“Tortured her. I don’t know exactly. They must have given her something to slow her healing. You should have seen the room she was in. You were right, by the way, about her location. Thank you for that.”
She nods. “My raven sees what he sees. Let’s get her back to the cottage. I’ll heal her there.”
Eloise feels cold in my arms by the time we arrive, and I rush her inside to the cot beside the fire. Catarina scurries off, mumbling something about a tea, but I know she needs blood. I shake her by the shoulder. “Little bird, it’s time for you to feed.”
Her lashes flutter, but her eyes remain closed. I don’t like how listless she is. Panic rises in my chest, and I score my own wrist, bringing it to her mouth. My blood pools on her tongue until her throat reflexively swallows. Another passive swallow and instinct takes over. Her fingers wrap around my forearm, holding me to her mouth as she drinks from me. Drinks until my head spins. I brace myself and let her take what she needs, grinding my teeth.
“Eloise, stop! You’re killing him.”
I hadn’t even heard Catarina enter the room. Eloise opens her eyes at the command. She can’t understand Catarina’s language, but she seems to realize what she’s done. She lifts a hand to my cheek. “Why did you allow me to take so much? I might have killed you.”
I move to sit in the chair beside the cot and accept the tea Catarina hands me. “Don’t worry about me, little bird. You’re safe. That’s what matters.”
Catarina rolls her eyes. “Mates.” Catarina holds out a square of what looks like chocolate. “A new translator spell. One without a curse attached to it.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, taking the candy and holding it out to Eloise. She looks at it, puzzled. “To replace Nevina’s translation spell. This will help you understand again,” I say in her language.
She nods and swallows it down.
“Thank you,” Eloise says to Catarina in Aediadic.
“Already working,” the witch says brightly. “That’s a record, even for me.” She hands Eloise a cup of tea then pours another for me. “This tea accelerates healing in your kind and, I hope, hers. Lucky I made a full pot because now you both need it.”
Eloise stares at Catarina, studying her face. “You look like Aurora.”
“I am Catarina, her daughter.” The witch curtsies.
“I met Aurora not long ago. She was an incredible witch.”
“How could you have met my mother? She’s been dead for a century.”
“It’s a long story,” I interject. “She was on a magical plane.”
Catarina looks confused.
“In any case, thank you for helping us,” Eloise says. She takes a sip, closing her eyes as it washes down her throat. “I sense you are as powerful as your mother. I hope so anyway, because I have a favor to ask.”
“Little bird?” I don’t like the tone of her voice. For her to be asking for something right now, when she hasn’t even had time to heal, it has to be something grave.
She shifts her gaze to me. “I know now why my magic won’t work and what we have to do for me to get it back.”
“You figured this out while you were imprisoned in Blackspire?”
She swallows. “Remember how I told you about meeting Tobias in Chicago and that it was his brother Nathaniel’s blood that gave my parents their power? Nathaniel came to me in Blackspire when I was very near death.” She grabs her head. “Shit. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. He wasn’t supposed to be on this planet. You have to keep it a secret.”
“A dragon came to visit you, in the room where I found you?” There were no other windows or doors in that room, and when I found her, she was wild-eyed and disoriented.
“Yes. He had a pipe and opened a portal. He knows things. Things about the gods and my power. He couldn’t stay long because he works for a kingdom on another planet—Paragon—and his actions could start a war with the elves.”
I furrow my brow. I’ve heard of Paragon. We buy some goods from the kingdom via the shipping passages off Aendor. “What did he tell you about your power?”
“My spirit magic won’t work here because Thanesia has closed the door on my ancestors. I don’t have her permission to access the Darklands like I did with Earth’s underworld.”
“So, we ask permission of Thanesia. A sacrifice?—”
“No. He said I need to ask her in person.” Eloise turns her head to meet Catarina’s eyes again. “I need a way to die and walk the shadowpath so I can face Thanesia at her door.”
35
