“Fear is a powerful motivator,” Evie said quietly.
“I was only afraid when I thought I might die. It took me a long time to realize she’d never kill me. If she did, I’d stop producing what she craved. What better creature to keep captive than a vampire? We live forever. She could drain my youth for all time and keep herself young and healthy forever.”
“But you aren’t a vampire. Not completely.”
“No. Mom made a mistake by having me turned so young. I stopped aging, stopped producing those hormones that kept me youthful. She spent years trying to figure out how to reverse the vampirism just enough to get me to start the aging process again.”
Evie stilled. “You aren’t immortal?”
I shrugged. “No way to truly tell. I think I am. The aging process seemed to have stopped around twenty-five, maybe thirty. I can no longer remember.”
“But you’re still producing those hormones. Even after all this time?”
“Mom seems to think so.”
“Do you think she’s figured out a way to take those from you and keep producing them without you?”
I’d thought about the possibility, but if that were the case, Mom wouldn’t be trying so hard to win me. “If she had, I think I’d be dead by now.”
“Well, thank the gods you’re not,” Evie said. She blew out a breath. “Alright. Let’s go see the body and see what we can find.”
We smelled her before we saw her.
“If it’s better, I can’t tell,” Evie said, looking positively green.
“Yeah. Gods. This poor woman’s soul must be suffering so much, trapped in that cycle.”
“Good thing she doesn’t have a sense of smell,” Evie said dryly.
Cliona rose when she spotted us. “You get used to it.”
She handed us both small white jars. “Put some of that underneath your nostrils. It blocks the worst of it.”
We obliged, the putrid scent overwhelmed by the strong scent of menthol and lavender. “Oh.” I held up the jar. “So much better. Magic?”
Cliona shook her head. “No. A salve I put together from things in my garden.” She clicked her tongue. “It’s a shame we can’t use magic to block the smell, but Cernunnos is right. This spell is already volatile. Adding anything else into the mix could upset the balance and cause unforeseeable complications.”
“Such as?” Evie asked as she bent closer to studying the glowing symbols.
“Sarah dropping dead, for one,” Cliona said. “Or turning into a mindless zombie.”
“Braaaaaainnnnnns,” I moaned.
“There’s no truth to those rumors,” Cliona said primly. A funny look came over her face. “Unless you’re in Florida. And that incident was caused by bath salts.”
Evie looked up. “The magnesium kind?”
“No. Like man-made drugs.” Cliona shivered. “Just when I think the fae are bad, the humans come up with shit like fentanyl and bath salts, and we see the worst of human behavior.”
“No bath salts here,” I murmured as I drew closer to the body. “Just dark ass magic and power.”
“I’ve looked as closely as I can.” Cliona’s lips curled in distaste. “Something about this magic repels my own. I can’t get as close to her as you can without feeling ill.”
Evie frowned. “I seem fine.”
“Yes, darling. Don’t forget whose daughter you are.”
Evie smiled at her mom. “You still don’t know what these are?”
