Chapter 14 #3
Jealousy has no business roaring within me, but it does anyway, like the Souleater within decided some time ago that Astin’s emotions – such as they are – belonged to her and her alone. ‘Getting Souleatery isn’t going to win Damian back.’
I regret the words immediately. They won’t help me escape this tent unscathed, but that jealous beast won’t stop wriggling and writhing as it imagines Astin beneath her touch.
‘You speak as if you know us.’ She leans forward. ‘You know nothing.’
‘I know he hates Souleaters because he was hexed by one.’
‘Is that what he told you? Hexes needn’t be vexes. Once you find your loophole, you’ll understand.’
Please. Kissing has no loophole, and as far as Damian’s gloves go, he still seems plenty vexed about those. I wonder though, with her talk of keeping him forever, whether that gift came with a price. If she made the gloves, maybe she could also take them away.
But that’s not a problem I can solve for him, not when I have no magic myself, and it’s certainly not one I want to be delving into when I’m alone in a tent with Eira. ‘Okay. Well. I’ll be going now.’
My wrist is in her grip before I can move, and immediately, every hair on my body stands on end. She’s a Souleater, and she’s touching me. One nail slowly, slowly, presses into my skin, and her grip’s too tight for me to pull free –
She drops my arm suddenly, panting. ‘I mustn’t. It’ll ruin everything. If we return to day zero, he’ll never . . .’ Her eyes regain focus. ‘You still haven’t told me what you and Damian spoke about last night. What do you want with him?’
‘Nothing.’ I try to steady my breaths, my mind racing. I really, really need to get out of this tent. Words tumble from my mouth. ‘I mean, it doesn’t matter. I had some questions about finding the cure and –’
‘Cure?’ The word is blade-sharp. She sits up straight. ‘He’s looking for Ozias’s potion?’
Oops.
She will never risk relinquishing her power . . . She’d kill me the moment she found out I continued looking for it.
Oops, oops, oops.
‘He doesn’t want it for you!’ I rush to soothe her. ‘He wants to remove the powers of the Souleater who hexed him. He thinks they’re too powerful to face otherwise.’
She’s gone very, very pale. Darkness creeps along the edges of the tent, and I grip the table as though I expect a hole to open and drag me into its depths.
‘Eira. I swear to you, he said the cure’s not for you. He loves you.’
The darkness halts.
Okay, maybe he didn’t say that last part out loud, but I’m sure it could be true. They broke up on a technicality.
‘He told you that?’ Her voice wavers. ‘He really said that?’
‘Yes.’ I inject as much conviction into the word as I can. ‘And I’m sure once he’s had his revenge on the Souleater who hurt him, he’ll be more willing to admit it to you. Especially with how well you’re doing. You didn’t hurt me just now, did you?’
‘He loves me,’ she says, distracted. I bite down irritation.
This must be how Astin feels when I refuse to talk about budgets because I’ve got a couple to attend to.
‘You tell me he loves me, and yet he’s looking for the potion.
But he wouldn’t risk – no, he’s not looking for the potion.
He asked you to, didn’t he?’ Her head cocks to one side; a bird appraising a worm.
‘How many of you are there? He wouldn’t leave it to you. ’
I try not to be too offended she’s deemed me incapable of winning. ‘Everyone at the party.’
‘All those people. He must be desperate.’ She drums her fingers on the table. Her nails are long, and –
My stomach twists. There’s a speck of red on one of them. Like she recently put those nails inside someone’s body.
‘You will need to unlock the temple, of course. That’s why you’re here. Searching, searching. What help did he give you?’
I’m hovering on my seat now, ready to leap. ‘Something about . . . a statue. In the park. I haven’t found it yet.’
‘It’s inside. You’ll all be inside. All of you at once, together, together, nice and easy . . .’ Her rambles trail off, and her gaze snaps to meet mine, focused once more. Her fingers inch towards my arm again.
Laughter sounds from outside the tent, followed by the thunder of footsteps. I launch to my feet, knocking my stool over and opening my mouth to scream for help. If Eira doesn’t want Damian to know she’s here, the last thing she needs is a group of witnesses to her attacking me.
She must realise it, because she tilts her head in the direction of the exit. ‘You’re right, of course. Damian has asked for your help, and you should give it to him. His happiness is of utmost importance.’
‘I – Okay.’
‘They grew the maze around what you seek.’ She smirks. ‘There. I told your fortune after all.’
I have no idea if she’s telling the truth, but I rush from the tent regardless, sweat beading across my brow. My palms are clammy. I seem to be having an adverse reaction to fortune telling.
Several couples emerge from the maze’s exit, hair windswept and clothes rumpled, barely making it more than a few yards before they’re wrapped in an embrace, mouths smashed against one another’s – honestly, kind of unattractively, but at least they’re having a good time.
Not a single pair emerges with any ounce of dignity, like something inside the maze has stripped them of their inhibitions until only desire remains.
‘Excuse me.’ I grab the arm of a woman whose blonde hair is dusted with pink, and she stares at my outstretched hand hungrily. I catch the scent of strawberries. Next to her, her partner collapses like her legs are unable to support themselves. ‘Could you tell me – what’s in that maze, exactly?’
‘Come inside, and I’ll show you myself.’ She twirls a lock of hair around her finger, while her partner pouts, tugging on her skirt for attention.
I spy Astin in the distance, holding a paper-wrapped parcel which I presume contains food under his arm, striding towards me with thunder on his face, and I briefly wonder if allowing this lady to proposition me would cause the same kind of reaction as when I danced with Damian.
‘No, thank you. I just . . . you didn’t happen to see a statue, did you? ’
I’d like some evidence Eira was sending me in the right direction.
‘I did. It was ugly.’ She beams, then points at the woman still lying at our feet. ‘And then I saw her.’
She slumps to the ground to join her partner, and I am forced to jump aside to allow them to roll dangerously close to Eira’s tent.
I briefly debate offering them a warning, but I’m not convinced they’d listen, and Astin is upon me now, shoving the parcel into my hands and staring at the girls with mild horror.
‘Why are they doing that in public?’ he asks.
It’s an excellent question, and one I don’t want to think too much about. The girl claimed she saw a statue, and that’s our only lead to finding the first of the items we need.
‘Never mind them,’ I say. ‘I know where to find the statue. It involves doing something you won’t like.’
He cocks his head, looking resigned. ‘And what’s that?’
I point at the maze as another couple emerges. One of them is missing a shoe. ‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to go in there.’