Chapter Twenty-Two

Cora

Lumiers is buzzing when I walk in. I’m almost half an hour late, but I’ve dropped Vi a message letting her know, so she should still be here. I hope. Leana flashes me a grin from behind the counter as I enter and then looks up at the balcony. I follow her gaze to see Vi sitting by the railing sipping a drink. She sees me and waves.

“I’ll bring up the usual,” Leana says as I pass. I weave my way between the tables and head up the steps to join Vi.

“Thanks for waiting.” I slide into the seat opposite her.

“No worries. I don’t have any other plans today. I’m glad you called.”

“Me too.”

“I was worried that after I wasn’t able to help you with the amulet, you might not want to hang out.”

I give her my best what-the-fuck look. “We’re friends, Vi.”

“Yes, yes, we are. But Fee…Is she all right?”

I shrug. “Yep.”

She frowns. “You managed without the amulet?”

“We managed to get hold of one. No worries.”

“You did?” Her brows flick up.

“Courtesy of Jasper the malevolent.”

She sits back in her seat. “Wow. He has contacts.”

“It seems that way. So, no need to worry, everything worked out great.”

She flashes me a relieved smile. “Oh, thank goodness. I felt so bad I couldn’t help.”

Leana appeared with a tray carrying a hot chocolate and a brownie. “Hot and chewy from the oven,” she says. “Just the way you like them.”

“I love you.”

She blows me a cheeky kiss and then sashays away.

Vi chuckles. “You make friends easily.”

“I do?”

“People like you.”

I shrug, not sure where she’s going with this, but she falls into silence, so it looks like she isn’t going anywhere.

We sip in companionable silence for a minute, and I allow myself to appreciate this. The taste of my beverage, the soft, chewy texture of my brownie. The air in my lungs. All things that were alien to me a few weeks ago.

Being alive is a gift. A gift that Fee gave me, and I need to make sure she continues to breathe. I open my mouth to ask about tulpas, but Vi breaks the silence first.

“How come you didn’t go to the Underealm with Fee? Don’t you have family there?”

I stare at her blankly for a moment while my brain figures out that she has no idea what I am. She has no inkling I’m a tulpa. She thinks I’m a demon. It’s time to set the record straight. And it’s a perfectly good time to ask the burning questions I need answers to.

“Cora?” Vi reaches across the table to lightly touch my hand. “Are you all right?”

She’s a sweetheart this one. “I’m fine, babe. I just realized you don’t know what I am.”

“You’re not a demon?”

I shake my head. “I’m a tulpa. Have you heard of those?”

Her lips part in surprise. “Yes. Yes, I know what a tulpa is, but Cora…Tulpas aren’t physical beings.” She looks down at my hands, curled around my cup, and then up to my face. “Tulpas can’t manifest in our world. They live inside the creator’s mind.”

“Yeah. I know. But I’m…different.” I give her a slight smile. “As you can see.”

Vi is looking at me, really looking as if seeing me for the first time. “I don’t…I mean, how?”

“Fee.”

“Fee created you?”

“Yep.”

“But to have you manifest, to have you independent like this…I can’t even imagine the power.” Her brows shoot up. “She’d have to be a witch.”

“Yeah. She found out her birth mother was a witch when she found out that Eldrick was her father.”

Vi lets out a soft whistle. “Eldrick procreated with a witch. Wait, what coven?”

“None. Her mother was independent, non-practicing.”

Vi looks speculative. “So, Fee is a witch.”

Oh, boy, this is the part where I tell her that I’m the witch. That I can manipulate miasma or whatever without a link to a coven, but my gut is writhing and warning me to keep my mouth shut. So, I do the next best thing. I lie.

“No. She used up all her power to make me. No longer a witch.” I shrug.

Vi’s shoulders relax, and I realize she’s been super tense during this conversation. My scalp prickles in warning.

“It makes sense,” Vi says. “The amount of power and mental strength it took to create you and manifest you could drain a witch, force her ability into dormancy, especially if she wasn’t part of a coven, but being a witch would still be in her DNA…”

“She was grieving at the time, and I guess being a demon and a Loup too might account for the witch thing not being the same as yours…” I’m totally spitballing, but she’s eating it up.

