by Amy Hoff
“Will you ever get it through your head that it's not up to you?” asked Leah. “Maybe it doesn’t matter! Have you ever told him that it was your fault? And Magnus’s? You betrayed her, and you were wrong. Then you hide it from Robert all these years! Dorian, I thought he was your friend!”
“Yes, he is! And there is not a night that has gone by since that I do not chastise myself for it!” Dorian snapped. “But it is a wound that will never heal. This love – there’s something fey in it. There’s something strange in that kind of myopic, intense focus on one being.”
“Says the selkie,” Leah shot back.
“In anyone who isn’t a selkie,” he clarified. “She’ll never love him back. She can’t. She’s incapable of it. He couldn’t survive it. Not this long.”
“But he has,” Leah insisted. “The only other thing he talked about, or told stories about, besides you – was her! He still loves her just as he did then.”
“The romance of nostalgia,” Dorian said.
“I don’t think so,” said Leah. “You yourself said there’s something fey in it. Let someone have what neither of us did, Dorian. Give her back to him.”
“She’s not mine to give,” sniffed Dorian.
“Don’t you dare switch things around like that and make it sound like it’s a feminist choice,” said Leah. “You screwed this up. Make it right. Maybe he’ll hate you, but at least he’ll know. Then he can choose for himself.”
Dorian adjusted his cufflinks and wouldn’t look at her. He stood up.
“Right now, what is important is making you well. I must leave now. We are running out of time.”
Leah stood, swaying a little, arms crossed, in Gregoire's mad tartan fantasy cave.
“This is ridiculous, Dorian!” she said. “I am your partner.”
“And you are human, and it isn't safe,” he said.
“What happened to you have weapons, Leah Bishop?” she shot back at him.
“Remember when I told you there would be times that I would need to help you, just as you helped me?” he asked. “This is one of those times.”
Dorian turned to go, and Leah started to walk towards him.
The selkie turned around and she was startled to see an anger there flare up, his eyes went bright blue and then extinguished.
“Stay here, Leah!” he shouted. “I will not ask again!”
“You try using your powers on me, I am so going to kick your arse from here to next Tuesday,” Leah snapped back.
Dorian turned smartly on his heel and walked out of the cave. Leah huffed in annoyance. She went back to the sofa, feeling a little dizzy with the effort of standing. She felt a warmth at her elbow, and saw Gregoire’s ugly features written with concern as he set down a cup of tea beside her.
“Do not feel too angry with Dorian. I don't often see that expression on his face,” said Gregoire.
“What's that? Superiority?” asked Leah. “’Cause I can tell you, he wears it all the time.”
“No, Leah. Fear.”
Leah lifted her eyes to the monster’s.
“I have never seen him so terrified. Not since before, during the worst of the fighting,” said Gregoire. “He thinks this will be the end.”
***
On a beach, in the darkness as the sea washed against the shore, lonely and cold, a seal pulled itself onto land. There was a strange, liquid sound of tearing, and a hand emerged as the eyes went dull. The skin was pulled apart, and Dorian slid out, holding a silver key in his hand.
***
“What are we doing here, Magnus?” asked Hazel.
Magnus stood outside a bar he’d frequented when he was a free man. He paused in front of the door.
“Trying to drink all of you away,” he said, glancing around at the number of shades still pursuing him.
“This is a terrible idea,” she said. “I don’t think you should.”
“Doesn’t matter what you think,” he said. “I’m free of your hold on me now, and you’re not in charge here,”
“I’ll tell Chief Ben,” she warned. Magnus shrugged.
“Then I’ll pay for it later,” he replied. “They’ve already got me in the Deeps. What’s the worst he can do?”
“I’ll tell Dorian,” she said. He stopped at this, clearly indecisive. Then he shook it off.
“You don’t have a mobile phone,” said Magnus. “Anyway, he’s obviously chosen a side. So what’re a few drinks going to hurt?”
