“Next, I add some aloe. It’s especially good for burns, as you probably know. But I really like how soothing it is in any healing balm.”
“It looks very spiky.”
“Jenny, really. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen aloe before?” I trimmed off the spiny edges and sliced the leaf open, revealing the wet, jelly-like inner leaf.
“Ohhh. No. I don’t think I have ever seen the inside like that.”
“Your wizard must have had a garden, and you are the perfect garden familiar. It’s criminal that you don’t know the most basic plants. I have a lot to teach you before you go.”
“But you will teach me, Bevan?”
“I feel obligated.”
“I feel like it might take me years to catch up…”
“That might be true. We’ll see.”
She gave me a devastatingly private smile. She could be so coquettish in her expressions that. She wasn’t really that pretty, I thought, if I put her on pause. Sort of plain, like you would expect a toad to be. But I thought she must have experience using charm and the thought made me feel downright annoyed. Well, I hope she wasn’t flirting with anyone, wherever she came from. If she’s given any smiles like that to other men than I’m not special at all, I’m just getting suckered. Or…is it a survival technique? Oh, no. That’s even worse.
“Can I try?” She was watching me scrape the aloe from the leaf.
“I don’t want you to strain yourself. There’ll be plenty of time to make you do menial labor when you’re healed.”
“But it looks fun.”
“Not yet.” I worked the aloe gel into the mashed leaf and by this time the roots I’d set to boil on the hearth were getting soft, so I added the root and a little of their boiling liquid, and worked it all in together. “Now, salt, and then it goes into this jar with a weight and sits under the moonlight for a week.”
“A week, huh? So that’s why you’re making more now.”
“You have to plan ahead with magic or you’ll get in trouble. Not that—well, my witch doesn’t listen to me when I tell her that.”
“You must really love this witch of yours,” she said, more pensively.
I wasn’t sure what to say. If she had never felt the bond between a familiar and a wizard, then it would be cruel to rub it in. In my insufferable youth I might have lectured her on familiar etiquette.
“I do love Helena…but she also loves me. She trusts me, but she doesn’t lean on me when she can get things done herself.”
Jenny reached her hands to mine and I took them, although I was slightly confused. She put her arms around my waist and clenched me with a lack of inhibition that left me startled. My hands moved, as if by instinct, to her slender shoulders.
“I’m scared that I might be forced to go back,” she said.
“If you are forced back…I’ll come and get you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“What if you can’t?”
“How about this? We’ll make it more official. We can enter into an official apprenticeship so I can teach you how to cast garden spells. And we’ll make it a blood agreement. But then you have to do as I say for seven years.”
“I will!”
“You agree way too readily for something so serious, I think.”
“No, really! I would be happy to do what you say! I’ve been enjoying every moment of being here. I want to learn all these interesting things you’re doing.”
“All right.” I took a sharp knife from the counter and grazed my palm with a light cut to draw a little blood and then I handed the knife to her. She bit her lip but didn’t hesitate to follow my lead.
We clasped hands. “You’re my apprentice now,” I said. “I’ll teach you Ethereal magic, and because we have this bond, I’ll be able to find you and have at least some claim to you. If the worst should happen, that is.”
She suddenly went rigid.
“No need for second thoughts. I’m not too tough on an apprentice…”
All her limbs started jerking and twitching, and she screamed in agony.
“Bevan!” She flailed a hand toward me and clutched my shirt.
“What is it?” I grabbed her, frightened now. “I can get you more healing poultice!”
“No…I’m being called back.”
“Shit. Shit! Jenny, look at me. You have to resist. We have a bond now so focus on that. Just in the nick of time.”
Her eyes welled. “You know I can’t refuse his call…Bevan, I’m sorry…I’m sorry…you’re sweet but you’re still just a familiar…”
“You’re hurt. Jenny!” I screamed as I saw her face fighting it, sweating, her fingernails digging into my clothes. “Some ancient covenant…you can fight that. You just need to have the will. Concentrate on me. Damn it!”
It was all useless. She vanished out of my grasp without another word.
My hand throbbed. I could feel her presence. I could find her, most likely, but she was right. I couldn’t free her from her bond. The best I could do would be to abandon Helena and join Jenny in her prison, where I would be largely helpless to stop her warlock from doing whatever it was he did to torment her.
Just a familiar…
Chapter Twenty-Four
Helena
For once, Jake and Jasper crashed before I did. I admired their sleeping faces in the moonlight. They looked as tired as little kids, which was not a surprise. They’d been working even harder than they did on the last house. We were all working like it was the last house we’d ever flip, just in case it was.
A form shimmered into existence right before my eyes. I almost screamed and then I recognized Bevan, but I’d never seen him look like this. Not ever. Haunted eyes and dark curls tangled like he’d just tugged at them.
“What’s wrong, Bev?”
“They took Jenny. The toad girl. I was helping her regain her strength.”
“You mean, they found a way to bind her to her warlock again?” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Oh no…” A lump rose in my throat.
