Chapter 12
Norrell
“Let’s make this quick, team. Ada’s health is on the line,” Niven instructs the room as we ready ourselves.
Ada convinced Niven to move forward with questioning the fae.
He and his team agreed, albeit reluctantly, that this opportunity is too valuable to pass up.
I think they could have come up with something else, keeping her from suffering further.
But since it is not my decision, I will do all I can to help Niven keep this session as short as possible.
The fae shrieks an unearthly racket as one of Niven’s team releases it from containment. Even though we heard it before, the unpleasant screeching grinds excruciatingly in our ears.
The fae has been kept in an enchanted lockup that forces it into unconsciousness.
Powerful wards surround the containment unit as well as the room, preventing any chance it could break free.
Though these efforts still cannot stop the damage it does to Ada while it is uncaged.
The fae magick is twined within her. She is in the healers’ safe hands right now as we interrogate it for a second time.
Upon its initial release, the fae seems lethargic, though still ear-splittingly cacophonous in its altered state.
Slowly it will fully regain consciousness.
My senses are alert, feeling for the intensification of its magick.
It is not nearly strong enough yet to strike out at us, but I never let down my guard.
That is one of the first lessons taught to hunters in my clan, especially around the fae.
A young female witch from Ada’s clan, Darla Rallis, asked to join us today.
Niven told me she is a Seer who has visions of the future.
One of them brought Ada’s human friend Cara here last month, who the fae set its sights on.
Darla’s magickal talent is rare, much like Niven’s.
Unfortunately, she did not see the fae’s involvement.
Niven told me she feels tremendous guilt, and so she is here to help however she can.
I sympathize with her. She stands silently in a corner, her amber eyes glued to the fae.
The fae’s swirling yellow eyes grow steadily brighter.
When its power draws to the fore, spiking alarmingly in strength, I swiftly absorb the magick into the clear crystal attached to my bracelet, rendering the fae’s fight impotent.
The explosive screeching starts up again in anger.
Its shadowy mass is like a black hole, destructive and hungry.
I cannot begin to fathom what this creature would look like in its own realm.
It bucks against the magick holding it, trying to break free.
The wards remain strong against the fae’s weakened onslaught.
The fae’s incorporeal nature helps it shapeshift, but it also allows the ward to keep it small while Niven interrogates it.
According to the witches who were at Ada’s that night, it had ballooned nearly as big as the carriage house before they weakened it enough to place the first of these wards around it.
Maintaining my concentration on the fae’s surges of magickal energy, I siphon an incredible amount from it. Far more than I would believe possible with all the wards containing it. I nod at Niven letting him know he can begin and then return my focus onto the fae once more.
Niven stands a few feet in front of the fae, studying its wispy, undulating shape, taking measure of it and determining where best to focus his abilities.
At last, he draws himself up, and stares straight into those yellow orbs.
Niven’s eyes darken, his pupils expanding wide as he locks into the fae’s consciousness and infiltrating its mind.
As he does so, the orbs seem to lock in place and nearly solidify.
Niven and the fae look almost equally possessed.
“What spells did you use when you touched Ada Mayweather?” Niven begins.
“Powerful ones that have no translation into a language you can understand. Her magick had so much flavor, so much complexity with its ancient pedigree. It was delicious knowing I was the last to taste it. But she is just a witch and no match for me. Her ethereal spark was so easy to dim under my power. Once I tainted it with my magick, it was mine for the taking. And I will keep taking it. Until nothing of her is left,” the fae responds, nimbly avoiding the answer Niven seeks.
Fire of the frost, the fae’s voice is unsettling, like dozens of individual voices speaking in unison.
Sometimes one will come through louder than the rest. Only the blue hag of winter knows why.
Niven’s team didn’t find a pattern for it during our first session with it.
Cara and Ada heard only one, the same deranged sounding, higher pitched masculine voice.
Mayhap it alters the tone to strike the greatest amount of fear in its opponents.
Undeterred, Niven continues his questioning. “How are you taking Ada’s magick?”