Magus pushed through the door into the pub, where he took a seat at the bar. He winked at the woman sitting next to him. Hazel rolled her eyes. She was surprised that he was up to his old tricks, but she also felt she should’ve known. The woman beside him made a disgusted noise in her throat and turned away. Magnus did not seem deterred. Even in the circumstances, the selkie didn’t seem to realise his advances were unwanted.
Magnus turned on his bar stool and immediately began smiling at the other woman sitting next to him. She looked him over, took in his beautiful features and long hair, and smiled back.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.
“Sure,” she replied.
His murder victims flickered into existence all around him. There was a chill in the air that moved through the bar.
No one else could see the women and men surrounding Magnus with blood on their faces. The creep show was for him and him alone, but he seemed to have gotten used to it. The selkie leaned over and started to speak to the woman, ignoring the ghosts crowding in close around him.
Hazel leaned over and screamed into his ear at the top of her lungs.
Magnus leapt up as if he had been stung, knocking over his barstool in the process. The woman seated next to him gave him a strange look.
“Are you all right?” she asked. Magnus righted his barstool, looking hunted.
One of the bloodied ghosts leaned in towards him.
“Well, Magnus,” said Kathryn, grinning through bloodied teeth, “it looks like you might be off your game.”
Naomi, another ghost, took a handful of his curly hair and yanked as hard as she could. He went over again, flailing, onto the ground. The woman who had been seated beside him stood up.
“Whatever you’re up to, I don’t want to be a part of it,” she spat, and left in a hurry. Not without taking her free drink, though.
“Wait...” Magnus called after her, to no avail. He sighed. Hazel smirked. She took out a cigarette from God knows where and put it into a fine black holder, lighting it and breathing out smoke.
“How did you –” he began, before doing some mental arithmetic and turning to Naomi instead.
“So, Naomi,” he leered, “If all of you can interact with the physical world, there’s a lot of opportunity there, if you get my drift. If you can do that, imagine what we all could do together.”
“We're ghosts, Magnus,” said Hazel. “The selkie charm doesn't work anymore. On any of us.”
Magnus looked defeated. Hazel smiled.
“There is one thing,” she relented.
Magnus looked hopeful again.
“Bartender,” called Hazel. The bartender approached her.
“Wait. He can see you, but that woman couldn’t?” asked Magnus.
“Freedom of choice, Magnus,” said Hazel. “We’re seen when we want to be seen.”
The bartender looked closely at her, and her cigarette.
“No smoking indoors, miss,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Quite all right,” said Hazel, and the cigarette vanished.
“Neat trick,” said the bartender.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Now, could I order a round of drinks for my friends here? He’s buying.”
She tipped a wink at Magnus, who suddenly realised he’d gotten himself into a situation here.
“Coming right up,” said the bartender, who paused for a moment. “Er…you and your friends look a little – I mean, shouldn’t you be going to hospital?”
Hazel laughed, a bri
ght sound. Magnus was stunned, but also somewhat impressed by her bravado.
“Oh, no,” she said. “Zombie walk.”
The bartender blushed, embarrassed.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Of course, I knew that. So what can I get you?”
The ghosts put in their orders. Magnus produced his wallet, knowing they could affect him physically and were not above pretty much any kind of retaliation. What money he had left slowly drained away before his eyes.
The ghosts of his victims sat around Magnus, occasionally shoving him or poking at him as they laughed together, talking about old times. The bartender arrived with their glasses, filled with all kinds of strange concoctions. They’d made a point of ordering the most complicated, expensive cocktails on the menu. As the drinks were passed around, Magnus sighed and seemed to curl inwards on himself. He was certainly getting the night out on the town he wanted, if not in the way he’d have wanted it.
“Right, everyone,” Hazel announced. “Let's drink!”
Magnus sat in the centre of the horseshoe-shaped booth looking miserable, as the ghosts all drank their cocktails. The ghosts flickered in and out of sight depending on who was passing by, and they laughed uproariously every time a woman gave him a strange look, only seeing a pathetic young man drinking alone.
