Mercy for the Fallen (30 page)

“Partly because I want to see if I can pull it off,” she replied, taking an opaque crystal the size of my palm out of an ornate box and setting it on the table. 

“And?”

“And…” she stopped what she was doing to catch my gaze.  “You’ve spent some time with Raum.  Wouldn’t you be ready for some R and R?”  There it was again, that hint of what she’d been put through at Raum’s hand.  No wonder she was itching to get the spell over and done with.  I was her ticket out of there. 

“What do we need to do to get this thing started?”

“Leave everything to me.”   

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“First things first, I need you to charge this crystal with your Grace.”  Dahlia tapped the crystal on the table with the tip of her finger.

“Um… okay.”  She said that like I knew what she meant.  “How do I do that?”

A faint smile flitted across her lips, but it was gone just as quickly.  “Focus your Grace as if you were healing.  Fill the crystal with light and love.”

It sounded silly, but I could manage that easily enough.  “What’s it for?”

“Ordinarily it’d be good for healing magic, but today we’re going to use it to represent Eve’s Grace.  It’d be better if you had something of hers, but your connection to her should be strong enough.”

“I can do that.”  I wasn’t sure if I needed to hold the crystal at first, but decided I should be able to do it with a light touch.  I started to ground myself, not thinking too deeply about the demon realm I connected myself to.  “I have to say, I’m surprised you know how to do this stuff.”  She didn’t strike me as the healing type.

“The left hand isn’t always so different from the right hand, you know.  Their paths intersect from time to time.”  Dahlia gave me what was probably meant to be a friendly smile, but it made the hairs on the back on my neck prickle.  As far as I was concerned, she was nothing like Luz and the other witches I’d met. 

Something about her made me more than a little nervous about the whole thing, but what choice did I have other than to trust her for Eve’s sake?  I managed a faint smile in return before focusing my attention on charging the crystal until it glowed brightly with Grace. 

“Very nice,” she said in approval.  “Now I need a single drop of blood from you.”  She held a large pin over the flame of a black candle with one hand and I recognized the black cord she’d been tying into knots when we first came in.

“What’s this for?”

“This is to link your energy to mine so I can harness it for the spell.  It’ll only hurt for a second.”  She held the pin up expectantly, and I stuck my hand out, bracing for the sting.  Her lips moved with the barely audible sibilance of a whisper, too faint for me to make out.  Without warning, the pin flashed out to stab my finger, deep enough for a fat drop of blood to well, and she smeared it onto the black cord, her lips moving all the while. 

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Dahlia smiled in satisfaction, and I had to admit, the pinprick was already healed over. 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for her to loop the black cord around the handle of the poker lying in the brazier.  As she pulled the poker from the red hot coals, I saw it wasn’t a poker at all, but a brand, like the ones they used to brand cattle in the Old West.  All of a sudden I started to worry what else she wasn’t telling me about this spell.  “Whoa…You’re not coming near me with that,” I said, backing toward the door. 

“Relax, it’s for me,” she replied flatly, her eyes fixed to the glowing tip.

“Oh.”  My relief was short lived.  The thought of involving any kind of pain made me queasy.  “You’re not actually going to…”

“A spell of this magnitude demands sacrifice.  Mortification of the flesh is the easiest way to accomplish that.”  The way she said it, without the slightest hint of worry, almost a light of anticipation, made my blood run cold.   

“Are you sure…”

“I’m sure,” she said with a serene nod. 

“I’m sorry you have to put yourself through this.  I can take away the pain for you after the spell is done.”  That much I could do, at least.  Her answering smile of relief made me feel better about it. 

“Are you ready?”

“What’ll happen to me when the spell starts?”  I wasn’t stalling exactly, but I couldn’t help but eye the brand.

“You’ll feel drained, like you’ve had to use your Grace over and over again.  Do you know what that feels like?”

“Yes, I do.”

“That’s pretty much it,” she shrugged a bare shoulder.  “The instant the spell is complete, we should see this crystal’s power dim.  That’s how we’ll know it worked.  But you’ll be able to see it from the moment you first lay eyes on your daughter.  She’ll look like a normal human child to you, a ghost of her human aura visible to those who can spot them.”

