“Alright,” she said, refusing to directly acknowledge what Bleidd had said. “At least we have a plan.”
“Yes,” Jess agreed. “We can move forward from here.”
Bleidd nodded and then left without another word. Allie bit her lip, fighting the urge to read his thoughts and see how angry he really was with her. Jess reached out and rubbed her back gently, although she tried to put on a brave face for him. Even after everything he was hopeful. “We will get through this my heart and it will be all right in the end.”
She nodded and forced a smile, but she wasn’t so sure this time.
*************************************
Bleidd parked his car in front of the large home owned by Miss Amelia. Although he had never before been to the mage’s house Allie’s directions had been good and he knew Ashwood very well after all these decades. He had arrived in town nearly 30 years ago and in that time had grown acquainted with almost every section of the small town. It was a familiarity that served him well in his current job.
He took a moment to sit and prepare himself. Leaving behind the emotional trauma of earlier as something he could dwell on later, he tried to prepare himself for whatever he would find in the house. He had known Amelia many years ago, and in truth had been shocked when Allie had told him the old woman still lived; he had assumed, human life spans being what they were, that she would have died by now. When Allie had explained, later, that Amelia had been bonded to a Bahvanshee in her youth and that this bond had somehow extended her life Bleidd had not been entirely surprised. There had long been rumors around the old mage, and he had often wondered himself how she had come by her knowledge of elven magic. It did make him wonder what the ultimate effects of the bond he and Jessilaen shared with Allie would be though, and whether they would extend her life or she would shorten theirs.
Finally, not wanting to risk being late he got out of the car and walked up to the heavy iron gate, scowling at it as he punched the security code Allie had given him into the electronic pad. It beeped and a small light flashed green; he used his sleeve to protect his hand as he opened the gate but couldn’t keep from wincing at the amount of iron. Even through his shirt it was impossible not to feel the metal searingly cold and after he closed the gate he walked up the path to the house rubbing his hand, which ached dully. The effect would fade quickly since he hadn’t actually touched the iron but it was irritating nonetheless.
He rang the doorbell as Allie had instructed and waited patiently. A moment later the door opened to reveal a short, middle-aged woman in a light blue maid’s uniform. She started to speak then stopped, open mouthed, finally seeing who was standing there. Bleidd spoke smoothly into the surprised silence. “Good evening. Allie has been in an accident and needed to stay home to rest but I have come in her place to speak to Miss Amelia. If you could let her know I’m here I would appreciate it.”
The maid blinked several times, obviously not sure what to do, then finally nodded and closed the door part way. His keen hearing picked out the sound of her heavy footfalls going down the entrance hallway, then in a low voice that would have been too quiet for a human ear to pick up the maid relaying his message and excitedly telling someone – he assumed Amelia – that there was an elf at the door. At that he couldn’t contain a smile, but he managed to force his face back into an expression of bored disinterest before the maid returned. She opened the door, still looking stunned, and gestured him in, “Please, this way, ahh, sir. The lady will see you immediately in the study.”
Bleidd followed where he was led, still feeling bemused by the woman’s reaction and found Amelia sitting on a stiff backed Victorian chair in a room that could have been a set for any Jane Austin novel. He ran a critical eye over her and had to admit that the only noticeable difference in the woman from the last time he had seen her, perhaps 15 years ago, was that her once silver hair was now entirely white. Beyond that though she seemed much the same, and he was unsure how he felt about that.
Amelia looked up and then stood with a speed and steadiness at odds with her apparent age. “Bleidd! I had no idea you and Allie were acquainted.”
He was caught off guard that after all these years she remembered his name immediately, but he covered it well, bowing slightly in greeting. “Amelia. Thank you for allowing me in your home. Allie won’t be able to attend tonight’s lesson and she was most concerned that you would be angry after she missed last week’s.”
Amelia was looking at him eagerly, clearly pleased that he was there and making no effort to hide it. But as he spoke she frowned slightly. “Is there something going on that I need to know about? She was quite late last week and I won’t tolerate tardiness. I’ve found if it’s allowed once it becomes a pernicious habit.”
“Indeed,” he agreed drily debating how much to reveal. “It appears that we have been subjected to a hex, the effects of which have been hitting Allie, arguably, the hardest.”
“How so?” the old mage asked, sitting back down and gesturing for him to sit as well.
After a moment he chose a seat opposite Amelia’s chair, on a long couch that was probably as old as the woman herself. “I have had some noticeable ill luck, as has another of our roommates, but Allie has been physically injured several times and her luck is by far the worst.”
“Is this person targeting her?” Amelia asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
“It doesn’t appear so. It seems that they are targeting me, actually.”
“I see,” Amelia said slowly. “But she is being hit the hardest. That would argue for one of two possibilities. The person can’t effect you directly because of your protections and is going after her instead. Or they are going after her on purpose, believing it will hurt you.”
