Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
Sarah’s bone rested in a small plastic baggie in my jacket pocket. If I hadn’t had creepier things in my pockets, I might have been bothered.
My bag was full of travel potions and snacks, and I had several pages of my notebook jotted with ideas on where I thought my mother could be.
She wanted me to come to her, so I should be able to find her.
I sat on the rooftop across from Mom’s destroyed shop.
The explosion was pretty impressive, along with the magic used to keep the blast contained to only her store.
Once darkness fell, maybe half an hour away, I planned to go through all the rubble to see if there was anything left behind that might help me.
People gave the place a wide berth, as if they could sense something wasn’t quite right with it.
I could feel the darkness all the way on the rooftop.
The spell Mom had infected Marie with was one I’d never seen before.
Most silence spells only prevented someone from speaking.
Mom’s was meant to silence someone and anyone in their vicinity for good.
Except we’d caught it and sent it back. We’d disrupted her financials, but I had no doubt Mom had other lines of money. Paranormals as old as we were kept money squirreled away everywhere.
I pulled a protein granola bar from my bag and unwrapped it.
I’d tried a new recipe this morning—a honey vanilla flavor with peanut butter made with a grass-fed protein.
Powders were hit or miss for me, but I needed the fuel.
Even if it tasted bad, it would still give me the energy I needed in case I needed to pull on my magic tonight.
The first bite went down okay. The texture was a little weird and I didn’t add enough peanut butter, but it was edible and that was all that mattered.
“Hey,” a voice said beside me.
I jerked, the protein bar flying through the air.
Ari snatched the bar before it sailed off the roof and took a bite.
She chewed a bit and grunted. “Decent. First try?”
“Yup.”
“Less protein powder and more peanut butter and honey next time.”
I dug in my purse and handed her one.
“You waiting for the sun to go down?”
“Yup.” I took another bite and chewed.
“Think there’s anything in there worth finding?”
“I don’t know anything these days.”
Ari snorted and unwrapped her bar. “Last night was fun. And no hangover. That stuff you gave me is magic in a bottle.”
“Literally,” I said.
“But it does take away from the genuine experience.”
“You want to spend the night making poor decisions and vomiting up your dinner?”
“Poor decisions are pretty fun.”
I laughed. “I like you, Ari. I’m glad we met.”
She perked up. “Yeah?”
I nudged her with my elbow. “Yeah. But I still think you should go grab Locke by his face and kiss him into oblivion.”
“I’d prefer punching him into oblivion.”
I knew the feeling. “Just kiss him first, and he might not mind.”
And just like that, the streetlights came on, washing the streets in a golden glow. People loaded their cars up and drove away. Tourists meandered back to their hotels and quiet slowly settled over the town.
Ari slowly came to standing. “Ready?” she whispered.
“Quiet as a mouse. In and out as fast as we can.”
“I’m fae. We’re already quiet.”
We jumped off the roof, landing on silent feet.
As soon as we stepped into the ruins of Mom’s shop, I felt her magic.
Ari grimaced. “Your mom is into real dark shit,” she muttered.
I stifled a shiver and stepped over a tipped-over shelf, blackened by fire. Glass crunched under our feet, broken crystals and trinkets glittering in the moonlight.
Being inside wasn’t exactly safe, but we’d both survive a roof collapse. Finding anything out about Mom’s plans was far more important.
“You want to take the back?” Ari whispered. “I’ll look around the front and shout if I see anything.”
I nodded and walked through a burned-out doorway.
The smell of herbs was much heavier in this room.
An undamaged stainless-steel table stood in the middle of the room, herbs strewn across its surface.
I hesitated, sensing some kind of barrier, and put my hand up, reaching forward to touch the space.
My palm met resistance.
“Ari,” I hissed.
The fae appeared almost instantly, recoiling at the sight of the table. “She put up a ward.” Ari clicked her tongue. “Makes sense.” She leaned forward and skimmed the labels on the undamaged jars on top of the shelves attached to the walls. “She’s got some expensive spell ingredients in here.”
Our eyes met. “Herbs she’ll be back for,” Ari murmured.
She chewed on the side of her lips. “If I take the ward down, she’ll know. How about we finish our sweep first, then come back here and take the ward down? If she shows up, maybe we can finish this thing for good.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll need you to stand down and wait until you know I’m losing. I might need the element of surprise. Mom is tricky on a good day.”
Ari’s brows flicked up. “You sound like you know you’ll be losing.”
“I’m thinking about throwing the fight.”
Her eyes widened. “Moira. No. You don’t know what she’s planning for you. What if you can’t escape?”
“That’s why I need you to stay hidden. Follow us if you can.”
Ari shook her head. “This is a terrible idea.”
“Then let’s hope Mom doesn’t show up.”
