“I’d like to know how Kismet is doing. If I could trick the queen into coming out, maybe the Conclave would lock her up and the Seelie world could get a new leader.” I glanced through the list Edie had given me. I’d expected to see dental floss or more designer perfume or normal traveling supplies to be on the list. Instead it was a list of witch’s herbs. “What in the world?”
Bryn looked over my shoulder. “Valerian, chamomile blossoms, linden blossoms, poppies . . .”
“Those are for sleep. She must be planning to make a potion to knock the guards out, but the ingredients on the bottom of the list aren’t for a sleeping spell. Elecampane, dew from a lady’s mantle, ginseng, and yerba santa.” I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know which spells use these.” I shook my head. “I know she wants to have a backup plan ready and I don’t blame her. But she’s not supposed to need one. We made a deal with the WAM president. God, I hope he’s not as big of a liar as the Conclave operatives. An authentic fae amber was supposed to be Edie and Andre’s ‘get out of jail free’ card.”
I opened the pouch in my suitcase to put away my hairbrush and found a small leather bag with a dandelion embossed on the front. “What’s this?” I asked.
I reached in with my thumb and forefinger and felt a piece of cloth. I pulled out a square of crushed brown velvet. When I unfolded it, I looked down at a piece of amber. My jaw dropped and I lifted it to examine it. It was exactly the same as the amber I’d given to WAM. I stiffened with shock.
“Oh, my God,” I said.
“What?” Bryn said, walking over. “Wait, what is that? I thought you gave them the amber.”
I raised it and stared, my heart thudding. There were things inside the amber just like in the one I’d given to WAM, a strand of hair and a tiny winged pixie fossilized within it.
“Oh, my God,” I murmured again, letting Bryn take it from me. “It’s a Fozzel. Oz is the tree keeper’s son. Amber comes from the tree’s—what’s it called? Sap? Resin? He was making art pieces for Kismet to trade. She was supposed to bring him emeralds for making a special piece for her.” I clutched my head. “Remember when he gave me back my aunt Mel’s earrings? Those were what Kismet paid him for a second special piece, but he didn’t want more emeralds. He wanted to come out with us. He told me at the airport that he’d finished his work and his debt was repaid. This is the payment. He made her a replica of the amber she lost. And when she returned to the Never this time, she told him to make her another copy. He must have slipped it into my bag.”
“Why did Kismet need copies made of the amber? Do you think she was planning to exchange the replicas for the real ambers? And if so, where are they?”
“I don’t know, Bryn. Maybe she actually did lose the original amber.” The room was spinning around me in slow motion. “What if, when I picked Kismet’s pocket, I didn’t get an actual ancient amber? What if the one I gave to WAM is only a copy Oz made for her. A fake like this one?” I sank down to sit on the edge of the bed, feeling so nauseous I thought I might throw up all over the beautiful carpet. I bent forward and rested my head against my thighs, taking some deep breaths.
“It’ll be all right,” Bryn said, resting a hand on my back and kneeling next to me.
“Do we have any candy left?” I mumbled.
“Here,” Bryn said a moment later. I unwrapped a piece of Cadbury Flake. It’s a kind of chocolate bar we don’t have in America, but should. I chewed and immediately felt better. The sick feeling passed and I nodded.
“Okay, so Edie was right: We need a plan B, because if that amber’s a fake, when WAM figures it out we’ll be in more trouble than we’ve ever been in.” I rubbed the back of my neck, which was damp with sweat. “Take me to that witches’ shop where you were going to get the reference books when we first arrived in England.”
“Magic Calling,” Bryn said. “Are you all right? Do you need sleep?”
“Nope, I need to get the herbs for Edie. And for us, weapons.”
* * *
“PLANNING TO ROB a bank?” the girl with the pierced nose and eyebrows asked.
“Um, no,” I said, waving away a bug that buzzed by my ear. “Why do you ask that?”
