Page 7 of White Little Lies (Four Ways to Fate #3)

7

“So this person we are going to meet, is she a friend of yours?” I watched Sebastian out the corner of my eye as we walked down the street. Our destination was only a few blocks away, or so he claimed. Even so, with all the walking we had done tonight, my feet were going to be aching in the morning.

“An acquaintance, nothing more.” His words were clipped.

“An acquaintance I’m going to have to bargain with?” I pressed, apprehension thick in my throat.

Devils weren’t the only creatures who would bargain with humans. Fae and goblins both had just as many tricks up their sleeves. I wasn’t sure which of the three I was hoping for. Couldn’t anyone just take cash these days?

“She does not give her potions for free. And she has no use for more money. ”

I frowned at his words echoing my own thoughts. “And what exactly does she have use for?”

We turned onto a street of low buildings, most lit up with old school neon. A few cloth banners fluttered in the air, offering various goods and services. I suspected that during the day there would be stalls outside for the general public, but at night… The darkened buildings had an ominous feel, and there was a hint of residual magic in the air.

He stopped outside of one particularly ominous building with a purple potion bottle glowing in neon through the front window. “In all likelihood she will want a sample of your magic.”

I stared at him. “A sample?”

His eyes slid toward mine. “I told you, you would have to pay.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know what I would be paying with. This feels like a trick.” I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling a chill even through my jacket.

“You begged me like a small dog to bring you here.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Good point.”

He gestured toward the glass and metal door. A heavy purple curtain hung across the inside, and the blinds were drawn behind the neon sign, blocking any view of the interior.

I studied Sebastian’s face for a moment longer, but he was right. I had asked him to bring me here, and Aaliyah‘s life was hanging in the balance. I couldn’t back out now. I grabbed the door and tugged it open, jingling the bell attached to the inside.

I was met with a smell so acrid it nearly made me choke. I waved my hand in front of my face, trying to shoo away the smoke. Ringo scurried down the sleeve of my coat and back into my messenger bag, coughing and sputtering.

When my vision finally cleared, I took in a long gleaming countertop with shelves of filled bottles behind it. There was a door open to a back room—the source of the smoke. An antique lamp on the countertop flickered as if irritated.

“Who’s there?” A female voice called from the back room.

Since Sebastian was standing next to me like a useless statue, I stepped toward the counter. “Hello?”

A woman peeked out of the room. Her red hair was cropped into a messy pixie cut, leaving her soft, rounded features bare. She looked like she was in her forties, but it was always hard to tell with different creatures. Judging by her simple white T-shirt and baggy jeans, my guess was she wasn’t one of the really old ones. They tended to cling to more refined styles of dress.

“Well? What do you want?” Her eyes darted from me to Sebastian. “Oh hey, I know you. It’s been a while.” She stepped fully out of the back room and walked toward the counter, suddenly interested. “Tell me you’re here for another potion. The sample you gave me last time did all sorts of crazy things.”

Great, he had brought me to a mad woman. And he was simply looking at me, waiting for me to do the talking.

“Actually, I’m the one who needs something.” When she continued observing Sebastian, I had to wave my hand to get her attention.

She looked me up and down. “Oh. You don’t look very interesting.”

“Gee, thanks.” I approached the counter. “I know someone who I think has been poisoned. Sebastian believes you might be able to offer a cure.”

She looked at him again, one eyebrow raised. “A cure for an unknown poison? My, you do think highly of me, don’t you?”

When Sebastian still didn’t answer her, I cleared my throat. “Can you do it?”

She sighed, leaning her elbows on the countertop. “I have a sort of all purpose concoction. It will work for most of the common poisons, but not everything. And if the person poisoned isn’t human, it might work differently.”

I glanced at Sebastian, wondering just how much I should tell this woman, but he was being absolutely no help. “She’s a nymph,” I explained. “We don’t know exactly what happened to her, but she has no visible injuries. She couldn’t walk, and was incredibly weak. Eventually she lost consciousness, and her heart rate is starting to slow.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head at my words. “I might be able to work with that.” She gave me a pointed look. “But it doesn’t come cheap.” Her eyes drifted once more to Sebastian.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Your soul, of course.” Before I could respond, she laughed. “Oh, wait, I guess that’s his thing.” She rolled her eyes again toward Sebastian, who was finally starting to show his irritation.

Not seeming to notice, she continued. “What I want depends on what kind of magic you have. You do have magic, don’t you? I highly doubt this guy would be toting around a lowly human .”

Sebastian sighed heavily. “Isadora is human. She can’t tell what type of magic you have. She can only use alchemy to include it in her concoctions.”

Isadora lifted a hand to cover one side of her mouth as she whispered, “He says human like it’s such a dirty word, doesn’t he?”

Sebastian huffed again. “I’m going to wait outside.” Rather than using the door, he disappeared in a cloud of darkness.

Isadora watched the darkness slowly dissipating from the center of her shop. “Why are the handsome ones always such assholes?”

“You have no idea,” I laughed.

