38. Bella with Lucy and Darius
Chapter thirty-eight
Bella with Lucy and Darius
Lucy moves around the cluttered worktable with alarming speed, sweeping jars aside, muttering to herself while crushing dried herbs with a mortar and pestle that looks older than the United States.
“This is going to smell terrible,” she announces.
“That’s reassuring,” I say.
“It should be.”
Charlie sits up and watches her with fascination. I enjoy her energy.
“She once threatened a tax collector with a cursed teapot,” Darius says dryly.
Lucy points at him without looking up.
“He deserved it.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
She crushes another bundle of herbs violently. The entire shop smells sharper now. Pine, smoke, salt, something I don’t recognize. Lucy finally slides four dark glass bottles across the counter toward me.
“This slows Stage One progression in humans,” she says. “Possibly early Stage Two if administered quickly enough.”
I pick one up carefully. The liquid inside swirls faintly silver-black.
“Medically this is?”
“It’s not medically anything,” Lucy replies. “It’s witchcraft. Give them a teaspoon three times daily, Bella. If necessary, you can put it in a hypodermic and inject it.”
“What exactly does it do?” I ask. “I’m giving them a sedative to slow the spread.”
Lucy leans back against the counter.
“Good. Keep that up. This will dampen the pull of the monster.”
Darius watches silently.
“The corruption wants movement,” she continues quietly. “It wants fear. Hunger. Obsession. Isolation. It pushes people toward The Wilds because that’s where the source is strongest. Where it can feed, control, kill, destroy.”
I glance toward the windows instinctively, toward the fog-shrouded woods beyond town.
“And this stops that?”
“Temporarily. In humans.”
There’s the catch. Always a catch. Lucy gestures toward the bottles again.
“Silverleaf slows the spread through the nervous system. Black salt weakens attachment. Bellflower helps suppress the whispers.”
“Bellflower,” I repeat.
Lucy nods.
“The bells on the island weren’t originally warnings.”
“What were they?”
Her expression shifts slightly. “Protection, like silver.”
Darius folds his arms. “I had the bell tower built and started the tradition of the sunset toll to protect humans. Protection from the vampires that came to live here.”
“Yes,” Lucy says coolly. “Your family did many things.”
Interesting. There’s history there. Complicated history. Charlie’s ears twitch. They have old argument energy.
Lucy pulls another large container from beneath the counter, this one wrapped tightly in black cloth.
“This,” she says carefully, “is for the vampires.”
Darius’s gaze sharpens immediately.
“You found something?”
Lucy snorts.
“I found something that might stop one of you from eating us.”
She unwraps the large bundle carefully. She opens the jar and takes out one of the capsules mixed with dried herbs and silver powder.
“Wolfsbane,” Darius says quietly as he inhales.
“And bloodroot,” Lucy replies. “Among other things. You can also put it in some witch hazel and inject it by needle, if needed.”
His jaw tightens slightly.
“That combination is dangerous.”
“Yes. It’s a combination to use when vampires become dangerous and infected and lose control.”
Lucy’s eyes flash toward him.
“And it seems, your people, if I can call them that, might become dangerous this time.”
A heavy silence fills the room for a moment. She softens slightly after a moment. “It should slow the frenzy response temporarily. Reduce scent fixation and addiction.” A pause. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” he says sharply.
“You’re immortal vampires with a supernatural blood plague connected to an ancient forest entity, Darius. I’m improvising.”
I look at Darius and pick up one capsule carefully.
“Side effects?”
Lucy thinks for a moment.
“Probably nausea. Mood instability. Temporary weakness. Give a capsule twice daily if the infection is discovered. Not before, as it would be poison.”
I stare at her. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s better than murder and chaotic frenzy feeding.”
She has a point. Darius takes one of the capsules carefully, studying it.
“You’ve been preparing already.”
“You noticed? Yes.”
Sadness flickers briefly across her face now. “My grandmother kept notes,” she says quietly. “Most of them were destroyed after the last Rising.” Her fingers brush absently against one of the hanging charms near the counter. “I remembered enough.”
“You were here twenty years ago?” I ask carefully.
Lucy laughs once without humor. “Of course. I was younger, about twenty. Stupider. Dramatically underqualified for ancient horror.”
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
The room hears the sadness and honesty in her voice. Even Darius looks at her differently for a moment.
“Don’t get sentimental,” she says immediately. “It’s unattractive on immortals.”
Charlie makes a thoughtful sound. I continue to enjoy this witch.
Lucy points at Charlie proudly. “He understands me.”
I rub my forehead. “This island is exhausting, I must say.”
“You’re adjusting beautifully, Bella,” Lucy says. “You’ve accepted a vampire in your midst, you’re treating an unknown dangerous infection, there is a monster in The Wilds, and now you have met your first witch.”
“Don’t forget ghosts. I met Dr. Mercer.”
Darius steps closer to the worktable.
“Lucy, you said this time is different. What do you mean?”
Lucy’s expression darkens immediately. “Because at least one vampire is infected now. They weren’t before. I think the monster has changed. It always targeted only humans … But the source is stronger,” she adds quietly.
“Can I ask what that means, Lucy?” I say quietly.
Lucy hesitates. Which is the first time I’ve seen her uncertain since we walked in.
“That thing in The Wilds…” She glances toward Darius briefly. “It’s waking faster this time. It wants something more.”
Darius looks worried.
“I think,” Lucy says carefully, “that it’s been waiting.”
Waiting. For what? Or whom? Why? Lucy studies me quietly now, then Darius. Then me again and she closes her eyes.
“Oh my!” she murmurs, eyes flashing open.
“What?”
Lucy folds her arms. “Those dreams are stronger than I thought. The recurring ones you share. You are already … connected. Physically and emotionally.”
Silence crashes into the room. My pulse spikes instantly. Darius says nothing. She knows?
“Well,” she mutters. “That’s profoundly inconvenient.”
Lucy’s eyes settle on mine.
“Bella, the monster noticed both of you long before you noticed each other.” A chill runs through me.
Charlie looks at me. That feels important. And bad.
“Yes,” Lucy says quietly. “It very much is, Charlie.”