Chapter - Ten

The Lotus Siblings returned after a few days away, now aware of my outing to meet with Angel and discover more about myself. It appeared as though the Crimson Siblings had made it known to them. Nerida and Thom were outraged, their anger getting the best of them. I sank down into the couch as Nerida yelled at Calum and Felix, her berry cheeks darkening to blue. Although she had specifically told me I was not to blame because I was too na?ve to know better, I felt bad for Calum and Felix. I watched them both grit their teeth and bear the brunt of her shouting.

Zuzanna cleared her throat from her spot in the corner, shifting on her feet. ‘Perhaps you should calm down, Nerida. You're scaring the girl.'

Nerida, out of breath, ceased her tirade. ‘I'm sorry,' she said to me, her voice hollow. ‘I don't know what came over me.'

‘The idiot halfling could have died,' Thom said.

I frowned at the insult.

‘What is there to be sorry about? We should string the night children up by their ankles and watch them starve.'

‘Enough, Thom.' She swivelled around to face him. His face paled. ‘We do not speak such threats to those who, although stupid, deserve a chance to explain themselves.'

‘Why did you take her?' asked Zuzanna.

Calum said, ‘I kind of egged Fifi on, if I'm honest. He didn't want to take her. But I didn't think any poachers would have caught word so soon of a youngblood in the care of death's children, so there was no real threat. Although, I am sorry for pushing Fifi to bring Tabs along.'

My heart thrummed. ‘I'm sorry I went,' I said. ‘I pushed at them both.'

Nerida softened. ‘You have no apologies to make, Tabitha. Calum, I understand, but please don't endanger Tabitha again.'

‘I promise,' Calum said, his chest subsiding in relief.

Felix made a grunting noise. ‘He did push.'

Nerida glared as she replied, ‘And you should have had the self-discipline to say no.'

‘He's older! Blame him!' Felix said with a menacing sneer.

‘Oh, do shut up,' Thom sighed. ‘You're both scoundrels in the eyes of the council. I stand by my earlier threat.'

‘Try me, silver spoon,' Felix snapped.

Thom's eyes were slits. ‘I'll have you know—'

‘Enough,' Zuzanna shouted. ‘I want no more bickering from either of you for the rest of this meeting, understood?' Both men fell silent. ‘Now, what we do with this information needs to be figured out. If Angel is not the warlock involved in glamouring her, and you say the mark is what it is, it appears our leads have proven themselves useful.'

‘What did you find?' I asked.

Zuzanna's light-coloured eyes settled on me. ‘The name of the warlock who glamoured you. Some of our associates knew him before when he worked for the council briefly.'

‘What's his name?'

‘Volker,' Avery told me.

‘His mark is the one you have on your leg,' Zuzanna said. ‘He likes leaving a trace.'

‘Another hint,' Felix mumbled.

‘So what now?'

Nerida sighed. ‘Seeing as your two children of death are hell-bent on performing their own search, I assume you will do something more stupid to try and find him.'

‘Does anyone know Volker who you may also know?' I asked Zuzanna.

‘Do you remember when he worked for the council? You've been a sibling for the longest time,' Thom asked Zuzanna.

She folded her hands in her lap. ‘He left the council right before I was announced, when I was being trained for the role. I hardly remember him, though we met in passing a few times. He was an interesting man. His hair was metallic-purple in colour, and he always wore a sharp, clean suit and polished black loafers. Sometimes he walked with a cane. The head of the cane was the skull of a baby fox. He has four eyes which is his demon mark, but he glamours two of them so he looks normal.'

The glamour tightened around my waist as we spoke of this warlock. I tried hard to breathe properly, feeling the glamour shiver in fear. Something about it knew the name well.

‘How do we find him?' I asked.

Thom let out a groan and replied, ‘You don't. It's our job.'

‘Like they'll listen,' Avery said. ‘What a bunch of sparrows they are. It'd be best to just portal them to his last-known location and allow them to search his residence.'

‘We should go there,' Felix said.

‘Tabitha will not be safe if she leaves this house,' Thom said.

Felix agreed, bobbing his head. I shrank down into my seat and sighed. ‘Well, we can't go. I just have to stay glamoured.'

Zuzanna shook her head. ‘You cannot, Tabitha. That is not a way one should live – cast in shadows.'

‘In that case, I have an idea! We could …' Avery began, then spotting Nerida's face, ‘… nope. Never mind.'

‘We could what?' I asked.

‘Bad idea.'

‘Avery,' Nerida warned.

‘I didn't say a thing! Not a peep!'

Zuzanna frowned. ‘Tell us.'

Thom was grinning. ‘Please do tell, Avery.'

‘I'll have your voice for a month,' Nerida threatened Avery. ‘Try living without speech for a month and then tell me if it's worth it.'

Zuzanna flicked a hand, taking away his tea. ‘Tell us!'

Avery blurted out, ‘We could summon him.'