Her curious eyes lifted back to my face. “So what are you doing with him? You don’t seem—” she wiggled her fingers in the air, “ evil .”

“A contract of convenience,” I said vaguely. “And no offense, can we get back to the potion? The nymph seemed stable, but I’m not sure how long she has.”

“Of course,” she chirped. “Let the bargaining begin. First, I’ll need to know what flavor you are. As Mr. tall, dark, and arrogant already explained, I’m human. I can’t read your magic, I can only use it in my experiments.”

“I am a night runner,” I said. “Half celestial.”

“Ooh, star magic.” Her eyes widened as she glanced down at my messenger bag. “And what precisely is that?”

Ringo gasped, then retreated back into the bag.

“You’ve never seen a goblin?”

Her brows lifted. “Human, remember? I’ve had a few dealings with people with some goblin blood, but it’s not like I can go to the Bogs.” She put her elbows on the counter again, peering at the bag as if she could see Ringo through the fabric. “I’ll give you all the potions you want if you let me keep that little guy.”

“He’s not for sale.” Was this woman nuts?

She straightened. “Worth a try. Some of your fancy star magic will do.” She jerked her head toward the back room. “Let’s go.”

Giving my bag a reassuring pat to let Ringo know he wasn’t going anywhere, I followed her back into her work room. A few lamps lit rows upon rows of bottles, some filled and some empty. There was a small refrigerator next to a clinical looking workstation with a sink in the center. I spotted a few metal tools that looked suspiciously like torture devices, and wondered if this was how Sebastian planned to finally be rid of me. Maybe he was tired of all my failed realm jumping attempts.

Isadora grabbed an empty bottle from one of the shelves, the bulbous base the size of a softball, then she reached for a separate jar filled with a milky liquid. She turned toward me, extending the jar in front of my face. “This is the carrier, and no, I’m not gonna tell you what’s in it. It’s a proprietary secret. All you need to know is that it has the ability to infuse itself with magic, thus making it a liquid and not just energy. Once the magic is a liquid, I can study its properties and use it in different potions, which I then sell to the highest bidder.”

I peered skeptically at the milky substance. “And how do we meld the magic and the liquid to begin with?”

She scoffed. “How should I know? You’re the magic user here. Wiggle your nose, do a little dance, or whatever else it is you do to call your fancy powers forth.”

Should I tell her that lately my magic mostly reacted to making out with hot men?

Probably not.

“Okay… so I put the magic in the bottle, then you give me the poison cure?”

“Exactly.” She winked. “And don’t worry about me stiffing you. I’m not about to run off with your payment when you have a devil waiting outside.”

“Okay, sure.” This was the weirdest thing ever. I took the milky substance from her, then unscrewed the lid of the jar. I gave it a sniff then instantly jerked my head back, my eyes watering.

Isadora smirked, then turned toward her workstation. She started stirring something purple and viscous in a metal bowl. “Take your time, star lady.”

I looked down into the jar, trying to figure out how best to put my magic into it. But it wasn’t like I could create things out of nothing, not like Sebastian’s shadows. My magic was just inside me.

“So how do you know Sebastian?” I asked as I quietly racked my brain.

“He came to me for a potion a year or so back.” She continued her aggressive stirring as she spoke. “And I never forget a face. Especially not a face like that .”

I smelled the liquid in the jar again, more cautiously this time. “What kind of potion?”

“It was for a sick human, if I recall correctly.”

I lifted my brows at her, though with her back to me, she didn’t see it. Sebastian wouldn’t care about a sick human. But maybe he had done it to secure a contract. Still, I stored the information amongst the other intel I had slowly been gathering on him. It wasn’t much, but I would take whatever I could get, because I knew eventually I would need the upper hand. That was how it worked with devils. Always .

I placed my palm over the open jar, trying to summon a bit of my magic. When nothing happened, I added the visual of Gabriel with his shirt off into my mind. It was a nice picture, but it still didn’t spark little stars around my fingertips.

Isadora paused her stirring to glance back at me. “You alright there?”

“Fine,” I muttered, closing my eyes and pressing my palm more firmly over the jar of liquid. Gods, I did not want to owe Sebastian another favor. They were really starting to pile up.

I scrunched up my face, straining. Here I was, able to transport myself to different places, but I couldn’t summon a lick of magic into a jar.

With a heavy sigh, I removed my hand from the opening, then reached into my back pocket, withdrawing Sebastian’s card.

Isadora had turned to watch me, arms crossed and head tilted to one side.

I rubbed my finger across the card, focusing my attention on it. At least this bit of magic was simple enough. The card pulsed with heat, then Isadora gasped as Sebastian appeared just behind me.

“You rang?”

I sighed, turning toward him. I lifted the empty jar, my eyes pleading.

“You’re not going to start whining like a dog again, are you?”

“Maybe? ”

He stepped toward me, and I reflexively stepped back. “What are you doing?”

“You asked for help, dear Eva. I’m giving it.”

He wrapped his hand around the jar, trapping my fingers, then slid his other hand around my waist, pulling me against him. Then he kissed me.