“That could account for it, yes,” Vi says. “And you’re right, being a demon and a Loup makes her a unique case.” She sits back with a smile, seemingly satisfied, and it’s my turn to relax.

“My question is, do you know anyone else who could do what Fee did? But maybe on a larger scale?”

“What do you mean?”

“The hooded figures that keep attacking Fee are tulpas. At least the one we caught was. But he wasn’t like me. He seemed more like a…a puppet.”

“You think someone is playing puppet master?”

“Yes. And I need you to help me figure out who. Fee’s life is at stake.”

She reaches across the table and takes my hand in hers. “Of course. I’ll do some research on tulpas in the Masterton library. See what I can dig up.”

“What about independent witches? Anyone new in the city?”

“Not that I know of. If an independent witch comes into the city from outside, then she has to register with the outlier liaison who then informs the local covens. We haven’t had anyone new.”

Urgh.

“But witches aren’t the only people with power to create a tulpa…”

The penny drops. “Warlocks?”

She looks torn. “Look, witches and warlocks have history, but Necro belongs to the witches. We drove out the warlock conflagrations decades ago. Still, there are independent warlocks living in Necro. Not all of them are registered.”

“Rue Mort?”

“Yes, and there’s only one man who liaises with them. His name is Elijah Black, and he works for the Grimswood Coven. Conflagrations aren’t as magnanimous as covens when it comes to independence. They call the warlocks who refuse to bind to a conflagration rogues. Elijah acts as a liaison for the rogues. I’m not entirely sure what his deal is with Grimswood, or how it all works, but if there is a new warlock in the city, then Elijah will be able to find him.”

“Do you know where I can find him?”

“No. You don’t find Elijah. He finds you.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out a black card. “Call this number and leave him a message. He’ll be in touch.”

“Is it always this cloak-and-dagger?”

“Honey, you have no idea. Just be glad you’re not a part of my crazy world. The etiquette and the fucking rules are enough to drive anyone crazy.”

Okay, my curiosity is piqued. “Then, why stay?”

Vi’s smile is wry. “Power is addictive. Power is all I’ve ever known, and to have to live without it… To have to scavenge for it…No. I couldn’t do it. I’ll happily wear the shackles of duty to keep it.”

And I have it without the shackles. Yep, that’s something I’m going to keep to myself.

I tuck the card into my jacket pocket. “The information-gathering portion of this lunch date is over. Time for cocktails and giggles.”

Vi grins. “Add dancing to that and I’m all yours.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Fee

The River Enmity was massive, its width stretching for several miles. I clung to Mal, tucking my face into the crook of his neck and locking my ankles around his waist. His arms were wrapped tight around me, one hand gripping my ass, the other pressed diagonally across my back.

The wind was icy cold, cutting at my face with razor fingers, and below us, the river was a vast, twinkling, black sheet of deceptive calm waters.

“There are wraiths beneath the surface,” Conah had said. “Boats can’t cross the river without being accosted by angry wraiths. They’ve taken many vessels down to the inky depths.”

“In other words, don’t drop Fee, I got it,” Mal drawled.

Apparently, only boats that had the proper protection runes etched into them made it over. The general mode of transport was drake and carriage.

I clung to Mal, reveling in the feel of his heartbeat against mine and the beat of his wings.

A multitude of stars twinkled above us, larger than on earth, brighter too, so the world was bathed in silver.

Mal gripped me tighter, and I looked down to see an expanse of darkness, churning and alive.

“What is that?”

“What’s left of limbo,” he said. “The domain of ancient human souls. We leave it alone, and they leave us alone.”

The souls heaven hadn’t wanted back. I wonder why?

“Land ahoy,” Mal cried out.

We flew over villages of ice and snow that glittered like diamonds. Chimneys released tendrils of ethereal smoke and winding tracks wove between tiny houses like silver snakes. The terrain began to shift, opening into flatlands where the snow had melted in patches, leaving tufts of grass visible, and the odd slender-barked tree reached up to us with delicate branches. Mountains appeared, snow-capped and beautiful against the night. Mal gained altitude, his grip on me tightening, but I could feel the strain in his muscles. This was the longest he’d carried me. I turned my head and my lips grazed the pulse at the base of his throat. We dipped suddenly and my stomach dropped. But then we were rising again.