I entered the Gypsy’s tent. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A few candles lit the small space, illuminating the dark burgundy cushions arranged on the floor, the Buddha statue, the small table with a gazing ball and Tarot cards lying haphazardly beside it. Behind the table were several shelves stacked with odds and ends—an urn, a few empty flower vases, and several incense holders. Smoke snaked up through the air from burning incense sticks. The place reeked of incense, as if someone were trying to mask the odor of cigarette smoke clinging to the walls and fabric-covered cushions.
A muffled voice came from behind a tent flap on the far wall, so I stepped over the cushions and quietly approached the back wall. Recognizing Madame Glitter’s voice, I stood outside the flap, listening.
“Tomorrow is no good. I told you already, I need it now.” She paused for a moment. “I said I would pay you. Why can’t you trust me for once?”
Another pause. I wished I could hear the other end of the conversation.
“Yes. Tonight in my tent. Fine. I’ll pay it. Whatever. Just bring me what I asked for.”
The phone beeped as she ended the call.
I made it back to the cushions as she entered the room. I’d never seen her so disheveled. Her normally stylish hair was limp and uncombed. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
“Miss Kennedy,” she said as she focused on me. “What are you doing here?”
“I need help,” I said. “Uhh… relationship help.”
Why hadn’t I thought this through before I came? Surely I couldn’t tell her that I suspected she was aiding a murderer. Now I’d have to come up with some depressing relationship story.
At least I won’t have to lie about it.
“It will have to wait,” she said. “I’ve got too much going on right now. I’m not seeing clients today.”
“No, wait,” I said, scrambling to come up with some reason I should stay. “Look—I really need your help now because… he’s going away soon. And I won’t get another chance with him.”
“Relationship troubles?” she asked. “I charge more for that sort of service.”
“Fine, I’ll pay it. I just… I really need to speak with you.”
She narrowed her eyes. Madame Glitter was one of those women I had trouble understanding. She knew how to manipulate, and she was an expert at deceit. I’d have to find a subtle way to get her to talk.
“Fifty dollars,” she said.
I almost choked. “Fifty?”
“Yes, plus a tip if you ever want my help again.”
There went my grocery money for the rest of the month. “Fine, I’ll pay it.”
She stood for a moment, scrutinizing me, and then made her way around the table and sat across from me. “You’ve never struck me as the type to want this sort of thing,” she said.
“Desperate times,” I answered.
“You’re falling for him that bad?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
I sighed. I could pull this off. I really could. I just needed to believe it.
“All right. The truth is, I’m not even sure I want him anymore. He’s not the same person he used to be.”
“So you need my help deciding if you want him?”
“Uh… no. I need your help deciding if he wants me.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Why would you need to know if he wants you when you don’t even know if you want him?”
She had me on that one. Again, I found myself scrambling for an answer.
“Because we were together once, and those were the happiest days of my life. I guess… I just want to know if I’ll ever find someone like that again.”
She worked her jaw back and forth. I was sure she was deciding whether or not to throw me out.
“We’ll ask the cards. It’s the best I can do.”
She absentmindedly picked up the cards and shuffled them, all the while keeping her dark eyes on me, making me shudder.
“Tell me about him,” she said. “Is he the cop?”
“Brent? No. It’s not him.”
“Someone else?”
I nodded.
She continued shuffling the cards, her gaze unfocused. She placed the cards on the table and rested her hands on top of the stack. We sat in silence for several minutes, her eyes closed, her breathing quiet.
“I cannot,” she finally whispered. “All I see around you is darkness. Pain. And this word—this word I keep hearing over and over. Deathbringer.”
Shivers ran down my spine.
“Does that word mean anything to you?”
I swallowed. “I’ve heard it before. I still don’t completely understand its meaning.”
“That is all I see. Nothing more.” She leaned forward. “Now, you must tell me your true purpose in coming here. Is it about Possess?”
Possess? I decided to play along. “Yes,” I answered. “Who do you get it from?”
“Why should I answer?”
“Because I’m trying to protect you. Those drugs are dangerous.”
She laughed. “Dangerous?”
