by H. L. Burke
“Mother!” Auric released Lotta and ran to her. “When did you get back? And why do you have the twins?”
“I got to the Manor a little after you left it. Annie caught me up about everything that has been going on these last few days.” Her face darkened. “We need to go someplace private to talk. Rill is in horrible danger.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jericho led the way through his uncle’s shop. Annie, Iris, Lotta, and Auric followed close at his heels while Jaspyr bounced around his feet. Nodding to his uncle and brother, he opened the door to the kitchen where his mother was peeling potatoes. She froze when they entered.
“We need a place to talk, Mom. Is it all right if we borrow the table?” he asked.
His mother gave a curt nod then cast a spite-filled glance at the Spellsmiths. Best to distract her until he’d sorted out exactly what was going on.
“Also, could you help Annie find a place for the twins to sleep?”
Milly’s face lit up. Jericho took the sleeping Ric from Iris, intending to hand him to his other grandmother, but the warmth and weight of the child in his arms sent a pang of longing through him, and he found himself unable to let go. Ric twitched in his sleep, and Jericho’s hold instinctively tightened. This was his son. The last two days had been the longest he’d been apart from either the twins since their birth.
“The Millers have a goat. I’d imagine they’ll sell us some milk.” Milly reached for Ric. “Do you think they’re hungry?”
“They seem more sleepy to me, poor things,” Annie said. “But they will need to eat eventually.”
“Of course. I have Galilee’s old cradle up in the bedroom. I’ve been using it to store spare blankets, but those will be easy enough to clear out.”
Bracing himself, Jericho gave up Ric. He bent down and kissed Lila in Annie’s arms before turning away so he didn’t have to watch them leave. Jaspyr frisked after them, apparently determined to keep an eye on the twins.
Iris sat at the kitchen table and rested her face in her hands. Her shoulders rose and fell in a great breath. “I should’ve figured it out sooner. If I had, I could’ve warned you, and Rill might’ve been able to protect herself.”
“Figured out what sooner?” Auric sat across from her. Lotta and Jericho settled into the remaining chairs.
“I was wrong about the sort of Fey I was chasing. It’s not a Leecher, it’s a Soulsnatcher.”
Auric nodded. “I remember you mentioning Soulsnaatchers when you were talking about possible Feys. I thought you ruled it out, though.”
“That’s because it is acting all wrong. I’ve never heard of a Soulsnatcher killing its victims intentionally, a few times by carelessness or because of things beyond their control, but methodically taking a series of victims and draining their lifeforce? It’s simply not something they do. They don’t need to feed like a Leecher or a Spiren. Normally they just borrow their victims for a few days, mess with their lives, and move on.”
Jericho’s throat tightened. “Borrow?”
She turned her clear blue eyes to him, her face contrite. “They’re body-stealers. They don’t have a corporeal form of their own. In the Fey Realms, they exist as pure energy. Annoying little things with an awful sense of humor, but mostly harmless. However, they found out a while back that certain corporeal beings were susceptible to possession.”
“They take over people’s bodies?” Auric leaned forward.
Jericho’s mind spun. Rill wasn’t Rill?
“So what happened to Rill? Is she trapped in there with that creature?” Auric asked.
“No, a human body, or a High Fey for that matter—Rill being half-and-half—can only contain one soul. The Soulsnatcher has a method of expelling the natural soul from a being’s body, and capturing it in a vessel. They create the vessels out of magic, but it solidifies into a form that resembles mundane glass. That’s how I knew what I was chasing: I found the remnants of broken glass where a previous victim was taken.”
Anger stirred in Jericho’s chest. “So you’re saying the Rill we’ve been interacting with for the last few days is not our Rill, and our Rill is in a bottle somewhere?”
“Essentially.”
He stood. “How do we kill it?”
“It’s not that simple.” Iris sighed.
Auric took Lotta’s hand. “So is its plan to keep Rill’s body forever?”
