Page 78 of Fae Unleashed
While in the cottage, trying to save Rhoan from his beast, I’d read further into Cerridwen’s journal. There were a number of notes on turning fae into animals. She’d been the first to do it, having cursed her first apprentice into the form of a chicken when he showed cowardice. In her notes, she spoke about a number of these potions stored in her tower laboratory. After speaking to Feri before this meeting, I learned that he’d been given one of those potions.
And that’d it’d been completely voluntary, he’d just grown anxious and tired over the twenty years that it took for me to grow up.
I had reason to believe that Faust had somehow accessed these notes and crafted his own version of Cerridwen’s magic using his nightmares. That’s how he created the chimera beast within Rhoan. And, if that was true, then I could sever that link and still protect Rhoan’s beast.
At least, that’s what I hoped.
However, I had a different plan as I pulled out another potion from my great-something grandmother’s laboratory and carefully set it on the table beside Feri.
“Cross me again, Delphine of No Court, and I will jam this bottle so far down your throat that you’ll shit it out as an egg when you become a chicken.”
Del’s eyes went wide. She blinked in stunned shock a few times before a look of pride settled over her. She grinned and gave me a nod. “I believe you. You’ll have to catch me first, though.”
I smiled deviously. “I’ve walked dreams. Magic is raw and untampered there, making for even more potent curses. You can run, but a good flying ointment will find you anywhere.”
This wasn’t something I wanted to do. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted to have to do at all. I thought Del was really cool and such a strong person. Turning her into a hen seemed like a waste, but I would do it if I thought she would sell us out to Beryl again.
“I want nothing to do with any of you,” Del said. “I’m going to leave in the morning, and no one will ever see me again. I can promise you that much.”
My hopes plummeted. “I take it there’s nothing I can offer you that will make you stay? Not even a cushy room in the castle, far away from the fighting? You know I don’t care if you join the fight or not. Right?”
“A storm is coming your way. I don’t want to be here when that happens.” Del stood and turned to leave.
I leapt out of my seat. Feri scurried off the table and jumped onto my shoulder so he could stay close to me as I followed Del.
“A storm? What does that even mean? Don’t be cryptic. Just say what’s going on.”
Del’s gaze dropped to the floor. I got the sense that if she shared insider information, she might find herself in a world of trouble. That’s when I noticed the bit of black ink peeking out from beneath her high-collared shirt.
Without thinking, I reached out and captured her wrist. I pulled a thread of untamed magic up from beneath my garden and wrapped it around the curse within the ink. I’d ripped curses in half before, and I could do it again even if I didn’t have Addie here to counter-balance me. I wasn’t going to let Del walk out of this room with something like that clinging to her.
When I wrenched back with my magic, Del hissed in pain. Her knees buckled and dropped her to the floor. I hesitated, but she urged me to go on. This time, I didn’t hold back. I tore through the curse until it broke into a thousand little pieces of inky darkness and dissipated before our eyes.
Voice hoarse, Del asked, “If you could do that, then why haven’t you done it to your own curse? Or Rhoan’s curse?”
I didn’t have time to explain that those two curses were so ingrained in who we were that it would break us, too. Beryl’s curse had changed my arcana. Were I to rip into it, I’d rip into myself, too.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re free to do what you want and say what you want.” I crouched beside her. “Now tell me what you meant when you said there was a storm coming my way.”
Del let herself collapse against the wall and sighed, almost out of relief, though it might have been exhaustion, too. “Beryl’s influence isn’t entirely gone here. She saw what you did, how you buried a seed of yourself here, and she tried to do the same. If you don’t find it soon, she’ll use it to plunge the domain into a realm of nightmares.”
I shrugged. “So, I evacuate everyone and work on stealing the domain back again. Big deal.”
“You’re such a pretty little fool,” Del said with a shake of her head. “Did you not stop to consider what might happen with the two seeds side by side?”
The castle trembled. My head snapped up. I grabbed at the wall to keep from falling. A sense of dread chilled me to my bone as I waited for disaster to strike.
“The domain is falling apart because of you two, and there are still people trapped here who can’t escape like your small fae can.”
Too late, I realized my error. All the time I’d spent with Rhoan allowed Beryl’s seed of arcana to grow and spread like an invasive plant species. Del held onto me while I pushed my consciousness deep into the domain’s earth. There, I found Beryl’s roots choking my own starving seed of arcana.
Gasping, I came back to reality and shot to my feet. Feri held onto my hair for dear life. His little howl of fear was lost on the wind as I rushed forward. At the door, I stopped and turned back to Del.
“Run. You’re free to go anywhere and do anything now. Use that freedom wisely.”
I half hoped that she would stand and come to my side. She turned away from me, though. Disappointment stung, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I had a domain and a court to save from utter destruction.
In the hall, I stopped and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Rhoan!”
