Page 21 of Fiendish Delights
Chapter
Seven
‘It’s not your fault, Daisy.’
I looked away from Hugo. It felt like my fault. I realised that my hands were shaking and I reached for a spider’s silk pill. Now it was Hugo’s turn to look away and his body stiffened as I swallowed the drug. He gazed into the distance, tracking the ambulance carrying Mud to the hospital. It was touch and go whether the witch would survive; the paramedics’ expressions hadn’t been particularly hopeful.
‘I probably wouldn’t have recognised her for what she was,’ he said. ‘She’d have fooled me too.’
I couldn’t tell whether he was lying or not, but either way it was cold comfort. I was the person who had been tricked by Sophia – no, by Zashtum.
I cursed aloud. She must have planted the doll for Mud to find and used me to ensure Mud broke his wards. Some part of me had known that something was wrong; that strange itch on my neck had been an indication all along. ‘What’s a fiend? And why the hell wasthisfiend so keen onthismythical treasure? And whatisthetreasure?’
‘Which question shall I start with?’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Didn’t your education cover most of this stuff?’
‘I was brought up in a human family,’ I reminded him pointedly. ‘I didn’t go to high-elf finishing school. Most of what I know is self-taught. And I can tell you, much like blood magic, I’ve never heard of a freaking fiend before.’
There was a flicker of realisation in his eyes. ‘Things like blood magic and creatures like fiends aren’t spoken about very often, especially not to the wider public.’
I guessed the wider public was me. I crossed my arms. ‘Why not?’
‘Well,’ Hugo hedged, ‘you don’t see a lot of blood magic around. Or fiends, for that matter. I’ve never met one before now.’
‘Uh-huh.’ I tapped my foot and waited.
Mildly exasperated, he sighed. ‘Witches draw their power from the natural world. Elves use elemental magic. Sorcerers work with runes. They all use skills they have to be born with.’
I was starting to sense where this was going. ‘Let me guess,’ I said, with an edge to my voice. ‘Anyone can learn blood magic, and the powers-that-be don’t want Joe Bloggs to be able to wield that kind of power.’ No wonder I’d found next to nothing when I’d researched blood magic after what had happened with Humphrey.
‘Something like that.’
Unbelievable. ‘So you keep us in ignorance because you don’t trust us.’
He winced. ‘It’s not me. I don’t make the rules.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘There are rules now?’
‘It’s not a rule, Daisy. It’s just the way things are done. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.’
‘Yeah? Well, no knowledge is worse.’ I glared at him as if it were all his fault. I knew it wasn’t but I was pissed off.
Because I’d been brought up in a human family, I’d been forced to work hard to learn about my heritage and my powers. I hated the idea that there were gatekeepers to information that could possibly save my life.
Hugo spread out his hands. ‘The fact that there are very few instances of blood magic being used – and hence very few fiends – means the tactic works.’
My eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean? Are blood magic and fiends connected?’
‘Yes,’ he said quietly. ‘They are. Fiends don’t spring from a mystical realm of pure evil – they’re not demons. Many are human, a few are witches or sorcerers, and several are elves, bogles, trolls... Anyone can become a fiend. The one thing they have in common is that all of them have been corrupted by magic.’ He gave me a long look. ‘Specifically, blood magic.’
‘Like Humphrey?’
He nodded, his expression grim. ‘If Humphrey hadn’t been stopped, he would have become a fiend too. Blood magic doesn’t let you go – and it always demands more blood and more power. Fiends devour that power and abuse it for their own ends and in turn it takes hold of their souls and wrenches away every shred of morality they ever possessed. Many are hundreds of years old because their power sustains their life force beyond what should be their natural lifespan. The longer a fiend lives, the more warped their body becomes.’
His mouth flattened grimly. ‘Judging by her appearance, Zashtum must have been very old indeed. Creatures like that have long since embraced darkness.’ He eyed me. ‘They are tied into the dark arts. There are rumours that their grip on that sort of magic is so strong that they can control similar beings.’
‘You mean?—?’
‘Vampires. Lich. Any being that treads the line between dead and alive.’