“Usually a Soulsnatcher only stays in a host body for a few days. A soul can’t last long outside of its natural vessel, and while the bottle protects the soul for a short while, eventually it will die. Once the soul dies, the body begins to follow, usually aging rapidly, decades in a matter of days, before giving out altogether and forcing the Soulsnatcher to either find a new host, or retreat back into the Fey Lands through a rift. They used to be one of the few Fey who could open minor rifts on their own, and their natural form can fit through openings far too small for a human. They can’t exist in our world for more than a few minutes without a body to protect them.”
Auric breathed a sigh of relief. “But Rill hasn’t shown any sign of aging, so her soul must still be intact?”
“For now.” Iris twisted her braid about her fingers. “The thing is, I don’t understand this Soulsnatcher’s plan. I thought at first it was unable to return to the Fey Lands because of how Auric closed the rifts, but natural rifts still open reliably enough that it should be able to find its way home. It must not want to. Then there are other … oddities.” She bit her bottom lip. “You say it has taken two children from Mountain’s Foot?”
“It appears so.” Jericho sat back down.
“It should only take a new victim when it’s preparing to abandon its current host, either because the soul has perished and the body is soon to follow or it is just bored with that form. There is no circumstance I can imagine where a single Soulsnatcher would need two children at once.”
“Is it possible there are two?” Lotta asked.
“Unlikely. If so, it’s been hiding a second set of victims very well. Also, one of the children is a boy?”
“Yes, the second one.” Jericho tapped his fingers on the tabletop, wondering where this was going.
“That doesn’t fit either. Soulsnatchers don’t have a gender as we understand it, but they tend to have a preference, and this one has taken exclusively female bodies to inhabit … also the last two victims, Rill and the woman previous, were adults. That is very strange. Adult souls are far less malleable than children. A Soulsnatcher can potentially keep a child’s soul captive without risking damage to the body for months. An adult? Weeks would be the maximum.” She shook her head. “It is up to something. I think it came after Rill specifically because I was chasing it.”
“It had to be possessing the one who applied for the nanny position.” Jericho groaned. He’d known something was off about that woman. Why had he left Rill alone with her?
“Sounds likely. I’m guessing that was Nan Forester, the last victim.”
“She called herself Nancy.” Jericho shut his eyes trying to put together the details of that day. “So can we force this creature out of Rill and get Rill’s soul back into her body?”
“That’s what we’ll have to do, but it’s not going to be easy.” Iris pulled her stylus from an apron pocket and started drawing on the table. “There’s a limited window of time between when the Soulsnatcher is expelled from the body and the body begins to rapidly age and die. We need to get ahold of Rill’s soul prison so we have it on hand. If that prison is damaged or opened, exposing her soul to the elements, she will perish.” She lifted her hand revealing a drawing of a round, short-necked container with a stopper. “This is what it looks like. Green glass, most likely, though sometimes blue. The soul inside will look like bottled light if the soul is strong, the glow growing weaker as it begins to languish until it finally—goes out.”
Auric gave what could only be described as a whimper, and Jericho winced.
“I haven’t seen anything li
ke that around the Manor,” Auric said.
“Is it small enough to keep in a pocket?” Lotta asked. “Will she have it on her?”
“About the size of an apple, and it could keep it on its person, but I doubt it. Too risky. It’s more likely to have hidden it somewhere.”
Jericho stared at the drawing, his gut churning within him. He needed to get Rill home, but this introduced another element: the person he hit hadn’t actually been Rill. Rill wouldn’t even have a memory of the blow. He could go back to her, pretend it never happened … but he knew he’d done it. Even if it wasn’t Rill, he’d thought it was Rill, and he’d still struck her.
“Jericho, are you all right?” Iris asked.
He forced his posture to straighten and his expression to harden. “I’ll be fine. We need to focus on saving Rill. Everything … everything else is a distraction.”
The wrinkles around her eyes deepened. She rose from her chair and pulled him to his feet. “Jericho Carver, my daughter loves you. Annie told me about the fight, about what happened. Those words did not come from your Rill.”
