Witch's Sacrifice

by Emma L. Adams

  “Except he can claim Evelyn is anywhere and we wouldn’t know if it was true,” added Mackie. “The only way to know the truth is for me to read his mind.”

  “Or me,” said Morgan. “Rather me than you. He doesn’t have a personal interest in me.”

  “That doesn’t make you expendable,” Lloyd said indignantly. “Why do we need to do this at all?”

  “It has to be a psychic,” said Mackie. “I’ve linked with him before. I can do it.”

  “No chance,” Morgan said. “I swore I wouldn’t let you do that again. Besides, it’s my sister I’m looking for.”

  I hadn’t wanted the others to put their necks on the line. If it had been possible for a non-psychic to read his mind, I would have volunteered. The Soul Collector was unpredictable as hell and hated all of us. I had to hope that his desire for revenge on Evelyn outweighed his dislike of the rest of us.

  Besides, it was better if the Soul Collector didn’t read my mind and see what I’d like to do to him for what he’d done to Lady Harper.

  “Don’t you start on me,” Morgan told Lloyd. “I’ll be fine.”

  Lloyd scowled. “He’s a sadistic dickhead who killed dozens of people.”

  “I know.” Morgan reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a couple of candles. “I’ve done this before, you know.”

  I turned to Isabel, who eyed the candles with a distrustful expression on her face. “Are you sure you want to stay for this?”

  Isabel had nearly met her end at the Soul Collector’s hands, and only Lady Harper’s sacrifice had kept her from instant death. It couldn’t be pleasant to have to relive that experience, and I wouldn’t put it past the Soul Collector to latch onto any possible target. The fewer of us who were involved, the better.

  “I’m going back to my hotel room,” she said. “I need to replenish my spells. Then… and then I’ll figure out what to do next.”

  “I’ll help you, if you need me. Just let me know.” I hugged her, wishing I could say something comforting about Asher. If only I could coax my Hemlock magic to perform another miracle and undo his blood curse.

  “What’s up with her?” asked Lloyd, when the door closed behind Isabel.

  “I’ll tell you later.” Asher’s secret wasn’t mine to tell, yet if the Ancient he’d bound himself to was one of Evelyn’s targets, everyone would know soon enough. “Let’s get this done.”

  The puppy batted at my leg. I scooped him up in my arms, and he squirmed, wanting to run around and play.

  “Stay still,” I muttered to him. “We’re summoning an angry god and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Now I was suffering from puppy mania? Maybe I was just trying to find creative ways to avoid thinking about the curse creeping along my arms and into my bones. Keir would be pissed that I hadn’t texted him before summoning the Soul Collector, but this plan was a long shot and I wasn’t the one taking the risk this time.

  Once the twelve candles were in place, Morgan stepped into the centre. Meanwhile, I turned to Mackie and offered her the faerie puppy. “I’ll do the questioning, since I know Evelyn the best. Lloyd, don’t stand in the circle. It won’t help.”

  Lloyd reluctantly stepped back from the circle’s edge, biting his lip. “Okay, but for god’s sake be careful.’

  “You’ll have to get the Soul Collector’s attention, Morgan,” I told him. “Since we don’t know his real name.”

  Even if we did, only Ilsa or Ivy would be able to conduct a blood summoning, so we’d have to go with the alternative.

  “All right.” Morgan closed his eyes. “He’s… I don’t know if he’s in this realm.”

  “He will be,” said Mackie. “I’ll go—”

  “You,” said the Soul Collector’s voice, speaking through Morgan’s mouth. “I expected the other one.”

  “Don’t you dare hurt him,” Lloyd said, his fists clenching at his sides. “We just want to talk to you.”

  “I’m here to speak to you about the offer you made before,” I said. “Evelyn plans to attack and kill the other Ancients. I want you to help me find her before she does.”

  He laughed. “She will die if she dares to lay her hands on them. She has even less power than I do, in this weakened and bodiless form.”

  “She has two talismans, both wielded by living people, each of which contains the power of one of the Ancients.”

  The Soul Collector’s eyes stared at me through Morgan’s. “Lies. She would never risk another war.”