Then they are far more perceptive than I was giving them credit for he thought. Aloud he said, “Whichever may be the case she and one of our other roommates were in a car accident yesterday and while she wasn’t badly injured she easily could have been. We, Jessilaen and I, both felt that it was best for her to rest today, despite her insistence on attending this lesson.”
Amelia was silent for several minutes, obviously deep in thought. Finally she said, “I realize this is insufferably rude, particularly because I know better, but I have grown exceptionally fond of that girl, so you will perhaps forgive my rudeness in this case. There is more going on here than you are saying. What are you not telling me?”
Bleidd tensed, again unsure how much he should say. Reluctantly he decided that it would be necessary to reveal more of the personal aspects of the situation if he wanted the mage’s help, and he was seized by the sudden surety that he did need her help. “The person doing this has been leaving me notes, rather like puzzles, accusing me of some unspecified offense and demanding that I repair it, or else they imply some sort of dire consequence, but I have no idea what they are referring to.”
“Hmmm. Difficult to undo what you don’t know you’ve done.”
“Indeed,” he agreed wryly. “And since this began Allie has not been well, beyond the physical injuries. She is not eating or sleeping as she should be and she is…not herself. She is extremely stressed.”
Amelia nodded, her expression softening, making her look younger somehow. “And you in turn are worried for her.”
“She has been through a great deal this year,” he said. “She…I am not sure if she told you about this, and perhaps it is not my place to, but she was kidnapped in the spring and…suffered very much at the hands of the people who took her.”
“She did tell me once in a vague way about why she limps, if that’s what you are referring to.”
“That was part of it. There was more, and that is for her to tell you or not tell you, but afterwards she was also not herself for a time. She had nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, mood swings, not eating, and she became very inclined to do reckless things.”
“Hmmm,” the old mage said. “That sounds like what we humans would call Post Traumatic St
ress Disorder.”
He shrugged, unsure. “Whatever you might call it she sought out someone who knew how to heal minds and received help from him. It has made a huge difference for her.”
“And you are afraid that this situation might push her back into that darker place?”
“I’m concerned that everyone has a breaking point. Allie is a strong person and she has a fighter’s spirit, but this past week I have seen some echoes of the way she was after she was hurt. I do not want to see her go back to that state, especially not because of someone trying to hurt me.”
“I see,” Amelia said again, giving him a piercing look. “Then perhaps it would be best for her to be separated from you for a time until this is sorted out.”
He struggled to keep his face passive. “Perhaps but she will not do so. She is very stubborn. And…we recently found out she is pregnant. She will not leave her home or be parted from either myself or Jessilaen willingly under any circumstances I don’t think.”
Amelia rocked back slightly, pursing her lips. “Pregnant! Well that’s unexpected. And fast. I can see why you are so concerned for her health though, and why this hexing is even more intolerable than it would otherwise be.”
Amelia straightened and nodded slightly to herself. “Yes well it would be foolishness to part from her anyway. She is strongest when she is with you, or near you. And you, of course, are at your strongest when you’re around her.”
She smiled at his sharp intake of breath. “Hadn’t realized that yet had you? Oh indeed, I could do things when I was with Reillaryin that I could never do otherwise. As I keep trying to drill into your lover’s stubborn head, it is a symbiotic relationship. She certainly gains greatly from the connection she’s forged with you, but you also gain from it, not only a deeper and stronger perception of things around you, but you can also use your bond to strengthen your magic.”
“How?” he asked, intrigued.
She smiled, “I could perceive energy as elves do, and use it as elves do, despite my human blood, and I could access a deeper source of power, something that sprang from the bond itself. Nothing exceptional but enough to make a difference that I noticed. Allie being half-elven I can’t predict exactly how her bond will impact you, but you should be able to find out for yourself, if you take the time to be aware of it.”
He nodded his mind racing. It had never occurred to him that his bond with Allie was anything but a necessity for her to gain emotional energy. What he knew of the Bahvanshee was based on his experience in the Elven Guard, where the Dark court elven empaths were seen as dangerous aberrations who manipulated victims to gain the emotions they wanted, or drained them of life energy. The possibility of any sort of partnership bond had been a new one when he’d first heard Allie had formed one with Jess, before he’d realized what she was, and the idea that such a bond was mutually beneficial beyond mere pleasure would require some serious consideration.
“It would be an exercise in futility anyway, for any one of you to try to leave,” Amelia said.
“Why?” he asked too curious to ignore the comment.
“Because the bond makes you aware of each other, wherever you are.”
“Ah, so Allie could always find us.”
One white eyebrow arched up gracefully, “And you can always find her, and I imagine each other, although I could not swear to that, never having seen a three-way bond before.”
Bleidd did not react outwardly, but this news rocked him. He had clearly been seriously underestimating his own ability to use this connection and he started to wonder about the extent of it and of his own ability to control it. He spoke slowly. “Does any of this help us to find the person behind the hexes?”
