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“ I need your help to find a way out of New Orleans. There is a magical barrier blocking this object from leaving the city. My friend, the one you tossed out of here, he’s been trying to help me escape. We’ve tried the bridges, main roads, even exits only accessible on foot. Nothing. Every possible exit is blocked for me.”

“Why must you leave?” Second Mother’s hulking form loomed over Evelyn.

“To get this dark magic as far from the people who are looking for it as possible.”

“Why must it be you?”

Evelyn sighed, exasperated. “Because I won’t give in to it. We went over this already. I will not say yes. I feel the pull, I hear the song, but I will not surrender to it. I can’t trust the same about anybody else.”

“Ah, there. There it is.” She cackled, throwing her head back. “You do not trust anyone else. Not even your friends?”

“Not even them.” Evelyn forced herself to step closer to the towering Second Mother. “Please. I know you don’t have to help me. But I think you understand why this object needs to leave New Orleans, and why it has to be me.”

“My aid will not be free.”

“I know.” Evelyn’s mouth twitched into an almost-smile. “Nothing ever is.”

“Tell me, witchling. What can you offer me?” Second Mother paced the inner perimeter of the fire circle. Evelyn shifted with her to maintain some distance.

“I have these.” She pulled out the bag of runestones carved from rose quartz.

“No.”

“Okay.” Next, Evelyn offered the ancient coins, some blessed while others were mildly cursed. “What about these?”

“No. What use do I have for human currency?”

“Fair enough. What about seeds? You could start a garden.”

Second Mother crouched down and dragged her jagged fingernails across the damp floor. Fresh earth appeared, followed by plants, flowers, herbs. The scent of lavender wafted in the air.

“Okay, no seeds needed.” Panic was setting in for Evelyn. What could she possibly offer an ancient being with near limitless power? “Do you like riddles?”

“Enough!” Second Mother’s voice echoed off the cavern walls. “Take your friends and go. You have nothing that interests me.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t leave. There’s nowhere else for me to go.” Evelyn took another reluctant step closer to the monstrous woman. “I don’t ask for favors. I offer you a trade.” Second Mother didn’t immediately reject the idea, so Evelyn continued. “Knowledge for knowledge. Secret for secret.”

“What is it you think you know?”

“Something no other living soul knows or will ever know. This secret was given to me by my great-grandmother, and she has long since passed on.”

“You offer this to me in exchange for what?”

“How to get past the barrier.”

“What makes you so sure I have this knowledge to trade.”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” she hissed. “But you did not ask.”

“I didn’t have to. If anyone in the Dark City knows what I need to know, it’s you. Many of the magic-wielders here are in prisons of their own design. But not you. This is no prison. This is your home. You are here by choice. Otherwise, you wouldn’t stay.” A thought occurred to Evelyn. “Will you show me what it really looks like? Will you show me your home?”

Kirat was suddenly lifted into the air and flung backward toward the closed doors. They opened to receive her, and Evelyn watched her body strike the waiting Valen, sending them both tumbling back into the tunnel and out of sight. The doors closed again. When Evelyn turned back to where Second Mother had been standing, she found herself in a forest.

Tall trees rose all around her, warm sunlight filtering through their branches and leaves to dapple the earth under her feet. The air was cold enough to reveal her breath, but just barely. Birds sang nearby. A squirrel skittered across the path ahead and disappeared into the underbrush.

Evelyn followed the winding path through the trees until she came to a clearing. The cottage was there, but it looked new. Gone were the spongy, rotting steps and the moldy thatched roof. It looked clean and welcoming. A woman, neither old nor young, stepped out onto the porch. Her hair fell in long, dark waves. Her cloak was a deep purple bordering on black. There was no blood on her face or neck, and her fingernails were short and unmarred by discoloration or scabbed cuticles.

“Welcome,” she said, “to my home.”

Evelyn stopped at the bottom of the porch steps. “Thank you for having me.”

Second Mother smiled. Her eyes were still black, but she had sharp white teeth where there’d been only gums before. “Come inside. Secrets are best told in comfort.”

Inside, the cottage looked much the same as it had before. Two rocking chairs sat facing a fireplace in the main room. A small table with two chairs was positioned off to the side near a simple kitchen.

“Tea?”

Evelyn nodded and followed Second Mother over to the table to sit down. Sunlight filtered in through sheer white curtains on the windows. It was comfortably warm inside compared to the chilly outdoors. The simple mundanity of it all was somehow more unsettling than the creepy cottage version had been.

Second Mother set a cup of steaming hot tea in front of Evelyn and flashed her sharp white teeth again.

“Why did you show me the other version of this place when I first arrived?”

Second Mother shrugged. “You learn more about someone when they are faced with ugliness than with beauty. You showed empathy for an old woman living in a decrepit hut. In my experience, that is extremely rare. That is why I let you live after the second lie.”

“I didn’t?—”

“You did. You told me your friends wished me no harm. But the moment you were cut off from them, the large one came for me with murder in his heart.”

“I didn’t know.”

Second Mother brushed away the thought. “Perhaps not, but it did not make your statement any more true.”

“That’s not fair.”

She bared her teeth again in a sneering smile. “Life is not.”

“Fine. I had no intention to deceive, but what I said was ultimately untrue. I appreciate that you didn’t kill me for that.”

“You are welcome. Now, secrets. You said you have one for me.”

“I do.” Evelyn cupped her hands around the mug of tea to warm them. “It is something known only to me and no other living soul.”

“Is it… significant?”

“If you mean, would others want to know it? Then, yes. In the wrong hands, this information could do nearly as much harm as this cursed object.” Evelyn patted the bag on her hip.

“Yet you would trade it for the knowledge you seek?”

“You are not the wrong hands.”

