by Hall, Linsey
I grinned and filled the bowls with crisps, then took them out to the living room and handed them around. Mac joined me and passed out the mini boxes of wine, pouring Cordelia a smaller serving in a cup. Cordelia glared at her.
Mac couldn’t understand Cordelia when she talked, but the look was easy to read.
“Hey, don’t blame me.” Mac raised her hands. “You have the lowest body weight, and I’m just doing the maths. We don’t need an unconscious raccoon on our hands.”
Cordelia scoffed and drank her wine.
I sipped my wine and contemplated everything we’d learned. Everything I’d learned since my arrival. “You know what’s weird?”
“What?” Mac asked.
“There are no misfits in Guild City. Everyone ascribes to a guild, or they get booted. No weirdos allowed.”
She shrugged. “Those are the rules.”
“Yeah, but there are misfits in the rest of the world. It’s strange that there are none here. Seems like it should be impossible.”
Mac frowned. “That’s a good point.”
“It’s always been the way of things,” Eve said. “It helps hide us and protect us if everyone has to be in a guild and follow the rules.”
“But surely a few weirdos wouldn’t throw off the whole magical system. I mean, they’d still have to control their signatures, right?” I asked.
“Right.” Seraphia pulled her knees up to her chest. “You know, Carrow, you’re right. It is very odd. We try to shove everyone into a box and stick them in a guild, but what if they don’t really fit?”
“They get kicked out of town.” Mac’s words were a growl. “It’s bloody unfair.”
“Who made these rules, anyway?” I asked.
“That guy, Councilor Rasla, from the statue you saw earlier today,” Seraphia said.
“The one with bird shit all over his head?” I asked.
Mac grinned. “The very same.”
“So he’s the one who laid the foundation of exclusion in Guild City.”
“Yes.” Eve sipped her wine. “Though I’ve never thought much of it before now. When you grow up with something, you tend to accept it and not to look too closely at it. It’s just part of life.”
I didn’t like it. Not only because I wasn’t included in a guild, but because it seemed wrong. As wrong as the cursed magic that hovered around the city wall. “Why do you think the darkness in the wall called to me?”
Mac’s gaze flicked to mine. “Now, don’t go thinking you’re secretly evil or anything. Because you’re not.”
That was exactly what I’d been worried about. “How could you tell?”
“You’re an open book, and none of the pages have been torn out.”
“But I wasn’t cursed.”
“I have no idea why that was,” Eve said. “But we’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe it’s the magic from Orion’s Heart that you absorbed,” Mac said.
“Or maybe you’re just a total badass,” Eve added.
“Maybe.” Doubtful.
A bell rang from below, catching my attention. Cordelia leapt off the couch and scampered toward the rope. She hauled on it, pulling hard to raise our dinner up the wall. I joined her and tugged the bucket up the last meter.
My mouth watered at the fragrant smell of grilled meat and spices as I lifted the bucket through the window. I handed Cordelia her little glass takeaway container, then passed around the rest of the food.
We chatted as we ate, discussing everything that we knew about the mystery. It shouldn’t have been fun, but it was. At least a little. There was still the fear that hung over us, but being with Mac, Eve, and Seraphia was fun even when it was scary and tense.
Finally, we’d exhausted ourselves and every avenue of discussion. Mac yawned, and Seraphia followed suit, her mouth wide.
“You two need some rest,” Eve said. “The curse is draining you.”
Mac looked at Seraphia. “I’ve got a spare bed at my place. You can bunk there, if you want.”
“Thanks. I’m exhausted.” She yawned again.
I stood, my gaze going to the book that we’d brought up from Eve’s shop. “Do you mind if I look at that again tonight?”
Eve frowned. “Is it safe?”
“The wall cursed them, not the book.” I shrugged, trying to appear casual. “I think it will be fine. If there’s a problem, Cordelia will get you.”
Cordelia glared. I need my beauty sleep.