  “She doesn’t give a damn about Earth,” I said. “This is a revenge scheme for her, above all else. I imagine you understand how that works.”

  “She plans to slaughter every Ancient in the name of revenge?” he said, his tone incredulous. “She’s a fool.”

  I licked my lips, bracing myself for retaliation as I voiced the Ancients’ secret aloud: “She’s planning to use their blood to make herself immortal. And with two talismans, I’d say her odds are better than most.”

  Morgan made a strangled noise. Lloyd moved towards the circle, stopping short at a warning look from me. The demon puppy squirmed in Mackie’s arms.

  “That traitorous witch does not deserve an ounce of our immortality,” he growled. “She deserves to die.”

  “It’s not about what she deserves,” I said. “I imagine she’d stand more of a chance of beating the other Ancients once she’s turned into a goddess herself.”

  “What do you want me to do about her, then?” he enquired.

  “Find her,” I said. “I know you can. I also know she’s working with the shadow fury, and you can track him, too.”

  “You’ll have to make it worth my while,” he said. “If she is indeed working with him, my soul can be devoured as easily as any other.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a shame,” I said coldly. “I’m more concerned about her slaughtering him and using his blood to get her immortality.”

  The Soul Collector smiled. “She may turn on her ally, but he will devour her soul before she can deal a killing blow.”

  “She doesn’t need to kill him,” I said. “Just spill his blood.”

  “Lifeblood, human.”

  My eyes widened. Lifeblood? I’d forgotten all the more powerful rituals involved lifeblood—namely, the first blood spilt from a killing blow. “I guess she’s planning to use Ivy to do the actual stabbing.”

  “No human can best an Ancient.”

  I opened my mouth to say that I was fairly sure Ivy had already fought at least one, but perhaps Evelyn did need me. Which meant if I went to her, the odds were high that I’d be walking straight into a trap.

  “So unless she actually stabs the shadow fury to death, she can’t use his blood to make herself immortal?” said Lloyd. “Is that what you’re saying?”

  “It does not matter who deals the killing blow,” said the Soul Collector. “Once lifeblood is spilt, all it takes is a single drop to bestow immortality on anyone who touches it.”

  “Then we have no time to waste.” I looked directly into his eyes. “If we bring you with us into the other realm, do you promise to track her without any trickery?”

  “You still haven’t told me what you promise in return,” he said. “I think I like living in this host. He’s less contentious than that one.” He raised Morgan’s hand to point at Mackie, who blanched.

  “You don’t get to stay,” said Lloyd. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  “I need a guarantee of my own survival,” said the Soul Collector. “One of you will do.”

  “Get out.” Lloyd pulled out an iron knife and pushed it over the barrier of the circle into Morgan’s hand.

  The instant the iron touched his skin, Morgan collapsed to his knees. Lloyd leaned over the boundary of the circle. “Climb out… just climb out. Morgan. Are you okay?”

  The faerie puppy let out a whine and ran from the room, pursued by Mackie. I backed up, cursing. The Soul Collector wasn’t possessing Morgan any longer, but it didn’t lo
ok like he was in the circle, either.

  Morgan lifted his head, groaning. “Ow.”

  “Is he definitely gone?” Lloyd’s hands rested on Morgan’s shoulders. “You okay?”

  “Give me the iron and I will be.”

  Lloyd slid the iron band onto his arm. The moment of contact made Morgan stiffen, and his hand moved almost convulsively to touch Lloyd’s face and close the distance between them.

  “I should get possessed more often.” Morgan looked up into his eyes, looking slightly dazed.

  “Don’t do that again,” said Lloyd, and kissed him. Morgan returned the favour with such enthusiasm that he nearly knocked the candles over.

  I cleared my throat. “Sorry to ruin the moment, but the Soul Collector is hanging around in the spirit realm watching you, and if you break the circle, he’ll get out.”

  Lloyd turned around and scowled at the candles. “Jealous, dickface?”

  “He’s over there.” I pointed over his shoulder into the circle, where the transparent form of the Ancient floated above the twelve lights. “And he’s not staying. If part of our bargain is that he gets to possess one of us, then there’s no deal.”

