Witch Untold by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lauris drove us into town in the Rover. Tor hadn’t been too happy about the trip and he probably would have insisted on coming, but the wolves had their own patrols to consider. It was around the time of the month when the varga usually attacked, and they needed to be present.

This trip was necessary because Jasper still hadn’t materialized, no matter how much I called. Something was very wrong, and I needed to find a way to fix it. Maybe this blood witch that Lauris claimed to know would be able to help us.

Ursula still hadn’t called with an update on Sloane or with the go-ahead to pick up Wren, even though I’d left two messages. I considered jumping to Necro to check up on them, but after infiltrating Magiguard security once and putting Ursula in a difficult position, it would be a slap in the face to do it again, especially when she was going out of her way to help me.

My phone chose that moment to buzz.

“Hello?”

“Cora, this is Mel from Magiguard HQ.”

A prickle of unease skated up my spine. “Hi, Mel, is everything okay? I’ve been trying to get hold of Ursula all day.”

“Ursula is on a mission right now, but she left me your number so I could contact you about Sloane and Wren. We’ve administered a modified version of Pire X to Sloane and are monitoring her. We’ll know more in a few hours, but it looks positive. If it works, she should be infection free in twenty-four hours.”

I exhaled in relief. “Thank you, and Wren?”

“We’re running a few more tests. I’ve come up with an inhibitor that could stop him from morphing.” She sounded excited. “You can administer it once a month.”

“And what does Wren think about that?”

“Excuse me?”

“The inhibitor? What does Wren think about it? Does he want to be inhibited?”

“I…well, I never asked.”

Fucksake. Typical. “Why not?”

“I don’t…I guess I didn’t think…”

Yeah, a common mistake with a lot of people. “Wren may look like a cute little teddy, but he’s a person perfectly capable of telling us what he wants. Morphing is a part of him. I won’t take that away from him unless that’s what he wants me to do.”

Mel was silent for a long beat. “Okay. We can discuss this when you pick him up tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there bright and early.”

“Foyer, please,” Mel said quickly.

“Yeah, I know. No security breach.”

“Look, Wren isn’t dangerous right now, but that could change; we don’t know. So it might be worthwhile keeping an eye on him, maybe bring him back in a couple of weeks so we can run a few more tests to make sure everything is still stable.”

“Sure, I can do that. Can I speak to Wren?”

“He’s asleep right now, but I can wake him if you want?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll see him in the morning.”

I hung up and tucked the phone back into my pocket.

“All good?” Lauris asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good, because we’re here.” He brought the car to a halt.

Bramble peered out the front passenger window. “Shit, Lauris, where exactly is here?”

I shifted across the back seat to look out the window on Bramble’s side. An alley glared back at us, dark and forbidding, and townhouses rose up on either side of it. The street was wreathed in an icy mist that clung to the yellow light of the lampposts like ethereal smoke rings.

Lauris killed the engine and got out. “Come on. Follow me.”

He led us across the road and up the path to the house to the left of the alley. I expected him to knock but instead he pulled a key from his pocket.

“Is this where she lives?” Bramble asked. “Why do you have a key to her house?”

Was that a hint of jealousy in the pixie’s tone?

Lauris looked down at her, silver eyes gleaming wickedly where they caught the light from the posts.

“Why, Bramble? Are you jealous?”

“Huh? Fuck off am I.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Come on, then, let’s get this over with.” She jerked her head toward the door.

“You both need to touch me,” he said.

“You wish,” Bramble retorted.

He chuckled. “A hand on my shoulder will do, if you can reach, midge.”

Bramble bristled and reached up to grip his shoulder, a little more tightly than required if Lauris’s slight wince was any indication.

I placed a hand on his other shoulder. “What is this? Some kind of entrance ritual?”

Lauris winked and slid the key into the lock. It turned with a soft snick. He pushed the door open and a gust of cool air drifted out along with the scent of an impending storm. We stepped over the threshold onto a snow-free cobbled street shrouded in a thick mist.

The door we’d stepped through was gone and a pillar made of gray and red brick stood in its place, smack bang in the center of this strange, cobbled street.

“What the fuck?” Bramble muttered.

Lauris pivoted to face us, arms out. “Welcome to Shady Lane.”

* * *

Shady Lane.Apt name.