She shook her head. “Thought you were working on a concealment spell.” She nodded at the collection of dried herbs and vials of liquid on the counter.
Were some of Edie’s list of ingredients for a cloaking spell? So that if she managed to escape, the Conclave operatives wouldn’t be able to track her? That would come in handy.
Bryn added three small books to the assortment and paid for it.
We left, and in the back of the cab a small voice said, “Hello, tricky twin. How are you?”
I jerked my head to find Shakes sitting by the back window. The buzzing in the store hadn’t been a bug. I should’ve known!
“I hear you’ve got two copies of the wolf amber,” he continued. “Give me one.”
I leaned close. “How did you find me?”
He grabbed a handful of my hair and shook it. “Followed the faery magic. Royal said Kismarley said to look for you in London near the witches’ stronghold.” He wrinkled his nose. “Cities stink.”
“What makes you think I have an amber?”
“You stole the first copy from her in the Never, and the tree-talker faery said he gave you the other one he made.”
So the amber I’d taken from Kismet’s pocket had been fake. Had she known all along that I’d taken it? Or did she realize it later? Was she furious with me?
More important, what had the queen done to her after I escaped? Had Ghislaine punished her for my crimes?
“Is my sister okay?”
“Tamara,” Bryn said, casting a meaningful glance at the taxi driver, who was giving me a funny look in the rearview mirror, since to him it probably seemed like I was talking to my shoulder.
I stared straight forward, but turned my head slightly so I could continue my conversation with Shakes.
“Well?” I said.
“She’s sunset, but still golden.”
“Sunset? What does that mean? I don’t understand faery slang,” I hissed in a whisper.
All I knew about sunset was that it came at the end of the day. I didn’t want Kismet to be at the end of anything. She was young. She had her whole life ahead of her.
“She’s a warrior. One of the toughest ever. Did you expect her to freeze up like a possum? To shake like a deer? To hide like a rabbit? She’s Halfling, but she got the brave half of both sides, human and fae. She says the queen broke the sovereign’s sacred vow to protect the Never. She called for any full fae not under an oath to the queen to challenge the high lady of the land before the sun next rises.”
I gasped.
“What sacred vow did the queen break?” Bryn asked, whispering too.
“She let it slip to the human that the ancient ambers were hidden underground, not even realizing he had a reason for coaxing secrets from her. Then her new lover found the cave and tried to destroy them! If the queen’s assassin hadn’t stopped him, the light might have gone out of the Never.”
“Why can’t Kismet challenge the queen herself? She’s probably the only one who could defeat Ghislaine.”
“Only full Seelie fae can challenge the queen, because, if triumphant, the challenger would rule the Never. The law doesn’t allow for a creature of mixed magic to sit on the throne.”
“If no one challenges the queen and she stays in charge, can she accuse Kismet of treason?”
“She already has. She says Kismet has the wolf amber and didn’t bring it home to the Never. Ghislaine declared that an act of treason. The punishment is death or a lifetime in iron chains. As long as Ghislaine rules, Kismarley will never see humanside again.”
I swallowed, biting my lip. “I have to go back.”
Bryn shook his head.
“Yes, when Edie and Andre are safe, I’m returning to the Never to help Kismet.”
“Good, twin. That’s what I hoped you’d say,” Shakes said.
33
SHAKES HUNG FROM my purse strap as we entered the Savoy. I kept my arm dangling, hoping no one would spot him. No one seemed to. That’s where Bryn’s good looks come in handy. When he’s around, people aren’t going to waste their time looking at handbag straps when they could be staring at him.
In the room, I took the impostor amber from its pouch. Shakes flew over, peering down to examine it.
“Nice work that Osmet does! He’s included the body of a fallen fae and a hair of the dog inside. And he’s infused some fae magic within. It’s a lot like the original!”
“Hair of the dog?”
He looked at me suspiciously. “You don’t need to know. You’re not trustworthy. Humans are tricky.”
