Chapter 2

Carrow

"Let's go find it," Mac said.

I withdrew my hand from the tome and nodded, trying to shake off the sickly feeling. "Yeah, our answers are definitely there."

"Where, exactly?" Seraphia asked.

"A section of the city wall, but where precisely…I'm not sure." I closed the leather cover, still feeling the pull from the city wall, and stood. "I think I can find it."

Seraphia jumped off the couch. "I'm coming."

I nodded at her and grabbed the book, holding it away from me. Just touching it made me feel queasy.

"Let me get a bag." I hurried to my little bedroom, which was already cluttered with clothes. The books that my dead friend Beatrix had given me had pride of place on the bedside table.

Quickly, I rifled through the old armoire that Mac had found at a car boot sale—only magic could fit an armoire into a car boot—and found the leather messenger bag inside. I stuffed the book into it, grateful to feel the magic dim.

I returned to the living room, and the three of us hurried down the stairs, spilling out onto the street. Fortunately, the rain had slowed to a faint drizzle, and the early afternoon sun was trying to peek through the clouds.

"So all you could see was a section of the city wall?" Seraphia asked.

"Yeah. I don't think I was even supposed to see that much. There's a spell on this book that's meant to stop a seer's vision, I think."

"But you're not a seer," Mac said.

"I think that's why I can see part of what the book wants to hide."

"What are you, exactly?" Seraphia asked.

"Um…"

She held up her hands, an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, sorry. It's rude of me to ask."

"The truth is, I don't know what I am, exactly."

"Let's get a move on," Mac said.

I smiled at her, grateful for her ability to deftly move the conversation off me.

Seraphia nodded enthusiastically.

I turned and headed down the street, following the tug of magic that pulled me toward the edge of the city. We hurried along winding streets dotted with a variety of shops built hundreds of years earlier, their Tudor fronts—dark wooden beams, white plaster, and glittering mullioned windows—holdovers from the age of Elizabeth I. The windows of these businesses displayed potions, weapons, spells, books, and restaurant tables set with smoking cocktails. People laughed and talked inside, magic sparking around them.

Here and there, huge trees grew out of the pavement, ancient relics of the past that had remained undisturbed for centuries. Fairy lights glittered around the branches.

The vision of the wall directed me to the gate preferred by my friends and me—one of many entrances to the city, a magical portal that led directly to the Haunted Hound pub, where Mac worked with Quinn. Before we reached the gatehouse, I was drawn to the right, and I made for an alley that was dim and dusty despite the watery sunlight.

"I don't go down here much," Mac said.

"Me neither." Seraphia stuck close to us as we entered the narrow space.

I led the way down the seemingly endless passage of brick and stone. The cobblestones beneath my feet were uneven, and the walls were without windows or doors.

"This must be the narrowest street in town," I said.

"And long." Mac moved closer to me and peered around my shoulder.

We hurried down the corridor, the walls of the buildings on either side nearly scraping against my jacket. About fifty meters later, we arrived at a clearing that separated us from the city wall.

"Ah, No Man's Square," Mac said.

"What is that?" I inspected the space. There were many clearings around town, most of them situated in front of the guild towers that punctuated the city walls at irregular intervals. In most such areas, shops and restaurants filled the buildings at the edge of the clearing, but here, the buildings were abandoned and boarded up.

"There's no guild tower in this square." Mac pointed to an empty expanse of wall that pulled at me strangely. "This area is deserted. There may have been shops and restaurants here once, but not in my lifetime."

The grass in the square was damp and scraggly, with wildflowers blooming in patches. The vegetation looked weak and limp, as though struggling to suck nutrients from the oppressive air.

The city wall, constructed of massive stones, rose tall and beckoned. "Where are we in relation to the gate that leads to the Haunted Hound?"

"Not far," Mac said. "It's to our left a few hundred meters, as the crow flies."

"Are there any guild towers between here and there?" I asked.

"No. The closest guild tower is to our right, and it's another few hundred meters away."

"So nothing really happens here." I eyed the statue of a man in the middle of the square. It was an ancient stone thing, worn and battered by time and the elements.

A bird sat on top of its head, black and regal.

"Is that Eve's raven?" I asked.

Mac tilted her head. "Maybe. But don't ask her."

Our fae friend was followed everywhere by a black raven she claimed not to see. I'd learned the hard way that she got plenty annoyed if you asked her about it.

"Who was that guy?" I asked.

"Councilor Rasla." There was a slight edge to Mac's voice. "Bloke's been dead a few hundred years, but he was the one who put the strict guild rules into place."

"That everyone must join one?" I asked. "No weirdos allowed in Guild City?"

"That's the one." Mac's lips twisted.

"Jerk."

"It explains why all the local birds are using his head for a loo." Mac pointed to the statue, which was covered in white drips.

I smiled, but even the joke wasn't enough to distract me from the tug on my soul. I slowly approached the wall, curiosity pulling at me. As I cut across the grassy square, I avoided the larger clumps of flowers that were wet from the rain. The day was too cool to get my trousers soaked.