“You’re beautiful enough, so do me a favor, okay?”
She grumbled but nodded.
“It’s all yours,” Seraphia said.
“Thanks.” I grabbed the book and waved goodnight to them as they piled out the door.
Cordelia trundled after me to the bedroom. She slept in a ratty old armchair that Mac and I had unearthed in a secondhand shop. Mac had disapproved of our find, but I loved the worn blue velvet, and so did Cordelia.
Be quick. Cordelia climbed onto her chair. I’ll be asleep in no time.
“Yeah, yeah.” I flung myself onto the bed, barely managing to strip out of my jeans and shoes.
The night sounds of Guild City drifted through my window as I leaned back against the headboard and flipped through the pages. The golden glow of the lamp illuminated the tiny, ancient print.
What are you looking for?
“I’m not sure.” I kept flipping. “I think I’ve got all the clues I can out of it—using my magic, at least. But I haven’t read it. It’s a history of Guild City.”
That means it’s a history of the Devil.
“Maybe.” But that’s exactly what I’d been thinking. I could probably learn about him through this book. Given what was growing between us, I wasn’t going to look a gift book in the mouth. Even if it was cursed.
Carefully, I searched for the Devil’s name. He was rarely mentioned, but when he was, he was always doing something important.
Like establishing the city, for one. Apparently, he’d been on the original council hundreds of years ago and had helped draft the city designs, basing them on his hometown of Sighișoara in Romania.
Did he miss it?
As the pages turned and the years passed, the Devil appeared more infrequently, as if he’d stepped out of the limelight and become the loner I knew him to be. For someone with so much power and influence—and so many employees—he spent most of his time alone, as far as I could tell.
Not a single friend, unless you counted Miranda. And you couldn’t. She was a great right hand, but she wasn’t his pal.
The mystery of the Devil—of Grey—ran through my mind as my eyelids grew heavy, and the book slipped from my grasp.
When the dream came, I didn’t even realize it was a dream. The line between wakefulness and sleep was so fine that it didn’t exist.
Instead, I was immediately in the future, wrapped around Grey as he bent over me, his fangs brushing against my skin. A shiver raced through me, fear and desire in equal parts.
I moaned, tilting my head, wanting more of him. He groaned low in his throat. The noise made the heat inside me burn ever brighter. When his fangs pierced my skin, pleasure flared.
I clutched him to me, clinging. Waves of pleasure crashed over me as he drew on my neck. Every pull felt better than the last, until my head began to spin. My heart stuttered, and my skin grew cold.
Dimly, I realized that this was bad. This wasn’t normal.
“Grey.” I tried to speak, but the word was barely a whisper. He didn’t stop. Panic flared.
I tried to struggle, but it was too late. He’d taken too much. There wasn’t enough blood left to deliver oxygen to my muscles, and I was fading away. Dying.
My last thought was one that had haunted me since I’d heard it.
Cursed Mates.
7
Carrow
Hey! Wake up!
Cold water splashed on my face, and I jerked upright, gasping.
Cordelia sat next to me on the bed, my water cup clutched
in both of her little paws. She grinned toothily at me. You weren’t waking up.
I scowled. “You hardly tried.”
She held up the cup. I tried very hard.
“Dumping water on my face isn’t trying hard.” I pushed my wet hair off my forehead and tried to still my racing heart.
That dream…
I shuddered.
It couldn’t be a vision of the future, could it?
But it was. It was exactly what I’d seen when I’d touched Grey last week. A vision of our future—of what “Cursed Mates” meant to us. Except we didn’t know why or how, exactly.
Cordelia shifted, staring at me with solemn eyes. The Devil is here.
“What?” Surprise flashed through me. “Already? Why didn't you lead with that information?”
She shrugged. I told you, didn’t I?
I groaned and climbed out of bed, still dressed in half my clothes from yesterday. “Where is he?”
