Alister
That creep. I should have known she was lying.
I look around the café, at all the different people that come here at this time of the night. The atmosphere is relaxed, with a warm glow emanating from the string of fairy lights that adorn the walls.
A young couple sits huddled together in a booth, their eyes locked in a loving gaze that makes me feel like an intruder on their intimate moment. A lone figure types away intensely on his laptop at the corner table. A quiet, older man sits with a book.
All of them glance my way—not because I'm interesting, but because I have a gagged crow on my shoulder.
"Well, this was a waste of time. I told you she was playing a prank." Leora comments. Jokes on you because spending time with her never feels like a waste of my time.
As I walk out, Lev taps his beak against my cheek. A sign he wants to speak. I click my tongue and ignore him, but he doesn't stop.
"Is it nonsense?" I grumble, already regretting the question. He shakes his head vigorously.
I roll my eyes and sigh, pulling him from my shoulder into my arms to untie the gag.
"She wasn't there, huh?" He says, voice a little too smug. "How sad. You even took your third shower today and wore cologne."
I scowl, ready to shut him up on the spot, but he spreads his wings and jerks free of my grip. "Don't try anything stupid." I warn, already holding up the controller in my other hand.
"Relax," he calls from above, circling low once before landing gently back on my shoulder. "I'll behave. Silent and still. Don't put that thing on me. You know I hate it."
"Why do you keep assuming I care about your likes and dislikes?"
"Didn't pretty eyes call me your pet? Aren't owners supposed to care about their pet's comfort?" He chirps.
I grab him by the throat—not tightly, just enough to choke him a little. His wings flap aimlessly as he uses his talons to hold onto my arm.
"I'll tell her about this!" He rasps out, and I hate how my body automatically lets him go. All because in the car, Clara announced that if I hurt him again, she'll take him back home with her. Much to my utter horror and the bastard beaming like a lightbulb at the prospect of being alone with her.
"You are not a pet," I remind him. "You are a captive. A tool I use when I want to, how I want to. Do you understand that?"
He nods his head and perches on my shoulder again. "Whatever it is, I'm still your responsibility." He mutters, his voice quieter now. Since there aren't many people around, I don't think he'll make a scene.
I stifle a yawn as I walk to my car. What I need is sleep. Real, uninterrupted sleep. At my home, that is, not Simon's. I couldn't concentrate on the second location I had him map out and about the occupant of that house. Simon had clung to my leg like a kid, practically begging me not to leave. Said he was afraid Stanley's men would track him. Or worse—the hunters.
Lev's words really got to him.
I figured he wouldn't sleep a wink. Said as much. But the moment his head hit the pillow, he passed out like he hadn't just spent an hour trembling. Meanwhile, I ended up cleaning his disaster of a house. Not because he asked me to—he'd probably be fine living in a moldy trash heap—but because I couldn't stand it. Sticky counters. Dishes piled so high, the smell of old takeout leaking through the air.
After scrubbing everything into something barely habitable, I finally sat down to look into the location. And that's when the annoying princess decided to call.
"Tell me something," I ask.
"What?" Lev asks, tilting his head.
"Not you. Her." I clarify.
Leora smirks as if preparing herself for the game. "Will you believe anything I say?"
"No," I answer dryly. "But I think you'd love to talk about yourself."
She scoffs, folding phantom arms across her chest. "How self-obsessed do you think I am?"
"Don't pacts with demons or whatever require you to sell your soul? How is it that you're known to make pacts and get powers and cursed items, but your soul is still intact?" I question.
Her cherry lips curl upwards as she digs her hands into her coat pockets.
"The ones I make pacts with," she purrs, tilting her head so a fall of white hair casts one eye into shadow. "Are more interested in the souls of the innocent than the corrupted." I'm about to say no one is truly innocent, until she continues after glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "And what's more innocent than a newborn?"
I try to maintain a neutral expression, but my stomach churns with a growing sense of unease. "You're lying."
She laughs. A sound like glass splintering beneath a heel. And I hate that she's wearing my mentor's skin. "What? You don't believe I can be that heartless?" Her tone drips with amusement, savoring the crack she's pried open in my composure.
"Being a midwife in my time had its… perks," she continues, as if recounting some fond memory. "And I was never the sentimental type. Familial bonds were a leash I gladly broke. I'm a traveler. Always have been. Always will be." Her voice carries a perverse pride, as though rootlessness were a crown she forged herself. A woman without roots. Without conscience. Without compassion.
"Did you never have children?" I ask, though even as the question leaves me, part of me dreads the answer.
Her eyes meet mine, calm, unflinching. A faint smile tugs at her lips. "If you're wondering whether I ever killed my own—yes. Every single one of them."
The chill that follows her words sinks bone-deep. My skin crawls as though the air itself recoils from her confession.
"There's a story about that," Lev interjects, fluttering his wings. "Not sure if she's told you. Before she died, she had many lovers and many children. But her powers were hereditary. She couldn't stand the thought of anyone else carrying what she had. So she slaughtered them all."
When I shoot her a questioning look, she simply chuckles. Her gaze hooded. "Hslf true but It seems I wasn't as discreet as I thought."
Something clicks in my head—something crucial.
When we reach the car, I yank the door open and pluck Lev from my shoulder. His wings flare in protest, but I shove him inside.