“Fae are the tricksters! My sister let me think I stole a real-life amber relic, and I gave it to some witches as payment for our aunt, who’s a prisoner.”
“Witches,” he scoffed. “What do they know of original magic? They won’t know the difference!”
Bryn bristled.
“Kismet had Oz make the second replica so we could trick the witches with it. But who is the first amber for?” I asked. “Surely the queen wouldn’t have been fooled by a fake?”
Shakes didn’t answer.
“The Scottish wolves,” Bryn said.
Shakes put a tiny knife to the pulse in Bryn’s throat. “What do you know of it, wizard?”
“Only what I’ve guessed. Kismet was sent to recover an ancient amber that the wolves were protecting. She stole it, but the wolves have been hunting her ever since. She had Oz make a fake amber to give them, figuring they wouldn’t know the difference.”
Shakes glared at Bryn. “Sneaky wizard! Quit that cleverness or I’ll poke a hole in your dumb blood pipes.”
“Shakes, listen, you’re not loyal to the werewolves, are you?” I asked.
“To a pack of dogs? No way.”
“But you are loyal to my sister, right?”
“To the death,” he shouted, raising his arm and then thumping it on his chest. The tip of his blade cut his chin and he yelped. He dabbed his bleeding jaw with his sleeve. “To the death and to the blood,” he added. “I’m not pureblood. Royal’s from the queen’s line, but he’s a bastard, too. We’re mixed-blood, free fae. We pledge our fealty to whomever we choose. We chose Halfling Kismarley. She’s mean, but worthy. That’s the best kind of mean.”
“Shakes, listen: I can’t help Kismet unless I understand what I’m dealing with. You said hair of the dog. The wolf amber is called that because it has a werewolf hair inside?”
Shakes studied me for several moments. “If you’re a traitor against the queen, good. If you’re a traitor against your twin, I’ll make you pay.”
“I’m not!”
“You’d better not be,” he said with narrowed eyes. He flew up to my face, squeezing my nose with his tiny hands while he peered into my eyes. After a few moments, he said, “All right, then. There are five original tree-stones. Two are pure fae. One is for the Seelie, with a small faery inside clutching a bit of gold. One is for the Unseelie, with a tiny dark faery clutching a chip of onyx. One amber is for the dogs. It has a faery clutching a strand of werewolf hair. One amber is for the undead. That tiny faery clutches a chip from the first vampire’s fang. The last amber, the newest, has a pixie who wears a crimson gown that was dyed with a drop of blood from each of the first witches, the traitors.”
I nodded, thinking things over. “So the wolf amber contains the magic that gives werewolves the ability to shift. But since they don’t practice magic, they won’t be able to tell that the faery magic in this copy isn’t the original magic that supplies them.”
“They won’t be able to tell. Dumb dogs,” Shakes said.
“So we can use this copy as leverage.”
He cocked his head. “What’s that? Payment?”
“No, we can use it to barter with the werewolves. They want their amber back. They’re really strong and fierce. They can help us save my sister. In exchange for this.”
His jaw dropped. “She’s in the Never.”
“Yes.”
“They’re not.”
“But they could be. I can take creatures in and out. It’s the only kind of magic of mine that works right.”
He sucked in a breath. “You’re crazy, Halfling. You’d try to lead a pack of wild dogs that would like to rip your throat out? You’d try to tame and trick them into being your army, an army that you’ll march into the heart of Seelie magic?”
“Um, when you put it like that it sounds kind of—”
“Crazy,” Bryn said, using exactly the word I’d been thinking.
“Too right. It’s madness!” Shakes shouted, shaking his fist. “And brilliant! I’ll do it. I travel with you.”
“For God’s sake, no,” Bryn said.
“I’m sorry,” I said, kissing Bryn’s frowning lips.
“No,” he repeated.
“Let’s go!” Shakes yelled, grabbing a clump of my hair and swinging from it like Tarzan from a vine. His insane enthusiasm made me smile.
