Page 57 of Shadow Dreaming

Another moment, and Sophia raised her head, opening her eyes. “She’s coming,” she said.

Before we could say a word, a form shimmered into the room, once again darkly brilliant and difficult to look at. Hecate stood there, this time dressed in a black leather pantsuit, her hair pulled up into an intricate chignon. I was startled to see her dressed like that, but then again, I supposed that always dressing in ornate gowns would get tiring.

I rose and took a step forward. “Thank you. We need your help. Penn needs your help,” I said. “We think they put a curse on her before we rescued her.”

Hecate turned toward Penn, gazing down at her. “Bring me a chair,” she said.

Orik scrambled to bring Hecate a seat. “Here you go, milady,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, then paused, looking him over. “Give Odin my regards, if you would. It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to him.”

I blinked. “You know Odin?”

“Of course. We don’t just keep to our own kin,” she said, taking the seat. As she leaned over Penn, brushing her hand across Penn’s forehead, she let out a long breath. “She’s been cursed, all right. Brim Fire?” She glanced up at us.

I nodded. “We believe so. She was wearing this. Seton? Show her.”

Seton, who had said little until then, cleared his throat. “Honored to meet you,” he said.

Hecate caught his gaze and her lips turned up a hint at the edges. “And I’m honored to meet you, as well, Old One.” She took the pendant.

Old One? I turned to Seton, but he motioned for me to keep silent. But in my head, I was running over what Hecate meant by that. Just how old was he? And what was he?

Hecate held the pendant up. “A geas-charm. This forced her to do the will of the creator.”

“Which was to sabotage our computer files,” I said.

“And then…it would have sent her into the arms of Demonkin, out of this world forever.” Now, Hecate looked angry. “She still carries the seed of this curse. I’ll have to exorcise her.”

I caught my breath. “Exorcise her? Will she be okay?”

“After I’m done, she will. But I need a receptacle to catch the curse-imp when I expel it from her soul.”

I frowned. I’d never heard of a curse-imp and had no idea what it was. Before I could ask, Orik spoke up.

“A curse-imp? Would a crystal work for the anchor? I have a large smoky quartz I’m willing to donate to the cause,” he said.

“That will work. Run and fetch it, please,” Hecate said.

“What’s a curse-imp?” I asked.

“I was about to ask the same thing,” Dante said.

“A curse-imp is a toad-like creature from the astral plane. When attached to a person’s psyche, it feeds them whatever curse a witch or magician places on it. The curse-imp absorbs the magic and is used as a conduit to control the receiver. That way, it’s nearly impossible to trace the curse back to any one particular person,” Hecate said.

“Holy fuck,” I said. “That sounds nasty.”

“They are, and they drain energy, as well. Unless removed, it could eventually weaken her so much that she could fall ill and die. Think of it like a tick, and the curse as Lyme disease,” Orik said, returning just in time to hear the conversation. He held up a smoky quartz the size of a small cucumber. “Will this work?”

Hecate took the crystal and held it for a moment, then nodded. “It will work. It’s strong enough.” She motioned for us to move back. “Don’t interfere, whatever you do,” she said. “It may look like I’m hurting her, but removing a curse-imp isn’t easy, even for the gods.”

We backed away.

“Do you need anything else?” I asked.

She turned to me. “You’re her best friend?”

I nodded.

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