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The rows that weren’t taken up by Grandmaddox’s concoctions were filled with raw ingredients. Hair, fingers, eyes, teeth, shriveled, desiccated things. The room reeked of death.

Death and power. The hair on my arms rose as I moved deeper inside, my fingers trailing over some of the glass jars, reading the labels. Affection, friendship, lust, infatuation—all spells to evoke feelings in the natives. I remember how scandalized I’d been the first time I heard of them; they were so blatantly deceitful, and Infernari weren’t deceitful creatures.

Except when they wore the face of another...

I pressed my lips together, my hand dropping away from the containers.

This room was full of bastardized magic, begotten from Infernari power and human technology. Some of it taboo, which was partly why Grandmaddox lived here rather than Abyssos.

She lives here because she is half human, and the primus hates humans.

I rubbed my temples, my head beginning to pound. That human brew was souring inside me. I was almost tempted to scour the room for something that could nullify the effects of the comedown from the alcohol, just so I wouldn’t have to use more magic.

My eyes returned to the racks of potions. Of course, the most important ones Grandmaddox kept locked up in her curio cabinet. It rested at the far end of the room, the bottles within it practically vibrating from the spells they contained.

Retributor. Death curse. Memory suppressor. Forget-Me-Not.Rememory.

Gotcha.

I reached inside and grabbed the vial of rememory, the opaque, white liquid sloshing inside. I uncorked the lid and ran it under my nose. I winced as the magic stung my nostrils. Powerful. I would only need a drop or two.

I brought the glass to my lips and tilted it up. Just a sip. That’s all I needed.

I didn’t mean to swallow a whole mouthful of it, enough to go noticed; I was still blundering from the alcohol.

I almost spat it back out, but that too would go noticed. So I forced myself to swallow the entire mouthful of rememory, cringing against the sickly sweet taste of the tincture.

I could feel the magic slipping down my throat, coating my stomach. Hastily, I corked the vial and put it back into the cabinet, my hands beginning to shake.

A thin sheen of sweat broke out along my skin.

Drank too much.

I backed away from the cabinet, my insides beginning to feel tingly, like the sensation of falling. Out of nowhere, my stomach convulsed. I stifled a gasp at the painful contraction. My stomach convulsed again, this time more powerful than before.

I staggered, then fell to my knees, a hand pressed to my belly, and I moaned softly.

I could feel the magic working, spreading. Slithering into my veins and circulating through my body until the entire thing was abuzz with the spell.

As quickly as it circulated, the magic moved upward, into my head. I moaned again as tendril after tendril snaked up my spinal column. My headache throbbed, each pulse of my heart making the pain flare brighter. I bowed my body until my forehead touched the floor, taking on a prayer’s pose.

There was nothing graceful about this magic. Whatever shields blocked my memories of the portals, they’d become embedded in my mind, the same way foliage overtook ruins. And this potion, it ripped away the shields violently.

I forced a fist into my mouth, biting down my own flesh to muffle my screams. My skin split beneath my teeth, and I tasted the metallic tang of my blood.

One by one the portals presented themselves. One sat at the juncture of two ancient rivers. Another lay in the catacombs beneath a city.

The second to last portal was the one I was looking for.

An enormous mountain rose high above the rest, purple and snowcapped. Near its base it was covered with dense plant life. I could practically feel the thick humidity of the place clinging to my skin. It was so similar to our capital. To home.

At the foot of this mountain were caves. Ancient caves with whispering walls and something that shouldn’t belong. A gateway to an entirely different world.

The portal.

This one will take you home.

I opened my eyes, not realizing I’d closed them in the first place. I could sense even from here the tug of the portal, like a lodestone trying to lure me closer. I knew how to get back.