“The wolves aren’t the only part of my plan,” I told Bryn.
The room spun suddenly and I almost fell. Bryn caught my arms and steadied me.
“You’re not well. You’ve been dizzy on and off since we returned from the Never,” he said.
He was right, but I said, “I’m okay. I just need to rest for a minute.”
He kissed me gently. “Your magic tastes different,” he said.
I threaded my fingers through his so our rings touched, and his magic rolled over me. He was exactly the same . . . perfect. I felt steadier after touching him.
Merc licked my ankle, looked up at me with his head cocked, and then strolled into the bathroom.
Yeah, a soak would do me good.
“Um, let me think over the details of my plan. Everything is moving so fast.”
* * *
I SAT IN the claw-footed tub with my chin on the lip, looking up at Merc, who sat on the edge of the sink. The black and white tiles of the floor were elegant and stylish.
Edie would like it here, I thought.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Merc,” I whispered. “Going back to the Never, that could be out and out suicide.”
Mercutio didn’t disagree.
“But what else can I do? Just walk away?”
“How are you?” Bryn asked, pushing the door open. He had a small book with a snakeskin cover.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a volume I bought at Magic Calling. You know the collection of herbs Edie wants? Some are for a sleeping potion, like you thought. The rest, I suspect, are for this,” he said, holding out the book.
At the top of the page there was a sketch of a woman in smudged black ink, and over her image there were three other images done in green, purple, and blue colored pencil. The page smelled like roses and musk, and the spell was for a glamour. It called for all the ingredients Edie wanted, plus a couple of others, vervain and elderberry.
The spell also called for a piece of jewelry to be dipped in the herbs and then topped with salt. The witch dusted her lips with sugar and salt, and then drank hard apple cider and whispered the spell into a flame. The candle’s glow would reflect the spell onto the witch when she donned the anointed jewelry, and the glamour would last until she took it off.
“Of course,” I said. “I should have guessed. Everyone always says Edie was great at glamour spells. With this kind of spell, she could disguise herself as a Conclave operative and walk out the front door of headquarters without anyone recognizing her.”
“And Andre? He won’t be able to
cast a spell using earth magic.”
“Could you write one for him using celestial magic?”
“I don’t think they’ll let him onto the roof to draw power from the stars. And I’m willing to bet that wherever they’re being kept is pretty well insulated, so that unsanctioned spells will be impossible to cast. Andre did tell me that he knows where there are theoretical gaps in security, but he wouldn’t try to exploit those on his own.”
“I know Edie’s probably restless and anxious to get out of there, so maybe she hasn’t thought it all through, but that’s where we come in. We’re going to help her.”
“How?”
“I’m thinking,” I said.
“You know if she tries and fails, if she’s caught, the Conclave will tighten security.”
“Yes, but I feel like right now is our best chance. The president is letting me in and out because of the delay in the authentification. People aren’t hassling me because they know I’m allowed to be there for hours. I think I can smuggle the herbs in.”
Bryn set the book down and sat on the lip of the tub. He picked up a washcloth and washed my back for me. “So, Mercutio, what does Tamara need to tell me?”
When neither Mercutio nor I said anything, Bryn added, “It’s all right for her to keep secrets from other people, but husbands and wives should confide in each other. About everything.”
Mercutio purred at me.
“Yeah, Merc, okay.”
Mercutio hopped down and sauntered out of the bathroom. The water had cooled and it made me shiver. I sat back and turned on the tap for the hot water.
“Come in,” I said.
Bryn stood and stripped out of his clothes. He lowered himself into the tub in front of me. I worked up some lather between my hands and then ran them over his back.
“Something has been wrong since I left the Never. I don’t know if there was poison on an arrow or the queen’s dagger that got into my system . . . or maybe it’s the broken connection with Kismet, but I don’t feel normal.”
“If you were poisoned by the fae, the longer you’re humanside, the more likely you’ll be to heal.”
Casually Cursed Page 30
