| |
––––––––
RUDY’S FROZEN BODY had come with us and stood in a corner of the living room. Jonah and Brandi were sent to the cell in their basement to calm down. Leroy had already returned to normal. He roamed around the mansion, snooping in every room knowing him. Quin’s tastes were simple and almost masculine and it showed in the furniture she’d chosen.
“Okay,” Ari said as she plonked down on a leather sofa. “Let’s take another look at that spell I found this morning.” At her mental command, Greta’s Grimoire appeared on her lap. Ancient and bound in cracked black leather, the book opened automatically to the enchantment its mistress was interested in.
“What does the spell do, love?” Connor asked. He took a seat beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s supposed to cure magical madness,” she replied absently as she leaned against him.
“Are you sure it will help?” Emelia asked doubtfully.
“I asked the Grimoire to show me a spell that will cure a rogue leprechaun and it came up with this one,” Ari replied, pointing at the page.
“May I see it?” the warrior asked coolly.
With a wave of her hand, my foster daughter used a telekinesis spell to send the book over to sit on the coffee table in front of the fairy. Emelia had taken one of the armchairs so she could sit alone. Leaning forward, she read through the spell, then nodded. “It might work,” she conceded. “Do you have the necessary ingredients?”
Pru was craning her head, dying to take a closer look at the magical tome she’d heard so much about. Harley elbowed her in the side and she gave him a disgruntled frown. “Try not to drool,” he whispered and her stare turned withering.
“I don’t have all of them,” Ari replied. “But I usually substitute raw power for the things I don’t have.”
“You need the feather from a phoenix,” Emelia warned her. “I’m not sure even you have enough power to substitute that particular component.”
“She might not, but I do,” I reminded her and took the gem out of my pocket and placed it on the coffee table. Blue light pulsed almost as if it was greeting everyone.
“So that’s Gorm’s stone,” Quin mused as she examined it.
“I wish I had one,” Ari said wistfully.
“You can try to find a gnome who will be willing to give their life to make one for you if you want,” Leroy said with a smirk.
“No one is going to ask any gnomes to die for them,” Quin said sharply, breaking off an argument before it could start. “Will the gem give you enough power to cast the spell?” she added, getting Ari back on track.
“I’ve never felt anything that powerful before, so I’m sure it’ll work,” Ari confirmed, then looked at me. “Grab Rudy and let’s head to my den. I’d rather do this in private in case something goes wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” Connor assured her and placed a kiss on her temple. “We have faith in you.”
It was touching to see how much they loved each other. Emelia looked away, unaware of the wistful expression that flitted across her face. I knew she was thinking that she would never find that sort of love, but she couldn’t be more wrong. I just hoped I would get the chance to prove that to her.
I grabbed the gem, then walked over to Rudy and picked him up. His face was still locked in a snarl. His eyes almost seemed to be staring straight at me when I tucked him beneath my arm. Ari led me to the elevator that was hidden behind a false wall at the end of a hallway. We descended to the basement that was even larger than the house above.
“Emelia is stunning,” Ari said conversationally as we wended our way through the concrete corridors that all looked the same. She flicked a look at me to judge my reaction.
“Yep,” I agreed.
“You like her,” she added.
“I like most people,” I replied. “I’m a friendly guy, you know.”
She giggled when I winked at her, then nudged me in the side. “You know what I mean. You’re into her. I’ve never seen you look at a woman that way before.”
“What way is that, darlin’?” I asked as we turned down the passageway that led to her conjuring room.
“Like you really care about her,” she clarified. “More than you’ve ever cared about any of the other women you’ve slept with.”
“I haven’t slept with Emelia,” I told her as she pushed the metal door to her den open.
Turning to gape up at me, she almost tripped over her own feet in surprise. “Really? Why not? She’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. You should have sealed the deal ages ago.”
“It’s complicated,” I said. My heart was heavy at just how complex our relationship was now. If we had a relationship at all.
