Page 59 of Wake the Dream

“Your prerogative.” Caryss shrugged, her robes hugging her figure and hiding her feet from view. They flowed with her as she walked, and in each step, Kieran saw an echo of the woman she must have been years ago. The beauty with immense power at her fingertips. A power that didn’t belong to this world.

She made no sound as she moved across the room, stopping to stare at the broken fairy slowly bleeding out. Illaria’s chest hitched once, then went still.

Kieran nearly died on the spot.

“Poor thing,” Caryss crooned with a cluck of her tongue. “Vampires. Am I right? They attack like animals, showing their true natures in the presence of the Fae. Our blood, it’s better than the most intoxicating food to them. Infinitely powerful but still digestible. It’s why I stay the hell out of their way, use amulets to keep them from scenting me, tracking me. And I lock my doors at sunset.”

Kieran started. “You’re Fae?”

“One of the last of my kind.” Metal teeth flashed at her slow, wicked grin. “Never would have thought it from looking at me, eh? Not listed on your precious census, is it? Now step aside, boy. Let me work. If you’re sure on the price—”

“I’m sure,” he interrupted before he had a chance to question himself.

“Then this should help.” The witch drew a vial from her robes, uncorking the top as a faintly brackish smell permeated his apartment.

Kieran stood near the door to allow Caryss room to work. It was better than rushing forward and questioning everything or inserting himself where he would hinder instead of help. But it took everything in his goddamn power to hold back.

“Do you care to let me in on what you’re doing?” he asked.

“No.”

She stooped low enough to take Illaria’s arm, smearing a hefty glob of mucus-yellow salve on the bite marks there. The rest went on the fairy’s chest and other arm. With those areas covered, Caryss moved on to shoulders and legs before removing Illaria’s ruined clothing and focusing on her neck and back.

Kieran surged forward to help her, uncomfortable with the way the older woman treated her unconscious charge like a CPR dummy. No care, no finesse.

“Will you be careful?” he barked. “She’s not dead.”Yet, his subconscious provided, but he forced that thought down.

Caryss chuckled, her gnarled fingers tracing a pattern along the other woman’s spine. The goo spread over the skin easily, caked over the rest of the bites. “What’s this?” The crone pointed to a spot on Illaria’s lower back.

A birthmark of sorts, looking like a tangle of vines in a small circle. He’d never noticed it before.

“I don’t know. It looks like oak leaves.”

Caryss laughed, slapping his hand away when he reached out to touch. “I didn’t notice it about her, either. But yes, I guess it does.” The second sentence she murmured under her breath. Kieran nearly didn’t catch it.

“You have something you want to share with me?” he wanted to know, face hardening.

“That was a mistake. You not noticing, I mean.”

Kieran frowned. He seemed confused when he looked back at Illaria, at her white face and erratic breathing. Then even more confused when he turned back to Caryss. The witch suddenly wore a mask of misgiving. Suspicion. He began wondering about a lot of things, not the least of which was why Caryss had suddenly lost her eye twitch.

Finished with her work, the witch sat back on the coffee table with a sigh. “There you are, Detective. Real magic. The ingredients in my poultice will draw out the last of the vampire venom which is keeping her wounds from healing.”

“I didn’t realize vampires had venom.”

“There are a lot of things in this world you don’t know about. And if Illaria wakes up from this, then she’ll survive. But be warned. Sometimes people don’t come back from the light.”

Her enigmatic words sent a shiver down his spine. It settled in his bones, creeping like ice along his marrow.

“Thank you,” he said, shoulders drooping. “For everything you’ve done.”

“Don’t thank me yet, boy. Please, don’t thank me yet. If she is meant to pass and I stop it from happening...there is always a steep price to pay. We shall have to wait and see.”

But Kieran had focused his attention on Illaria. On the way her breathing smoothed out and her pulse became stronger. He grabbed a chair and drew it close to keep vigil.

Caryss saw herself out, and he heard the faint strains of her laughter echoing down the stairwell.

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