“Well…” I didn’t actually have an answer to that, but I could start at the beginning. “You know my weird ability to see things?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s magic. Not rabbit-in-the-hat magic, but real magic.” As quickly as I could, I filled her in on everything that had happened after her death: me, my magic, coming to Guild City, meeting Mac and the rest of the gang. Grey.
Occasionally, she looked over at Cordelia, who had finished off her biscuits and sat clutching the empty bag.
Finally, I finished my tale, or as much of it as I thought was relevant.
“Holy crap.” Beatrix looked down at her now cold tea. “You’re serious?”
“Totally.”
She drew in a deep breath. “That’s amazing.”
“Wait until you see the city.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it.”
“You will. I’m sure.”
She nodded. “I hope so. I guess it all makes a weird kind of sense. I wasn’t fully myself. I just knew that the woman—Eve—felt good to be around. Then, when you arrived, it was like I’d been waiting for you. Time passed, and you became more and more familiar to me, like my memory was returning.”
“And that’s why you turned up the other morning and took me to the Shadow Guild tower and showed me where the book was.”
“Yes!” Her eyes flashed with the excitement of memory. “That day, it was like all the pieces were falling into place. I knew you would save me, and that the answers were there.”
“Was it my magic that would save you?”
“It had to be, right? This whole place runs on magic, from what it sounds like.”
“That’s true.” And I had been coming into my power more and more.
“I could feel your power growing,” she said. “It made you more familiar to me. Like I was tied to you. Like I’d been tied to you since the moment I died, but I didn’t remember until you gained more of your magic.”
“And Eve?”
“She helped, somehow. Her power kept me on this plane until you showed up.”
I leaned back in the chair. “I truly have no explanation for this.”
Beatrix shrugged. “Well, I think you saved me.”
I laughed weakly. I wanted that to be true. Not only because I didn’t want her to disappear again, but because maybe that was my secret power. Maybe I could save people from death.
Maybe I could save Grey from death.
A knock sounded on my door—two fast, one slow, distinctly Mac—and then it pushed open. She stood in the doorway, staring at Beatrix and me.
“Why is Eve’s raven suddenly a person?” she asked.
“You can tell?” I said.
“Don’t you feel it?” Mac pointed to Beatrix. “Her signature is just like the raven’s.”
I hadn’t noticed, actually. I’d been so shocked over her arrival. But she was right. The air around her felt like a howling wind, thin in my lungs. It’d been such a faint signature when associated with the raven that I hadn’t consciously noticed it. but I did now. It was extremely faint, but definitely there.
“I’m not a bird,” Beatrix said.
“Nope, you’re definitely not.” Max strode over and held out her hand. “I’m Macbeth O’Connell.”
“That’s quite a name.” Beatrix grinned and held out her hand. “I’m Beatrix.”
“Beatrix?” Mac’s brows rose and she turned to me. “The Beatrix? Beatrix of the books?”
“The very same,” I said.
“You’re not dead,” Mac said.
“Apparently not.” Beatrix looked at me. “You still have my books?”
“Only thing I have from our old life.”
Beatrix scowled. “I guess all my stuff is gone, huh?”
“Long gone.”
“Damn.”
“What’s the deal?” Mac said.
“I might have brought her back from the dead somehow.”
Mac’s brows rose. “Really? Do you think it was the necromancer magic you absorbed from the crystal?”
“What, now?” Beatrix asked.
I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. I absorbed magic from the necromancer’s crystal after Beatrix’s death. But by then, she was already a raven.”
“Good point. It must be a power you inherently have.” Mac tapped her chin. “But what the hell sort of power is it?”
“I don’t know.” I raised the book. “And I think there should be answers in here, but I can’t read it.”
Mac held out her hand, and I passed it over. She flipped open the book and studied it. “Hmm. Did Seraphia look in here?”
“No. She helped me unlock it, but by then, it was late, so I took it home to read.”
“We need to take it back to her.”
“Who is Seraphia?” Beatrix asked.
I realized I’d left her out—I’d probably left a lot out—and I quickly explained.