  “He doesn’t need to,” said Morgan. “Don’t think I didn’t hear your thoughts about sneaking on board with our immortality plan only to take some of the Ancient’s lifeblood yourself, Soul Collector.”

  “You what?” My gaze snapped onto the Soul Collector’s transparent form. “You double-crossing snake.”

  The Soul Collector’s eyes blazed, silvery blue. “You humans tortured and destroyed my body. If Evelyn Hemlock wishes to slaughter one of my kin, then yes, I will happily take advantage of the situation and use its lifeblood towards a worthy cause.”

  “But you’re too scared to get up close in case the shadow fury eats your soul,” I added. “You just want Evelyn to do your dirty work, then when you have a new body, you’ll turn on all of us at once.”

  The Soul Collector’s eyes narrowed in anger, yet he didn’t deny my words. Maybe we didn’t need his help to find Evelyn. I’d bet showing off my newly regained Hemlock magic would draw her attention. Just as long as she didn’t have the dragons on her side as well as the furies. The Soul Collector had been a wild card, and allying with him wouldn’t be worth the risk.

  “So the deal is off?” he said. “You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain.”

  “There’s no deal,” I said. “Consider the information you gave us part of your repayment for murdering my mentor and trying to kill me, Isabel, and everyone else I care about. And if I tell the boss you’re here, you’re dead.”

  The Soul Collector shot me a murderous look. “I can make you suffer for wasting my time.”

  “I beg to differ,” I said. “There’s nothing you can do to me, considering I’m already cursed.”

  His shadowy gaze landed on my hand. “You’re dying, Jas?”

  “We’re all dying,” I said. “If the alternative is turning into the likes of you, I’d take mortality any day of the week. I banish you, Soul Collector.”

  He vanished, leaving nothing behind but grey smoke.

  “That wasn’t fun.” Morgan rubbed his forehead. “I hope that’s the last we see of him.”

  The Soul Collector might be gone, but his presence brought a reminder of just how easily this could all go wrong. If Evelyn needed to deal a killing blow to an Ancient in order to claim her immortality, then she must be planning to involve Ivy or Ilsa in her plan. She might even already have slaughtered the shadow fury, assuming she’d guessed it was lifeblood she needed.

  “He’s gone?” Mackie walked back into the room with a wriggling demon puppy in her arms. “Where’d you send him?”

  “Away,” I said. “What he said about lifeblood… that limits the possible targets. Evelyn can’t even deal a blow as a ghost, let alone a fatal one, and Ilsa’s talisman isn’t intended for use in combat. I don’t see Ivy consenting to being given orders without a fuss either.”

  My phone buzzed. Keir. Ah, hell.

  Lloyd looked at me. “The vampire?”

  “You know his name, Lloyd.”

  “I’m just messing with you.” Despite the Soul Collector’s dire proclamation, he wore a ridiculous smile that I was sure had to do with a certain psychic.

  “Honestly,” I said to Lloyd. “I haven’t seen you that happy since you found that old comic book shop.”

  He shrugged. “I’m just glad that dickhead Soul Collector’s gone for good and he won’t be hitching a ride into the other realm with us.”

  “We still need a solid plan.” I checked the message from Keir. “He’s coming here. Which means I need to figure out how to break the news.”

  Where to even start? The quicker we got through the mirror the better, but with the mages trying to stake a claim on it, we’d need to do it fast.

  Today, even.

  I wasn’t ready to die, and I certainly wasn’t ready to tell Keir I’d be joining the Hemlocks in their mockery of immortality any day now. Yet if the alternative was letting Evelyn roam free, I’d have to take her down with me.

  Ten minutes later, Keir entered the training room with a bag of food from Cassandra’s Cafe. “I figured you wouldn’t have had time to eat yet.”

  “You guessed right.” I gratefully took a sandwich from the bag. “Cheers. I think the only thing I’ve eaten today is a few of Isabel’s cookies.”

  “Where is Isabel, anyway?” he asked.

  “I’m waiting to hear from her.” I unwrapped my sandwich and took a bite. “When she shows up, we’re going to convince the boss to let us go through the mirror again.”

