Chapter 11

ELEVEN

COLLINS

“You’re becoming more like your mother every day. You can’t just do that to people.” I stood beside him in a dimly lit room. The floorboards were old and creaked under my feet. The sound of something moving and scraping came from beneath them and I couldn’t tell if it was rodent, reptile, or a bit of both. Either way, I wasn’t going to ask questions.

“And I usually don’t. But just look.” His eyes were focused on bottles holding blue flames that’d been spread throughout the room on old wooden shelves. More bottles lined the walls, each one holding one horror after another. I only gave them a quick glance, but it was enough to see jars full of insects and reptiles—all alive and trying to escape.Those blue flames held Bash’s full attention.

“I’m looking.”

He reached out, ready to touch the bottle, and the flame looked like it leaned toward him.

I grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand back. “Can you just not? Fuck.”

He lowered his voice. “My mother uses that fire.”

“You should leave.” MoVaun’s voice was deep and sharp as she spoke.

We whirled around and found MoVaun standing there. Her dark, wide-set almond eyes watched us like she was debating how best to kill us. Her bright, ruby-red lips turned down into a scowl. I didn’t know if I should bow or drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness now.

“MoVaun, ma’am, we come here to?—”

“— I know why you are here.” Her dark-red dress flared out around her as she took a step toward the two of us. It was cut low across her shoulders and draped down her arms to her elbows. It cinched tight around her waist, then flowed down over her body like a sheet. The flickering blue lights gave her ebony skin a magical glow.

We were not off to a good start, and we really needed to be on good terms with MoVaun. “I’m so sorry for just walking in. We did not mean?—”

“—You meant very well by using your magics on my girl. And now you ask me to welcome you into my home when you have made yourselves comfortable without invitation.” She turned and sat in a wooden, throne-like chair that sat at the front of the room. Her dress fanned out around her. She motioned to the altar on her left that was littered with bones, jars, and statues strewn over it. It smelled of fresh blood and looked moist to the touch.. “I should sacrifice you both right where you stand. You’d fetch a good price. I know who wants you both alive and very dead.”

I took a small step back. “I’m sorry for any offense.”

“I know you are.” She looked at Bash. “But are you?”

Bash cleared his throat and forced his eyes away from the flames. “I am deeply sorry for trespassing, MoVaun.”

“I have doubts you feel any remorse. The poisoned seed flows freely from the poisoned tree.” She waved her hand, dismissing us both. “For that I am closed. Leave.”

Great. Just fucking great. “Please. If you could only spare us a moment.”

She pressed her lips together and light began to glow from her hands. Bash reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden vial. “Not even for this? Looks like you’re missing one.”

He pointed to the shelf, and there among the blue flames and scampering animals trapped in the jars sat a line of golden vials that matched the one in his hand . . . but one was missing.

MoVaun threw her head back and cackled. “Tell me, was the vial empty when you found it?”

Bash nodded and held it out toward her. “It was, but this is yours and I’m happy to return it to you.”

The air in the room seemed to change as she smirked at him. “And what made you think it belonged to me?”

“I didn’t know it belonged to you. But anything my sister values usually isn’t hers, so I knew it had to belong to someone of great power. I’d hoped to be able to extend its return as a peace offering. Then I saw yours, so I assumed . . .”

She looked him up and down with an appraising gaze. “Perhaps you’re less like the seed you sprout from than I thought.”

“I like to think I’m nothing like my mother.” His words were dry and serious as he spoke to her.

“Indeed.” Her voice was a low purr. “We all have ties we wish we could break.”

I glanced at the empty vial. “May I ask what the vial is?”

She pressed her lips into a thin line, seeming displeased. “If I tell you, what shall I get in return? Am I feeling generous? Possibly. But I always get my due. Are you willing to play? No, no I think not. Games don’t please either of you.”

We both remained silent. I didn’t want to play this game. We came here to find out how to break the bond, not waste time with side plots and suspicion. And MoVaun knew that.

The woman from the doorway staggered into the room, her red eyes blazing and smoke flowing from her skin. “I will have your throat.”

She took a step toward Bash and MoVaun stopped her with barely the flick of a hand. “He has returned that which was stolen from me, Marguerite.”

“So then I won’t kill him.” She took a step back and moved to stand beside MoVaun. “Yet.”

MoVaun clapped her hands together. “That vial held a potion strong enough to heighten Venus’s power.”

I glanced at Bash. “That’s great news. Just great.”

“But stealing from me always comes with a price.”

She motioned to Marguerite, who without a word walked across the room and grabbed a small beat-up leather pouch. Then she walked over and stopped in front of Bash, holding it up.

He opened his hand, and she dropped the pouch into his palm.

MoVaun chuckled. “Indeed my punishment will be swift and cruel.”

“What is it?” My curiosity got the better of me.

“I already told you: my punishment for Venus.” When my jaw dropped, she waved this bit of information away like it was nothing. “Do with that as you will.”

Bash tried not to look my way, he struggled to show no emotion, but I knew he was trying to hold back the excitement this knowledge brought. He swallowed and kept looking at MoVaun. “We did not ask for that information or this bag. We don’t want to pay a price for it.”

MoVaun sighed and leaned back in her chair. A large python slithered up from the floorboards and wound its way up her chair. She ran her fingers under its chin, petting it. “Oh no, Venus is paying that price. No one steals from me.”

I didn’t want to dare ask her for a favor or information after our rocky start, but we had little time and no choice in the matter. Fortune favored the bold. “Has this lightened your mood enough to help us?”

Her head whipped around as she spoke to me. “ That has.”

Marguerite moved back to stand next to MoVaun and put her hands on her hips. “Shall I remove them now? It would be my pleasure.”

MoVaun held her hand up, stopping her from moving. “I find myself curious as to why you’d both go to such measures to see me.”

I went for honesty as the best policy. “Tephine has bound herself to Third Realm. We need to know how she did it and how we can break that bond so we can save the realm and find the Chaos Stone once and for all.”

“And kill her?” Marguerite scoffed.

I nodded and glanced over to Bash, but he gave no reaction at all. “And kill her.”

MoVaun made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat and those blue flames flared brighter, making the room all shadows and light. “You dare trespass against me and then accuse me of helping Tephine in her depraved schemes?”

I decided my honesty seemed to keep her talking. “We spoke to Isolda. In detail.”

We stared at each other for long moments. Silence lingered as she seemed to think on everything we said.

Finally, she sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “What you require does not come for free.”

And here we go. The price. “ And what will it cost us?”

A wicked smile spread across her lips. “There is something I desire above all else.”

“Please tell us,” Bash encouraged her.

“I require a stone.” She folded her hands on her lap.

“I’m happy to summon any crystal you need.”

“Ah, little Stone Keeper, you think I would be satisfied so easily? No.” She shook her head and wagged her finger at me. “You will go to Crystal Henge and ask for a hematite crystal. Tell Crystal Henge, little whisperer , that it is for me . Return it to me and I shall give you what you need.”