Page 65 of Potion of Deception (Potion of Deception #1)
TO RESTORE WHAT WAS LOST
A s they left the inn the moon was still high in the sky.
The Western Forest in front of Violette's eyes made her swallow, and although it was in the total opposite direction from the one they escaped a few hours earlier, it was the last place she wanted to go; it didn't seem a safe place for her after this night – it barely was safe before.
“Don't worry, vampires won't look for us there,” Dante expressed, noticing the change of emotions on her face.
“Why?” Her voice came out uncommonly quiet.
“Just trust me,” he said and moved forward.
Trust me …He's insane thinking she'll trust him after everything that had happened.
Her face frowned, entering another deep forest. Though now she wasn't even as scared to meet monsters as she was on the Road of Nightmares – she wouldn't have been scared that time either, if she'd known that the actual monster was walking beside her.
Dante had been keeping silent all the way before he offered to make a little stop. And while it caught Violette by surprise, she didn't voice any objections.
She realized why this stop was needed – they had yet to discuss the magic map.
She’d entirely forgotten about it since the last time she saw it on the floor when she got changed and the parchment fell out of her corset.
She almost forgot that this night started with a ball also.
It felt like a fever dream, a dream that had never happened.
The magic of the evening snapped away the moment the carriage stopped in the forest. Nothing about that ball was beautiful anymore, all she could imagine – the ballroom flooding with blood.
A scene that couldn't leave her mind: Dante’s palms and face painted with red in the middle of the chaos, rivers of blood beneath his feet.
The cries in the distance. Something shrank inside her.
Her eyes fell onto the map on Dante's lap; he was searching for something in the Hegga's book and then Violette distantly heard him call out to her.
“Where can we find these ingredients?” He stood up and passed her the open spellbook.
The page was covered with a recipe she saw before – the spell of emergence, a potion for breaking spells cast on the map.
The ingredients were familiar to her and, surprisingly, instructions weren't written in any strange language.
Though she'd never seen this recipe before, she didn't doubt she could actually brew it. It was quite an easy thing to do.
“These two are very rare to find even in the Magic Lands,” Violette pointed to the ink on the page and lifted her head, her eyes finding him before she quickly escaped his gaze.
“What about others?”
“Some could be found in nature but we still can't do it without a potions shop,” she mumbled.
“Fine. When the sun rises vampires won't be our problem.” He scratched his temple. “We'll go to the nearest town. We can stop for a while until the night comes again and you'll be able to go to the potion shop to buy the ingredients,” he finished.
Violette nodded. This idea seemed quite pleasant.
She wanted to rest for a bit, ideally, to sleep.
The night was coming to an end, the sky already faded to the light blue color, stars were getting dimmer.
The anxiety that was drugging Violette's heart this night seems to slowly disperse along with the moon.
Bottles of potions were clinking under the touch of Violette's fingers.
She'd been sorting through powders and liquids in a hope of finding the right ingredients for the potion that would remove the spell off the map.
She was lucky enough to find three out of seven, and wondered if this little pharmacy had more or if it's not as advanced as the potion shops in her homeland.
She was holding onto the last hope of hers that she was wrong thinking this way.
Her eyes trailed from one shelf to another with a small basket full of dried petals. As her finger went through it, the floral smell burst into the air. And finally she found another component – petals of Calantise – a magical white flower.
After spending another hour in the store and then in the town she got back to the inn they stayed in.
At least, she was not empty-handed. Although, last two ingredients were really rare, the third one could be found in the forest – the Folica plant grows in the mud, and was known for its love for dampness and moon bathing.
Violette’s mind was an insurmountable maze with thousands of threads which were leading her only deeper, every step a new thought, every breath a new question, but despite that she fell asleep very fast, completely taken by exhaustion.
Then she tried to force herself to eat before their new adventure but not a single piece went down her throat.
She was thinking it would be the right thing to get something for the trip, maybe later her stomach will be more inclined to it.
