seems alive to me, even if it wasn’t all originally a part of you. That’s despite the green coloring. Ambrosia’s powers must be able to tap into anything that has once been dead.”
“She can control vampires as well,” Freya acknowledged.
I scooped some eggs onto a plate and helped myself to some toast. “So, if Ambrosia was able to control the dead across her whole territory with the runes in place, why did she bother to come out with you at all? She got much closer to battle than she needed to.”
“Because she needed me to venture out of her territory to surprise the carriage. She had to be within a half kilometer, so she provided the initial distraction to stop the coach.”
“Ah, yes. Lucky for you, she did.”
Freya inclined her head in agreement.
Xander shuffled into the room, moaning incoherently. It appeared that one of his arms had fallen off and he held it out to Lexi imploringly.
Lexi smiled. “Oh, poor boy. Let me fix that right up for you.” And she went about healing him so that it fit back into his shoulder. He flexed it for her to show that all was well before he walked into the door frame again on his way out of the room.
“You seem to do more for him than he does for you,” I pointed out.
Lexi tittered. “No, no. Xander’s been wonderful. He helped me make the eggs today. He has his own secret recipe. They’re just divine.”
“To die for,” Freya agreed, and her wording left me a little unsettled.
I surveyed my companions. “Auggie is still asleep as well?”
Lexi shrugged. “It’s no wonder with that head injury. The magic likely made him groggy for a while. He’ll need his strength though. Should I take up a plate?”
“I will,” I said, grabbing a breakfast tray. I loaded it with scones, sausages, toast, and a variety of condiments. I skipped the eggs.
Therese leapt onto the plate. “I’ll join you if you don’t mind. I’m still full from that feast of flies last night.”
I frowned. “Just don’t spook him by speaking in front of him. Narcissa, you too. Quiet in front of the human.”
“Such delicate creatures,” Narcissa acknowledged with a shake of the head.
I ascended the stairs to the guest room Auggie had taken and pushed the door open ahead of me. I paused for a moment, wondering if I had the wrong room, for it was empty. Frowning, I stepped inside and set the tray down, looking inside the closet and even under the bed.
“Perhaps he needed to relieve himself outside,” Therese suggested. I felt panic take over.
No, he couldn’t have gone. He hadn’t the strength yet, had he? And why would he go without a word? He’d been keen on joining my party just yesterday.
My eyes fell upon a sheet of paper on the desk. I stomped over and stared down at the words:
Callum,
Thank you for your hospitality. I overheard your conversation about Kingsbury last night, and if you are unwilling to help those poor souls, I feel obliged to do so myself. Please don’t trouble yourself to await my return before continuing on to America.
Wishing you well on your journey,
Augustus