“Yes, two people have already been killed, and both were found with traces of the drug in their systems. There are dark forces at play, ones that you can’t comprehend. If you want to stay safe, you’ll tell me who you got them from.”
“I don’t believe you. Dark forces are what I deal with every day thanks to the work I’m in. You don’t scare me.”
I sighed, feeling at my wits’ end. I’d dealt with her type more times than I could count. People like her never believed me when I first told them about magical forces. But sometimes it was better to show than tell.
Praying my magic cooperated long enough for a simple demonstration, I opened my hand, palm up, and whispered the word for a simple fire spell.
“Ignite.”
A tiny flame appeared, feeding off my magic. I held it quietly, watching the fire dance on my palm, reflecting on my skin.
Madame Glitter grew still, and her eyes grew wide as she watched the flame.
“What is that?”
“Magic,” I answered. “Real magic.”
She swallowed. Fear replaced the aloofness in her eyes. “A trick,” she whispered.
“No. It’s real. You can feel it, can’t you?”
The magic grew within me, and I sensed that soon it would be too much to control, so I extinguished the flame.
“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked.
“I’m not here to hurt you. I want answers. People have been killed, and I don’t want anyone else to suffer. So tell me, who do you get the drugs from?”
“Fine,” she said. “Mr. Kaufman sold them to me when I first set up my booth. He’d been using them, and he’d sold different things to me before. He even put a trace of the drugs in the meat he sold—thought it would make the food addicting and make people come back for more.” She laughed. “He was so stupid, and so easy to manipulate—married, too—the kind of man I needed to conquer.”
“So you were sleeping with Mr. Kaufman?”
She nodded. “More or less. He didn’t do much for me.”
Her integrity was astounding.
“What else can you tell me about him?”
“Usually, he only sold me the small stuff. He didn’t even use it most of the time. But when he found Possess, he couldn’t stop himself. He used it without thinking—it was like he became another person. It was a weird, wicked drug. Nasty stuff, but hard to stop using. After he died, I didn’t know who to buy from. That bastard died and didn’t leave me with a way out. And now I’m desperate. I hate being desperate. Desperation is something I reserve for my special clients—for the men who come to me.”
She bit her lip as tears formed in her eyes. “Men don’t mean anything to me. They’re toys. Useless. Cheap thrills. I don’t care if I break their hearts—or their wives’ hearts. They all deserve it.
“Women come in here, asking me for advice about love. Me! But they give me money, so I keep doing what I do best. I tell lies. But now I’m stuck here, with no way out and no one to buy from.”
She pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag. The pungent scent of smoke fogged the room. I now understood why I’d never felt comfortable around the lady. She was a snake, a sorry, sick individual who did more harm to people than she would ever understand. I didn’t want anything else to do with her, but I also knew she was lying to me—she’d admitted already that she was in the business of lying. Now it was time for her to fess up.
“Surely there must be someone else you’re buying from?” I asked.
“No one.”
“Is that so?
“Yes.”
“Drop the act,” I said. “I heard your conversation on the phone. You’re buying from someone. Who?”
She placed both hands on the table. “No. One.”
She could push, but I could push harder. “Was it Jordan Young?”
Her face flushed with anger. “I won’t speak with you any longer.”
“Your girls were carrying poppy flowers in their baskets, and Mr. Kaufman—the man you were sleeping with—was found with the same sort of flowers in his eyes. Why?”
She stood, her fists flexed, and I stood too. “Leave,” she said.
“Not until you tell me what you know.”
“You want me to tell you? Fine. You know nothing. You have no idea what’s going on here. It’s evil beyond your understanding—you’re headed down a path that will end in death. You should leave now and count yourself lucky. You will lose everyone you love—for that is your curse.”
I balled my fists, feeling anger and magic rise within me. She was lying. Everything she said was a lie.
But if it’s a lie, why does it feel like the truth?
“Tell me what you know,” I demanded.
“The killer is here,” she said. “He is watching your every move, waiting until he has enough energy, and then he will take you.”
I paused, my anger turning to fear. “How—how do you know that?”
“He knows you.”
Now she was just creeping me out. “Who is he?”