The fae laughs maniacally, a mid-range masculine sounding voice taking lead. “You misunderstand, witch. I do not take her magick. Her magick may be the only reason she still walks this realm and I have not claimed all her ethereal spark as my own.”
Niven’s brows knit in concern, as he guides his own magick to further seek the truth from the fae. “You’re taking her ethereal spark?”
“Yes, her ethereal spark among the realms in this universe. You measly little witches refer to it as life force because you could never understand the realms like I do. There is so much hidden from feeble minds like yours. They are vast and infinite,” the fae responds, sounding smug.
“I feel her, little by little strengthening me, settling into me. Do not think to get rid of me, witch. I knew exactly what I was doing, tying her ethereal spark to mine. It was so easy to do when her coven created a convenient distraction. You will kill your precious Ada along with me, if you dare try. When my ethereal spark dims and sends me into the next realm, so does hers even if I have not yet taken full possession of it. It is obvious what she means to you. Such a pity you find yourself in this predicament.”
That malicious threat alone tempts me to test its assertion. But instead, I steadily redirect its magick as it swells, even if the fae is trying to bait us into losing control. Niven still needs to get us answers on what it is doing to her. It is nothing I have ever heard of.
“Are you able to absorb anyone’s ethereal spark?” Niven’s tone grows even chillier as he determines the extent of the fae’s power.
“Only on Samhain. The first burst of her ethereal spark that night was enough to sustain me for decades, I was almost drunk on the potency of it, like divine ambrosia. The rest is mine to take. It is what she deserves for interfering that night. The little bird should have burned in her nest. Now the witch will give me what I am owed.” The fae’s voice rises to almost a shout, with two or three feminine voices loudest among the chorus.
Niven seems to assess the fae after that outburst, his jaw clenching in anger.
“What would sever her ethereal spark from yours?” Niven asks carefully.
“Not so clever, are you witch? A counter-spell, of course. But I do not know how, and so I cannot tell you. I only take lives. I do not give them back. Extinguishing the Mayweather line will be so delectable,” it taunts in a booming low voice offset by a piercingly high pitched one.
“How long will Ada survive your spell?”
“She may have years, but she will surely fade until then, down to nothing. I wish I could see it myself, all her suffering. But oh how I feel it the more I take,” the fae intones melodiously, shifting into a child’s voice.
It giggles, as if it plays a silly game.
Mayhap it is, to the fae. It is a disturbing dichotomy that will sear into my memory forever.
Niven looks as unsettled as I feel. The fae messes with us despite his best attempts to control it. But every word that leaves its mouth is the truth, as bad as it may be.
“What can we do to slow the process of her decline?” Niven questions through gritted teeth.
“Slowing it down will just make it more painful for everyone. Better to let me have her now. But if you insist, only the comforts of a good life will help stave off the effects. Healthy food, quality sleep, high spirits, true love. But that little witch has been left all alone for so long. I could feel it when I finally touched her. She will be mine soon enough,” it threatens, the full chorus of voices returning.
It aims its jab at me, even if unknowingly, striking at my very soul. I cannot suppress a growl escaping from deep in my throat. I will do everything I can to save Ada from this despicable creature.
“Looks like I chose wisely with that witch. How lucky was I to pick the right one? She all but handed herself over to me. Her death will be sweet as can be,” the fae sings in a strange little tune.
Niven gestures to his assistants to strengthen the wards around the fae and encase it again in its containment.
I gradually slow my pull of the fae’s magick until it is fully warded again.
Niven’s face falls as he turns to me. He shakes his head in frustration and gestures for me and Darla to join him outside the room.
His entire body shudders. “That felt awful, abhorrent, like an oiliness in my mind I want to wash off. The fae tests my magick. It was a challenge to force any truth from it. Its mind is twisted, beyond anyone I’ve ever encountered before.
Fae are not of this realm, of this I’ve never been more certain. ”
“We need your coven to research magick that can stop the fae from taking her ethereal spark, whatever the fae called it. We need to remove whatever connection the fae established between them,” I snarl. “And then it needs to die.”