Amelia sighed. “As to that…”
She trailed off looking thoughtful. He resisted the urge to press her and instead treated her as he would another elf, relaxing and simply waiting for her to resume speaking. After what seemed too long a time for his impatience she said, “When I was young one of the ways that Reill taught me his magic was by casting a spell and then setting me the task of finding it by feel. It was like a game, where I would follow his energy to find the magic he’d cast until I learned to know it as well as my own.”
“This isn’t the same situation,” he said carefully.
“Indeed not but I think the same principle might still work. Allie is blind to the spell, if there is one, on herself in the same way that she’d be unable to see something in the middle of her back. You should be able to perceive her energy almost as if it were your own, and be able to see her blindspots as it were. A hex or curse by its nature creates an energetic link between the caster and the victim; I think you could use this perception to follow the energy back to its source.”
“Huh,” he said thoughtfully. “That might work.”
Amelia smiled as if she’d won at something, then her expression softened again. “So now that I have done my part, you will do yours and fulfill what Allie has pledged. If memory serves you have an excellent singing voice and I would dearly love to hear some of the old songs.”
“You do have a good memory,” he admitted grudgingly, but the idea of singing for an hour to pay for what he’d learned there wasn’t displeasing.
It wasn’t until he was leaving that he remembered Allie would have already cast her own magic by now and severed the connection between herself and the mysterious spell caster.
Still he thought as he got into his car I may not yet be able to trace this magic back and catch the person behind it, but it is only a matter of time. And I learned a great deal of useful information tonight.
************************************
Riley was vibrating between nervous tension as she tried to decide what to do to make the most of her last few days in Ashwood and a sense that somehow everything was about to unravel. She had spent the evening with Faye, the occult shop owner, and her coven celebrating the full moon. It had been nice to hang out with the other witches and enjoy their company – she’d felt normal for the first time in a long time. It had been so nice in fact that she’d almost forgotten why she’d even come here to begin with. But as she’d finally said goodbye and driven back to her hotel she’d found her mind turning back to the true purpose of her visit.
My spells seem to be having some effect, but with that devil dog hanging around I don’t dare keep staking the place out she thought as she parked. But if I’m going to stop worrying about just making him unhappy…what else can I do? A real curse, maybe with some teeth to it. But what kind? What would really hit him where he lives, that’s the question.
She was still thinking about what would be the best approach to use to make him suffer the most, when she walked in the door of her room. As soon as she stepped fully into the room the big mirror over the desk by the window cracked loudly, the glass fracturing in a long line that stretched from one corner to another. The sound made her flinch and look over and she watched the dark line of cracked glass bisect her reflection. An instant later a wave of energy hit her in the solar plexus and the accompanying nausea doubled her over.
She gasped, tasting bile, and swallowed hard. You bastard! She swore silently, knowing that he must have finally realized someone was working against him and done a reversal. Then with grudging admiration at the effectiveness of the reversal Damn he’s good, he sent everything right back at me all at once, right through my protections as if they weren’t even there.
She felt a surge of fear as she lay down on the floor and tried to ground out the wild energy that was still overwhelming her system. Before she’d left home her brother had taken her aside and begged her not to go. He’d tried to warn her that it was crazy for an 18 year old girl to try to remove a curse that had been on their family for more than 50 years. He’d tried to convince her that no matter how gifted everyone said she was with magic it was foolhardy for her to try to magically throwdown with an elf. He’d actually dropped his 16 year old I’m-almost-a-man dignity and cried, hugging he
r and saying he was afraid she‘d get herself killed. And she’d been mad at the time, mad that he had so little faith in her. But as she lay on the floor now, desperately trying to remember what to do when someone had reversed magic on you and coming up blank, she started to worry that he had been right.
Alright, don’t panic she told herself. So he did a reversal, that isn’t that bad, and you knew it was likely to happen eventually anyway. So his bad luck is broken, which is a shame if it was just starting to kick in. I can’t let one set back trip me up. I only have a few days left, and if justice is definitely out the window, then I need to do something to hurt him as much as he’s hurt us. But what? Unbidden the image of the nice bookshop owner came into her mind, and she shifted uncomfortably. The woman had been so nice and so helpful…but if she’s his girlfriend…maybe that’s his Achilles heel Riley thought. And I don’t have to really hurt her, necessarily. I could just do something to break them up, to turn her heart away from him…Oh! That’s perfect. The old Thorn-Heart spell. Now the hard part will be finding the ingredients before I have to leave town…
Riley jumped up ignoring the slight dizziness as she was filled with a renewed sense of purpose. She jogged over to the bed and sat down, grabbing a pen and paper, before picking up the hotel phone. She dialed her brother’s cell phone, and licked her lips nervously, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many questions.
She started talking as soon as he picked up. “Hey Beau. Can you do me a favor and check a spell in mom’s spell book for me?”
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Heart of Thorns: a Between the Worlds novel Page 19