“I still hurt her.” He hung his head. “Iris, you and Hedward trusted me with your daughter, but apparently I didn’t deserve that trust … unless you’re telling me this Fey got inside my brain somehow. Can they do that?”
“In your brain, no, but Jericho, can you honestly remember thinking of hitting her or wanting to hit her in that moment?”
“It happened so fast. I guess not—but I saw myself do it. I felt myself do it.”
“I see.” She raised her hands, fingers twitching. Jericho’s arm jerked up, his palm colliding against his own cheek.
The slap stung. He gasped and stumbled backwards. Iris waved, but this time he pushed back, resisting the unseen force pulling on his wrist, managing to keep his own hand from striking his face again.
“I’m guessing something like that?” Iris cocked an eyebrow.
“How ... ?” He stared from his hand to his mother-in-law.
“Fey don’t need styluses and symbols to use magical energy. It responds to us, to our movements and desires. There’s less to work with in the mortal realms than there is in the Fey Lands, so it is somewhat limited, but the energy needed to make you do that is negligible.” She rested her palm against the side of his face. “You are a good man. I wasn’t wrong to trust you with Rill, and Rill was right to give you her heart. Now please, you need to help me save my daughter.”
Every muscle in his body gave out, and he slumped into his chair. I didn’t hurt her. It wasn’t me. That’s not who I am. I’m not a monster.
A sudden urge to rush from the room, find the twins, and hold them both as close as he could welled up within him … but Rill came first. He needed Rill to be safe before he let himself celebrate. With a deep breath, he pushed back his chair. “How do we get her home?”
Chapter Fifteen
Auric placed a backpack on the kitchen table and looked over the supplies he and Lotta had scrounged up from around town over the last few hours: bottles of rosemary oil, spare paper quires from the local stationery seller, and of course food and water. He swallowed to moisten his tongue. He knew they had to go about this carefully, but every instinct shouted at him to rush back to the Manor and confront the creature who had body-napped his sister.
Lotta sat on the edge of the table, watching him keenly. “I’m not sure I understand why you’re heading into the woods when you know this Fey has been staying at the Manor.”
“We know the Fey has, but we also know she’s kidnapped two children and has to be keeping them somewhere. I’ve been distracted lately, but not distracted enough that she could be hiding a child under my nose.” He scratched at his beard. “Also, when she sees we took the twins, she’s going to suspect that we’re onto her, which means she might not be at the Manor much longer.”
“I guess you kind of had to get the babies away from her. What about the other servants? Will they be safe at the Manor?”
“It’s really just Will. The gardener, Mattias, lives in a cottage outside the Manor grounds. I think he’ll be fine. Thankfully Will was in town running errands when Mom and Annie evacuated the Manor. I had Annie hunt him down and tell him to stay at the inn until further notice.”
“That’s good. Still doesn’t explain why you’re searching the woods, though.”
“Educated guess. Jericho said the tracking spell led him into deep woods when he was trying to find Olive Cobb, and the last time anyone saw Wallis Gregor, he was headed in roughly the same direction.” He managed to get everything into the pack. Letting out a long breath, he sat beside her. Cautiously, he slipped his hand on top of hers. She didn’t pull away—though if she really did intend to accept his proposal, that probably shouldn’t surprise him. Part of him still didn’t believe that was real, though. Could she really want him like that?
“Are you going soon?” she whispered.
“As soon as Jericho’s ready. I think he’s up staring at the twins right now. Can’t really blame him.”
“Do you want to have kids with me?” She dropped her gaze, her cheeks flushing.
“Well, I certainly don’t want to have them without you.” He chuckled and stroked her cheek.
“Sorry, this is a poor time to discuss that. I just expected to come back and accept your proposal and go right into planning our lives together. I didn’t expect an insane Fey stealing bodies and kidnapping children and ruining marriages.” She shuddered. “Magic is awful. I know you love it, but I really wish you were an engineer or a lawyer or something else safe and practical sometimes.”
He grimaced. “Well, generally speaking, magic isn’t considered that dangerous of an occupation. It just seems my family has a knack for getting into trouble with it.”
