Page 81 of Witch Untold
“Feck it.” Bramble poured out three more glasses. “Drink up.”
The ale was sweet with a bitter edge that wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it was pretty damn tasty.
I took several sips. “This is good.” I set the tankard down, so many questions on my lips as I raised my eyes to meet Ida’s.
She pouted knowingly. “Just ask.”
“Ida…” There was warning in Lauris’s tone.
“What?” Ida shrugged. “It’s not like the powers that be can kick me out.” She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers, crimson power snaking between them before evaporating. “They need me. So ask.”
Yeah, I didn’t need more prompting. “What the fuck is this place?”
“A haven for the lost. A place where those of us who have no place can go.”
Oh, shit. “The fae…they’re here because Faerie is dying.”
“Yeah, I mean, they’re not the best at fitting into the human world. Even the natural glamour that allows outliers to hide from humans won’t cloak the fae who live here. But there is nowhere else for them to go. For us to go.”
“You could easily fit into the human world.”
“Uh-huh. I could.”
I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. Okay. Closed subject, and it didn’t matter anyway. We were here to get Jasper some help. “What do you know about malevolent spirits?”
Her eyes lit up and she sat forward, forearms resting on the table. “A malevolent, eh? Well, let’s see. They’re super rare and super dangerous and the only one I ever heard of belonged to a blood witch in Necro...” Her eyes narrowed. “Are we talking about the same malevolent?”
“Maybe.” I set my tankard down. “He’s free…kind of. And he’s a…friend.”
Her brows shot up. “Malevolent don’t have friends. They don’t have feelings, unless you count wanting to eviscerate everyone a feeling.”
“Jasper isn’t like that.” I couldn’t hide the snap to my tone.
She sat back and crossed her arms. “Oh? Now this is interesting.”
I gritted my teeth. I needed her help, and that meant keeping my temper. “Look, Ida, do you know much else about these spirits or not?”
“I know a little, probably more than most. I tried capturing my own malevolent once, you know. Failed, but it was an… experience.”
“And where do you go to capture a malevolent?”
“You don’t go anywhere, but with the right tools and the right skill, you can reach into a place us blood witches call the abyss filled with all manner of creatures. Malevolent just happen to be one of those creatures.”
“Creatures?” Bramble frowned. “I thought malevolent were spirits of the dead? Like, a level up from malignant.”
Ida snorted into her tankard. “It never fails to amaze me how little you outside outliers know. A malevolent is an entity in its own right, like a fae or a human. It’s a creature, a deadly, powerful, and evil creature, and the only way to make it do your bidding is to bind it to this world using a physical anchor. Without an anchor the malevolent is sent straight back to the abyss.”
Jasper had been bound to a house, and now to me, but he kept disappearing…Fuck, was he being pulled into this abyss place? Did it mean our bond was fracturing?
Ida watched me think, then smirked. “Oh boy, I heard about the incident in Necro, death of a powerful blood witch, the one rumored to have a malevolent. Please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to agree to anchor it to yourself?”
I stared coolly back at her. “I did what I had to. And Jasper isn’t a mindless, evil entity. He’s saved my life many times.”
“Of course he has. The last thing he’d want to do is get sent back to the abyss. I hear it’s a nightmare. Being anchored to the blood witch was probably a walk in the park compared to being trapped in the abyss.”
“He doesn’t remember the abyss, or his life before.” But I was intrigued. “You said trapped…beingtrappedin the abyss. What is that place?”
“A prison for bad shit.” She shrugged. “Or so they say. It’s old-school dark magic and the details aren’t clear. Blood witches dip in from time to time to tear out a familiar or two to do their bidding.” She sipped her ale. “I’m not surprised he doesn’t recall his time there. It was probably so traumatic he blocked it out.”