“I won’t tell you!” Rage filled her eyes as she rounded and grabbed the urn off the shelf. Before I realized what was happening, she bashed the urn into my skull. Sharp shards of glass cut my skin as the ceramic burst open and ash exploded all over me, coating me in a fine, powdery dust.
Inhaling the ash made me cough, and it blinded me for a moment, disorienting me as I felt something sharp jab my breastbone. Madame Glitter forced me backward until we ran into a wall of solid muscle. Only then did I realize Kull had entered the room.
He held his sword tip under the woman’s throat.
“You,” he said in his too-calm voice, “will not harm her again. Do you understand?”
“Or what?” she said, trying to sound defiant, though her voice wavered.
“Or I kill you.”
I couldn’t see Kull’s eyes, but in his voice, I heard the anger. He would do what he said. Without hesitation.
“Fine,” Madame Glitter said and spat on the floor. “Get out.”
He backed slowly out of the room with his hand gripping my arm, pulling me along. Warm blood trickled from a cut in my forehead and dripped down my cheek. When we exited the tent, he kept his hand on my arm and steered me away from the tent.
“Where are we going?” I said, trying to shrug him off.
“To your booth.”
“What? But I wasn’t finished with her. Let me go.”
“No.”
What? “Kull, let me go!”
“Not until I know you are safe.”
“Safe?”
“Yes, safe. You have not changed. You are still as reckless as ever. I am surprised you’ve lived this long.”
I was at a loss for words. I tried to struggle free of his grasp but had no luck. Anger boiled inside as he forced me toward my booth. What did he think he was doing? I could have handled the woman. Had he been waiting outside the tent, listening to our conversation, waiting for his chance to strike at the woman—to protect me?
He wouldn’t have done such a thing for Heidel, so why did he think he needed to do it for me? Did he think I was some weak flower that needed protecting? The thought drove me mad. I had been so close to getting Madame Glitter to confess who was selling drugs to her. So close! What did he think he was doing?
When we finally reached my booth and entered, he released my arm. As I faced him, his icy blue eyes calm, my own anger consumed me. All the emotions I’d ever felt for him burst through the fragile dam I’d created.
I shoved him backward, hoping to make him fall into the table. He didn’t budge. Of course. His inability to move when I touched him seemed like a metaphor of our entire relationship. He could break my heart and not feel guilty, while I had to suffer.
It would stop. It would end now. Never again would I let him hurt me.
I felt as if all my rational thoughts drained away as I flexed my fists, letting magic flow freely around my arms and into my hands. The energy licked between the joints of my fingers, warm and pulsing. I’d been waiting so long to do this. It seemed so glaringly obvious now. All I had to do was kill him, and my troubles would go away.
I shoved him again, this time letting my magic help me. As my fists connected with his chest, he stumbled back, so I hit him again and again. Magic buzzed in my ears, so loud it made all other sounds fade. He did nothing to stop me, so I punched his face, hitting him so hard he fell down. I stood over him, Faythander magic flaring bright blue, casting the room in an intense electric glow.
When I focused on the man lying on the ground, I paused. Dark blood trickled from his nose. Had I done that? I breathed heavily, my chest rising and falling.
“Olive,” he said softly, “you need to calm down.”
“No!” I yelled, tears mingling with the ash on my face. “You can’t control me anymore, Kull. You have no idea who I am or what I’m capable of. You’ve never understood me. You think I can raise the dead—I can’t. I can’t! Before your father died, he accepted me. He knew he would have to die in order to save our world, and he knew I would be the one to save it. He understood me—and he accepted me. But you never knew it. You never let me tell you because you left me. You took my heart, and then you left me! I’ve suffered since that day. Every morning I wake up and wish I were dead. I hate you. I hate you so much!”
Power pulsed around me in flames of white and blue. It swelled inside my chest, a tight, painful feeling that demanded to be released.
“Olive.” He said my name again, quietly, calmly. “Your magic is not letting you think clearly.”
“No! You shouldn’t have come back. You knew I was here on Earth. If I kill you, it’s your own fault, because you came back when you shouldn’t have. You made me this way.”
