Page 20 of Lower World
“Shift.” I forced some strength in my voice, ignoring her comments.
Alice screamed when the air around the wolf shimmered, and all the hairs on her arms lifted at attention. The body of the animal jerked, popped, and shifted in a matter of seconds, leaving a dark-haired male stretched out on the table. He was dirty, caked with grime and dried blood but otherwise unharmed. A sigh passed my lips seeing that it worked. In the next second, he shifted back to wolf, much to my dismay, but at least he healed. I didn’t have it in me to worry about why he chose to stay in his animal form.
“Did … did that just … did he turn into …” Alice stammered, gawking from the wolf to Dominic and lastly at me. “He shifted,” she told me flatly.
“He did.” For whatever reason, I answered her.
“You know what? I can’t deal with this right now.” The shock disappeared, and she glared at me of all people. Didn’t I just help her precious wolf? “Take her to the bedroom. I’m grabbing the salt,” she told Dominic and stabbed a finger in the direction of the room as she rounded the table.
I didn’t have it in me to argue, although I wanted to tell them that I was fine. Deep down I recognized what I was doing and how unhealthy my behavior was, but that voice was buried so deep it didn’t register. Dominic swung me in his arms, and I allowed it. I told myself Iallowedit, not that I couldn’t stop him if I tried. His sinful scent filled my nose, and my head flopped on his shoulder while he carried me through the hallway.
It was a very nice shoulder, I thought to myself, but Dominic’s chest vibrated. I realized I must’ve mumbled it because the damn shifter was chuckling. Too bad my arms were not obeying my commands, or I would’ve slapped him. When Alice came with a bag of salt like some demon from hell sent to torture me, I did wish that I slapped Dominic. My human friend didn’t give me time to prepare myself. As soon as she sat on her knees on the mattress next to me, she ripped the bag of salt with her teeth, poured half of it on the open wound on my upper arm, and pressed both hands on it to grind it in all the way to my bone.
I screamed.
Agony tore through me, and it was almost like I was back in the cages held down while fangs ripped through my flesh. My own gums were throbbing, and I bared my pointed teeth in Alice’s face, snarling like a feral beast. Dominic snatched my upper body, shoving me back on the bed and holding me there with one large hand pressed on my collarbone. Alice didn’t even flinch. Her narrowed eyes were focused on her hands where she was grinding the cursed salt into the wound, and her lips were moving. Through the mind-numbing pain and the thundering between my ears, I did my best to pay attention to what she was saying. At first it was just a loud whoosh, whoosh, like a helicopter taking off before I could make out her words.
“Blessed salt clear the curse, heal what was wrongfully harmed.” She was repeating it over and over, her voice increasing in volume the longer she spoke.
“Do you have any idea what you are doing, human?” Dominic snapped at her when I screamed bloody murder again.
“I have no fucking idea, cat,” Alice hissed back. “Blessed salt, clear the curse, heal what was wrongfully harmed.” She continued chanting, now shouting the words at my wound. “Unless you have a better idea, shut up and let me do this.”
if I wasn’t in so much pain, I would’ve laughed when he glared but shut his mouth. I thought my soul was ripping from the core of my being. Alice removed her hands, and I nearly sagged into the threadbare mattress. She only did that because whatever she poured into my wound had melted, and she dumped the rest of the salt on my arm before I could escape. A fresh wave of pain stabbed me with a vengeance, and I drifted between consciousness and an abyss for what felt like forever. The only tether I had to the world was Alice’s voice, her chanting more like a constant hum than words. When silence fell around us, the panic that I lost the battle jolted me fully awake. There was no pressure on my arm where my friend used to press on it.
“It worked.” Alice breathed in awe.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Dominic joined her, leaning over me to peer at my arm. His breath felt cold on my burning skin.
I blinked them into focus. Alice had an expression on her face like she just witnessed the heavens open and half naked angels came dancing down from it. She was gaping from my arm to her hands and back, holding them up in front of her. Dominic had a fascinated yet wary look in his green eyes when he glanced up at me. I followed his line of vision when he took my arm and twisted it this way and that to get a better look. My wound was almost gone, the skin knitting together in front of my eyes. I was still lightheaded from blood loss, but I no longer felt like if I closed my eyes I’d never open them again.
“How did you know what to say?” I croaked, my throat raw from the screaming.
“I don’t know?” She sounded much younger than her age, confusion twisting her features. “It just came to me. I must’ve read it somewhere.” Neither she nor we believed it, but no one said otherwise. “Yeah, I must’ve read it somewhere, that’s it.”
“Okay.” I spoke before Dominic had a chance to say something to freak her out. The shifter closed his mouth, his brows pinched low over his eyes.
“That’s it? Just okay?” Alice locked her gaze on mine, and I could tell she was thinking about saying those exact same words to me not long ago when she was convincing me that I was a vampire.
“That’s it.” I offered her a small smile, albeit one laced with fatigue. “Go check on the wolf.” She scrambled to get off the bed and was almost at the door when I called out. “And Alice?” Gripping the door knob, she looked over her shoulder. “Thank you for helping me. You are the type of friend an Atua dreams to have when we grow up, as well.”
Repeating the same words in my own way, those she told me in the woods had been the right thing to say. Alice smiled so wide my chest hurt to see it brighten her face that way. Her eyes shimmered with tears, and she filled her lungs with so much air I expected her to burst from it. With a few jerky nods, she yanked the door open and left to check on the wolf shifter.
“That was very …” Dominic sat on the edge of the bed, a strange lookin his eyes that was focused on my face. “Hmmm, how should I say it? Very unlike Atua of you.” A crooked smile tilted his mouth when I gave him a huff of annoyance. “I’m afraid the human is softening you up, Brooklyn.”
“You think, saber tooth?” The jab made him laugh, and I cracked a smile, too. “She’s not human, Dominic.” The humor evaporated from his face and mine. “Well, not fully human, I should say, because she still feels and smells like one to me.”
“She feels and smells human to me, as well. But this”—He waved a hand over my now unblemished skin—“and this”—He pointed at the pendant, reminding me of the ritual Alice did to make it come off my neck—“is something only a witch can do.”
“In both cases, she had my blood to aid her.” If what Johnathan said was true and my mother was indeed a witch, that could be the reason. It didn’t ring true, but I had no other explanation.
“I’ve had a witch do some talismans I needed by using blood of one of your kind. I don’t think you understand what doing that does to a witch.” Dominic shook his head. “It took him less than a minute to power it up, and they had to carry him out of the room unconscious. Blood magic is strong, but the price is steep.” I didn’t even want to know why he needed that talisman or how he knew all that.
“What are you saying? That she’s not a witch?” My eyes were half mast, but I fought to stay awake. “What else could she be when she does magic?”
“She held onto the magic to heal your arm for a good ten, fifteen minutes, Brooklyn.” He paused, letting the words to sink in. “And she was more energized when she finished than before she started. Alice might not be fully human, but she definitely is not a witch. Not like any witch I’ve ever seen, in any case.”
“She is my friend, Dominic.” Not liking the way he said that, I felt it prudent to cement that fact between us. “Alice can be a demon for all I care, not a hair goes missing from her head. Are we clear?”
