Spelled Read online

  Evil is tough to override, because it’s ingrained in the soul. Nutcases, however, I could work with, and this lady was off her toadstool. I changed my facial expression to one that I hoped looked honest and repentant. “I am so very sorry I have inconvenienced you, but surely we can resolve this. Isn’t there some other way I can repay you?”

  Black Crow appeared to give this a bit of thought. All at once, her face lit up and she scurried off to the kitchen.

  Did I miss something? I glanced over at Kato, still sitting on his pillow, looking as clueless as I was. When Black Crow came back into the room, she was carrying a syringe and a small vial. It was empty.

  The problem with empty vials is that something has to go in them.

  “Grizelda mentioned something about your blood being special. So it makes a reasonable hypothesis that if I added a drop or two to each potion, they could work correctly again. Perhaps even better!” She sounded way too chipper at the prospect of taking my blood.

  I tried to sound enthusiastic too. “Hey, that’s a great idea. If you untie my arm, you can get a good vein.”

  Crow considered for a moment. “You’re not going to try anything, are you?”

  I smiled, probably showing all my teeth. “I just want to pay you back, that’s all.”

  Crow went around to untie my wrists. Kato sat up, ears perked, watching closely to see what I was going to do. Black Crow tapped my now-free left arm a few times to get the blood to rise to the surface. Just before the needle went in, I decided to strike.

  My left fist arched across the space between Crow and me, making a perfect landing on her jaw. “Ow!” we both said in unison. The blow knocked her glasses off her face, and she bent over to grab them.

  Now to make a run for it. Of course, running usually required the use of two feet, and mine were still bound together. Planning FAIL.

  Gravity worked its magic, and my nose met carpet in a spectacular face-plant. Though the pink rosette rug looked plush, it wasn’t soft enough to keep me from breaking my nose.

  Propping myself up on my elbows, I saw blood streaming down my face and onto the floor, creating a new abstract rosette. I rolled away from it, trying to stem the bleeding with one hand. Now I was flat on my back and Black Crow stood directly over me. Her glasses were askew, adding to the craziness in her eyes.

  She pulled one of the black feathers from her hair. Feathers are generally known to be soft; that’s why they made good stuffing for pillows. Crow’s were downy on one end and razor sharp at the other. The feather looked like a deadly quill.

  I scooted backward on my elbows, trying to squirm away from her. “Hey, wasn’t that thoughtful of me to provide all this blood? See, it’s dripping. May as well catch it and make good use, right?”

  She didn’t grab her vial like I’d hoped. Instead, she advanced with the lethal feather, pointy end first. “You are not a nice girl. You lied to me.” She wiped the blood from her own split lip. “I think you owe me more blood.”

  “Sure. Get it while it’s hot.” I laughed weakly.

  Her eyes flashed with madness. “All of it.”

  She dropped to her knees, straddling me, squeezing my arms to my sides, effectively binding me again. She must use a Thighmaster or something, because I couldn’t break away. She grabbed my wrist and pressed the feather into the hollow.

  “Wait!”

  Both mine and Crow’s head snapped over to the chimera in the corner. Sadly, the quill stayed in place; the slightest pressure would pierce the skin.

  “So you can talk.” The madness receded slightly, and the more scholarly Crow emerged again.

  “Yes, it’s a little difficult to adjust to this voice box. I could tell you all about it.” Kato neared the door frame, stopping just shy of where the barrier was.

  Crow leaned back a little bit, shifting her considerable weight, which allowed me to breathe a little easier.

  Silently, I willed Kato to keep her talking. If she would get off me, I could untie my feet and knock the nut job out. But it was gonna have to be fast. I was getting woozy, and my nose was leaking everywhere.

  “Why don’t you come over here?” Kato kept his voice calm and smooth. “It will be nice to talk to someone with a brain for once, instead of that useless princess. In fact, she might actually be the reason I couldn’t speak before—lack of intelligent conversation to engage in.”