The place was creepy as fuck, not to mention the shadows that lurked in the…shadows, and I was pretty sure we were being tailed as we wound through the narrow roads bordered by decrepit, dark brick buildings that seemed to lean into the street as if peering down at us. Doors painted black, window frames painted black, not a shaft of light slanting out of any windows. The place looked deceptively dead.

“What is this place?” Bramble asked the question before I could.

“A space in between,” Lauris said. “One of many, but not everyone can find them.”

“And you did?”

He shrugged. “I guess I must be special.” He winked at us, but there was something beneath the blasé expression that I couldn’t quite define.

I lengthened my stride so I was walking abreast of him. “Where did you get the key?”

“It found me.” He glanced down at me. “Look. I shouldn’t even be bringing you here, I might lose my key, but I get how important Jasper is to you. The fewer questions you ask, the better, okay?”

My curiosity was piqued, but I pressed my lips together. He was doing me a favor; the least I could do was respect his boundaries.

My scalp prickled as the thing following us drifted closer.

“Ignore it,” Lauris said. “It won’t hurt you.”

“What is it exactly?”

“A shadow sylph. It’s harmless. Just nosey,” Lauris said. “Got nothing better to do.” He raised his voice.

The flitting thing following us balked and then hissed softly as if in objection.

“Uh-huh, is that why you’re hanging about?” Lauris drawled.

Another hiss.

Lauris chuckled. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Lauris, you’ve gone nuts,” Bramble said.

“What?”

“Who the heck you talking to?”

He blinked down at her, his brow furrowing. “Voran the sylph…wait, you don’t hear him?”

“The hissing?” Bramble asked.

Lauris frowned. “He doesn’t hiss. Wait, that’s what you guys hear?”

Bramble and I nodded.

A soft hiss caressed my senses and a feather-light touch kissed my ear.

I jerked my head to the side. “Quit it.”

“Stop it,” Lauris ordered. “These are my friends. You don’t get to touch.”

He turned onto a path leading to a narrow house, bounded up the steps, and knocked on the door.

Bramble peered through the window. “Shit, it’s pitch-black inside.”

“Ida likes her privacy. The windows are glamoured.” He knocked again.

No one answered.

The sylph hissed again.

Lauris made a sound of exasperation. “I can see that. If you want to help, tell me where Ida is.”

A series of sibilant sounds filled the air in response.

Lauris listened intently, nodding periodically. “Okay. Yeah, next time.” He turned to us. “Come on.”

We followed Lauris and the sylph followed us. Down the street some more, a left into a narrow alley with walls so high it felt like they touched the sky. Thank fuck I wasn’t claustrophobic. The alley narrowed the further we got down it until we were forced to walk single file. I let Bramble walk between Lauris and me with the sylph at my back.

A whisper of air by my ear, then at my nape. “Touch me again and I’ll make it my mission to find a way to kick your airy ass.”

The sylph hissed but backed up.

Lauris chuckled. “No, she’s not joking.”

Shit, it was getting tight in here. “Um, Lauris.”

“Almost there,” he called back.

The sound of cheers drifted toward us and the scent of blood tickled my senses. “Lauris, where the hell are—"

The alley widened suddenly, as if taking a breath, and spat out into a courtyard filled with people of all shapes and sizes. They stood in a loose circle around a massive iron cage where two other creatures were beating the shit out of each other.

I scanned the crowd filled with breeds of outliers I hadn’t known existed. Antlered and horned, bat-winged and hunched. The word monsters came to mind, but there was no threat here. The atmosphere, despite the bloodthirsty activity taking place in the cage, was almost pleasant.

“Motherfucker,” Bramble muttered.

Lauris took a deep breath, then tipped his head back, drinking it in. “It’s fantastic, isn’t it.”

One of the occupants of the cage went down hard, and the crowd’s cheer was a wave of excitement washing over us, infectious and compelling.

The figure who was still on its feet turned to face the crowd, arms up in triumph.

“It’s a chick…” Bramble said.

The woman’s hair was buzz cut, her body ripped to fuck in a vest and cargo pants. It was easy to mistake her for a guy from the back, but face on, the tits gave her away. She pumped her fists, riling up the crowd.

The hulk she’d felled stirred behind her.

“Oh, shit.” Bramble took a step forward as the monolith who looked like he was made of stone pulled himself off the ground. “Look out!”

The woman’s gaze zeroed in on Bramble, her lips tipped up slightly in half a smile, and then she spun-kicked the monolith in the head.

He staggered, eyes rolling back in his head, and went down. Again.