“And it’ll last forever?”

“For as long as the spell remains in effect.  If you should choose to undo it someday, it can be done.  Now stand on the other side of the brazier, facing me.  Good,” she nodded, picking up the handle of the brand, grasping it with both hands.  I admit, it bothered me to be within stabbing range of the thing, but I held my spot, watching her carefully. 

“Thank you for doing this,” I said softly, and she returned my thanks with a solemn nod.

“Thank you for helping me.”  Dahlia began to chant in a guttural tongue, dark hair sliding forward to obscure her face as she rocked gently in place.  The words sounded mangled, twisted, as if the language was designed to be spoken with more teeth.  My skin crawled as the tingle of dark magic filled the air and it got harder and harder to stay in place as the urge to back away grew stronger. 

My foot tried to edge backwards as the heat from the brazier flared, and I found myself rooted in place.  A ribbon of panic sliced through me as I fought to back away, but it was like she’d super glued my feet to the floor.  Dahlia raised the brand high into the air, and I called forth my sword, ready to block it when she swung it toward me. 

Only she didn’t. 

True to her word, the witch turned the hot metal to her own flesh, but the scream of agony came from my lips, not hers.  A searing pain sent my nerve endings into overdrive and sweat broke out all over my body.  I gazed down in horror to see the skin over my heart redden and then blacken as if an invisible brand had marked me.  I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe – the only pathetic response I could manage was dropping the sword in my hand as the Grace drained from me in one massive blast.

I’m not sure what she felt, but the expression on Dahlia’s face looked closer to pleasure than pain as she finished the incantation, the last words panting, almost hoarse.  Released from the spell, we both collapsed to the ground and I curled up into the fetal position, trying to find the strength to breathe again.  Everything hurt, not just the wound on my breast that was angry and red. 

I looked over to find Dahlia twitching on the ground, legs pressed together, a look of rapture on her face.  How come I ended up with the shitty end of the pain stick?  My whole body throbbed, but as I looked down at the mark, it had faded from the angry red to black, much less puffy, almost like an inflamed tattoo.  The mark was about the size of a half dollar.  It looked like two paisley amoebas getting to be close friends, almost like a yin/yang symbol without the dot.

“What the hell did you do to me?” I croaked, when I could make my voice work again.

“I told you, it required a sacrifice,” she said with a languid stretch, like a cat waking up from a nap.  My Grace shone all over her, amplifying the riot of colors in her aura. 

“You said it was for you.”

“It was.”  Dahlia pushed herself up to a sitting position, the neckline shifting to show a duplicate mark over her heart.  “We’re linked now.  Your Grace fuels the spell.  For as long as we’re linked, the spell will hold.  Now, if anything happens to either one of us, she’s on her own.”

I looked up to the table to see the crystal I’d charged had lost the Grace.  “It worked then?  Eve’s safe?”

Dahlia nodded.  “I told you I could do it,” she said smugly. 

The brand mark had faded to a dull throb, the skin around it pink, but almost completely healed.  I still felt like I’d been brought back from the dead though.  “You could’ve warned me,” I grumbled, dizzy when I tried to sit up. I laid back down to catch my breath. 

“Would you have done it?”

It only took me a moment’s hesitation to answer.  “Yes.”

“Ah, motherly love.”  Dahlia chuckled, light on her feet as she rose to retrieve the black knotted cord from the brand, looping it around her wrist.  “I did forget to mention one teensy little condition.”

“There’s more?”

“You must allow me to feed, whenever I want.”

I was too tired to frown, but I didn’t like the sound of that.  Not one bit.  “What do you mean by feed?”

“I need enough power to keep the spell ongoing.  I need your Grace.”

“Yeah well, I gave you all I’m willing to part with, so you’re SOL.”

“You’ll recover soon enough.  I told you, there won’t be any permanent damage from the spell.”

That was something at least.  “If you’re looking for a place to stay when we get out of here, I can’t help you.  At the moment I’m a little up in the air on that myself.”

“Oh, I won’t be leaving Midian.”

