Poison in the Well

by Jessica Gunn

“Yeah,” I said. “And they did their job. I was too incapacitated to continue. That’s what they’re there for, Kian.”

  “And that other demon died because of it.” His lips pressed together into a thin line and he crossed his arms. It was the first time he’d let go of me since using teleportante to bring us to Headquarters.

  I sighed heavily and tried to see the situation from his perspective before responding. Which was difficult, as there really hadn’t been another way to stop the injured woman. “I get that it could have killed me. But what was I supposed to do? Let her get blood all over everyone and kill us all?”

  “You could have let someone else take her out,” Kian said, his tone even.

  I arched an eyebrow. “Who, you?”

  His lips slid shut and didn’t open again. Exactly as I thought.

  “Kian,” I said, “I shouldn’t need to remind you, but please remember that even though you don’t have magik and thus can’t experience a flare or backfire, a crazed magik user can still kill you just as easily as they can me. And those protection magiks do not discriminate. You attacking her would have ended just the same.”

  “Sure,” was his only response.

  I rolled my eyes and looked around. The waiting room area was empty, save for a single Hunter who sat watching our exchange. I recognized her as Abby, one of the non-Ember witch newbies. Abby was cradling her hand, which had been wrapped in a few bandages, as though she’d cut it while training.

  Happens.

  The desk Kian and I stood in front of was unmanned. And despite the insanity that had been going on at Headquarters lately, the Infirmary itself seemed so… still. Quiet. Not quite tranquil, as that would foster some illusion of peace that would never be, but still. That was a good word for it.

  “Kian, where is everyone?” I asked, then turned toward Abby. “Is anyone even here?”

  She shook her head. “They were taken out by Ether Head Circle representatives an hour ago. I’ve been waiting for a healer to return ever since.”

  My heart leaped into my throat as I stepped toward her. “Who was taken out? To where?”

  “Ether Circle Prison is my guess,” Abby said, near spitting the words. No sane Hunter who knew about that prison had any sort of good feelings toward it. “A lot of the Ember witches and Hunters that were hurt earlier. Many of the patients in general, actually, now that I think about it.” Her brow furrowed.

  “Was Will with them?” I asked. “Is he gone?” Panic coated my lungs, weighing them down. Breathing became difficult. All of a sudden it was as though no matter how much air I pulled into my lungs, none of it was ever enough. If Will was gone, if he’d already been moved to Ether Circle Prison… did that mean Ben had gotten in contact with the Neuians?

  Had they said no?

  “Abby,” I said as the silence between us stretched on.

  She blinked up at me, her confusion deepening.

  Kian touched a hand to my aching shoulder. “Ava, leave her be. Let’s go find Ben. He’ll be able to tell us what’s going on.”

  “Yeah, and what happened to finding me a healer?” I cringed. Shit. “Sorry.” Kian didn’t deserve my short temper. But after what had just happened at Hunter’s Guild, I had the right to be a little jumpy. “You’re right.”

  “If Ben’s still here,” Abby said. “Last I saw, he and Jeremiah, maybe even Bria too, had all left.”

  I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep, still unsatisfying breath. “Fantastic.”

  “Come on,” Kian said, nudging me toward the door. “If we find one of the healers or Infirmary staff, we’ll send them your way, Abby.”

  She lifted her hand. “All good. Just a scratch.”

  I tried to smile a little. Everything was just a scratch until the blood didn’t stop pouring. I’d learned that the hard way.

  Kian and I trailed out of the Infirmary. The quarantine chambers were on this floor, so while Kian went upstairs to try finding someone—anyone—with authority, I hurried over to where I’d last seen Will really not all that long ago.

  Had it even been an hour since we’d left? Sometimes, it felt as though entire lifetimes passed in the blink of an eye these days.

  My fingers wrapped around the door handle and I yanked open the door, stepping inside. Several figures greeted me, some turning around with tight, concerned expressions on their face.

  “What—?” I asked, but then Krystin appeared and put her body in the way of mine, blocking most of the room from view.

  “Not now, Ava,” she said, her eyes serious.