  “She is a bit shallow, isn’t she?” Crow concluded as I tried my best to look harmless and stupid. Not a tough feat when you’re scared out of your mind.

  “I’ve read nursery rhymes with more depth,” Kato confided.

  Kato and Crow had a laugh at my expense while I covertly untied my feet. And even though I knew he was on my side, what Kato said still hurt. He’s just acting—playing a part. But did he have to play it so well?

  Or maybe that was how he really felt. Even if he was on my side, Kato didn’t do pretty lies, just ugly truths. This wasn’t the first time he’d called me a useless princess either.

  Well, why should I care what he thought?

  I don’t. I’m not useless, and I’ll prove it by getting out of this mess all by myself.

  I rushed her, surprise on my side.

  Unfortunately, she had the crystal prism from the desk on hers.

  My head exploded into visions of twinkling stars, but I don’t think any of them would grant my wish. Blood poured off my forehead and into my eyes. The world was awash with red. Kato roared, going wild and breaking things. When the bottles of potions started hitting the invisible barrier, Black Crow freaked out.

  “My work!”

  For an alchemist and businesswoman, the loss of so much research and product drove the last bit of sanity away from Crow. She screamed a nonsense word, and the next potion didn’t stop—it sailed through the doorway.

  Directly at me.

  The green, liquid-filled orb broke against my skull.

  Nothing happened.

  I inhaled in a moment of cool relief. Then I burst into flame.

  “Power is a worm that crawls into your heart and eats away your soul. Finally, when there’s nothing left—that’s when the good part starts.”

  —Malevolent, Dungeon Confessions

  15

  A Case of Heartburn

  Starting at the point of impact, the fire devoured me, burning away my hair before traveling to the rest of my body. I felt a flash of intense searing pain before my nerves thankfully singed away.

  Black Crow backed away from my nightmare and covered her nose to escape the stench. Her back hit the dresser, bumping the mirror so that it tilted in such a way that I could see the fiery angel I had become.

  The angel’s arms—my arms—came up, and the fire shifted, burning white, then green. Where the green fire burned, the skin reknit itself. In moments, I was healed and renewed—like a phoenix rising from the ashes of my former self.

  That couldn’t possibly be me, could it?

  Girl of Emerald, no man can tame. Burn down the world, consumed by flames.

  Seeing part of the Emerald curse come to life should have scared me hexless. But I felt strong and powerful. Like I could take on the world. The feeling was intoxicating. I wanted more. I needed more.

  A brown blur streaked across the room, snapping me out of my trance and knocking me over. Kato’s tawny wings felt like ice as they covered me, smothering the flames. Continuing to pat me, he cried, “Dorthea, are you okay?”

  The euphoria of the intoxication was gone, and I felt frozen, physically trapped under the weight of the chimera. Mentally and emotionally, I seized up in shock. This was clearly another pixie dust–induced hallucination.

  “It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Black Crow looked at me like you might look at a three-eyed toad.

  That couldn’t be a good thing.

  “Take a look in the mirror.” Her earlier craziness completely gave way to her curiosity. Well, maybe that wasn’t true. She still looked utterly mad but m
ore like a mad scientist.

  I pushed Kato off me and walked to the mirror. Before looking in it, I glanced back at him. The look on his face was indecipherable, and I don’t think it was just the furriness obscuring his thoughts. I had the feeling that his human face would have been just as difficult to read. His overall body language looked wary.

  But of me or Black Crow?

  I didn’t want to look. I was afraid of what I would see. The girl of Emerald consumed by flames? A burned-black husk? Finally, I took a deep breath and stared in the mirror. My nose was no longer bleeding, swollen, or broken. All my earlier wounds were completely healed.

  And my hair was still on fire.

  Bright orange tendrils of flame weaved and swirled over my shoulders as if directed by the wind. The tips of my hair ended in emerald-green flickers.

  “Get it out! Get it out!” I screamed. I beat at my head to tamp out the flames. They didn’t go out, but they didn’t burn my palms either.