In the street.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and grabbed my robe, pulling it on over my T-shirt. He didn’t need to know what a slob I was. I’d been wearing this shirt for at least twenty-four hours straight.
The clock showed that it was already past two in the afternoon, yet I still felt exhausted. “How the hell did I sleep so long?”
You were up forever reading that book. The sun had already come up and everything.
I groaned, wishing I had one of those cappuccinos from the Mages’ Coffeehouse. If there was one thing I needed right now, it was caffeine. Good, strong, caffeine, preferably prepared by someone else and served in a cup I wouldn’t have to wash. That wasn’t happening anytime soon, however.
Butterflies tumbled in my stomach as I went to the bedroom window and opened it, leaning out to look at the street below.
Just as Cordelia had said, the Devil waited down below. He was so damned handsome in the afternoon light, his suit cut impeccably to make him look like a spy out on a coffee break.
Coffee.
My gaze riveted to the two paper takeaway cups in his hands.
“Is one of those for me?” I asked.
“Indeed, it is. May I come up?”
“Did you find another copy of the book?”
“Will you let me come up if I didn’t?”
“Just curious.” I pointed to the drinks in his hands. “You’ve already got your invitation right there.”
One corner of his full lips tugged up in a grin.
“Cordelia will show you in,” I said. “Wait in the living room. I need a quick shower.”
He nodded.
Behind me, Cordelia grumbled.
I turned to her. “I got you a kebab last night, and you owe me.”
I’ll do it for another kebab.
“You drive a hard bargain, madam.”
She nodded. Damn right I do. And don’t think I’ll forget.
“I would never.” She wouldn’t let me. If I’d learned one thing, it was that Cordelia remembered what she was owed. Hell, I needed to get my business up and running so I could keep her in the lifestyle to which she’d become accustomed. No more dumpster diving for my kebab-loving raccoon.
She trundled to the door, and I darted into the bath.
The space was little and cramped, shoved under an eave that had been built hundreds of years ago. But it was mine, and I loved it. I took a shower in record time, wondering what Grey thought of my place.
By the time I’d dried and dressed in my usual black jeans and T-shirt, Cordelia was back in the bedroom. He’s waiting for you.
“Thank you.”
Kebab?
“They’re not even open yet, nerd.”
They are, too. It’s the afternoon, not morning.
I sighed. “I’ll get it later. We need to get a move on with this, and you need a more varied diet.”
She scoffed and turned away to climb back onto her chair. I left her to it, heading out to join Grey in my living room. He stood by the window, his pose tense and slightly uneasy, as if he didn’t know where to sit. He looked big and out of place in the tiny room.
“You can sit anywhere,” I said.
He turned to me. “Thank you.”
He didn’t sit, instead handing me my drink.
I took it gratefully and nodded my thanks. “Is this from the mages’ place?”
“Indeed. A cappuccino.”
“Thank you.” I sipped. “Oh, that’s amazing.”
He smiled, and the faintest bit of warmth entered his eyes. It made him appear almost human, although no less otherworldly in his beauty.
“So, the book?” I prodded.
“Apparently, there is another copy in the Order of Magica Archives in Chicago. My contact there, Ms. Cross, tracked it down.”
“And?”
“She’ll show it to us today. We are to meet her outside of the Order of the Magica’s Hall of Inquiry as soon as you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.” I grabbed my leather jacket off the back of a chair, then debated bringing the book. I didn’t really want to leave it out of my sight, considering it was cursed. In and of itself, that was a valuable clue. “Let me just get the book.”
He nodded, and I hurried back to my bedroom, slipping the book into the cross-body bag in which I’d been carrying it around. I returned to the living room and found him by the door.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready. How do we get there?”
“We’ll take a portal to save on transport charms. There’s one that leads directly from Guild City to Magic Side.”
“Perfect.”
I followed him down the stairs but paused briefly by Mac’s door.
He stopped and turned back, raising a brow at me.