“Still, you don’t see engineers getting their souls placed in bottles.”
Only blown up by exploding steam boilers and crushed by massive gears. Auric decided it was best not to voice this thought.
“Please be careful out there, though.” She squeezed his hand. “I know you’re good at magic, Auric. I’ve seen it, but this Fey sounds scary. What if you come back to me but you’re not you?” She shivered. “I mean, I like your body, but the inside parts, the way you make me feel, that’s what I want to marry. Don’t go getting it all sucked out.”
He kissed her. “I’ll do my best.” A thought struck him. “Speaking of what you want to marry.” He slipped off the table and onto one knee. “We haven’t done this officially. Lotta Tyckner, will you do me the honor—”
The kitchen door opened, and Auric jumped to his feet. His mother cast a glance from his red face to Lotta.
“I’m sorry. Did I interrupt something?”
“Yes,” Lotta said.
“No!” Auric interrupted. “I mean … did you need something, Mother?”
She shut the door behind her. “I wanted to talk to you without Jericho. He’s doing his best to get through this, but I don’t know how he’ll take it if I’m completely honest with him. Auric, darling … I don’t know how to get the Soulsnatcher out of Rill without hurting her.”
Auric’s blood drained from his head. He braced himself against the table. “There has to be a way, though.”
“The only ways I’ve ever heard of a Soulsnatcher leaving a body is of its own free will or driven out by extreme force, and by extreme force, I mean things bridging on torture.”
“But Rill won’t be in the body to feel the … that.” He swallowed.
“No, but any damage we do, she’ll have to live with, and that’s assuming that the combination of having her soul forcibly removed, held captive, and then returned to an injured body isn’t too much for her. The torture method of Soulsnatcher removal has a history of killing the victim.”
“Yeah, you may not want to mention that to Jericho just yet. He’s already in a dark place.” He closed his eyes. Lotta’s arm slipped around his shoulders, and he leaned into her. “What are we going to do, then?�
�
“Capture it, confine it so it can’t do magic—tying its arms to its sides will accomplish that, or using a good energy trap—and work from there.”
Auric focused on the steady rise and fall of Lotta’s breath until his mind cleared. There had to be a way to save Rill, to drive the Soulsnatcher out of her without hurting her, something that could hurt a Fey but wouldn’t harm a human, maybe. He leaped from Lotta’s arms, making her jump. “What about something like rosemary oil?” He grinned triumphantly. “It’s harmful to Fey, but harmless to humans.”
“Are all Fey allergic to rosemary oil?” Lotta frowned. “I mean, you’re half-Fey, and you’re not.”
“High Fey are mostly human and so less sensitive. It dampens our ability to work magic, but it doesn’t burn us. A Spiren would react to it like an acid, for instance.” Iris closed her eyes. “Unfortunately, Rill’s body will be working more or less like a suit of armor for the Soulsnatcher. We’d have to find a way to get to her core, her inner being where the Fey is hiding. Maybe if she were to swallow something? But I’m not sure that would work.”
“My mother was a nurse. I know a little about medical devices: hypodermic needles and such.” Lotta stood. “Maybe I could help you come up with something.”
The door opened, and Jericho strode in, pack on his back. Everyone’s stare darted to him, and the room fell silent.
“What?” He frowned.
“Nothing. Are you ready to go?” Auric shouldered his own pack.
“Yeah, more than ready. One question, though.” Jericho focused on Iris. “Can Soulsnatchers teleport?”
“No, that’s not in their range of abilities. Why?”
“When we were tracking Olive Cobb, the trail ended abruptly. As if she and her kidnapper disappeared.”
“Ah.” Iris nodded. “Masking. Certain Feys can draw on the ambient energy in an area to temporarily hide. They become indiscernible, invisible, untrackable, but it takes a lot of concentration and energy. Ten or twenty minutes is the most any could sustain that sort of spell at one time. My guess is it used it just long enough to be certain trackers would lose the trail.”
