Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,114

I didn’t want any of the pixies to end up in a glass orb or dead under Victoria’s code red order, but this was the only way we could get through the doorway. It was all in the pixies’ hands.

Boudicca folded her arms across her chest and marched back and forth in front of me, visibly contemplating the dire situation. As any wartime general knew, there came a time when sacrifices had to be made and dangers had to be faced. She unleashed a massive sigh before whirling to face the others—now a forty-strong horde. She pointed at me and chirped, like a very stern sparrow telling off her pesky offspring. The other pixies grumbled their displeasure, and Boudicca took her chirping up a notch, her cuttlefish spots turning red as her hands waggled furiously. My monster sense suggested she wasn’t peeved at me, which was nice. Gradually, the dissent subsided, and the pixies gave a stadium wave of reluctant nods. Boudicca was the queen bee, after all, and whatever she decided, the hive was expected to follow.

“Is that a yes?” I looked to Boudicca.

She grinned with her needle-sharp teeth and gave a prideful nod.

“It’s on the third level, on the right-hand side of the library, as you enter. It’ll be in a section marked ‘Rare Manuscripts,’” Nathan said, kneeling beside me. “There should be a Kelpie carved into the wooden post just next to it. It’ll be a few books to the left of the Kelpie. It’s called A Complete History of Wisps and Legends.”

I cast him an intrigued side-eye. “Have you memorized the place?”

“It’s part of the job.” He smiled back, proud.

Boudicca let out a high-pitched war cry, shooting her arms upward like a real queen ordering her army into battle. As one, the pixies spread their colorful wings, fluttering them with the speed of hummingbirds as they ascended and disappeared into the darkness above. Boudicca was the last to leave, leaping into the air and winging her way toward me, for a brief moment. Flying right up to my face, she leaned in and planted a tiny kiss on my forehead, cackling to herself as she spun around and ascended to catch up with her motley crew.

As I watched her go, silently wishing them luck. I felt a little lonely, like I’d lost another friend to this Wisp calamity. I guessed the mini-kiss had been her way of saying ‘au revoir’—goodbye, until we meet again. I just hoped the reunion wouldn’t be too far away.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” I whispered to Nathan. We were alone, with no way to get back to the walkway unless we wanted to clamber back up as though we were on some military assault course. Well, not unless Nathan had a trick up his sleeve for that.

Nathan smiled strangely, as if he knew something I didn’t. “I think they will.”

“What makes you say that? If I were them, I’d amscray.” I hated to admit it, but it was true.

“They like you, that’s why. You brought them back to life. Gratitude creates a very strong bond,” he replied. “It’s similar to resurrection, in a way. Necromancers have had their share of good and bad eggs throughout their history, but those who used it for good—to prevent tragedy… Well, they tend to be bonded for life with those they saved. You gave that to the pixies and, what’s more, they know you respect them.”

I thought about Astrid, back at the SDC. Her father, Alton Waterhouse, had been a Necromancer, and he’d used his abilities more than once to save the life of his daughter. Purging pixies didn’t feel quite as emotionally loaded as that—it wasn’t a split-second, life-or-death decision that I’d consciously made. But it was becoming more life or death thanks to Victoria’s code red, lethal force order. In essence, they wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me, and I was so glad they were.

I laughed awkwardly. “I can’t help it. They won me over.”

“Monsters do that, if you take the time to get to know them.” Nathan sighed. “That’s why it’s always so hard to let them go when the message comes that they need exporting to the Bestiary.”

I released a breath, realizing I’d been holding it in. Nathan was saying things that I hadn’t dared to, and it felt validating to have a kindred spirit in this place. “How do you stand it?”

Nathan frowned, as though the question had thrown him. “I suppose… because I have to. At