  “But Will—”

  “Is holding up his end of the deal,” she said, whispering. “You can’t be in here.”

  The pit of dread in my stomach from a few moments earlier turned to anger in a flash. “Why the hell not? He’s my best friend, Krystin. He’s all the family I have left. If they’re doing something to him, I—”

  Krystin lifted her hands and placed them on my shoulders. “Trust us, Ava. Will is in good hands.”

  But even I could pick out the hints of uncertainty in her voice. Whatever limited experience she and Ben had had with the Neuians, it hadn’t been a solidly positive adventure. That much was obvious. And yet here they were, making bargains and deals with them to keep Talon at bay.

  Enemy of my enemy and all that.

  I forced myself to take a deep breath and relax under her hold. Bria was in here—Ben too. Jeremiah was watching me but turned back to Will when he noticed me looking. So this was where everyone had run to. Which meant they probably hadn’t gotten this cleared with the Ether Head Circle…

  …which is why they had decided to give up the Ember witches in the Fire Circle’s care.

  To distract the Ether Head Circle.

  This understanding did nothing to quell the fiery pit inside me.

  Krystin removed her hands and nodded to the door. “Go.”

  “No need, Krystin,” came a woman’s voice, deep and calm. Arrogant, even. “I’ve done all I can.”

  The echo of boots clacking across tile sounded and a door opened—the one to the actual quarantine chamber. I looked past Krystin in time to see a woman with long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes escort another man who wasn’t Will out of the chamber. She lifted her hand, indicating for the man to stop, as she passed by a shocked Ben.

  Probably shocked because the blue tattoos around his eyes matched both of theirs.

  Neuians. This must have been Karen. Ben’s something or other long-lost ancestor.

  Ben held her gaze for only a moment before looking past her toward where Will lay on the cot, his eyes closed. “Did it work?”

  “You can’t tell?” Karen asked, her voice surprised. Arrogantly so.

  My teeth ground together as I pushed past Krystin and Jeremiah toward the glass. “Just answer the question.”

  “Ava,” Krystin warned as Karen’s gaze turned on me. Her eyes, though blue in color, were filled with a fire that raged like any other.

  “You’re a bold one,” Karen said.

  Ben nodded toward Will. “She’s his best friend and one of our best Hunters.”

  I wasn’t so sure about the last part, but I wasn’t going to keep Ben from saying it. “Were you able to save him?”

  Karen’s eyebrows lifted half an inch. “Save him? No, not as you would like.”

  Ben’s jaw locked tight. “Did it work, Karen?”

  The Neuian set her eyes back on him. “Yes, which you should be able to see now that you’ve begun accepting your powers.”

  Ben didn’t so much as blink. The only thing visibly different about him was the brightness of his eye tattoos. Three months ago and I wouldn’t have known they existed. “I just wanted to make sure.”

  Karen nodded deeply. “I’ve held up my end of the bargain. Now you must do the same.” She turned to me. “Your friend will live and not become a risk to anyone, though he is not free. I’ve done the best I can do given the enormity of this uneasy task.”

  I nodde
d. “Understood. Thank you for doing this.”

  Karen’s mouth tightened. “Don’t thank me. Thank Ben.” Her gaze found his. “I look forward to our continued partnership.” Her words carried through the air on a weighted tone that left Ben’s expression both blank and angry at the same time. Like a man accepting some hardened fate he didn’t want.

  What exactly had Ben given in exchange for not only Will’s future, but also the Neuians’ help with the Ember witch blood problem?

  “Thank you again,” Jeremiah said as he pushed through the crowd on his way to Karen. He gestured for the door to the quarantine room. “If you’d please come with me, we can discuss the finer points of the deal.”

  Karen lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll discuss those with Ben, and Ben only.” Her eyes roamed over all of us, disgust twisting her features. “Despite the danger Talon’s plan poses to all of us, this entire plane of existence is still inferior and young. I will only speak to my family, and the Neuian Council will only do deals with me as mediator.”