“I’m going to check on Mac and Seraphia.” I knocked lightly, then stuck my head in. “Hello, you two. Are you all right?”
Mac and Seraphia sat at Mac’s table, their heads bent over cups of tea. They looked pale and weak.
I hurried inside and dropped into a chair beside them. “You guys look like hell.”
“I’m fine.” Mac’s voice was faintly raspy. “Eve is coming up with more of the potion that holds off the effects of this curse.”
“Is she any closer to a cure?”
“Not yet.”
Grey was standing in the doorway. I felt his presence like the warmth of a summer day and turned to him. “Do you have any contacts who could figure out what’s wrong with them?”
“Not in town, no. But Ms. Cross may know of someone. She works at the Order, and they have access to all varieties of magic.”
“Nevaeh Cross?” Seraphia asked.
“The same.”
“I’ve heard of her. Reportedly an excellent scholar.” Seraphia’s face was wan. “Did she find a copy of the book?”
“She did.”
“Thank fates.” Seraphia’s eyes brightened at the news. “I’m dying to know what history has been hidden.”
“We’ll find it.” I turned back to Grey. “If there’s someone at the Order who can help with Mac and Seraphia’s condition, what will they need?”
“A hair from each of them will do.” Eve’s voice sounded from behind Grey. “Sorry. I was eavesdropping.”
He moved aside to let her pass, and she slipped into the room. The raven followed her, its eyes as black as her dress. Her peasant-style skirt flowed around her ankles, glittering with black beads.
She handed me a bag. “Potion bombs. Your familiar let me know you were headed out on a job.”
“Thank you.” I took it gratefully and added it to the messenger bag with the book.
“There are scissors in the kitchen drawer,” Mac said. “By the sink.”
While Eve gave Seraphia and Mac more of the potions she’d concocted, I retrieved the scissors. Quickly, Mac and Seraphia each removed a tiny lock of hair.
“I hope that works,” Eve said, “because I still haven’t figured out what’s in the curse. I’m going to the Sorcerers’ G
uild and Witches’ Guild today to see if anyone there can help.”
“Let me know if you find anything, and I’ll do likewise.” I gave Mac and Seraphia worried glances. “Take it easy today, okay?”
Mac saluted. “Cartoons and ice cream, no problem.”
Despite the worry that still tugged at me, I laughed.
Grey and I left, and he led me toward the city gate I used most often.
“Are we headed to the Haunted Hound?” I asked.
“Yes. They have a portal that leads to Magic Side.”
As I walked beside him, I couldn’t help but remember the dream that had been so terrible.
“Are you all right?” he asked, noticing my silence.
“I’m fine.”
We reached the pub a few minutes later, arriving at the back of the establishment.
“This way.” Grey headed down the dark hallway to the main part of the pub. “The portal is in the other side of the building.”
We passed in front of the bar, and I gave Quinn a wave.
“You all right?” he asked. “How are Mac and Seraphia?”
“I’m fine. They’re not. We’re headed to Chicago to find a cure.”
“Good luck. Keep me updated.”
“Will do.”
He watched us with a worried expression. Grey led me down a hallway identical to the other, with shelves full of liquor bottles and an unmarked door tucked into the corner at the end.
We stepped through, and the ether sucked me and spun me through space, spitting me out in a large open square. On either side of us, skyscrapers rose toward the pale blue sky. It was earlier in the day here, the sun lower in the sky. The light glinted off the buildings and the massive lake to the north.
I heard the roar of water and felt a fine mist on my skin. I turned and gasped. Behind me, an enormous water sculpture looped overhead, floating in the air like a giant ring. Water dripped down, and a dozen screaming, happy kids played underneath.
Grey caught my momentary surprise. “That’s the Rain Bridge. It’s the partner of the Cloud Gate in downtown Chicago. What the humans know of as The Bean.”
“Wow.” I spun in a circle, taking in the city. “I’ve never been to America.”