“I want to go after her,” Bevan said. “But I might have to go into Sinistral. And we might lose our bond. I wouldn’t ask, but…I think I might be in love with Jenny.” He was barely audible. Then he added, “Although I don’t think you can really fall in love in a week.”
“I do,” I said. “I think sometimes you just know.” I wriggled my way out of the covers, grabbed my dress, and started pulling it on as I walked. I needed witch clothes, not contractor clothes. I hardly knew what I was doing, but my feet pulled me forward.
As soon as I saw Bevan’s face, I knew what I had to do.
Trouble’s going to ambush you if you don’t face it. Time to stop running.
Bevan was right at my heels, which was about the only time he’d ever followed me in his life. He was so independent that it was weird to hear him ask me for permission to go after the girl he loved. Why would I stop him? Of course, if I did, I would lose him as backup in what was probably the fight of my life.
While I was sharing my bed with Jake and Jasper tonight and Billie and Gaston had the other room, Byron had my sleeping bag in the living room while Graham passed out in a chair. I crouched next to Byron and put a hand on his shoulder. “Byron?” I whispered in his ear. “Byron…” When he didn’t stir right away, I gave his earlobe a little nibble. “Byron…”
“Hmm…mm…not a dream, after all…,” he murmured as he rolled toward me. “Wait—why are you dressed up, angel?”
“I don’t want the other guys to hear me. Can you follow me to the grotto and I’ll explain?”
He flung open the unzipped sleeping bag. Man, if I was going to die tonight… Damnit, there wasn’t time for these thoughts.
“And…put some pants on first,” I said. “And also a shirt. All the clothes.”
He was buttoning his shirt as he followed me down the stairs. “You’re about to get into trouble, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. It’s the covenants. My mother called a few days ago and warned me that Piers was working on binding all the familiars again. That thing Piers had? I guess there are more. And they’re all at the Ethereal Library in London. So I want to go there and stop them.”
“You can’t stop them all by yourself.”
“Well, I was hoping you’d come with me. You’re the only one powerful enough to assist.”
“Helena…my talented, dear Helena. I love you, but correct me if I’m wrong…are you that powerful of a witch? What do you plan to do there?”
I gripped his arm. “I am a direct descendant of one of the most powerful bloodlines in the magical world. I may not be a princess with a castle anymore, but everyone knows the Hapsburg line, and I think that you were able to send me back into Lady Hulda’s body because I was her direct descendant too.”
His eyes widened a little.”
“You must have suspected that this was true,” I said. “You know that my family has been a ruling power as far back as anyone can track. That no rule and law of the magical world was created without input from my ancestors. And you know how important royal lines are in the magical world. So it’s a safe bet that my ancestors made those covenants too. Not Piers. He’s a Nicolescu. His ancestors, like my dads, were vampire hunters, and he was always the inferior member of the family because his dad didn’t marry a Hapsburg. So all this…stupid…misery…”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It’s in my DNA,” I said. Then I looked at Bevan. “Bevan, I release you from…” Now I faltered. That bold speech shot out of my mouth, purposeful and brave. When I looked at Bevan, I just saw my companion, the little bat who helped me learn magic, played with me, and scolded me when I did something dumb. And then I saw the man who was Bevan, the side of him that I had never seen until now: a man who could take care of other people, who had a life outside of me, and who could fall in love. “I release you from our bond. From…this covenant. I don’t want you to die when I die. I want you to…”
“No…” He paled. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I do…” I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight. It felt really good. “I love you, Bev. But we don’t need each other. We haven’t, in a long time. Love never dies, though. It doesn’t matter if we go our separate ways.”
“Aren’t you going to stop her?” Bevan asked Byron.
“No…I’m going with her,” Byron said. “I’ll be her sword and shield. Don’t worry about her.”
“I’ve worried about her for her whole life,” Bevan said. “I doubt I can stop now. But…thank you. I’ll try my best to help out on this end of things. Do you need help getting to London?”
“I can handle that,” Byron said.
“Don’t die,” Bevan told me. “You’ve managed not to die on so many rooftops and it would really be stupid to end the streak now.”
“I’ll try.”
Byron brought out the Way of Paths and waved his hands over it. It vanished too.
“Oh, is that how you transport it?”
“Yes, it does have that ability. And now, Marisa will help us get to London.”
“Oh, you think she will? I didn’t know if she really cared about familiars.”
“They are somewhat beneath an Ethereal’s notice normally, but Marisa has a grudge against these people now. I think she’ll help protect us, but we have to pay her a visit first.”
He took my hand and pulled me into the magical realm. We were standing at the door of a beautiful castle with shining towers and, well, basically all the fairy tale trappings you would want out of a grand house, although it needed a lot of work. I could tell at a glance that it had seen better days. Byron didn’t knock; he flung open the doors and announced, “I’m home!” He was also in his demigod form now, and I was already struggling not to think about the wonderful beds this house must have for being ravished by your demigod lover.