“How delightful. I agree to the trade on one condition. You must swear a blood oath that this secret will remain known only to you and to me. If anyone else ever learns of it, I will exact payment from you and your entire bloodline.”

“I will never tell anyone else, but I can’t accept blame if someone else learns about it some other way, without my knowledge or ability to stop it.”

“You learn quickly. Good.” Second Mother grabbed Evelyn’s hand and jerked it toward her. She lengthened one pale nail into a point and used it to slash open a vein on Evelyn’s wrist. She held the open vein over her mug and watched as several drops of blood fell into it. She did the same to her own wrist, then drank the tea blended with their blood. “The oath is sealed. Now tell me.”

Evelyn took a moment to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. She was essentially trading one nuke for another. Only this one was far more personal than the other and would hit far closer to home. It would forever stand unspoken between her and anyone she ever became close to, a barrier in their intimacy. A limit to being fully known.

She thought of Valen waiting for her in the tunnel outside, and the sacrifice felt… significant.

“Tell me.”

There was nothing else to be done. Evelyn looked into the eyes of the ancient being sitting across from her and told her the secret that no one else knew or could ever know.

Second Mother hissed, but this time with glee. “That is a delicious secret indeed. Prove it to me.”

The next hour passed in a blur as Second Mother peppered Evelyn with a multitude of questions—some trickier than others—all designed to prove the veracity of her claimed secret. In the end, Second Mother believed her and made good on her half of the bargain.

“There is no singular way to dismantle a barrier like the one you describe, but I can make you and the object you carry invisible to it. I know a sigil, long lost to human knowledge, that will allow you pass through without a trace.” She took Evelyn’s hand again and traced a design into the tender skin of her inner wrist. The searing pain made her wince and the smell of burning flesh was nauseating, but Evelyn didn’t move. “Commit it to memory,” Second Mother said. “But should you ever need it, you can summon it from here.” She tapped Evelyn’s wrist. “You will know you have successfully brought forth the spell when it glows red like blood. See?”

Evelyn watched as the strange shape glowed bright red then faded into her skin like it was never there.

“You try.”

Evelyn concentrated on that spot, willing the sigil to reappear. It glowed more faintly for her, but it was there.

“Good. I will add the same mark to the lining between the layers of your satchel. Unseen but effective. It will allow the object to pass through the barrier as long as it remains in your bag. It works for other things, too. If you ever need to remain undetected by friend or foe, summon the sigil.”

“Thank you.”

“No, witchling.” Second Mother grinned at her, her eyes feral in the afternoon light. “Thank you.”

Second Mother walked her back out of the clearing and down the dirt path to a section of cavern wall. She reopened the doors, and Valen tumbled to the ground at their feet. His hands were bloodied from where he’d been beating on the stone wall. He lunged to his feet and made a movement like he would charge Second Mother. Evelyn stopped him with a hand to his chest.

“I’m okay. She helped me. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.” Kirat pulled her into a hug, but she was shaking in fear. She looked up at Second Mother. “Someone or something is coming. We’re in danger. Can you close this door and open another for us? Please?”

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Valen was searching Evelyn’s face, concern clearly etched on his. He cupped her cheek in his hand, rubbing softly with his thumb.

“I am.”

“Then I’ll stay behind.” He dropped his hand from her face. “Try to slow them down. Lead them away from here.”

“No!” Evelyn reached for his arm. “Come with us. We should stay together.”

Valen shook his head. “Not this time, book witch.” He stepped back through the doorway. “I’ll find you. I promise.”

The doors closed. Second Mother turned, and they were on the other side of the woods. The path, the clearing, the cottage —all lost in the trees. Second Mother opened a new passageway and ushered them through it. Evelyn turned back.

“Will he be okay?”

Second Mother shrugged. “I know not.”

“Will you help him?”

“That is his question to ask. Not yours. Follow the tunnel. You will find what you seek.”

And then she was gone. The wall of the tunnel was solid once more, and Evelyn and Kirat were left in total darkness. Their torches were gone, and the walls were bare. No sconces with lit torches to light their way here.

“I think we’re off-map,” Kirat whispered. “I don’t know where we are or where we should go.”

Evelyn pulled her cell phone out of her pocket but found it was dead.

“They don’t work down here,” Kirat reminded her.

“Right.” Evelyn dug through her bag to find the small flashlight she’d brought along, just in case. It wouldn’t last forever, but if they used it sparingly, it was better than nothing. She flicked it on to check their surroundings. The tunnel stretched out directly ahead of them. There were no other openings visible. Evelyn looked at Kirat, then placed her hand on the right-side wall.

“We’ll have to do without the light as much as we can. The battery won’t last forever.”

Kirat agreed, and Evelyn switched off the flashlight but kept it in her left hand, just in case. She pulled her great-grandmother’s moonstone from underneath her shirt. Its pale glow did little to dispel the inky darkness. Kirat held onto her left wrist, and Evelyn was reminded of the sigil that lay hidden there. They moved slowly, whispering to each other as they went. Kirat kept her hand on the left tunnel wall, and the only sound was the soft brushing of their palms against stone as they walked. Every few minutes, Evelyn used the flashlight to look ahead and behind. Nothing. Time passed. Minutes. Maybe hours. Slowly, their bodies grew too tired to continue, and they collapsed to the ground. Evelyn drew an arrow in the dirt floor to ensure they would know which way to go if they got turned around in their sleep.

They sat with their backs against the cool stone and held hands in the darkness. Evelyn listened to Kirat’s breathing change when she dozed off. Sleep was tugging at her eyes, as well, but she fought it. The danger hadn’t passed. Not really. It was just too dark to see it.

She had gotten what she came for, but it would all be for nothing if they were lost in unmapped tunnels deep within the Dark City.

She slept.