A Rip of Realms (A Shade of Vampire #39)(18)

I glanced over at Ruby, who smiled reassuringly and sat down on the other side of Abelle.

“This all looks amazing.” Ruby picked up one of the bottles, holding it up to the fire that was blazing in the hearth. “What is this?”

Abelle glanced over. “Oh, that’s Surdi Ossa. You don’t want to touch that. It confuses the senses, hearing in particular…it’s not nice.” Ruby hastily placed the bottle back down, and shoved her hands under her thighs.

Abelle started opening more bottles and jars, dumping their contents into a small iron pot. It wasn’t a million miles away from what I’d seen Corrine do, and the familiarity of her actions encouraged me to take a seat next to the woman.

“Are you a…witch, Abelle?” I asked, stumbling over my words, worried that I might offend the woman.

“Oh, no, there’s no such thing here, dear,” she replied in an off-hand manner.

I shot Ruby a meaningful look, but she just shrugged. I presumed she’d had a similar conversation with the woman before, as Abelle’s answer didn’t seem to come as a surprise.

“Right. But you do, err, magic?”

Abelle laughed loudly. “Nonsense! I just work with herbs, with nature, I suppose, to make remedies.”

Right.

She seemed to be witch-like to me, but maybe Nevertide didn’t really have a concept of magic—Tejus had thought that vampires were mythical creatures, and clearly this was a dimension that hadn’t been exposed to this species.

“So, what is this?” I asked, moving back to the concoction that Abelle was creating.

“This is something that will dull the hunger—but I’m afraid it will dull everything else too, all the power you may be experiencing in your sentry form. But after a while, once you learn to control the hunger, you can take less and less of this.”

I nodded, thinking that I didn’t mind the exchange too much. Better that I could be around my family and friends without wanting to suck them dry, than remain a liability with powers that I still didn’t know how to use.

“How will she learn to control the hunger?” Ruby asked.

“It will just come with time—time and repression of your instincts. Most sentries feel the hunger, especially around humans; it’s such a pure form of mental power that it’s hard to resist…but we manage, and we learn over time to keep it under control.”

This was sounding more and more like vampirism; perhaps my condition wouldn’t be too hard to deal with. I supposed it was somewhat similar to the future that I’d envisioned for myself anyway…just in a different form. I started thinking about Tejus. How hard it would have been for him not to syphon off me all those times we were together, especially in the beginning. How, for the most part, he did it gently, rarely causing me any pain. I had a lot to thank him for.

“It’s almost ready,” Abelle announced. “I just need to boil it for a short while.”

Picking up the pot, she placed it on the side of the fire. Flames snaked up the side of the iron. Ruby shuddered.

“Bringing back memories?” I asked her quietly, observing her reaction to the flames.

“Yeah. Being in that castle—it just felt so claustrophobic, like we’d never get out…and then when Benedict rushed back toward it…” She shook her head. “It was horrible.”

“You know, I have memory herbs. They can help you forget unpleasant things—things you’d rather not remember?” Abelle suggested. I hadn’t thought that she was listening, and her offer took me by surprise.

“No,” Ruby replied hastily. “I’m okay to remember it. I’ll probably just become a fire alarm Nazi or something—it’s a good lesson.”

“Suit yourself,” Abelle replied. “Just remember the offer is always here.”

“Thanks,” replied Ruby, sounding like she wasn’t sure she meant it.

“The elixir’s ready!” Abelle took the pot off the fire and started pouring it into yet another glass bottle. Its liquid was a dark, sludgy brown—not the most appetizing thing I’d ever seen. Abelle held it out to me.

“Just one sip, twice a day,” she instructed, smiling at me.

“Okay, thanks.”

I took the bottle. The liquid was still warm, and I clutched it in my fist, hesitating before drinking it. Something was holding me back—I didn’t know if it was because I wasn’t that well acquainted with Abelle, or that the loss of power she warned of was more troubling to me than I had first assumed, but something just didn’t feel quite right.

“It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks,” Abelle said, observing my reluctance with a small smile.

“Maybe think about hugging Benedict? Or you know, someone else?” Ruby added with a wink.

I rolled my eyes at her, but her comments had the desired effect. I removed the lid and held the bottle to my lips. On the count of three, I took a small sip of the foul-smelling stuff.

“Ugh!”

It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks? She had to be kidding me.

“Sorry.” Abelle shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d do it otherwise.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I muttered. It tasted like soil and boiled cabbage. I was sorely regretting my decision when I started to feel the potion taking effect. A warmth spread across my body, and the hunger that had been my constant companion over the past few days—with the exception of when I’d syphoned off the minister—started to vanish. I sighed with contentment.