Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

COLLINS

It was already midnight by the time we arrived just outside MoVaun’s shop. The streets were in full swing and packed with people stumbling about and having a great time. The air was warm compared to where we’d just been, and I took a moment to let myself shake off that freezing hell. Bash looked down at me, just taking in my every move. But I didn’t want to look at him. I barely wanted to speak to him.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I snapped back. “Let’s just get through this.”

“You can’t be mad at me for being concerned.” He growled back.

“No, but I can be mad at you for ditching me in an ice hell to go chase your blue flames while I had to fight off your deranged sister.” I stepped through the door to the storefront.

“Collins.” He followed after me.

“Don’t.” I glared at him. “For once, focus on the mission at hand.”

He pressed his lips into a hard straight line but said nothing else as he moved closely behind me while I walked through the store. Voodoo dolls of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling. The shelves were littered with all kinds of tourist things like glasses with NOLA written across the front of them as well as mugs and keychains. A sign hung on the wall saying they had psychic readings and providing their rates per hour. I didn’t figure MoVaun for an hourly psychic, but maybe she got her kicks haunting humans.

“Oh, decided to use the front door, did you?” Marguerite leaned on the counter with arms crossed. She didn’t look up at us. She just kept her eyes on the magazine in front of her.

“I really am so sorry about the last time we were here,” I said, trying to apologize once more.

She glanced up at me with those red eyes. She licked the tip of her finger and flipped the page without blinking at me. She pursed her lips and only gave me a small, “Mhhm.”

“We’ve already apologized,” Bash growled.

She turned to him, giving him that deadpan stare. She narrowed her eyes at him and flipped another page. “Apology. Not. Accepted.”

I lowered my voice. “We’re just here to pay a visit to MoVaun.”

I hoped she’d gotten my meaning. I didn’t know who would be listening or if it was safe to speak openly in the storefront.

Marguerite rolled her eyes and flipped another page. “You can wait.”

Wait? The stone practically burned in my hand to get rid of it. I felt like at any moment Tephine or Venus was going to burst through the door and try to take it from me. Or someone who might be working for them.

“Marguerite.” MoVaun’s dark sultry voice drifted from the dim hallway behind the counter. “Don’t deny me my fun.”

She made a sound of annoyance in the back of her throat and straightened her stance. “Very well.”

She gave an annoyed, lazy wave toward the hallway. I felt like she’d stab either one of us as we passed by. I tried to keep an eye on her as I passed for as long as I could before I had to turn and walk straight so I wouldn’t collide with the wall. I had to trust that Bash had my back. As we walked, the floorboards creaked and the familiar sound of scurrying and scraping under them filled the air. When we walked into the room, the blue flames flared brighter, illuminating the room in shades of blue. The little creatures in jars scurried around with excitement.

MoVaun sat in the middle of the floor with her dress puffed around her. White markings were drawn on the floor in all different directions. The air shimmered around her like magic just clung to her naturally. Puddles of dark liquid were mixed in among the white writing. I tried not to think it was blood, but how could it not be? The tangy metallic smell of blood hung in the air, confirming my suspicions. She held a bone in one hand, leaned over the puddles of blood, and ran the tip of the bone through the blood, smearing it across the writing.

Her hair was now in long braids and the ends of them fell all around her face nearly touching the floor. When she looked up at us with those dark eyes, they reflected the blue of the flames back at us. It sent goosebumps over my skin. She held her hand up. “Have you brought me what I requested?”

I tiptoed forward, trying not to step on whatever it was that she was doing. I dropped the dark, glistening hematite stone into her palm. She held it out in front of her, examining each facet and angle. When I glanced to Bash, he wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes were locked on the flames in the jar right next to him. I punched him in the arm to get his attention.

His face jerked around to meet my gaze. He looked down at his arm, then back at me and mouthed the words, What the fuck?

I pointed toward MoVaun and mouthed, Pay attention.

His brow furrowed and he narrowed his eyes at me, yet he said nothing. I turned back to MoVaun who was staring at the stone like it had a soul she could read. A slight smile tugged at her lips. “I must say I’m impressed you had the fortitude to go into Third Realm for this.”

“We agreed to pay the price and we have.” I wanted to sound confident in our mission, but the truth was I wouldn’t feel confident until the deed was done.

“Indeed you have.” She opened her hand and the stone floated up into the air.

I licked my lips and swallowed. “Can you tell us now how to break the bond between Tephine and Third Realm?”

“I cannot.” Her eyes never left the stone as it did a slow spin above her hand.

I was ready to call it back to my hand, but I was going to remain patient. Stellan and Ellie had warned us she’d be tricky. “Then you’re not holding up your end of the bargain.”

She chuckled and the stone dropped into her hand. She curled her fingers around it and clutched it to her chest. “Things aren’t always so black and white. Sometimes you have to dance in the gray.”

“I’m not sure I’m following what you’re saying.” I glanced to Bash to see if he was following or had anything to add but again his eyes were hypnotized by those flames. He and I were gonna have some words after this.

“Answers come in all forms, Stone Keeper.” Her dress swayed as she rose to her feet and walked over to her throne-like chair. She dropped down into it and waved her hand. Bright magic flowed from her palm down to the floor.

A small table rose from the creaking floorboards and stood next to her. It looked like multiple pieces of driftwood stuck together to resemble some semblance of a table. On top of it sat a single black vial with intricate, curved carvings on the outside of it. It was only semi-transparent, but I could tell that there was some kind of dark liquid inside it.

