“Certainly.”
She nodded. “Be right there.”
A moment later, her footsteps pounded down the stairs. She could give a rhinoceros a run for its money. The door swung open, and she reached out to grab a coffee. “Thanks.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Of course? The Devil of Darkvale is an of course I deliver coffee sort of man?”
“I suppose not, but it seemed like the appropriate thing to say.”
She shrugged. “Fair enough. Come on up. Carrow has a surprise for you.”
Excitement thrilled through me. Hadshe found a solution? “Of what sort?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” She turned and took the stairs two at a time.
I followed her to the top floor, turning right to follow her into Carrow’s small flat. It was as charming as usual, save for the unfamiliar woman sitting on the couch, a pale redhead. Anxiety radiated from her, along with curiosity. Her green eyes raced over the entire space, including me, taking everything in like she was a person from outer space.
There was something familiar about her, too. Her magical signature reminded me of another’s. But whose?
Carrow came out of the kitchen, dressed in her usual attire of dark jeans and a simple shirt. Her hair glowed golden around her head, and her beauty took me away. The newcomer was forgotten, and I held out the coffee tray. “For you.”
Her gaze landed on it, warming. “Thank you.”
I nodded.
She approached, and I held my breath, not wanting to risk inhaling her miraculous scent.
She took the tray and removed one coffee, handing it to me. Then she turned toward the oddly familiar woman and handed her a coffee. “Try this.”
“Thanks.” The woman took the coffee, her gaze moving back to me.
From behind, footsteps sounded on the stairs. I turned, spotting Eve. The Fae rushed into the room, her hair brilliant blue today. Curiosity gleamed in her eyes, and her dress looked wrinkled and worn. Two different shoes adorned her feet.
“Well, don’t you look a sight.” Mac grinned. “In a hurry this morning?”
“Give me a break.” Eve strode into the room, her gaze on the new woman. “You’re supposed to be the raven?”
The raven?
“I—” The newcomer shrugged, her face utterly confused. “Apparently so, yes.”
I turned to Carrow. “What is happening?”
“You’re never going to believe this.” Carrow held up a finger, a contrite expression on her face. “But just give me a half a second?”
“Of course.”
I stepped back against the wall. A drama was about to unfold. If I’d learned anything in my long life, it was how to sense tension. And the air was loaded with it.
Carrow looked at Eve. “This is Beatrix. She’s spent the last year as the raven that followed you. You really couldn’t see her?”
Her old friend Beatrix? The one that had been murdered?
Eve sighed. “I could see her, all right? I just didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Why?” Carrow asked.
“We all have secrets, Carrow.” Eve folded her arms. “Until now, this didn’t matter. And honestly, I’m not even sure what any of it means.”
“Try,” Carrow said. “Please. Because as far as I knew, Beatrix was dead. But…”
“I’m not.” The newcomer shrugged, confusion flickering in her gaze. “I died, and I felt it. Horrible.” She shuddered. “But then something happened, and I woke up with you. Or at least, near you. I felt your presence like a light. Like something that kept me on this plane.”
Eve crossed her arms, clutching her biceps tightly. Indecision flickered in her eyes, along with a bit of fear. “I’ve got some magic I don’t quite understand. Something Fae, but I don’t have a Court, so I’ve never learned what it is.”
“A Court?” Beatrix frowned.
“Beatrix has no idea about the magical world,” said Carrow, then turned to Beatrix. “And I promise, I’ll explain it all later.”
Beatrix nodded, frowning slightly. This had to be a lot for her to take in.
Eve continued. “I knew you were following me, but you never spoke. And you never acted like much more than an overly familiar bird. So I assumed it was just some kind of Snow White affinity for animals. But since it wasn’t dangerous, I decided to ignore it. I like my life the way it is, and I know that if I poke into my Fae ancestry, I might find something I don’t like.”
“It’s not just you,” Beatrix said. “It’s Carrow, too. She’s the one who drew me the strongest. I think she’s the one who kept me from dying. I could feel her presence. Her energy. She yanked me back from the brink of death, but you were like an energy source that kept me here. So I followed you.”