But the closer I came to the wall, the more strongly it pulled.

It almost…sang to me.

I picked up the pace, forgetting my reluctance to wade through the flowers. Vaguely, I recognized that the calves of my jeans were getting wet, but I plowed onward, determined to reach the wall.

What was it about this place?

"Carrow!" Mac's voice sounded from behind me, echoing slightly with concern.

I could barely hear it.

I kept going, unable to resist the wall's siren call.

I reached it and pressed my hand to the rough, shimmering stone. Magic. Mac shouted my name again, but the stone wall held my attention. It pulsed, changing in temperature from cool to warm. Dark magic surrounded it, sickening me, but my fascination with the wall was stronger than my discomfort.

A vision flashed in my mind of me walking into the wall, stepping through the stone, which should be impossible.

What happened here?

I asked the question but got no answer. Again, that steel barrier flew up between the information and my vision. This place was also protected by a spell.

But something happened here.

I pressed my hand harder to the stone, desperate to figure it out.

"Carrow!" Mac's voice was at my ear now, and her hands wrapped around my arms. She pulled me back, yanking hard.

My hand broke contact with the wall, and I stumbled against Mac. Her arms tightened around me.

"What's going on?" I asked, struggling in her grasp.

"You went into some kind of trance."

I turned and caught sight of her white face. Seraphia stood next to her, a frown drawing her eyebrows together. "It was strange, Carrow," said the librarian. "As you neared the building, you seemed to…disappear, almost."

"And your eyes are glowing again," Mac said.

Shit. I looked back at the wall. It still pulsed with magic. "I don't understand. It calls to me, but it's so dark."

"Because of Orion's Heart?" Mac asked.

"I don't know."

I looked back at her and frowned. A dark light seemed to surround her. It came from the wall, creeping along the ground and up her legs. Seraphia glowed, too. They were standing close enough that the magic reached them.

"Mac…" I touched her shoulder gently, but she didn't feel any different. "You're pale."

"I—" Her brow creased, and she grimaced, folding over on herself. "I don't feel well," she gasped.

"Me, either," Seraphia said, going to her knees.

Panic flared. "What's happened?"

"A curse." Mac straightened, her entire body shaking. "It's the wall, somehow. I can feel it."

I looked back. The wall glowed with dark magic, magic that had infected Mac and Seraphia. My heart raced. "How do we fix you?"

"Let's go to Eve." Mac looked at me, confusion flickering in her eyes. "Do you not feel bad?"

"Not really, no." I swallowed hard. Why was I so different?

It wasn't that I wanted to be cursed, but…

why not me, too?

"You have the faint darkness to you, though." Seraphia staggered upright. "The curse seems to be hovering around you."

Maybe it likes me.

It was a terrible thought.

"We need to get you to Eve," I said.

"We also need to figure out what the hell this is." Mac pointed to the wall, her voice firmer. "She can't fix us if we don't know what the curse is."

"Have you ever heard of anyone being cursed by a wall?" Even the words sounded insane.

"No." Mac shook her head. "But objects can hold curses, and this is a particularly big object."

"Then how did it get cursed? And with what?" I clenched my fist, resisting the urge to touch it. It was hard, though. The darkness in the stones called to me.

But I don't want to be that person.

I turned from the wall.

"We can get ourselves to Eve," Mac said. "But we need you to figure out what's going on. Are you okay here alone?"

"Yeah. Fine." I stepped away from the wall, hoping to fight its fascination. The weight of my bag pulled at my shoulder, the book reminding me of its presence. "Seraphia, have you found anything else about this in the library?"

"Nothing. I checked the entire history section, too, hoping to find a clue about the missing pages."

I nodded. "Okay. I know someone to ask."

Mac's gaze flicked to mine. "The Devil?"

Seraphia's eyes widened. "The Devil of Darkvale?"

I nodded. "He's immortal and helped found Guild City. He's the only one I know who was around when any of this happened. Surely he has to know what is going on here."

Seraphia nodded, but her tone was clipped with wariness. "If you say so."

"Come on, pal." Mac reached a supporting arm around Seraphia. "You're looking pretty pale. We need to get you to Eve."

"Thanks." Seraphia shot Mac a grateful look, as if she were unused to such kindness.

"Update me as soon as Eve helps you," I said.

"Likewise," Mac said. "I want to know what the hell is going on here."

I nodded, watching them turn and limp across the grassy square. At one point, they fell to their knees, and fear surged through me, blocking my throat.

This could kill them.

The wall still pulled at me. Everything in my soul wanted me to turn around and press my entire body against it.

Nope.

The sight of Mac and Seraphia dragging themselves to their feet gave me the strength to resist. I kept my gaze on the two women for support as I followed them away from the overgrown square. Exiting the dingy alley, I made for the Devil's tower. Grey's tower, as I now thought of it.

It had been three days since I'd appeared before the council with Grey at my side. Three days since I'd seen him, but I had a problem, a big problem that I didn't fully understand.

And I was going to bring that problem straight to the devil himself.