More blood?

She sat there holding the stone in her hand, turning it over and over again. I tried to hold in all my emotions to get the answers we needed. I’d never felt so angry and alone with Bash right there, and I’d never been so confused about how the hell to deal with someone like MoVaun.

“And how are we to get this answer now? We’ve given you the hematite stone you asked for.”

“The Stone Keepers are a rare species.” She leaned back in her chair and that damn snake seemed to appear out of nowhere. It wound around the arm of the chair and lay across her lap. She ran her fingers over its back, petting the smooth scales.

“Um, yes?” I didn’t know where she was going with this.

“And what do you know of it?” She tilted her head to the side, looking right through me.

What did this have to do with the bond? I shifted from one foot to the other, trying to switch gears in my mind. “I know that there’s one Stone Keeper per realm and it’s our jobs to ensure the survival of our realms and our people. It’s what we were born to do.”

She inclined her head. “Would you not agree with that, silent prince?

Bash’s face snapped to hers. “Um, yes?”

“I find your silent presence to be quite vexing as does your soulmate here. What have you to say for yourself?” She narrowed her eyes at Bash, turning that piercing gaze on him.

He cleared his throat and straightened his stance. “Only that I’m hoping our efforts weren’t in vain.”

“Perhaps I prefer you silent.” She waved his words away and turned back toward me. “It is what you were born to do. And you only the second.”

I nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Is it?”

I paused. “I mean, as far as I know.”

“And herein lies our bargain.” She smirked. “You and Eloise are not the only Stone Keepers in existence.”

My breath caught in my throat. “I haven’t met the new one.”

She chuckled. “New? What an odd word choice. This Stone Keeper is very old.”

I am confusion . “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying?”

“There is another Stone Keeper and she is over two thousand years old, though she doesn’t know it.”

“Two thousand years old? What? The other Stone Keeper is that old? How is that possible?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “How is anything?”

We were going in circles with riddles that I didn’t understand. “Umm, Bash?”

“Huh? What?” He swung his eyes toward me and away from the flames.

Ass . I could really use some help right about now. I rolled my eyes. “Never mind.”

MoVaun snickered and waited for me to speak.

I let go of a sigh. “Did she lose her memories or something?”

“Precisely.” She let the snake drop to the ground around her feet. “And she is the one who knows how to break the bond. It’s lost in her old memories.”

“So, the information we need is locked in her memories, but she has no idea who she is or what those memories might be?”

MoVaun nodded. “Correct.”

Oh for fuck’s sake .

“Oh, I forgot to mention something else.”

“There’s more?” My voice rose a little with how overwhelmed I was starting to feel. This was like pulling teeth.

“You cannot come in contact with Augustine yourself, or you shall suffer Zuriel’s consequences. And I will too, so if you go down, I promise I’ll make it worse for you because I won’t go down alone.”

“Her name is Augustine?”

She pursed her lips. “Is it?”

Oh my God. I’m going to scream.

“How are we supposed to get someone’s memories but not come into contact with them?” None of this made sense. I felt like for every step forward it was one step back with more complications.

“Now you are asking the right questions.” She held the stone up and as if it were a thin toothpick. She broke it in half with the tips of her fingers. Shock rocked me from the inside out. No one should be able to break a crystal like that. Crystals were my thing and I knew that should be impossible.

She rose to her feet and walked over to a shelf on the side of the room and grabbed up a thinsilver chain with a small empty cage hanging off it. She took a moment putting a piece of that hematite into the cage. When she held it up, I realized it wasn’t a cage at all, but a delicately woven net made to hold a stone. She held it up and let it dangle there glinting in the blue light.

“With this.” She held it out to me while keeping the other piece for herself.

I tiptoed over to her, being careful not to step on the snake or the blood. I took the necklace in my hand. “I’m not sure how this helps?”

She rolled her eyes. “The necklace will be the catalyst for how you enter her memories. Present this necklace to Gaston?—”

" Gaston? ” The world spun around me a bit. “Gaston is this Stone Keeper’s Nephilim?”

She arched one eyebrow impatiently.

“Oh my God. That means . . . that means she’s . . . a vampire.”

My pulse was flying. RIVEN. That was the connecting piece. That was why Riven knew and why he wouldn’t help. It involved the Stone Keeper for his realm.

“Gaston lives in St. Augustine with his Stone Keeper named Augustine? Is that really her name?”

“Her name is hardly relevant.”

I pressed my fingertips to my temples. “So we give this necklace to Gaston?—”

“Her little boyfriend will get her to wear it, then you wait for her to fall asleep. You and Eloise should be able to move into her thoughts and retrieve the information from her subconscious mind. That is where you will find the answers.”

I took the necklace from her and held it in my hands. Eloise. She included Ellie despite Ellie not being here. I didn’t like that one bit. “That’s all?”

MoVaun sighed as though this conversation was growing tiresome. “As I have said, you have the catalyst and now you need the trigger. You’ll have to seek assistance elsewhere.”

I looked down at my hand, keeping my eyes on the necklace. “What trigger?”

When she said nothing, I looked up to find she was gone. “Seriously.” I spun around and was left with only Bash and me.

I gave a heavy sigh and started heading to the door. When Bash didn’t move to come with me, I yelled in his direction. “Bash!”

He snapped to attention. “What?”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I turned around without him and marched out the door.