  “A living flame. I’ve only ever read about it in myths. I didn’t think it could actually be achieved,” Black Crow said with a tone of reverence.

  “Where’s a bucket of water?” I looked around frantically for the bathroom, ready to dunk my head in a toilet if I had to.

  Crow grabbed my wrist. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Living flame is life magic.” Taking her razor feather, she cut off one of the emerald sparks and stuffed it into the empty vial.

  “Hey! Give that back.” I tried to swipe the vial, but she danced away. “And what does that mean, anyway?”

  Kato spoke quietly. “The magic is tied to your life. Put simply, if those green flames die, so do you.”

  That little fact made me stop playing keep away and stare back into the mirror.

  Crow prattled on, examining the vial. Turning it this way and that. “Quite right. Glad one of you has a brain. I still don’t know how it was done though. The potion itself was a simple explosion hex, but I suppose when it mixed with the blood from your head wound… Well, look at the results. Do you understand what this means? How much money I could make using your blood with the rest of my potions?”

  Black Crow paced, going on and on about possible combinations, but I mostly tuned her out. I stood transfixed by what I saw in the mirror. There was no pain—I wasn’t getting burned. My fingers twirled the tendrils of flame unharmed.

  Was it permanent? Could I ever shower again? What if I got caught in a rainstorm?

  “—and maybe if Grizelda had given me a little bit of warning about your blood, I would have crafted the wishing star differently.”

  “You would have what?” My voice hardened, unrecognizable even to my own ears. The ends of my hair flared a brighter green.

  Black Crow blinked a few times, trying to adjust to my abrupt change in attitude. “The star. I would have made—”

  “You did this. You ruined my life. You made my parents disappear. You killed Verte.”

  “Now…I…d-d-don’t…think,” she stuttered, backing away from me.

  The living flame turned inward, burning away nearly all rational thought. It honed my pain, my focus, and my rage onto one central point: Black Crow.

  “Bring. Them. Back.”

  Crow’s eyes went impossibly wide and her mouth went slack. She looked like she had seen the devil, and maybe she had. Backing farther away, she offered more denials, but her excuses fell on deaf ears. I could only hear a little voice whispering to me in the back of my head. It no longer chirped like a cricket. Now it slithered through my consciousness like a snake.

  This woman has taken everything from you, just to make a quick buck. She deserves to pay. You could make her pay.

  Yeah, I should make her pay. But first she was going to tell me how to undo this spell.

  I sent my hands out to snatch her, but green flames burst from my palms instead. They slammed into Black Crow, knocking her into the potions case. All the remaining vials and bottles broke, spilling their contents onto her.

  She didn’t burst into flames like I had. Her skin turned a sallow yellow and bubbled, dripping like hot wax. One eye drooped down her cheek; the other pleaded with me. Her mouth tilted into a sickening mockery of a grin. Her limbs flattened and went boneless.

  Without a doubt, the most horrifying thing I had ever seen.

  And I had done it.

  My earlier rage was extinguished immediately, replaced with a shame deep enough to bury a giant. “Oh my Grimm. I’m… I didn’t…”

  Her hand stretched out to me, and I rushed to it. Before I had a chance to help her, she slashed across my palm with a razored feather. Blood flowed freely from the almost surgical slice. I sat motionless as she applied my blood to her melting skin.

  Within the room, the air changed. Something was happening but probably not what she wanted.

  The puddling stopped and her skin re-formed into a solid state. She got a little taller and stiffer, the surface of her skin taking a clothlike appearance. Her face looked flat, like someone had painted all her features on. Her limbs got bulbous and lumpy, as though they were stuffed with straw. When the magic finished with her, the only thing that remained was a scarecrow.

  The horror in front of me would not compute. I could have blamed a lot of things, but deep inside, I’d wanted this. Not this per se. But I’d needed Crow to pay, and she had. In full.