  His hands stilled on his own sandwich. “You have a plan?”

  “Good news first.” I held up my free hand, which shimmered with magic. “Got my Hemlock magic back.”

  “Shit, Jas.” His eyes widened, spying the grey-brown colouring on my wrist before I could pull my sleeve down to hide it.

  I averted my gaze, chewing my sandwich, which now tasted like cardboard. “I paid a visit to the forest, and, uh… kinda got up close and personal with the Devourer.”

  Keir listened raptly as I related the morning’s experiences. When I reached the part where I’d summoned the Soul Collector, he swore. “You considered making a deal with him?”

  “He gave us the info we needed,” I said. “In order for Evelyn to become immortal, she requires an Ancient’s lifeblood. That limits her options.”

  “And ours.” He screwed up his sandwich wrapper into a ball. “The Ancients are too arrogant to be drawn into a trap, so I’m taking a wild guess that she’s planning on back-stabbing her shadowy friend. But if she’s surrounded by other furies, how exactly do we get close to her?”

  “I haven’t got that far yet,” I admitted. “I’m waiting for Isabel to come back. Asher dropped a bombshell that he made a blood pact with an Ancient and that’s how he ended up cursed, so she’s dealing with that on top of my turning into a tree.”

  “You’re really…” His hands found my palm, tracing gentle circles with his fingertips.

  “Don’t worry,” I said, ineffectually. “Agnes is working on a temporary solution.”

  “Temporary?” he echoed.

  There was no point in lying. He’d see through me anyway, and it was cruel to keep him in the dark. “When my magic came back, the curse accelerated. The other Hemlocks are dying. If we want to stop the Devourer, Evelyn and I will both have to go into the forest together. Soon, considering she’ll try to break free again the instant I bind her.”

  His gaze dropped. “Shit.”

  “I’d rather have her bound to me than roaming free,” I said. “At this point, the only way to stop her is to renew our bond and hope that she doesn’t possess me again.”

  Once we’d nailed down our plan, I went to speak to the boss. To my surprise, Lady Montgomery saw no issue with us taking yet another trip through the mirror in pursuit of Evelyn and her hostages.

  “I suppose yo
u know Evelyn better than anyone else,” she said. “The fact is, we’re likely to have to surrender the mirror to the mages one way or another. I trust you can make it back before nightfall?”

  “If I don’t lose too much time over there,” I said. “Isabel and Keir will be coming with me, too.”

  Even armed with my newly returned Hemlock magic, I hadn’t quite figured out how to evade an entire army of furies while I remade my bond with Evelyn, but once the two of us were bound, the shadow fury would recognise us as the same person. Then all I’d have to do was drag her away from him before she could deal a killing blow. Isabel, meanwhile, planned to help her hostages escape while I’d diverted her attention.

  I met Keir and Isabel in the lobby and headed for the mirror’s room, where I found Lloyd and Morgan mid-argument.

  “I’m going through the mirror.” Morgan held the demon puppy’s leash. “I’ll get my sister out of there. I get the impression she isn’t the one Evelyn needs.”

  “Morgan—” Lloyd broke off. “I wouldn’t.”

  “I have to,” he said. “Jas needs to get Evelyn alone, right? She won’t be looking for me. I bet she won’t even know I’m there. Let alone the demon puppy.”

  “You’re taking him with you?” Lloyd said incredulously.

  “I meant it about him being a tracker dog,” said Morgan. “He can sniff out Ilsa.”

  “So can a tracking spell,” Isabel said. “It worked before.”

  “Yeah, but what if she’s keeping Ilsa and Ivy in different places?” asked Morgan. “You know she won’t be able to use Ilsa’s power to kill an Ancient. Her magic doesn’t work that way.”

  “But Ivy’s does.” Isabel’s hands clenched. “All right. I’ll find Ivy, if you go after Ilsa. Once those two are free, we’ll have two more allies.”

  “I’m going to draw out Evelyn,” I said. “I can’t promise that binding her to me will make the furies stop attacking us. For all I know, they’ve gone back to hating all humans again no matter what their godly overlord does. But I reckon our best bet is to target the wellspring. Evelyn won’t be far away.”