Last Blood

“Even if it was, she can’t figure anything out by scent alone.” She slowed Fi down. “Here. This is his office.” She tried the handle but it was locked. “We’ll have to wait.” They stood with their backs to the door, watching the crowd. Mortalis appeared a few minutes later. At his approach, the few lingering fringe disappeared.

“Good evening.” He nodded at Fi. “I didn’t expect to see you, too. Nyssa’s been asking about you.”

Fi pushed part of her bob behind one ear. “I’ve been swamped and it sucks, but I promise to get in touch with her soon. Tell her I said hi and I’m sorry.”

“Will do.” He unlocked the office door, pushed it open, then waited for them to go in before entering and locking the door behind him. “Small quarters, but at least it’s private.” He went behind the narrow desk while they took the two chairs.

“Keep an eye on Katsumi,” Fi said. “I think she picked up on Chrysabelle’s condition.”

Mortalis looked shocked for about a half second, and then his face went blank again. “What do you mean?”

“Fi knows,” Chrysabelle told him. “She figured it out when I threw up in the middle of teaching her how to fight.”

Fi laughed. “Yeah, that was kind of hard to ignore.”

His expression softened as he spoke to Chrysabelle. “How are you doing? Are you… sick a lot?”

“It comes and goes. Right now I seem to be okay, but no telling how long that will last.” She forced herself not to touch her stomach. “Do you think Katsumi would be able to tell?”

“By scent? No, but let me listen.” He went quiet for a bit. “I can’t hear a second heartbeat. I think the body armor is blocking it. That may change as the baby grows.” He leaned back in his chair. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll speak to her, see if she suspects anything.” He tapped his long fingers on the arm of the chair. “That’s not why you’re here, though. What can I do for you?”

“Mal.” Chrysabelle adjusted the chain around her neck, trying not to feel like she was being strangled. “I can’t give up on him. Or us. There’s too much at stake. I need to know if there’s anything I can do to get the raptor fae to release his emotions. Anything that will restore Mal’s feelings for me.”

Mortalis stilled, but his eyes held great sadness. “What’s done is done. Undoing it is… there’s no way —”

“There’s always a way,” Fi interjected. “What would you do if the raptor had taken Nyssa’s feelings for you?”

Mortalis swallowed. “What you’re asking is beyond my scope. It’s so impossible there’s no point in discussing it.”

Chrysabelle’s mood darkened. “Deep fae business, then. How about you humor me and discuss it anyway? Especially since you played a part in this.”

His mouth thinned into a hard line. “It is deep fae business, so deep that telling you won’t do anything but frustrate you, because I can’t give you anything you can use.”

Fi slapped his desk. The noise was like a gunshot in the small space. “Let her be the judge of that.”

Mortalis propped his elbow on the desk and leaned into his hand, his six fingers cradling his forehead. “Killing a raptor releases every emotion they’ve ever taken, good and bad.”

“How is that deep fae business?” Killing the raptor seemed easy. Well, not easy, but she’d killed Nothos. How different could it be?

With a sigh, Mortalis stared at her. “Because Amery and I brought him out of the Claustrum to meet with you. The Claustrum is on the fae plane, a place you can only access with the help of a fae.”

“You or Amery can take me then.”

“Absolutely not. Humans aren’t allowed on the fae plane. Getting one into the Claustrum?” Mortalis snorted. “That’s never happened and never will.”

“I’m not asking you to get permission.”

He leaned forward. “I don’t think you understand. Doing something like that without permission would be to forfeit my life. Or Amery’s.”

“If you get found out. So we won’t get found out.”

He shook his head. “There’s no way you won’t get found out. You kill that raptor after the years he’s been in the Claustrum feeding on all the hate and anger and rage in that place and those emotions will flood back to the rest of the inmates and turn that place into a maelstrom of destruction. It won’t go unnoticed.” He stood and walked the few paces to the back wall. “Plus, you’re talking about the fae plane. Humans don’t do well there. You’d be lucky to get out alive.”

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

He turned. “You’re risking two lives. Yours and your child’s.”

Chrysabelle’s emotions betrayed her again. She blinked at the liquid welling up in her eyes. “What about Mal’s life? If not for Dominic sending him drugged blood, he’d be trying to kill me. Or he’d be killing whatever humans were unlucky enough to cross his path. If that hasn’t happened already.” She wiped at her eyes. “If I can’t save Mal, I’m going to have to…” Her throat closed. “Kill him,” she whispered.

Mortalis didn’t answer, telling her that was exactly what she’d have to do. Fi put her hand over Chrysabelle’s, but she pulled away, unable to bear the contact. She couldn’t even stand to look at Fi or Mortalis in that moment. The silence pressed so heavy she bent under it. “I need to go home.”

“Chrysabelle.” Mortalis’s voice held a note of apology, but not acquiescence.

She held up her hand. “I understand your reasons for not helping. I do. Doesn’t mean I agree with them.” She stood. “You know I would do anything for you.”

“Anything?” He raised one brow. “Then protect yourself and your child. Stay away from the raptor.”

“Anything but that.” She turned to leave, so disappointed in Mortalis that bitterness coated her tongue. “Let’s go, Fi.”

The ghost girl got up to join her, giving the fae an evil look.

“Listen…” He sighed. “Even if I could help, it puts too much at stake—”

“Message received the first time.” She moved toward the door.

“Chrysabelle, wait. What I’m trying to say is… you need someone who doesn’t care about consequences. Someone willing to break fae law. Or someone above it.”

She stopped, Fi at her elbow. “And that’s not you?”

He shook his head. “No. But—”

“Your brother. Augustine.”

He snorted. “He won’t help you. He could, but he won’t. If it means risking his hide, he’ll wish you well as he walks away. Especially if he thought I was behind your asking him.”

“Then who?”

“There is a fae who’s in your debt. Khell. The one you made Guardian. He has all the access you need.”

“And you think he’ll do it?”

“I have no idea. But it’s worth asking.”

She nodded and gave him a half smile, the bitterness in her mouth sweetening a little. “Thank you.”

He scratched one horn. “You may not thank me after you go through with this. Just… be careful, okay? The Claustrum is no place for a non-fae.” He laughed sadly. “It’s no place for those who are.”

Chapter Fourteen

Tatiana gazed across the office at Daciana. They sat looking at one another, neither of them saying anything since Lilith and the Castus had vanished. The smell of brimstone still lingered, clouding her mind as much as what she’d seen. Her child. But not. Somehow she had to make the best of this.

“Unbelievable,” Daci finally mumbled.

Tatiana nodded, staring blankly into the room but still seeing the vision of Lilith in her head. “They’ve given her the power that should have been mine. Turned her into…”

“A monster,” Daci finished.