“Someday we’ll tour the sex dungeon,” Byron whispered to me.
“Oh my.”
The house seemed almost empty. I had a good radar for these things. Hardly any servants, I’d guess. Marisa’s swans wandered around the large rooms. Gentle harp music stopped at the sound of Byron’s voice. I could tell Marisa kept to herself, just by the vibe of the cobwebs and the emptiness, although the layout and the rooms were very nice for such an old house. Good natural light, I thought, with high ceilings and exposed beams…very trendy…
“Byron! I wondered when you would finally come to visit! See, the house is back in one piece!”
“One piece?” I asked.
“Yes, it was split between Sinistral and Etherium. Right down the middle of the great hall like this—kcch!” Marisa chopped her arm toward the room.
“Oh, so that’s why it looks a little sad,” I said. “I mean, it is a gorgeous home, though. I love that candolier. Actually, it does remind me of Greenwood Manor, now that I think about it.”
Marisa waved a hand and all the candles lit at once, and she did it so casually that I could tell this was just her standard way of lighting the house. “The world is beginning to shift,” she said. “I sense the change coming. This is only the beginning. Magic is becoming stronger. Evolving… None of this unfolded quite as we expected, and now I realize that it’s been so long since the realms were whole that even I have forgotten how it felt.”
“Stronger? That’s a good thing,” I said. “All we’ve heard about is how magic is dying. I mean, is it actually possible that this could save magic?”
Marisa looked at me with her eyes so merry and mesmerizing that I think I looked at her for longer than I should.
“Well, we shall see,” she said. “There is an expression, isn’t there, along the lines of how a house divided cannot stand? Maybe it’s true. But—I digress. You came here to ask for my help.”
“Do you know about the familiar covenants?” Byron asked.
“Ahh…that is something the human wizards did,” Marisa said. “I wonder if I can remember…”
“You don’t have to remember right now,” I said. “We just could really use your help.”
“I hate it when I can’t remember…”
“Helena is right. We’re going to the Ethereal wizard library in London,” Byron said. “The covenants are held there. Would you be able to help us get in?”
“Of course. Leave it to me. Back to the library, Byron?”
“It seems so.”
“London…” He conjured up the Way of Paths and looked at it for a moment. “This is the passage,” he said.
“I see. Look at you, Abiron! Already wielding your maps like you haven’t missed a day. I can’t even tell you what a proud and grateful sister I am to see you at your craft again.”
Byron shrugged modestly.
“Take my hands,” she said.
I slipped my hand into hers. Mine was calloused; hers was cool and delicate. Byron’s hands swallowed ours and both of us were sweating a bit. I was glad to know he was nervous too. I didn’t really want a god. I wanted someone who felt the same things I did. But Byron’s face didn’t show his nerves; his expression was confident and lifted to the sky, like he was ready to fly.
“Into the Fixed Plane we go,” Marisa said, and I shut my eyes before I could see it all melt away and make me dizzy.
When I opened them, I was in darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Byron
I smelled books before I could see them. Helena conjured a light to the tip of her wand and the soft light played on the spines of ancient books bound in leather and cloth. This room could have been a twin to the forgotten stacks where I found the Arcana as a young man and uncovered the course fate had set for me.
I was in my element. And I was brought back to my younger days, when I thought I was an ordinary incubus, working alongside Graham’s future grandmother. We were just eager kids, really. The ancient library of Sinistral was full of countless treasures, each more interesting than the l
ast.
“How huge is this room?” Helena whispered, as the light from her wand illuminated endless rows of books, scrolls, maps, and stone tablets…centuries of wizard chronicles and lore.
“There’s an echo,” I said. “It must be very vast.”
“You sound a little too excited considering that we must be in considerable danger,” Helena said.
“I’m here,” Marisa said. “You’re safe. Just hurry. My powers weaken when I spend too much time in the Fixed Plane.”
“The covenant Piers was holding was like a stone tablet,” Helena said.
“Of course, if it was meant to be binding magic forever, they would set it in stone,” I agreed. “They should be among the oldest artifacts in the library. And it sounds very much as if they didn’t know what they had, much like my maps. I wonder…” I conjured my own small light and started leading the way, bypassing the books. The room was definitely a basement, with a musty windowless smell to match, and had to occupy the floor of a substantial building above. The shelves went on and on. All the aisles put together were probably a couple of miles.
Eventually, the light caught an entire wall of stone slabs resting in their own niches in a huge shelf. Hundreds of them, if not thousands. Many of the stones had writing etched on the side so they could be identified like the spine of a book. They also had identification tags for cataloguing. And much of the writing was in a language I recognized—Cyprium.
“I’m getting chills,” Helena said. “These must be so old that I’ve never seen anything like it. And I know old stuff… Byron, do you know what these are?”
“Of course,” I said. “But I’ve never seen so many. Each one of these is a spell from early European wizards. Many of them are probably obsolete now. The stones were used from ancient times but their usage faded around the time…”
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