  “We shouldn’t be talking to a single Circle leader anyway,” said the Neuian who’d come with Karen. He must have done the actual neutralizing of Will’s magik. From what little I knew, and based on what I was now seeing, I was more than a little sure that Karen would never do something so insignificant in her eyes as to potentially bond with someone like Will. She’d leave that to her lackeys. Karen must have directed the flow of neutralizing magik, not have actually given the magik herself.

  “Kaziah’s words are true,” Karen said before digging out a sapphire the size of her palm from her pocket. She held it out to Ben. “When you’re ready to finish discussions, use this to call for me. I will be waiting.”

  “Will you now?” Krystin asked.

  I wanted to roll my eyes. Almost did. Just let her go. We needed their help no matter what, which was about the only reason I could see that Jeremiah had a resigned look on his face. The Fire Circle could possibly take down Talon. But we couldn’t save magik-users and demons from this twisted Ember poison.

  Swallowing hard, I inched toward the entrance to the quarantine chamber. Let the rest of them deal with Karen and Kaziah. Will is in there. Sleeping, too, given the way he lay on the cot unmoving, save for his rising chest. Still, I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

  “Yes,” Karen said. “I will, Ms. Blackwood. Our deal regarding Topaz and Veres is still valid.”

  I blinked, turning on Krystin, who stood there with a scowl on her face, her mouth slammed shut. “Veres?”

  “She has the Power,” Krystin said. “As does Riley.”

  “As do apparently numerous others Talon has under their control,” I nearly spat. “Are you handing them over to the Neuians?”

  “Potentially,” Jeremiah answered for Krystin. “But only as a precaution.”

  I scoffed, stepping closer to Will. “Like moving all the other affected Ember witches to Ether Circle Prison?”

  “Ava—”

  I held up a hand, interrupting Krystin. “No, not from you. Krystin, you of all people know that sending anyone to Ether Circle Prison who doesn’t deserve to be there is awful. Unless all those horrifying rumors aren’t true.”

  “They’re not,” Ben said. Jeremiah nodded.

  Krystin remained silent—that was enough to know I was right. She glowered at me. Totally fine. Let her be mad. Maybe it would push her to act rather than let the Neuians walk all over us.

  Karen laughed as this exchange continued, a haunting chuckle that sifted through the air. “Give me a call when this is sorted, Ben. Until then”—she looked to me—“keep an eye on your friend. His magik is neutralized, but a natural flare will still kill him. As it would you, Ms. Blackwood.”

  Krystin’s glare shifted to Karen at the same time Karen grabbed Kaziah’s arm and they disappeared in a flash of cobalt blue magik.

  I sucked my cheek against my teeth and shook my head, pushing on toward Will’s side. Ignoring everyone else. Everything about this situation was so fucked. The only thing, the absolute only person, who hadn’t tried to screw me over was Will. And in doing that, he’d gotten himself into this position.

  I was to blame for all of this. For not killing Veynix when I’d had the chance a year and a half ago.

  And now Will and the other Ember witches were paying the price.

  I knelt beside the cot and took Will’s warm hand. “I’m here, Will. You’re going to be safe.”

  “We need to move him,” Ben said quietly.

  “It’ll be all right,” I continued, ignoring Ben.

  “Ava,” he said. Footsteps preceded his firm hand on my shoulder.

  “What?” I spat.

  “Will needs to go to Ether Circle Prison with the others,” Ben said quietly. “That’s the only place within the Hunter Circles that has the space and power to keep all of them, including Will, safe.”

  I glared up at him. “Karen just said his magik is neutralized. It’s safe. The only person he’s going to hurt—so far as I understand it—is himself if he uses it again. So screw off, Ben. Will’s not going to Ether Circle Prison.”

  Ben frowned for half a second before his expression washed over with seriousness. “Ava, it’s an order. All Ember witches, without bias, are to be moved to Ether Circle Prison. Will isn’t getting a pass this time.”

  My jaw locked tight. My molars ground together as I glared at him. “Then come up with a fucking plan, Ben. Because I’m not sitting around for the next several months waiting for the Fire Circle to finally do something about all of this.” I rose, courage blooming in my chest. “Enough have fallen. Enough have been trapped. And now you’re serving Veres up to the Neuians too? Make a plan, or I’m out.”