He squawks indignantly. "What is it?"
I say nothing, slamming the door shut behind him. He can't hear this. The more he knows, the riskier it becomes to keep him alive.
I turn to Leora. "When the gems are removed. Will we still have our powers?"
Leora exhales a long sigh, one that carries centuries of boredom and inevitability. "My soul being bound to yours caused some of my essence to… mingle. Think of it as a stain that won't wash out. You might very well carry my magic permanently. Even if the gems are torn away." Her lips curve as she addresses me. "You might have gotten even less than a fraction. But you and your future generation will continue to have some supernatural abilities."
I raise a brow. "That's not how heredity works. Your power seems more tied to your soul if it even affected us."
She shrugs, not surprised by the fact. Once again carefully only revealing part that just add more questions. "Perhaps." And that's all she says before refusing to give me an explanation.
This is getting more dangerous. Even after the gems are gone, Clara and I will be the only ones who can perform the spells from the book since we'll still have magic inside us. Even if the book is in the wrong hands, they'll need us to make it useful.
"How are you feeling? Angry? Brimming with hatred?" She says as she walks infront of me, with a wide grin. The white hair seems to sparkle under the streetlight.
"Don't get so impatient." I tilt my head. "After we collect the items, I'll make sure you're gone forever."
"I'll come back." she declares. "I've still got many devotees who'll want to bring me back." She smirks as she steps closer to me. "then, I'll keep on doing what I do best. Kill. And I hope you're living happily and raising a family because I will murder everyone you love right infront of your eyes. Slowly and painfully."
She's just trying to confuse me again. Get inside my head. I won't let you.
I keep my unwavering gaze locked onto hers. "If they wanted to bring you back, they would have done so already," I say. "Considering you're said to have died in a fire."
Just then, something small zips between us.
We both turn, and our eyes fall onto a complicated paper plan, watching it drift down toward the dirt. But just before it lands, its tip tilts up, as though caught by a breeze—only there is no breeze.
It lifts off again, soaring into the air with unexpected grace. I stare in confusion as it curves midair and begins flying toward me.
It almost looks… alive.
"What is this?" I murmur.
Leora goes still as she stares at it. Gone is the woman who was confidently threatening me earlier. "An ability to control paper,"
It lands right on my palm. I watch in awe as it suddenly begins to unfold itself. Each crease flattening out as if guided by invisible hands.
I glance at her. "What kind of object gives someone that power?"
She looks like I asked her some rocket science question. "It...might be a letter opener? Or a paper weight?"
"You've lived for centuries with that book of yours. And you don't remember everything in it?"
She scoffs. "There are over hundreds of artifacts, rituals, and spells in that book. Why would I bother memorizing them all when I never needed to?"
The last fold peels open, leaving behind a creased sheet. I stare down at the words scribbled on it. It's a list of street names. But at the very bottom, two words are scrawled in bold, jagged ink:
AVOID THEM.
At once, I feel eyes on me. As if I've been exposed. The street hasn't changed, yet the air feels denser. My gaze flicks over the sidewalks, the parked cars, and the shadows where lamplight doesn't quite reach. Nothing moves, but I can't shake the sensation that something lingers just out of sight.
Whether it's a warning or a lure, I can't tell yet. But either way, someone wants me to know I'm already seen.
"There's a way you can track the sender down." Leora finally says something useful at last. "Fold the paper back exactly how it was. Then toss it into the air. It'll return to the one who sent it."
My fingers tighten around the sheet. I try to remember how it looked when it flew at me and start folding it. It's a lot different from the ones I used to make as a kid. Launching them off rooftops, pretending they carried secret missions.
Funny how things circle back.
I step away from the car and look at the dark starry sky, then the horizon. What if the person who sent this is too far away? What if I lose sight of the plane?
I grunt and yank open the car door. Lev is in his tall human form now, sitting in the backseat, naked as usual. I'm once again thankful for his impossibly long hair that covers his whole body so I don't have to bleach my eyes out. I slide into the driver's seat, ignoring his confused stare as he munches on a pack of cereal. Something he is addicted to and begged me to buy. He tilts his head like he's about to ask what I'm doing, but I don't give him the chance.
I hold the plane loosely and toss it toward the windshield.
It veers left and taps against the passenger-side glass—once, twice, and again. But it doesn't fall. It floats just above the glass, bouncing gently as if testing the barrier, eager to get out.
"Crystal!" Lev beams with a mouthful as he watches the plane. "Why would she send you that? What's written in it?"
"None of your business." I answer.
So he knows the owner?
The idea of having one of Lev's crows tail it crosses my mind—but immediately, my instincts push back. I'd be opening a door I might not be able to close. I should keep Lev and his crows far away from this. He knows who sent this, and that person might know him too. Nothing good will come out of these two engaging. Or that person realizing I have Lev. His absence might have already raised a few alarms.
However, from the looks of this message, it seems that person has been keeping an eye on us. This...I can't just let pass.
Leora speaks sharply from the passenger seat. "You mustn't let that animal near them. He's planning something, obviously."
I know that.
I grip the wheel, foot ready on the pedal. "Alright." I murmur, eyes narrowing as I watch the plane hover in a specific direction.
Let's see where this message wants to take me.