I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I didn’t care. I wanted to hurt him again and make him feel the way he’d made me feel. He needed to suffer.
“Hurting me will solve nothing.”
“I can’t!” I screamed. “I’ve tried for too long to forget you, and I can’t. There’s only one way out—only one way to make the pain stop.”
“You’re angry because I removed you from the tent. I apologize, but what you failed to see was that the woman had concealed an Earth weapon—a pistol—inside the vase. She would have shot you.”
I paused. “What?”
“She smashed the vase so she could get to the weapon.”
“You’re sure? She had a gun? You saw it?”
“Yes. I’m also certain it was her intention to kill you. She fears for her own life, and so she’s desperate.”
I mulled over his words. My breathing evened out a tiny bit. I still wanted to kill him, but maybe not right at this moment.
Would Madame Glitter really have shot me? I’d been blinded by the ash, so I hadn’t seen the gun. Maybe Kull was lying about the gun to save his skin—but that didn’t make any sense.
My head spun. I couldn’t seem to see straight anymore, so I sat on the floor, placing my head in my hands. Gritty ash coated my tongue. I tried brushing the ash out of my hair and off my face, but when it mingled with my tears, it smeared and made the mess even worse. What was I doing? Why was I even trying? I’d almost been shot and hadn’t even noticed the gun. Kull was right. I was reckless.
As my magic receded, my energy seemed to fade with it, leaving me feeling like an empty shell. We sat together in the quiet of the booth, neither of us speaking. I’d become accustomed to his silence. It seemed nowadays he only spoke when he was angry. I glanced at him and found him looking at me with concern in his eyes. It was hard to ignore the blood drying on his face or how pale he’d become.
I’d almost killed him. Heaven help me, I’d almost killed him!
I didn’t know what to say. I supposed I could apologize, but most of what I’d said was true. I also felt mortified that I’d just told Kull how I felt about him after trying to hide it for so long. What was wrong with me?
“I almost killed you. Why didn’t you defend yourself?” I said finally.
“It would have only angered you more.”
My heart turned to lead in my chest, and I felt a little like puking. Sitting so close to him made it hard for me to keep my thoughts straight. Everything was wrong. We weren’t supposed to be this way—I wasn’t supposed to be trying to kill him! But there was nothing I could do to make it right. I felt completely hopeless.
I crossed my arms over my chest, resolving not to let my feelings for him distract me any longer. I needed to think methodically and logically. There were evil forces at work in this world and in Faythander, and if I kept letting my emotions get in the way, I’d never stop the monster responsible for stealing the starstones. Kull was also here to find the starstone, so logically, killing him would not help in my goal of finding the monster.
He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the blood from his face, laughing as he wiped it away.
I shot him a questioning glance. “You’re laughing?”
“Yes. I have faced many foes in my lifetime, but never have I felt as much fear as the moment you unleashed your power on me. I’m fairly certain it is only by a miracle that I’m alive right now.”
I had to agree with him. “But you didn’t try to stop me?”
He squared his shoulders, his gaze distant as he spoke. “I was prepared for death.”
“It almost sounds as if you wanted me to kill you.”
He looked at me, and in that moment, I saw the man I knew. His gaze caught me by surprise. Time seemed to stop. It was him—the man I knew. The man I’d loved.
I wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.
“There were things I’ve wished to say to you as well, but…” He fidgeted with the handkerchief. “I understand why you hate me now. You have every reason in the world to be angry with me, and I am sure you still harbor much anger toward me. It was not my intention for my father to die such an untimely death, for I am certain things would not be as they are now. We would… I would have… ” He blew out a breath of air. “But there is no point in opening old wounds. I have come to this planet to assist the fairies in their search for the stone, and that is my only purpose. It’s important that you help in this quest, and so we must do our best to work together. I’m sorry for the pain I have caused you, but I think it would be best to focus on what is most important.”
Ice ran through my veins. It hit me then that he was never coming back.
“I agree,” I finally answered, “and I understand.” I stood and walked to the door, unable to bring myself to make eye contact with him. “I should probably get cleaned up,” I said, then left the room without another word.