Eve nodded, her eyes flickering with worry. She looked like she wanted to ask Beatrix to stop talking. Or perhaps like she would run from the room. Instead, she said, “Well, I’m pleased that I could help you.”
Beatrix grinned ruefully. “Me, too. I wasn’t ready to die.”
Carrow smiled, seeming satisfied. “Thank you, Eve. I was dying to hear what you know about this.”
“Not much, I’m afraid,” Eve said. “I don’t know anything more than that.”
“Neither do I.” Carrow looked at me. “But I think this has to do with us. I think I can use this to save you.”
I frowned, completely lost. “You’re going to need to elaborate, because I cannot see the connection.”
Carrow went to the table and picked up the small book that Seraphia had unlocked yesterday. “This book ignited something in my magic. It allowed me to bring Beatrix back from the dead.”
“But how?” None of this made any sense.
As I listened, she told a story of using the book to control her magic in a way that allowed her to help Beatrix transition from raven to human. “But what I don’t understand is how she went from dead girl to raven,” she concluded. “And how that might apply to you.”
That was a definite gap in the story. I looked at Beatrix. “Are you a supernatural?”
“They tell me that I am.” She pointed to Carrow and Mac. “But I don’t know what kind.”
I looked at Carrow. “Is her signature strong?”
“It’s thready,” she said. “Like it’s there, but struggling.”
Slowly, so as not to startle her, I approached Beatrix. “May I touch your hand? I am gifted with an excellent sense for reading magical signatures.”
“Um, sure…” Discomfort flickered across her face, but she held out her hand.
I rested mine over hers gently, feeling the faintest pulse of magic through her. It felt like a howling wind, high up in the atmosphere. Even the air that I breathed began to feel thin.
Beyond it, though…
Beyond it, I felt Carrow.
My gaze flicked to Carrow. “Did you sense your own signature on her?”
“No.” Confusion flashed on her face. “I felt a powerful wind, and the air was thin in my lungs, but there was nothing of mine.”
“But there is.” I focused more intently on Beatrix’s magic. “Deep in her soul, there is a small part of you. I can feel it. There’s no doubt that it is your magic.”
“Really?” Carrow approached.
I removed my hand from Beatrix’s and stepped back. Carrow raised her own hand. “Do you mind?”
Beatrix shook her head, and Carrow touched her shoulder. She closed her eyes and focused. Seconds passed, then a minute. Her eyes opened, and she removed her hand. “Maybe I feel it. It’s hard to say.”
“Well, I think I feel it,” Beatrix said. “Like you’re with me. It’s what drew me to you while I was still a raven and didn’t have my memory.”
Carrow turned to me. “This is the mystery that I want to get to the bottom of. If I could do this for her, then maybe I can do it for you.”
“Break the curse?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t understand how it could work. I just know that it could. And that this book”—she raised it—“has answers.”
“Did you read it all?”
“I couldn’t.” She flipped it open and showed me.
The text was indecipherable. More like tiny images of intricate shapes—not a language I’d ever seen.
“The whole thing is like this,” she said. “I want to take it back to Seraphia.”
“We’ll do that now.” I looked at her, unsure of how any of this would work. Were we even on the right path? My dream had made it clear that our time was short, and the afterworld beckoned.
10
Carrow
I looked at Beatrix, wondering what to do with her while Grey and I sought answers. She looked confused and worried. Mac had kindly offered to keep her company, but it seemed unfair to leave her here while there was so much outside my small flat. And I missed my friend.
“Want to see a bit of the city?” I asked.
Beatrix nodded, her expression lightening. “Yeah. I suppose I need to sort my life out, now that I have it back.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, unable to help looking back at Grey.
I could feel Beatrix watching the two of us, her radar going wild. She’d been my friend for so long that she knew when I liked a guy. And what I felt for Grey was far from something so simple and juvenile as like.
I grabbed my jacket and the book, making sure that Rasla’s seal was inside the jacket pocket. Together, we left the flat. At the street, Eve veered off for her shop, looking back twice at Beatrix, her brow creased with concern. There were hidden depths to Eve, and I was glad she’d felt comfortable enough to admit what she had.
Now we just needed to figure out my exact role and how I could use my strange skills to help Grey.