Book of Wishes - House of Blood

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lorelei sat at the table, her eyes fixed on the steaming bowl in front of her. She winced as she tried to take a spoonful of the soup, the pain in her jaw making it difficult to chew. She glanced up at Nash, who was watching her with concern etched on his face.

"Thank you," she said, smiling despite the pain. "This is really good."

Nash nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. "I'm glad you like it, and I figured you could use something a little easier on the jaw for a while."

Lorelei bobbed her head, scooping another spoonful of soup into her mouth. Around her, the others ate hungrily, their attention fixed on the food on the dining table.

"I still can't believe you killed three Succa's," Nash said.

"That light trick won't work on the higher Succa," Callia said as if praising Lorelei just once would kill her.

"So what would?" Wade questioned, but Callia only scowled, self-preservation taking over.

Stone had been furious with Lorelei for returning to the fight, but he set aside his anger when she emerged from the flames. He had been surprised by her skills and had even praised her for it, though he still chided her for her lack of judgment. Cairbre had suffered deep wounds, but with the help of Nash's greenroom and healing herbs, he slowly began to recover after a few days.

"We need to be more careful about who we see and when we leave the safe house," Cairbre told the group. "We don't know who the enemies are. Someone fed my contacts that lie about the trial, and until we find and destroy the book, no one outside of us should be trusted."

"It would also be helpful if a few of us could get back to the safe house without you, Cairbre," Duna said. "If we get split up, we need to make sure that others can get us back."

Lorelei looked at Nash. "Is this possible?"

He watched her, eyes in concentration, before turning to Cairbre. "I think so. But it will take a while to find the right spell. It'll have to be blood magic."

"No," Stone called, which surprised everyone.

"What's blood magic?" Lorelei asked him.

"It's dangerous. Using blood to sway magic leaves a stain on the soul," Stone said. "There's another way. We just have to think harder about it."

She could see the love behind the fierceness of Stone's words and grabbed his hand.

"We'll find another way."

The rest of the group agreed. Tainting Nash's soul was out of the question.

A knock on the door resounded through the halls, and the warmth seeped out of the room. Cairbre and Nash looked at each other in confusion before stepping out of the room and walking toward the front door. The rest of them settled down the hall, straining to see. Lorelei forced her way to the front of the group, Stone hot on her tail.

Cairbre had his sword ready as Nash swung the door open.

"Oh goodness, you're not going to kill me without offering me a cup of tea first, are you?"

Cairbre visibly relaxed as he let through a small, elderly woman wearing green robes and a yellow scarf. She had large glasses that magnified her eyes tenfold and walked with a cane with the head of a raven carved into the wood.

"Miriam, what are you doing here? How did you find this place?" Nash asked.

Lorelei saw Nash give her kind but hesitant smile before taking her coat. She kept the cane, however.

"Don't think you're going to figure out that book on your own now, do you?" Miriam said.

"But who sent you?" Cairbre asked, apparently a little too aggressively because, in a flash, Miriam walked him with her cane.