Page 33 of Faerie Fate
“Some kind of blood poisoning. Magic can keep the poison at bay but it isn’t the cure. I need to get the antidote…” I trailed off with a tight smile, thinking back. What was it Barbara had said? “A flower that I need to mix with grave dirt from Madam Muerte’s grave, and then eat it.”
Now, with the mate bond causing such a vicious reaction, it bumped up the urgency to finding the cure.
“Tavi, we can’t do anything with you like this,” Melia insisted gently. “We need to find this flower. Do you remember the name?”
With my head spinning this way? I barely remembered my own name. “Barbara just said it was a certain type of flower I’d mix with dirt fromthe old broad’s grave.” My stomach bubbled at the thought.
Melia sighed, chewing the inside of her cheek, her lips twisting as she thought. “I wish she’d given you a name.”
Barbara and I had been trapped in the cell together for a long time. Before Cosmo and his team of goons decided to take us straight up to the chopping block.
I shook my head. “She did. It started with an M, I think. Mor— Morse… Shit, I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t even save my own life.
Melia rattled off the names of several different flowers before Julie let out a delighted cry and stepped between us. “Tavi, was it a morsana flower?” She bent down until we were eye to eye. “It’s a type of nightshade with purple and blue petals.”
“Maybe?” I shrugged but even the slight movement of my shoulders was too much. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She patted my forearm and Noren rested his head on my leg, staring dolefully up at me until my stomach sank.
I couldn’t just die and leave him alone, not after I’d used my cognitive manipulation on him and forced a bond between us. It felt wrong.
“I’ve read in several of my old healing textbooks that there was a kind of plant in the nightshade family that had exceptional properties when it came to the blood. I never got a chance to do any further research,” Julie continued. “The drawings were phenomenally detailed, that I do remember.”
Melia had her cell phone out of her cloak and in hand in the next beat. “Leave it to me.”
“She’s the research queen,” I added with a swell of pride for my old mentor.
“What did you say it was? A morsana?” Melia clarified. “I should be able to find something.”
“Will the connection work with the silencing bubble? Or is it too much magical interference?” Coral was ready to argue with anyone and everyone. She had the bored look on her face I’d gotten used to seeing in class and a drollness in her tone I’d always found annoying.
Now, my cousin’s bratty nature was familiar. Friendly. It was just the way she communicated, even though she stared at her nails.
Melia didn’t look up from the screen. “It should be fine. I’m connected now.Mor-san-a.” She typed as she spoke through the syllables.
It was too soon to hope for a quick answer. Wasn’t it?
Her expression immediately dropped and Melia struggled to wipe it clear. She lifted her head and fixed me with a tense grin. “Well.”
She was trying to sound chipper and failed abysmally.
“Spit it out.” The quicker she gave me the news, the better.
“Apparently, the flower you need is extinct. Like, centuries ago. From overuse and habitat destruction. No, wait.Targeted fae interference. It seems the fae deliberately obliterated the flower. Crap.” Her knee began to bob. “Um, we might be able to find a specimen somewhere. In the castle stores, maybe?”
“The Elder Council hasn’t exactly prioritized the storing of rare or endangered flora.” Mike sagged even lower, his head between his knees. “I mean, wemightbe able to find something but I doubt it. Fuck.”
Coral tossed her hair over her shoulder. “As far as you know. Right? There may be some here at the school.”
“Or Mike can go back in time and get it.” Bronwen said it in her normal tone, easygoing, like she spoke to herself and hadn’t just let a bomb explode. We all turned to glance at her. Her cheeks pinked from the attention. “What? Can’t he?”
Mike slowly straightened, his hair standing out at odd angles like he’d fallen asleep in the center of a tornado. “I could,” he agreed. Ruminating on the idea. “I’ve never tried to go back that far, but it’s theoretically doable. As long as my magic is at its peak.”
“Which it’s not now, is it?” Coral asked dryly. “No offense but you look ready to take a dirt nap, Michael.”