We went through the entire store and didn’t find a single thing other than normal spell supplies and tourist tchotchkes. Even her office records were on the up and up, which told me this was a front.
“She has somewhere else she goes to do the worst of her work.”
“Could be behind those wards,” Ari mused. She stepped closer, her eyes glinting silver as her magic rose.
I frowned. “It’s a spelling table and a bunch of herbs. There’s no way she cast that resurrection spell here.”
Ari shrugged, her expression sober. “You’d be surprised what can hide behind a ward, Moira.”
She raised her hand. “Prepare yourself.”
I gave her a sharp look. “What? What do you sense?”
“Something dark.”
A flash of silver speared from Ari’s hand into the ward, coating the area in a molten silver glow.
As soon as the wards fell, a foul odor rose in the air.
I gagged, the scent permeating everything in the room.
“Gods,” Ari croaked, covering her mouth with a delicate hand.
Death smelled a certain way. Difficult to describe, both pungent and sweet, and if you smelled it once, you never forgot the experience.
A rotting body lay on the table, the only thing recognizable about it, a sheet of pale dark hair.
I took several steps back. “We found Mom’s sacrifice.”
Ari’s eyes were wide with horror. “What did she do?”
Strange glowing symbols were etched into every piece of the corpse’s visible skin. I’d never seen them before. “This is where she cast the spell to bring Sarah back, and this woman’s life force was the catalyst.”
Ari stepped forward and crouched, peering closely at the symbols. “I’ve never seen these before. Maybe it’s some kind of language?”
I pulled out my cell and snapped several pictures, keeping the flash off. The symbols gave off enough light to make the pictures clear. “I’ll take these to Evie to see if she can help identify what these are.”
But Ari was frowning. She held her hand over the body. “This poor woman is still here.”
I stilled. “She’s alive?” Horror rose inside me.
“No. But her soul is still attached.” Ari blinked. “Shit. Do you have a way to reach Cliona?”
I nodded. “Get her. Now.”
Cliona was there a few seconds later. She sucked in a gasp when she saw the body. “Moira,” she barked, “hold on to Ari.”
I grabbed the fae’s arm.
“Meet back at Evie’s.” Cliona’s eyes began to glow. She reached for the body and disappeared.
The ground beneath us rumbled. Ari’s eyes glittered. “Mommy Dearest has arrived,” she sang. “Unfortunately, we won’t be there to greet her.”
She waved her hand, trailing silver sparkles from her fingertips. A moment later, we were gone.
“What the hell is this?” Evie shrieked, waving her hands like a madwoman. “Is she DEAD? And why does she smell so bad?”
Rowan stood behind her, his strange new eyes glowing in multiple colors. “Cliona,” he said in a measured tone. “Why exactly did you bring a glowing corpse into my Keep?”
The goddess straightened. “This,” she said, gesturing at the body, “is an active spell.”
Evie blinked. “That’s even worse, right? It’s bad enough you brought a corpse here, but the last corpse with an active spell was a bomb.”
I winced.
“Relax,” Cliona said. “She’s no bomb.” Cliona’s lips twisted. “She’s actually something worse.”
Rowan let out a bark of laughter.
“Mom!” Evie’s eyes began to glow. “Explain yourself!”
“This woman is the link to Sarah. As long as this spell is active, we have two things. First, is a way to keep tabs on Sarah. Second, is the ability to track your mother.”
Realization struck me. “This is why her soul is still there. She’s feeding Sarah’s life force.”
Ari closed her eyes. “I’m glad I didn’t sever the thread. Sarah would have dropped like a puppet with her strings cut.”
“But she wouldn’t have died,” Mom added. “She would have been a living, breathing automaton, not a single original thought in her head.”
“Would Ethan notice?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Cliona said. “Sarah could still hold conversations, but she won’t ever start one. She can answer questions, but won’t perform any basic actions needed to survive, like eating or bathing.”
“Would she starve to death?” Ari asked.
“No,” Cliona said. “I’m inclined to believe Sarah is neither living nor dead. She’s something like a ghoul right now. But if the spell powering Sarah’s life force breaks, Sarah will revert into something like an unrotting zombie.”
“Gross,” Ari said unhelpfully.
“Nothing is proving easy with this one,” I muttered.
Cliona smiled. “But there’s good news. Great news, if you’re inclined to overlook the corpse sitting in your front yard—”
“I am not,” Rowan growled.
“Your mother no longer has the body, which means she no longer has control of her spell.” Cliona’s grin widened, the sight of it a touch maniacal. “We now have the upper hand.”
The wards boomed like a thunderclap, sending a ricochet of magic spiraling through the Keep. Evie snarled and spun, her long dark hair flowing behind her.
My mother stood at the edge of the Emberwood wards, dark magic flowing around her like smoke.