***
Milo sighed and set down his tools. He looked up at Dorian.
“That was my last idea,” said Milo. “I'm sorry. There is really no cure.”
“That can't be right,” said Dorian.
“Sometimes you have to let go,” Milo replied.
Hazel was staring curiously at Yoo Min, who eventually noticed.
“Yoo Min, are you feeling all right?” she asked.
“Yes, why?” asked Yoo Min.
“Well she can't be sick, she's not human,” said Magnus.
“I didn't ask you, Magnus,” Hazel said. “But that's not what I mean. Are you hungry?”
Yoo Min laughed.
“Well, yes,” she said. “That's what a hundred years of starvation will do.”
“What?” asked Hazel, concern etched into her voice. “Why are you starving yourself?”
“Because the legend goes that after 100 years of denying herself liver, a gumiho can be cured. The suffering is difficult, but I made a promise to someone,” said Yoo Min, touching the pendant on her necklace.
“Oh,” said Hazel, “But it's not true, Yoo Min. It's a lie they spread to kill off your kind.”
“Are you serious?” asked Dorian. “Hazel? How do you know?
“I'm a witch,” she said. “I can see her lifeline and she is nearly at the end. You know how only certain things can kill the Fae? This is one of them. You're dying, Yoo Min.”
Yoo Min stared at her.
“But I've starved for so many years,” she said, uncertain.
“I know,” said Hazel. “But it's not healing you. You need to eat.”
“I can't! I won't kill again,” said Yoo Min.
“What do you mean?” said Dorian. “You're always asking Magnus.”
“I'm hungry!” said Yoo Min. “It's difficult. But I am so close!”
“You are not,” said Hazel. “You will die. Soon. If you don’t eat.”
“I refuse to take another life. I promised Tae Pyeong,” said Yoo Min.
“Then take a liver from someone who will not die,” said Hazel, with a significant look towards Magnus.
Everyone present looked at the selkie. Magnus was horrified.
“I will contact the king,” said Dorian, deep in thought. “This may be a suitable punishment.”
“Dorian, you want to recommend that I let a monster eat my liver?” Magnus asked.
Milo grinned at this, and the ghosts all looked quite pleased.
“How often do you need to feed, Yoo Min?” asked Dorian, ignoring his brother.
“Once weekly, at least, but generally every day,” said Yoo Min.
“Dorian, no,” said Magnus.
“Wait here,” said Dorian, taking his mobile phone out of his pocket.
Yoo Min gave Magnus a loving look, and smiled wide.
***
Gregoire noticed that Leah was awake again, and restless.
“You're very ill, Leah, you need to rest,” he said.
“I'm going crazy, Gregoire,” she said. “I need to do something to help. Research, or – wait, do you have wifi?”
Gregoire smiled proudly.
“I have all the modern human conveniences,” he said.
Leah opened her laptop.
***
In the court of the selkies, the Seal-King took his throne.
“Dorian Grey proposes that the gumiho is offered Magnus's liver,” he announced. “She will be allowed to consume it every day, to keep the human population safe from her hunger. This Promethean scenario will teach him guilt and humility under her knife.
“If you find this an appropriate punishment, say aye.”
The room filled with a chorus of ayes. The Seal-King nodded.
“Let the record show that the education of Magnus Grey begins tonight. I only hope his suffering will teach him the error of his ways.”
***
Dorian stood in the darkness of a closed restaurant, the key in his hand.
A tall, broad man entered and walked up to him.
“You're clearly not who I want to be speaking to,” Dorian said.
“I'm here on his behalf,” said Lachlan, and Dorian noted the word his, which he had not known before. “Did you bring it?”
Dorian held up his hand and let the key fall, suspended in the air on a string.
“First, the cure,” he said.
“The key,” demanded Lachlan, who brandished a truncheon.