Seeing I wasn’t going to say anything else, she let it go. The Grimoire had already transported itself to her work table and was open to the spell she needed to cast. “Put Rudy next to the cauldron,” she instructed. I did as she asked, then stepped back to wait for further orders.
Bustling around the room, she took ingredients from the cupboards and returned to the table. “I’ve got everything except the phoenix feather,” she told me. “Be ready for when I’ll need the gem’s help. I’ll have to release Rudy from the stasis spell a moment before the cure should kick in. Let’s hope he doesn’t zap us with something horrible before it changes him back.”
I mentally crossed my fingers as she began the spell. While it wasn’t the longest, or most intricate enchantment she’d ever cast, it wasn’t an easy one. Power began to build straight away. It grew with each line she chanted and each ingredient that she added to the cauldron. The gem pulsed faster in my hand almost as if it was ready and eager to do its part.
Reaching the end of the spell, Ari flicked a look at Rudy, then at me. It was the signal I’d been waiting for. I willed the gem to add power to the enchantment to replace the missing phoenix feather. Ari chanted the final line, then released the leprechaun from his stasis spell.
Shaking his head groggily, Rudy saw me and a malicious grin appeared. Again, he lifted his hands to cast what would probably be a horrible curse on me, but Ari’s enchantment kicked in and targeted him. Bending over when yellow smoke enveloped him, he started coughing and gagging as if he couldn’t breathe. I sent Ari a frantic look, but she shook her head, warning me not to interfere.
Rudy staggered over to the edge of the table, then teetered for a moment before abruptly sitting down. The smoke began to dissipate, then vanished. He looked up at me and his expression was so distraught that it brought tears to my eyes. “What have I done, lad?” he asked me hoarsely, then began to weep. “I would have killed you,” he sobbed. “You’re my best friend and I would have ended your life like you were nothing.”
Ari gave me a sympathetic look, then left us alone as I strode over to the table. I picked Rudy up like he was a child and patted his back soothingly. He cried brokenly on my shoulder, clearly believing he was a monster.
When he’d finally regained control, I placed him back on the table and looked directly into his red rimmed eyes. “You killed a man who deserved it,” I told him. “You know what Dr. Parry did to Asha.”
Looking away, his expression became haunted. “Aye, lad,” he said hoarsely. “I saw every sick thing that bastard did. He forced her to kill over and over in self-defense just so he could try to learn how she worked.”
“Why did he do it?” I asked.
“Because he wanted to become immortal. He wanted to be able to cast spells. He was obsessed with turning himself into something he could never be.”
“His death was justified,” I said. “We both know it.”
“You saw what I became,” he said with a shudder. “You have no idea the thoughts that ran through my head when I turned rogue. I would have killed anyone and everyone I came across.”
“Would you change what you did?” I asked. “If it meant Dr. Parry would be free to keep on hurting Asha and the other supernatural beings he had locked up in that place?” They were all on the loose now. They would need to be rounded up and sent back through the portals if they were dangerous to humans.
He thought about it long and hard before shaking his head. “Not even if it meant you would have had to keep me in a cell forever,” he admitted. “It was worth ending him even if I’d stayed lost to my madness.”
“I’d never have let you stay in that state,” I chided him. “You know I wouldn’t have stopped searching until I’d found a way to save you, my little friend.”
“You know I hate it when you call me little,” he said in mock complaint and shook his tiny fist at me.
“I’m glad you’re back, Rudy,” I said, fighting my emotions so I didn’t lose it.
“You almost got both of us killed when that gorgon cornered us,” he said in recollection. “You’d be lost without me, boyo.”
“That’s a fact,” I agreed with a grin.
“So, it’s over now? Our mission is done?”
“I have a couple of things left to do, but it’s almost over,” I replied. I wasn’t looking forward to the conclusion, because it would mean I would lose one of the people I considered to be my family.