With that thought she stuffed her bag with sandwiches.
She hadn't seen Dante since he wished her a good sleep; he couldn't go outside and it made her think he probably was gaining strength in his room, especially since he was severely injured.
His absence actually brought her relief – she didn't want to see him.
Not now. Or better, never . It was hard to believe any of his words, even his confession of having a bag of regrets about what he did in the past. No, she couldn't just fall for it, even if she wanted his words to be true.
He said he'd never lied to her but he'd never been honest as well.
As evening approached and the purple tinge cast a warm vivid hue on the sky, Dante entered the living room to find Violette seated on the coach, gazing out the window.
Her fingers fidgeted with her magic wand, her figure stressed and detached from the world.
He cleared his throat to draw her attention and her body immediately reacted to the foreign sound.
“Hi,” he said with a hushed tone .
Her eyes raised just to look away a second later.
“Hi.” She moved from her spot on the couch and sat still, with her hands on her knees.
“Did you sleep?”
Violette doubted he was really interested in it, he just needed to start a conversation. His real intention was to scout if she found ingredients.
“I was in a potion shop,” she let out.
“It's not what I asked,” he said but she ignored him.
“I found all except Emersus powder, Sideralis flower and the juice of the Folica plant. The good news, we can find the Folica plant in the forest.”
His gaze dropped.
“Good,” he murmured, his tone clipped. “Then let's focus on this first. Are you ready to go?”
Violette swallowed hard and gave a stiff nod, forcing herself to stand even though her legs felt like a stone.
Violette’s boots stepped onto damp ground as she was trying to find any traces of the Folica plant. It wasn't picky to the seasons – it didn't need sun or warmth to grow and the snow as well didn't affect it too much, especially since it loved humidity.
She'd noticed a lot of plants in this forest weren't scared of the cold, despite it being the beginning of December, some of them were remaining green and alive.
The air was too warm for this time of the year, as well.
It was in hand for them, at least – it should be easier to find the ingredient. And yet their searching continued.
The space between them was plugged in a total silence, only rustling of the leaves and an owl's hoot was heard above their heads.
Violette bowed down to look closer at the little herb hiding in the mud, but unfortunately it wasn't what she was looking for.
A disappointed sigh whooshed from her throat. But as she raised her head her eyes caught a blue hue ahead. She straightened up and rushed there. Her fingers reached to the blue leaves in the ground, covering her nails in the dirt. Yes!
She tugged the plant – a cerulean blue tint glistened before her eyes in the silver moonlight.
“I found it!” she voiced and Dante was near in seconds.
His eyes fell to the plant as Violette folded it into a napkin.
“Will it be enough?” he asked.
“Yes, it's quite succulent.” She closed her bag and the silence again prevailed in the air. Her hand gripped the buckle of her bag as she bit her lip.
“Now that we have this, we need to find the two last ingredients. To find it in the wild is almost impossible,” she expressed.
Dante fetched a thoughtful sigh and knelt down, picking up a dry branch .
“What are you doing?” She raised a brow.
“A fire cannot be lit without branches,” he said calmly, picking another.
Her brows creased but before she asked a question, he already voiced an answer, “We'll sit and think about it.”
It was a strange offer, especially coming from Dante's mouth. She thought he was all about rushing and not making stops but if so she was not going to protest.
Violette settled down on the log near the fire, Dante across, yet she still couldn't bring herself to look at him. She could stare at him for hours before and now she couldn't make herself raise her eyes for more than a second. She knew he'd noticed it and still kept silent.
How awfully selfish she was, trying to save her father despite how much danger she'll put on others.
It was her responsibility – mistake after mistake.
Her curiosity, her desire to change fate brought her too far.
She knew it would happen. She always knew playing with her desire to acknowledge everything, to experience, will bring her to something terrible, she just never knew what exactly. Well…now she has the answer.