Nerida let out a cry of annoyance and swept a hand through the air. A storm cloud appeared above Avery and promptly rained all over him, drenching the man. Blanche looked a little ill at the sight of her favourite armchair being rained on but said nothing. Avery spluttered under the pouring rain, soaked to the bone and shivering, until it stopped a minute later. He coughed up some water and spat it on the ground, looking miserable.

‘That was hardly fair,' he whined. ‘I wasn't wearing a raincoat.'

Zuzanna was thoughtful. ‘Summon him. What an idea.'

‘We could not,' Nerida answered. ‘It's a very bad idea. I'd rather portal them to him and just let them be threatened with death. Summoning a warlock through their demon blood is a dangerous road to travel down. The warlock will be confined to the pentagram but can still wield magic and cast spells outside its perimeters. We could be in imminent danger if he decided to use his abilities on us. Faeries may have some magic, but it is nothing compared to such an aged warlock. Their spells are vast in comparison.'

‘Can't another warlock, one who works for you, remove the glamour?' I asked Avery.

‘That could be painful,' Avery answered, wringing out his shirt, water splashing onto the carpet. ‘They do not know the confines of your glamour and could subsequently rip the skin off your bones trying to remove it. Best to leave it to the person who made it. Avoids any nasty business.'

Thom piped up. ‘How about we summon him to one of the rooms at the Council Institute? We have rooms for holding demonic blood within the walls so magic can't be used to escape. Why not summon Volker there – have him confined to the room where we can interrogate him?'

Nerida, almost resigned, replied, ‘I guess that will have to do. All other options mean a person could be placed in harm's way. That is the safest course of action.'

‘Off to the institute we go!' Avery cried out, dripping water on the floor some more. ‘Pack a bag, little youngblood.'

‘We're leaving now?' I asked.

At my startled face, Zuzanna continued. ‘It's best we work quickly to ensure he doesn't move to different places. We can summon him better when we know geographically where he could be. Sooner is better, for your sake. How about you go and pack a bag with Florence?'

I unclenched my hands from the hem of my shirt. Florence grabbed my left hand and gently led me out of the room. In the guest house, we simply piled my bag with everything Felix had brought back from my house, shoving it all in recklessly and zipping it up. She threw it over her shoulder and led me back to the representatives. When I asked them how we were getting back to the institute, they looked at me a little funny, like I'd asked a peculiar question.

‘What?' I asked, a bit unnerved by their astounded faces.

‘We're using a portal,' Felix said, shoving me forward. ‘Just stand still.'

‘But only warlocks––' I protested, cut off by a snort from Calum.

Zuzanna smiled. ‘We are able to portal to and from the institute only. It isn't really a normal portal like a warlock would summon, but a gateway between the institute and where we are located. Sibling perks.'

The members wasted no time in conjuring up a portal. Avery's hands wove through the air in an unfamiliar motion. I kept my hand tight around the strap of my bag. Felix stood close to me, his face cold as usual. If he was nervous about summoning a powerful warlock into an interrogation room, he didn't show an atom of fear.

I kept quiet as Avery moved forward, still dripping on the floorboards, and swirled his hands. Kinetic energy shot from his palms. Bright-blue fire balls sparked out of his fingertips and he threw his hands around, spinning the light till it fused into a ring. Slowly, he kneaded the energy so it expanded, breath whooshing out of him with effort, and it grew to the size of a window, its edges flickering with magnetic blue fire.

The portal swirled in front of me. It was now the width of a door and as tall as the ceiling. Avery's hands steadied its frenzied edges. My eyes were wide as sparks sizzled around the sides of it. The whole thing moved like it was alive. Thom stepped into it first. It almost appeared to swallow him. His body shimmered before it dissolved into the abyss of blue and vanished from sight.

I watched Zuzanna do the same. Nerida followed. Before she stepped in, she shot Avery a warning look. Then, she quickly glanced over at Felix and me before dissolving into the portal. Avery huffed, his hands shaking a little.

‘How about you pop on in?' he asked Calum.

Calum stepped into the kinetic energy, clearly delighted as he whistled a happy tune, then he too turned clear and disappeared into the blue sparks. I was a bit nauseous by now, wondering where it would take me and what it would feel like. Felix tugged on my wrist, making me turn to face him.

‘You might throw up,' he said.

‘Oh great.'

He chuckled. ‘You'll be fine. I'm right behind you.'

‘You can't come in with me?'

A small smile flickered over his lips. ‘No. The portal isn't wide enough. You just have to step through like you'd walk into a room. Don't overthink it. And don't think about anywhere or anything, or you could get lost in the portal realm forever.'

‘Portal realm?'

He gently turned me around so I faced the wavering blue portal. ‘Don't think about anything. Just let it all go.'

Biting down on my tongue, I watched the flaming portal ripple and shudder. Blanche and Talora waved at me, saying their goodbyes. I quickly glanced back to Felix, feeling more nervous than ever. He gave me a small nod of encouragement, and when I turned back, I stepped in.