“Make a deal with a snake and you’ll live to regret it.”
“There’s a Boneweaver of old on the table, Lord Agnis!” Mr Halfeather claps gleefully. “Think of it! Boneweaver healing on tap? My phone will ring off the hook, I just know it. She’ll pay her investment back tenfold. Cancers, autoimmune diseases, magical diseases—the scope could be endless! Mace never let me do more than draw blood on Athena; he keeps her locked down tight. But I would have free rein over this girl.”
My mind latches on to those words. This Boneweaver is a powerful healer who can fix all kinds of ailments. Maybe she can fix my beloved’s illness. Imustfind her.
Lord Agnis shakes his head, the crimson strands glistening. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Until then, nothing’s worth a contract with Mace. There’s probably a curse on the damned paper. Make sure you check for any strange markings on it.”
Halfeather sits back in his chair, smiling into his wineglass. “She’ll be arriving tomorrow, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be doing my own checks.”
Chapter 85
Aurelia
“Ialmost wish I weren’t privy to that discussion,” I say wryly, my own memories of Halfeather’s office coming into sharp focus. “But in this memory, Ghoul is already inside Halfeather House. We need to know what came before.”
“We’ll need to pry a little,” Scythe says. “Hold Eugene still.”
Chapter 86
Eugene
The serpent king holds my cage in his arms as we get out of the car. We’re at a big white mansion that smells of eagles and is called Halfeather House. A hooked-nose male in black robes rushes out of the back door. “Your Majesty.” He bows at us. “Is this him?”
They’re not talking about me, but behind me to the stretcher being carried out of the steel truck. On it lies the male they call General Ghoul. My new, dangerous charge. But right now, he’s only a big man on a stretcher, killer eyes closed. Shadows wrap around his body like a mummy, despite the bright sun, and all we can see is the scary white mask on his face.
I puff up, filling my lungs in case the basilisk opens his eyes and tries to kill us all. The king of serpents strides up to stand next to Halfeather, watching the basilisk be carried towards the back of the house. We follow closely, and I do my job and keep my eyes fixed on the General.
“That is my basilisk, yes,” the serpent king says.
“I take it your…experiments were not fruitful.”
The serpent king is silent for a moment. “A little too fruitful, perhaps. I won’t be sure until he wakes up, which is why his recovery is so crucial.”
“Of course.”
“None of my methods have worked,” the serpent king, Mace Naga, says. “He’s been static for days.”
“I’ll try everything,” Mr Halfeather reassures us.
“If you fail, there are other avenues,” Mr Naga says. “A young healer you may be interested in.”
“Are you finally entering the skin trade?” Mr Halfeather asks, brows shooting up. “I’ve been preaching to you for soverylong.”
“I may make an exception for this one,” Mr Naga says. “I will send you details the usual way.”
Mr Halfeather stops before entering the house. “I’ll take care of him from here, Mace.”
The king of serpents bristles for a moment as if offended. Finally, he nods once and hands me over to a security guard called Beak. I am carried inside next to the basilisk, and we enter a lift that travels under the house.
“Whathaveyou done to yourself?” Mr Halfeather says, leaning down to sniff his new patient. “If I don’t figure it out, Mace will hold it against me for the rest of my sorry days. I bet it hurt him to bring you to me to start with.”
When the doors open, we enter a dark dungeon that smells of blood, sweat and steel. I don’t like it at all, but I have an important job to do. I keep my eyes on my charge, watching his face for any sign of waking up. But he seems dead to the world like he has since the…incident.
Mr Halfeather opens a big steel door that covers one of the cells. “Set him in there, right on the stone. We’ll work through the door. I’m not taking any chances with this psycho. Any time you open the door, bring the rooster with you. Take no chances.”
Eyes gleam from the other cells.
“Give us some food, Halfeather!” calls a wolf from next door. “I’m wasting away over here!”
