Page 13 of The Heartless One
“Gloria Burnham.”
“Burnham,” he muttered, trying to place a face to the name. “She was a hedge witch, wasn’t she?”
“Green magic, yes. That was her speciality.”
“Poisons.”
“Sometimes. But in the later generations, my family just enjoyed growing whatever plants would thrive under their touch. There was verylittle magic left.” Elissa cleared her throat. “And what little my mother had preserved, she wished to give to me. She said someday I would feel magic in the realm again, and that was the time to make a sacrifice to you. That in my hour of greatest need, I should always trust that you never really left us.”
And there it was. That burning sensation in his chest that whispered he owed this woman something. Because she believed in him. She needed help so badly that she was willing to make a deal with the most dangerous god in this kingdom, and because of that, she deserved to be heard.
She was alone. Without him, all witches were alone.
Pity made him weak. But then again, it always had.
Growling low in his throat, he held his hand out for her to take. “Rise, witch. You have pleased me with your sacrifice.”
Her big eyes rounded even more. She took his hand like it was a snake that could bite her, but Jessamine smiled at the touch.
“I will show you the greatest part of my soul,” Elissa said as she dropped his hand and guided them into a back room. “I cannot lose her.”
He steeled himself for an equally odd woman who was likely going to disappoint him yet again. Witches should not have weak consorts, and yet, how was he to know what these new witches wasted time on?
But when he walked into the room, there was no one here. Just a bird. Lying on a table.
Under a blanket.
Fucking hell.
“A bird?” he hissed. “You summoned a god to save a bird?”
“Not just any bird,” Elissa said. “She’s the love of my life.”
Silence. That was all he could manage. Because now that he was really looking, he could see the remnants of a spell gone awry. There were loops of dark magic chained around the creature, but they were all broken. Wrong. A spell cast by a novice who had no idea what she was doing.
“What did you do to this poor woman?” he muttered, striding around the table to get a look at the spell from every angle.
“I tried to make it so she could talk to them,” Elissa whispered.“Sarah always loved them so much. And I thought, with a bit of my mother’s magic, I could give her a gift that would make her ever so happy.”
“You turned her into a bird?”
“I didn’t think that was what I was doing at the time!”
Jessamine paused at his side, tangling their fingers together so she could look as well. Gently, she pointed out a portion of the spell that looked like it had rotted into the bird’s flesh. “That doesn’t look good.”
“That’s because it’s not,” he replied. “Magic like this cannot be undone. It’s beyond fixing. The spell is embedded into the creature. You’ve turned her for good.”
Elissa gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth. “But you’re a god! You can do anything.”
He stared her down, hoping that all of his fury was shown in his features. She was shaking in fear, but he was shaking with rage. “Magic is not for the unpracticed. Magic has a price, and sometimes it is permanent. Even a god cannot unravel it. Do you wish for me to kill her? I can do that. I can prevent her from dying, too, if you wish to have her by your side for the rest of your life. But I cannot undo what you have done.”
“Elric,” Jessamine whispered.
He’d been harsh, but witchcraft was not for a novice. Especially not a spell like this.
“Oh dear,” Elissa said, her shaking hands still pressed against her mouth. “What have I done?”
“Nothing good,” he muttered, but then jolted when Jessamine stomped her foot hard on top of his. Hissing out a pained breath, he sighed at her pointed glare. “The two of you should leave. I will see what I can do. There is no bringing her back to her previous form, but I might be able to conjure some… staying spell that will give her the lifespan of a normal mortal.”