A roar of approval battered the air as the woman strode toward the bars, heavy boots stirring up the sawdust under her feet, attention on us as the bars swung open to let her out.

Lauris stepped forward to meet her. “Ida. Looking good.”

This was the blood witch?

Ida ran her tongue across her teeth. “You don’t look too bad yourself. Here to blow off some steam?” She arched a brow.

Lauris chuckled. “Not tonight. Tonight, I’m here to ask you for some help.”

Her gaze finally flicked to me and Bramble. “Help for you or for your friends?”

“You help them, then you help me.”

She poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue. “Fine, you can ask, but I’m not promising to give it.” She ran a hand over her head. “Come on, we can talk at Blaine’s Bar.”

* * *

Blaine’s Bar was a dark,dingy building on the edge of the courtyard filled with hulking forms similar to the ones in the courtyard. Dingy decor aside, the place smelled sweet and fresh, like a fucking meadow. The contradiction was disconcerting.

Ida led us to a table by the grimy windows.

The chairs were sturdy affairs, no surprise considering the clientele.

“They’re all fae,” Bramble said softly.

“Yeah,” Lauris said. “So what?”

Ida sat back as a jug of what looked like beer was slapped on the table. The server, a bearded fae with angry eyes and a scowl, dropped four tankards beside the jug.

“You want anything else, Ida?” His words came out as a snarl.

Ida smiled up at him, almost coquettish. “Only a smile, Gustov.”

The bearded fae frowned harder. “I don’t smile.”

“You will one day,” Ida sing-songed as he stomped off, harumphing all the way.

Lauris shook his head. “He likes you.”

“I know.” She poured herself a drink and took a gulp. “Fuck, that hit the spot.”

“Ale?” Bramble leaned over to sniff the contents of the tankard.

“The best.” Ida smacked her lips.

“Feck it.” Bramble poured out three more glasses. “Drink up.”

The ale was sweet with a bitter edge that wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it was pretty damn tasty.

I took several sips. “This is good.” I set the tankard down, so many questions on my lips as I raised my eyes to meet Ida’s.

She pouted knowingly. “Just ask.”

“Ida…” There was warning in Lauris’s tone.

“What?” Ida shrugged. “It’s not like the powers that be can kick me out.” She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers, crimson power snaking between them before evaporating. “They need me. So ask.”

Yeah, I didn’t need more prompting. “What the fuck is this place?”

“A haven for the lost. A place where those of us who have no place can go.”

Oh, shit. “The fae…they’re here because Faerie is dying.”

“Yeah, I mean, they’re not the best at fitting into the human world. Even the natural glamour that allows outliers to hide from humans won’t cloak the fae who live here. But there is nowhere else for them to go. For us to go.”

“You could easily fit into the human world.”

“Uh-huh. I could.”

I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. Okay. Closed subject, and it didn’t matter anyway. We were here to get Jasper some help. “What do you know about malevolent spirits?”

Her eyes lit up and she sat forward, forearms resting on the table. “A malevolent, eh? Well, let’s see. They’re super rare and super dangerous and the only one I ever heard of belonged to a blood witch in Necro...” Her eyes narrowed. “Are we talking about the same malevolent?”

“Maybe.” I set my tankard down. “He’s free…kind of. And he’s a…friend.”

Her brows shot up. “Malevolent don’t have friends. They don’t have feelings, unless you count wanting to eviscerate everyone a feeling.”

“Jasper isn’t like that.” I couldn’t hide the snap to my tone.

She sat back and crossed her arms. “Oh? Now this is interesting.”

I gritted my teeth. I needed her help, and that meant keeping my temper. “Look, Ida, do you know much else about these spirits or not?”

“I know a little, probably more than most. I tried capturing my own malevolent once, you know. Failed, but it was an… experience.”

“And where do you go to capture a malevolent?”

“You don’t go anywhere, but with the right tools and the right skill, you can reach into a place us blood witches call the abyss filled with all manner of creatures. Malevolent just happen to be one of those creatures.”

“Creatures?” Bramble frowned. “I thought malevolent were spirits of the dead? Like, a level up from malignant.”

Ida snorted into her tankard. “It never fails to amaze me how little you outside outliers know. A malevolent is an entity in its own right, like a fae or a human. It’s a creature, a deadly, powerful, and evil creature, and the only way to make it do your bidding is to bind it to this world using a physical anchor. Without an anchor the malevolent is sent straight back to the abyss.”

