Page 47 of Blood of the Fairest

I relax and uncork the wine, pouring some and letting it breathe. "Good."

"I only suggested this wine because the queen enchanted it to take the edge off. But you really do need to drink blood, and soon."

"Not if I find something in here to send me home fast enough," I reply in a sing-song voice, walking to the shelves to browse.

I don't see any magic slippers, but there has to be something in one of these many thick books. Picking one up, I open the aged pages before frowning. They're covered in strange, foreign swirls.

Uh oh.

Can I not read the language of this world?

Putting the book back, I squint at the jars and bottles on the shelf below. Unlike the wine, they're labeled—also with squiggles I can't read.

I grab several opaque jars and walk back to the mirror, holding one up to Eris.

"Can you read this?"

"Toad eyes."

"And this one?"

"Kobold toenails," he reads in a bored tone, and goes on with every bottle I hold up. "Spider silk. Sparrow hearts. Troll seed."

"Troll seed?" I repeat incredulously, nearly dropping that jar. "You're shitting me. Please tell me it's full of seeds that literally grow into trolls, and it's not just a jar of monster semen."

"I have no idea. The queen frequently left to gather all kinds of ingredients. At least now you know there are far worse things in this room than mere blood," he adds pointedly.

Ignoring the B-word again, I set down the bottles to frown at him.

"What do you mean? I thought the queen almost never left the castle."

"Not as herself." The gorgeous mirror ghost gestures at another shelf full of red-filled vials. "With a bit of magic and a few drops of their blood, Reinhilde could disguise herself as nearly anyone."

Reluctantly, I approach the vials he indicated. I grab three and hold them up to Eris next.

"Large hairy nobleman," he reads. "Plain shoemaker. Old peddler woman."

That last one reminds me of the original Snow White fairy tale.

I twist the clear glass bottle, unable to look away from the deep red liquid inside, even if thinking about where it came from makes me want to gag.

"I can't read in this world," I admit.

"So I've gathered."

I meet Eris's gaze, hopeful. "Could you teach me?"

The various pastel colors of his irises are gorgeous. It's a long moment before he speaks.

"Not for free. Promise me three things in exchange."

"What things?" I ask, eager.

If I'm already in a witch's body and I learn to read, there must be something in one of these books that will send my soul back to my world. Even if it takes a little more time and a deal with Eris, at least this is a lead.

"First, you must promise to drink enough human blood every day."

I wilt immediately. "What? No, that's not⁠—"