  Mentally, I added Verte’s and Black Crow’s names to the tally of things I had a hand in destroying.

  The list kept growing.

  Kato sat by the bed; he had been ever since putting out the fire, quietly watching the events unfold. He hadn’t reacted at all, and that just seemed wrong. Spell’s bells, he still wasn’t reacting at all to the fact that I had just changed a living being into a scarecrow.

  He calmly stood and padded to the door.

  “We can’t leave. We have to do something.” My voice cracked.

  “There’s nothing we can do for her. And she doesn’t deserve your pity. Don’t forget she tried to kill you and keep me for a pet.”

  “I don’t need the reminder, thanks.” Crow was in league with the wicked witch of the west, but right now, I felt like the bigger monster.

  “Maybe you do. Evil needs to be stopped, whatever the cost.”

  The crackle of shattering glass came from outside, and the floor shook from some sort of impact.

  “It’s time for us to go.” Kato turned again to leave.

  “I’m staying. Rexi might still be here somewhere. And maybe I can help—” That plan went out the window. Or rather out the roof.

  With a loud creaking sound, a large metallic gigan, with an equally large ax, sliced the roof off from the house. He peered down at us with empty black eyes and a nose that poked out crookedly, like the tip of an oilcan. Shiny, pieced-together tin plates made up the rest of his enormous body—including the hand that reaching down into the room.

  “Rule of Heroics: If you want to be remembered as a heroic ruler, face danger head on. If you wanted to be remembered as a wise ruler who lived a long life, face danger from a very safe distance.”

  —Thomason’s Tips for Ruthless Ruling

  16

  Who Needs Fairy Dust to Fly?

  “Run!” Kato roared over the shrill creaking of the gigan.

  Like I really needed that little piece of advice. I was already down the hall. “What the spell is that?” I shouted behind me.

  “My guess would be the Tinman.”

  We ran out the front door and headlong into a different giant monster.

  We were trapped. And I was out of ideas. “Glam it all. Isn’t this a tad bit of overkill?”

  “You wanted to know the plan, well, this is the plan,” Kato sniped at me, then yelled up to the huge creature. “Bobbledandrophous, can you carry both of us on your back?”

  The beast looked down in surprise. He was easily the size of the house, and now that I looked past the huge legs and really sharp talons, I could see that he bore a striking resemblanc
e to Kato: lion head, ram horns, dragon tail, and ginormous wings. Oh, fairy fudge. Had I turned Kato’s entire family into chimeras?

  His voice boomed. “My Lord? How did—”

  “Later. Escape now.”

  The beast lowered himself and allowed us to climb onto his back. “Yes, my lord. Is that little human yours as well?” The big chimera nodded to the side.

  The little human was Rexi, tied to the laundry line with hot-pink panty hose. Her eyes were closed, but she stirred a little, so at least she was alive. Of course, if she opened her eyes and saw a massive chimera and a metal giant about to step on her, she might have a heart attack.

  Tinman’s creaking was ear-shattering, worse than fingernails running down a cauldron. It made a great early warning system though. Bigger-version-of-Kato flapped his enormous black, feathery wings and took to the sky as the Tinman swung his ax in an attempt to bring us down.

  “No!” I shouted. “We have to get Rexi.” She wasn’t much, but with Verte gone, she was the only tie I had left to Emerald.

  A scream sounded from the ground below. Rexi was awake.

  “What would you have me do, Highness?” asked our ride.

  I started to reprimand the chimera when I realized that I was not the Highness the he was referring to.

  “We don’t have time for this, but leaving her here would give the Gray Witch the upper hand. Bank left and use the gigan’s higher center of gravity to knock him over. Then fly swiftly and snatch up the line.” Kato spoke with confidence and grace, giving directions with ease.

  I’d had my doubts about Kato’s claim to royalty—understandable given his earlier appearance, then kittenish nature after the change. That playfulness disappeared the more he grew, and there was no mistaking the air of authority he now wielded. Furry or not, he was a prince and not my pet.