Wicked Wings (Lizzie Grace #5) - Keri Arthur Page 0,58

hunt. It is a means of ensuring the line goes on if one is caught.

That suggests the younger are the offspring of the elder.

They are. Many spirits are capable of reproduction, even if the means is very different to that of humans.

The breeding habit of demonic spirits was not something I wanted to think about. Ever.

This entire reservation is littered with mines, which gives them ample places in which to hide, Belle said. It’d be helpful if you could provide a little more information about their roosting habits.

Belle’s pull on my strength grew; we’d have to end this soon before it became dangerous.

You will not find them in mines, unless they are the type that goes horizontally rather than vertically into the ground. They are not comfortable in deep earth, our spirit said. And their roosts have a distinct aroma—one that is a combination of rotting meat and sickly perfume.

Which was exactly what I’d smelled in the tree cave where we’d found the second lot of feathers—and that meant we needed to go back there and place a trap rather than just an alert.

And if we do find and trap them? Belle asked. What then? What exactly do you want of me?

You may kill the remaining younger creature, but I wish to inhabit your body while you stab the elder through the heart. I want to feel her blood pulse over my fingers. I want to watch as the light dies in her eyes and the realization of oblivion claims her. Only then can I rest in peace.

Belle’s inner shudder once again echoed through me. Allowing a spirit to claim his or her flesh is something every spirit talker is warned against.

I guarantee, on my eternal soul, that I will not overstay or seek to claim what is not mine.

Your eternal soul was damned the minute you forsook moving on in favor of vengeance.

The White Lady’s form shimmered, and her agitation sung through the air.

I have the goddess’s blessing in this endeavor—my soul is not damned. Light will be my end, not darkness.

No goddess I knew would bless vengeance—unless, of course, she meant one of the many war goddesses. She was certainly old enough to be a follower of more ancient deities.

If I agree to this, Belle said, how do I contact you? If they’re able to sense your presence, you cannot simply follow us around.

No. The White Lady hesitated. If you call for Vita, I will hear its echo through the spirit world and respond. The name gives you no power over me, but there are few who bear it these days and none such who do reside in this place.

Fine. Leave with our blessing, and we’ll be in contact.

Vita immediately did so. A few seconds later, the time exception ran out and the full weight of the spell layers slammed down. We’d been in contact far longer than I presumed.

Belle took a shuddering breath, then released her grip on my fingers and fell into my arms. I held her while she shook, pushing energy into her body through our telepathic connection despite the ache flaring in the back of my brain.

“Enough,” she said eventually, her voice etched with weariness. “One of us needs to be mobile for work tomorrow.”

“Work tomorrow is the least of my worries right now. Are you able to get to your feet, or do you want some help?”

“I think I can manage.”

She pushed out of my grip, then slowly got up. I rose with her, keeping a hand on her elbow just in case. To say she was unsteady was something of an understatement.

“If this is how talking to her for ten minutes affects you, I hate to think what letting her spirit into your body is going to do.” My voice was grim. “You can’t—”

“It’s not like we have many other options right now. Besides, didn’t Katie warn you to give her what she wanted?”

I slipped an arm around her waist, providing support as we slowly made our way out of the reading room. “Yes, but—”

“Vita wants this. She needs this. And if she doesn’t get it, the run of troubles we’ve had of late will seem like a party compared to the hell she’ll rain down on us.”

“But what she wants might well kill you—”

“Yes, and that means we have to find a way of preventing the force of her spirit overwhelming and destroying mine. There’d have to be spells—we can’t be the only witches in the history of all magic forced