“You won’t?”  Wasn’t that the whole basis for her doing the spell in the first place?  “I can’t keep coming back here every time you’re feeling peckish.”

“There’s no need for that.  Thanks to the link between us, I can feed whenever I want to.  I just thought it would be polite to give you a heads up.” 

“I didn’t agree to that.” 

“You agreed to provide the Grace needed to fuel the spell.  You should be careful what you promise when you enter into a bargain,” she smiled, reclining on the chaise again.  “Now then, you look tired.  I have a nice room prepared for you, I believe you’re familiar with it.”  With the clap of her hands, two guards entered and I started to realize how screwed I was. 

“I’m not staying here.  You might be able to have your thugs drag me away for the moment, but like you said, I’ll recover.  As soon as I’m able, I’m outta here.”

“Leave then, if you can,” Dahlia said loftily, the taunting smile behind her eyes scaring me more than any weakness I felt.  The guards flanked me, dragging me to my feet. 

“I thought you wanted to leave here.”

Dahlia came to stand before me, practically crackling with power.  “I said I wanted you to break me free.  I’m free now to do as I please.  Thank you for that, Mercy,” she smiled, leaning forward to kiss me on the mouth.  I tried to squirm away, but the guards held me tight and I was forced to endure the press of her lips.  “We’re sisters now.”  Her dark eyes gleamed when she pulled back.  “Take her away.”

* * *

Yes, I know, I’m stupid.  I shouldn’t have trusted a dark witch like Dahlia in the first place.  I had no way of knowing if she was telling the truth about binding Eve’s Grace or if that was complete bullshit either.  At least not until I got enough strength to bust out of there and find out for myself.  If she thought I was going to stick around and feed her, she was nuts. 

The guards took me to my old suite, and nothing had changed since my last visit.  The room was well appointed, with rich tapestries hanging on the walls and thick woven carpets on the polished stone floor, just like I’d left them.  Was it weird that I’d started to think of it as my room?  The best thing about it was the open air balcony along one entire wall.  It was my key to escape as soon as I got enough energy back to fly out of there. 

Actually, that was the second best thing.  The bestest thing was the sight of Nelo curled up on the rug at the foot of the bed. 

“Nelo!” I cried, as soon as the guards left me alone. 

“Mistress, you are well?” He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Well isn’t exactly how I’d put it, but I’ll be okay,” I smiled, collapsing on the bed which was blissfully soft. 

“What happened?  Is Bunny safe now?”

“I think so.  We won’t know for sure until we see her in person.  How about you?  Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes.” 

“Raum didn’t give you any trouble?”

“No, I think he was worried about something else.”

“I’ll bet,” I murmured, my eyes staying closed a lot longer than I liked when I blinked.  As much as I hated the idea, I needed to rest up or I wouldn’t get far. 

“Are we going home now?”

I decided to stop fighting it, letting my eyes fall shut.  “Soon, I need to rest up a piece first.  That spell really took a lot out of me.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“No, Nelo, just… wake me up if you sense Raum or Dahlia or anyone else coming, okay?”

“Yes, Mistress.” 

“Thanks, Nelo.  Things will look better in the morning, I promise.”

* * *

Things did not look better in the morning.  Things were more screwed up than ever.

On the one hand, I did feel physically stronger after my nap.  It was hard to gauge exactly how long I’d been out, but a few hours at least, I guessed.  The brand mark on my chest wasn’t the least bit sore anymore; the symbol permanently etched there seemed more like a tattoo than anything else, not raised or puffy at all. 

It was harder to call forth my Grace though.  I broke out in a cold sweat just trying to give Nelo a taste before we set off.  I couldn’t help but wonder if it was only a matter of time for my Grace to recharge, like she said, or if I’d given up a more permanent part of it like Sam and Adam had.  As long as the spell worked, I didn’t care.  I could still call forth my sword in the blink of an eye and my wings unfurled on demand; it seemed like a small price to pay for Eve’s sake.

But the super really screwed up part was yet to come. 

Nelo and I headed for the balcony, prepared to take off and fly home, only to be met with the crackle of purple energy.  It didn’t hurt more than a sting, but it extended along the entire opening, blocking us from the open air outside. 

We were trapped.