  “Out?” Ben asked, watching me with narrowed eyes.

  “Gone,” I said. “You all don’t need me anyway. And the Fire Circle will be safer without Will and me, our magik and our baggage. It’ll be as it should have been before.”

  “Ava,” Krystin said from the doorway.

  I swiped the air in front of me with my free hand. “No. I’m done. Inaction does nothing but let evil breed and spread.”

  A wry smile formed on Ben’s lips. “Then it’s a damn good thing we have a plan.”

  Confusion barely quelled the anger building inside me. “What?”

  Jeremiah appeared on the other side of the glass. “It’s what we were in here discussing when Karen and her assistant showed up.”

  I gave a bitter laugh. “And what’s this plan?”

  Another form appeared in the doorway, shorter than the men and missing a hand. She held that arm close to her chest and met my gaze. Veres. “We negotiate with Landshaft.”

  Chapter 10

  “Negotiate?” I asked as soon as we had moved to a meeting room. “I thought negotiating wasn’t an option with them?”

  Kian, who’d joined on the way, stared up at Veres with the same shocked, confused expression I knew lined my own face. When he hadn’t been able to find anyone upstairs because almost the entire Command had been in the quarantine room with Karen, Kaziah, and Will, Kian had found us there. Now, he shook his head, chuckling. “Well, at least it’s something.”

  “Yeah, a big something,” I said. “And where are those negotiations taking place?”

  “In Landshaft,” Ben said as he gave Krystin and Veres wary glances. “We sent word on ahead, but it’s unlikely to reach Jerrick before we get there.”

  “So you’re going to go in anyway?” Kian asked. “Solid plan.”

  Jeremiah leaned over the table and placed his palms on the hard surface. “It will be a show of good faith. And it’s highly unlikely they’d want to meet at Hunter’s Guild.”

  “Even though that’s the standard,” another Command member said. “It’s been that way for centuries for a reason.”

  Jeremiah’s lips formed a thin line as his expression hardened. “Times have changed. And so has this war.”

  “Yeah,” I said, standing. “It’s escalated.�
��

  Ben lifted a hand to silence me. “We know.”

  “It’s the only reason measures like this need to be taken,” Jeremiah continued. “And need I remind everyone that while Dacher is incapacitated, I am Leader of the Fire Circle.” He directed his gaze at the Command member who had spoken against him. “I’ve heard both sides of the argument and have determined this to be the correct course of action.”

  “Until it gets you all killed,” said the Command member. “Has the Ether Head Circle been made aware of these plans?”

  “Aware enough,” Jeremiah said as he pulled back from the table. “We leave in an hour.”

  “We?” Krystin asked, her arms still crossed.

  Ben stood straighter and lifted his chin. “Jeremiah and I.”

  Krystin lifted an eyebrow. “The two of you are going in alone?”

  “The fewer of us there are, the less likely Talon is to attack outright should word not reach Jerrick in time,” Jeremiah said. He pulled out a bag and dumped the contents onto the table, then picked up a sleeve of pills. “Hydron was nice enough to give us a few doses. It should be enough to see us through.”

  Krystin’s fists balled. “Absolutely not.”

  “What?” Ben asked.

  “It can’t just be the two of you,” I said. We’d only had four people last time and barely escaped with our lives. Granted, we weren’t going in there to make a deal, but the inherent dangers in walking into the demonic city and trying to come out alive didn’t disappear when your motives changed—Leader of the Fire Circle or not.

  “If you’re going, I am too,” Krystin said. “I don’t know why you thought anything otherwise.”

  Ben turned to her with eyes full of concern. “Because.”

  Krystin’s jaw locked as she looked at him sternly. “Not good enough. Now there’re three of us.”

  “Four,” I said. My legs sort of shook at the idea of going back into Landshaft. But the thought of not going with them scared me more. It wasn’t like I was just going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs, waiting for Talon to attack us again anyway. “This is my mess. I’m helping you clean it up. Besides, I know the area around the tavern Jerrick likes to hang out in.”