That’s not what I wanted to hear at all.
‘Why do you say that?’I try to keep the panic out of my mental tone, but by the look he’s giving me, I’m failing miserably.
‘When one voluntarily takes a potion, it makes it harder to break. Did Levi mention what Emer was wearing? Like a medallion?”His eyes bore into mine, waiting for the answer.
‘Um. I don’t think so. He only mentioned an incantation, but it’s possible, I guess.’
‘Fuck! She wouldn’t have done the incantation without wearing it,’he murmurs almost to himself.‘Then if what you said is true, and he really did take a potion voluntarily, and it had the demon memory potion combined with condonial, and Emer was wearing a medallion for intent, he took a potion to break your bond,’Murmur tells me, looking slightly green.
‘WHAT?’I stand abruptly, ready to kill someone.
Murmur reaches out and grabs my wrist, pulling me back down.
‘Calm down, warrior princess. The good news is, you don’t have a normal bond with Levi.’I’m not stupid; I hear the “but” in that statement.
‘And what’s the bad news, Murmur?’I narrow my eyes at him and growl.
‘Every time Levi feels that pain because he’s thinking of or sees you, it’s weakening your bond. He’s losing a memory of you and growing stronger with whomever the intended supe was that cast the spell.’
My nails immediately dig into my fleshy palms as I picture Emer’s sinister blue eyes and put a bullseye in the middle of her face. I’m two seconds from launching myself out of this bubble and causing my own drama at this shindig. Fuck our plans, she needs to pay.
Obviously reading every thought and emotion on my face, Murmur wraps his tail around me, pinning my arms to my sides and lifting me slightly so I can’t move. I huff and puff in frustration as I unsuccessfully try to break his hold, but he only stares at me as he waits me out.
I scream as loud as I can and buckle over from all of the frustration that I feel, but it helps to let out all the anger that’s coursing through me. I’m sure from the outside of the bubble, we look foolish. Murmur is watching me as if he’s studying a bug for the first time, his tail holding me at a distance as I thrash and wiggle. I push and struggle against the weight of his tail, but all I manage is to wear myself out.
‘Feel better?’he asks. I hang above him, feeling a bit embarrassed but ultimately better, and nod.
‘Yes.’
‘Good, because I want to talk about your powers.’
Great, now I’m not mad, I’m fucking depressed.
‘God’s Trumpet is slow acting, so the good news is, you will still have your powers, but they will be unreliable.”His smile grows massive as he must remember something.‘Just like it was when we first met. So it should be easy for you,’he chuckles.
‘Release me, Murmur, or we will test out the theory about your tail when we first met.’I give him a salacious smile as he clears his throat, remembering the time when we wondered if he could grow back his tail, but it does the trick as he slowly lowers and releases me.
‘So, since I shared my information, what do you have?’
‘You will be visiting Hell once again, but if you allow Lucy to announce JP and Moni as heirs, you will walk right through and not have to worry about anyone challenging you. No one would dare touch them or their companions. As it is, you’re the only one that they should not touch, because of the brand they would sense.’
I look down at the invisible brand Bez gave me on my wrist and rub it as I consider how big it would be for us if Lucy were to announce them, but I’m not sure how JP and Moni would feel. I think Moni would be all for it, but something tells me JP isn’t ready.
‘Anything else you know about this damn thing?’I probe.
‘Along with Hell, you’ll be visiting the Fae realm and the Tranquil Waters. In the Fae realm, everything will try to kill you, so be careful, and Tranquil Waters, just follow the power, easy peasy. Of course, you already know that you’re starting in the Ever Woods; I don’t have to warn you about that place. Hell, even I wouldn’t travel there, and my home is in Hell. Oh, and don’t worry about looking for investors. We have you.’He winks and pulls me up for a hug.‘Now mingle and say hi to the guys, especially the big guy. He might not say it, but he misses you too.’
There’s no guessing who he’s referring to. I miss Bez too.
As we step out of the bubble, we hear a scream and someone crying. Following the sounds, we come upon a group of hysterical students.
“What’s wrong?” Murmur demands, and one of the girls wipes her tears and points to a tree.
“Miriam. She was leaning against the tree a moment ago and— S-she just screamed and then disappeared.”
Walking over to the tree that she’s indicated, I catch a glimpse of something sparkly wedged in the middle of the trunk and reach to touch it, finding some type of fabric. Pulling on it, the material slips out from between some dark-stained bark, and it’s a blue gauze from a ball gown.Fuck. Poseidon’s Grotto.A deep grumbling comes from the tree. The bark slightly ripples from the ground up to where I found the blue gauze, and a gaping maw opens long enough to expel a quick and foul burp.
I stumble back as I realize this isn’t just decorative scenery in this ballroom, it’s a living, breathing nightmare tree. I turn around and face the pale-looking girls.