“I can sense from here that you are human,” said Dorian. “I really think attacking me would be unwise.”
“Fine. He says the cure is healing fire. Now, the key.”
Dorian was puzzled.
“Care to elaborate?” he asked.
Lachlan shrugged.
“That's all he said. Healing fire. Said you'd know what that meant.”
“The key to Tir Na n-Og,” said Dorian, lifting his hand. A skeleton key shone in the low light. “I would tell you to use it wisely but I feel the advice is wasted.”
Lachlan snatched the key out of his hand. Dorian nodded and turned away.
The man raised his truncheon.
“Do you think I would just let you walk out of here?” he demanded.
Dorian sighed.
“If you're going to make a joke about seal clubbing,” he said, “at least have the decency to knock me out first so I don’t have to hear it.”
Suddenly, Lachlan collapsed in front of him. Dorian looked up in shock to see Sebastian standing there.
“What...?” he said.
Sebastian tossed him the key, and Dorian caught it.
“Get out of here,” he said. “You don't have much time.”
“Why would you help me?” asked Dorian.
“Don't imagine I did this for you, selkie,” he said.
Sebastian turned and began to walk away.
“Then why?” asked Dorian.
Sebastian stopped. He turned his head to the side, as if to look over his shoulder. His eyes flickered downward, and the word Hazel remained unspoken, but understood.
***
Yoo Min stood in front of Magnus, who disrobed in front of her.
She laid him down on the floor, his hair spread around his head like a halo. She gazed at him with an expression of near-love and absolute hunger. She slowly took out her blade and carved into him as he screamed and screamed. She continued to stare at him in adoration, her expression unchanging in response to his suffering.
She was professional. Exact.
She began to eat the pieces of his liver, her hands bloody, tears spilling from her eyes as the blood pooled around him. His body began to heal, slowly, and eventually he lay there with unbroken skin
, sticky with his own blood.
The ghosts in attendance faded away. The sacrifice was sufficient.
Yoo Min wiped her mouth and sighed, sated.
“Thank you, Magnus,” she said.
Magnus stretched a hand out to her weakly, exhausted.
“You love me,” he said. “It was a sacrifice.”
Yoo Min regarded at him, uncomprehending, as if he had said something that confused her. Then understanding dawned on her face, and she looked at him with pity.
“I love Tae Pyeong,” she said. “I never loved you, Magnus. I only wanted your liver.”
Magnus stared at her with growing horror, a selkie fooled by the same manipulation he once used against others. She smiled sweetly.
“And you will give it to me every day,” she said. “Your people have decreed it.
In this way, you will learn real sacrifice – and atonement.”
She stood up to leave.
“But don't worry, oppa. I was right,” she said. “You are delicious.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The cell door clanged shut as Magnus was once again locked inside. Dorian and Yoo Min stood beside Milo and Ben as they made sure the lock held fast.
“Well, the ghosts surrounding Magnus have all disappeared,” said Chief Ben. “It must have been something about his sacrifice.”
“Not all,” said a voice.
They turned to see Hazel still sitting there.
“Hazel? Why haven't you faded?” asked Milo, surprised.
“I don't know,” Hazel replied.
“I do,” Yoo Min replied.
They looked at her curiously.
“Hazel is still here because she loves Sebastian,” said Yoo Min. “And whatever kind of monster he is, and whatever he claims, he's bound her here. Or rather, he's cut her free.”
“Yes, I think you're right. I can sense it; I am not bound to Magnus anymore,” said Hazel.
“You're not bound to anyone,” said Yoo Min. “Call it Sebastian’s gift to you. He doesn't think he can change, but he doesn't want you to suffer. His magic was strong enough to do this for you, at least.”
“So...why don't I vanish, then?” asked Hazel.
“I think you have the potential to,” said Yoo Min. “But he left it up to you, because he felt it was a choice you did not have when Magnus killed you.”