Jasper had been bound to a house, and now to me, but he kept disappearing…Fuck, was he being pulled into this abyss place? Did it mean our bond was fracturing?

Ida watched me think, then smirked. “Oh boy, I heard about the incident in Necro, death of a powerful blood witch, the one rumored to have a malevolent. Please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to agree to anchor it to yourself?”

I stared coolly back at her. “I did what I had to. And Jasper isn’t a mindless, evil entity. He’s saved my life many times.”

“Of course he has. The last thing he’d want to do is get sent back to the abyss. I hear it’s a nightmare. Being anchored to the blood witch was probably a walk in the park compared to being trapped in the abyss.”

“He doesn’t remember the abyss, or his life before.” But I was intrigued. “You said trapped…being trapped in the abyss. What is that place?”

“A prison for bad shit.” She shrugged. “Or so they say. It’s old-school dark magic and the details aren’t clear. Blood witches dip in from time to time to tear out a familiar or two to do their bidding.” She sipped her ale. “I’m not surprised he doesn’t recall his time there. It was probably so traumatic he blocked it out.”

Shit. Now was the time to lay my cards on the table and hope she’d help me. “Jasper is losing his grip on being present. He keeps slipping away, I think back to this abyss place. He has no control over it.”

“Then it means the bond between the two of you is weakening.” Her eyes narrowed. “Interesting considering it was the malevolent that bound himself to you.”

What was she implying… Wait a second. “You think he’s deliberately loosening his grip on me?”

She canted her head. “I’d be able to be more helpful if I could understand the nature of your relationship with the malevolent.”

“I love him.” I said it bluntly.

Her mouth parted in a smile. “Ah, and you think he loves you.”

“I know he does.”

She puffed out her cheeks. “I would tell you that you’re insane, but the evidence is in your favor. Only he can end the bond between you, and it seems like his feelings for you are subconsciously leading him to let go.”

“So I tell him not to. To check himself and keep a grip.”

She shrugged. “Seems like a good plan. If he knows what’s happening, he can focus on making sure it doesn’t.”

“And how do we get him back from the abyss if he gets…stuck,” Bramble asked.

Ida smirked smugly. “You don’t.” She took a gulp of her ale. “But I can.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “For a price.”

“Ida…” Lauris shook his head, looking disappointed. “These are my friends.”

She pressed her lips together. “Which is the only reason I’m giving them my time, but a job is a job, Lauris. You want me to pull your malevolent back from the abyss, then you pay the price.”

“How much?”

She chuckled. “Oh, honey. I don’t want or need your money.” She leaned in and licked her lips. “I want your blood, sex, and pain.”

Oh, shit. The three trademark ingredients of a blood witch’s magic.

“I’ll pay the price for her,” Lauris said.

Ida rolled her eyes. “Sorry, love, it doesn’t work that way.” She raked me over. “You want my help, you pay the price. I’d love to have some Grimswood power in a jar.”

Shit, she knew who I was.

She let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, honey, you’re famous and very much in demand.”

“No,” Bramble said to me. “You can’t do this. Anna won’t allow it. The anchor’s blood and power can’t be put in the hands of a blood witch. Who knows what she’ll do with it. Plus, Jasper hasn’t been gone that long. He’s been gone longer, right?”

She had a point. I sighed. “Thanks for the offer. If he doesn’t return soon then I’ll be back to take you up on it.”

Ida shrugged. “Whatever.” She drained her tankard and pushed back her chair. “I got stuff to do, and if you want to keep your key to Shady Lane, you best get your friends out of here before the powers that be lock on to them.” She stood and stretched. “See you around.”

She strode off between the tables occupied by hulking fae and into the gloom.

“Come on,” Lauris said. “We should get back to Grimswood.”

We stepped back into the courtyard, silent and empty now, and cut across it to a pillar similar to the one we’d entered via.

“Lauris…” Bramble asked. “How come you have a key to this place?”

He pulled the key from his pocket and pressed it to the pillar, which lit up with strange whorls and whirls.

“Honestly, Bramble, I have no fucking clue.”

This was a place for the lost, the creatures that didn’t fit in, and Lauris fit the description, but still, I couldn’t help but feel there was more to this place and to Lauris.

As we stepped into the portal, my mind went back to the reason for this visit.

Jasper.

If what the blood witch said was true, then right now, the malevolent I loved was in a living nightmare.