Mac leaned forward. “You know what? Why don’t I hang out with Beatrix? Help her get adjusted to Guid City. Maybe figure out her magic. And that will give you time to get to the bottom of this book.”
Beatrix nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. You have a lot at stake, don’t you?”
“So much.”
Beatrix gripped my hand. “That settles it, then. I’ll hang out with my new friend here, and I’ll be around if you need me.” She hiked a thumb toward my couch. “That’s my new bed, by the way. The raccoon is going to have to share.”
I laughed. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. Because I’m pretty sure I’d be dead without you.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I need to figure it out.” I looked down at the book, wishing I could read it. There was so much I didn’t know. If I’d really brought Beatrix back…how had I done it?
Exhaustion tugged at me. I’d been going nonstop since I’d found the book and gone to Transylvania. I needed a nap of the eight-hour variety.
Aching, I stood. “Let’s get ready for bed. Tomorrow, we’ll figure this out.”
Between the two of us, Mac and I had enough extra bedding to make Beatrix a place on the sofa. Cordelia vacated it for the chair near the window, though she might eventually move into my room.
As I went to my bedroom, I turned to look back at my friend, already tucked into her couch bed.
Beatrix.
She was back.
How was I so lucky?
“Night,” Beatrix said.
“Night.” I waved, then went to my room. My mind raced as I settled down into bed, and it was impossible not to think of Grey.
Could I save him like I’d saved Beatrix?
9
Grey
The dream was both heaven and hell. It pulled at me. Carrow on one side, the afterlife on the other. The flames of the underworld flickered, trying to drag me toward them. It was a place of myth and legend. Though I’d never been to an underworld, my perception of it was as old as I was—a place of torture, where I’d pay for the sins of my past.
In the present, on Earth, there was Carrow.
And yet, I couldn’t have both her and life.
I woke, sweating and gasping.
Fates, I was a disaster.
Embarrassing.
I swung myself out of bed and drew in a bracing breath. Everything felt heavier, as it had since the curse had come back into effect. My mortality dragged at me in wakefulness and in sleep, with every second ticking by and moving me closer to an unacceptable future. I could feel time like it was a physical thing.
I shook away the thought and headed for the shower. I was due to meet Carrow soon. Next to her was the only place I wanted to be. My previous self would consider the thought insane, but I’d accepted it.
She’d changed me. Massively so.
Though part of me struggled with the idea, the rest didn't give a damn. I wanted to be by her side. Now, in the future, forever.
I prayed the book had taught her something that would help us, because the visit to the seer had not been as promising as I’d hoped. I’d put on a good face for Carrow, but the results of that visit had been disappointing. True, we’d learned a great deal of new information, but it had laid the entire task on Carrow’s shoulders, and I hated it. This should be my burden.
Quickly, I showered and dressed, choosing one of my usual suits without thinking. I drank a liter of bagged blood to give myself strength, grimacing at the stale taste. It was nothing like Carrow, but I couldn’t risk it.
Ready, I left the flat and passed Miranda’s desk with a brief farewell. The morning was brisk as I walked toward Carrow’s flat. Supernaturals were out and about, headed for work and play.
Near Carrow’s flat, I passed a coffeehouse. The aroma wafted out onto the street, rich and enticing. I turned in to pick up a coffee for her. There was no time to waste, but there was also no need to be uncivilized.
Having no idea who I would find at Carrow’s flat, I ordered four coffees. The clerk arranged them in a small cardboard carrier, and I headed back out into the morning.
As I neared Carrow’s flat, I caught sight of someone looking at me from across the street. I stared back, trying to place him, but it was just an unfamiliar young man, looking at me with surprise. There wasn’t a hint of threat coming from him, but he was staring at…
Me. He was staring at me, carrying a tray of coffees like a common errand boy. I felt my eyebrows rise and a slight, silent laugh escape my throat.
If some of my enemies could see me now.
Carrow had…domesticated me.
It was vaguely uncomfortable, but not unbearable.
But now was not the time for insufferable navel gazing. I’d done enough of that already. I turned toward her green door and knocked loudly, then looked up at the flats above.
Mac leaned out of her window and stared down at me, her pale hair tousled. Her gaze landed on the coffees. “Is one of those for me?”