Page 38 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“I won’t need the medicine you just sold me. I want my money back for the unused portions.” Her face held a hint of malicious joy, and Shumei wondered if Akki and Majo were more similar to each other than either of them would admit.

She tossed Akki’s hand from her sleeve. “No refunds.” Then she walked out of the house, hopefully for good.

⁂

Not bothering to raise her hand this time, Shumei stood in front of the witch’s door and waited for it to open. Majo had changed her order midweek, requesting almost twice as many ingredients. She was up to something, and Shumei wanted to know what.

She couldn’t let Majo set loose another disaster like the Burning. The villagers were horrible and cruel, but testing spells on them was equally as cruel, and it went against the teachings of the Divine One. The mere thought of a second Burning, or worse, made her feel ill.

Majo’s door opened slowly today, and her pale, elegant hand caressed its way around the edge. The outline of her face appeared but was mostly hidden in shadow, so Shumei couldn’t tell if she was smiling.

Shumei was careful not to let any of the apprehension she felt show on her face. If her guess was correct, then Majo most definitely knew her curse had been uprooted. The only question was whether she knew who had done it.

“I have your order for this week, Madam Majo,” she said, gesturing to the bag sitting on her hip.

“Come in, child,” Majo bade, voice sounding deeper, older. “I’m…feeling a bit under the weather.”

Shumei stepped inside and shucked her boots, keeping the witch in sight as the older woman closed the door. The candles looked to be newly lit, as though Majo had been resting in the dark before Shumei’s arrival. Majo walked slowly, feet sliding as she made her way to the chest in the corner.

“Have a seat. I’ll be with you soon,” she said.

Shumei’s eyes adjusted to the candlelight, and she noticed Majo was wearing a plain black dress. It was the first time she had ever seen the witch in anything so normal. She sat in her usual spot and pulled large bundles of roots and bags of crushed, torn, or powdered herbs from her medicine bag. Majo made her way over, hand clenched around the kols in her fist.

“Thirty-four kols, dear. Thank you for your prompt delivery,” she rasped.

“Do you have a sore throat? I can return with the proper medicine to clear it up,” she offered.

Majo shook her head and lightly coughed. “That won’t be necessary,” she said in a stronger voice.

While the witch inspected her order, Shumei looked as closely at Majo as she dared, trying to decipher in the soft candlelight whether Majo had been sucking the life from Akki to stay younger. She didn’t appear to be any older, though, not even by a few years.

“Everything’s in order. I suppose you’ll be leaving, then?” Majo asked with raised eyebrows.

“Actually, I had some questions, Madam Majo,” she said uncertainly, wondering if she had the guts to withstand more payment for the information she sought.

“Questions about magic?”

“No, demons.”

A smile curled Majo’s lips. “Are you willing to pay for the answers?”

Resisting the urge to gulp, Shumei nodded. The thought of kissing the person responsible for the Burning turned her stomach, but the one question she couldn’t ask Vallen was the one she wanted the answer to the most.

“What is the question, then?” Majo asked, leaning close.

“If someone can curse a man to be a sex demon, then can another person undo the curse? Is there a cure? How does one administer it?”

Asking for such specifics was risky. If Majo wasn’t suspicious of her preoccupation with sex demons before, she certainly would be now. Indeed, the witch’s smile wilted, and she narrowed her eyes.

But having removed the spell on Akki, Shumei was hopeful. If she could cure Akki, then maybe she could cure Vallen. Then she would not only free him but also herself. The binding and their deal would be dissolved.

And that was what they both wanted…right?

“Why the interest in sex demons?” Majo asked.

“I was shocked to learn some demons are human-born. You had said other demons were made through ritual, but only mentioned sex demons in particular, so that’s why I mentioned them. You also seemed to know of the ritual to make a sex demon, so I thought you might know of a ritual to unmake one,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound rushed.

It seemed her acting skills hadn’t failed her, for Majo’s tight expression smoothed as Shumei explained her reasons. The witch’s smile grew.