Avery tapped her lower lip with the tines of her fork thoughtfully. “Pity.”
“Did you hear my question about resurrection?”
“What?” The moment she’d spoken the word, Avery remembered. “Oh. Truthfully? I’m not certain.” She took another bite, savored it, and continued. “It isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this be attempted, it’s just…had varying degrees of success.”
“How so?” Saga asked cautiously.
“Are you familiar with the legend of the vampire?”
“Yes?”
Avery met her gaze pointedly and took another bite of apple and pancake.
Saga’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“The last time I was around, London was dabbling with a rather macabre fascination with death, and it inevitably lent itself to a myriad of problems—vampiresbeing only one of them.”
Saga had to chew on this knowledge for a moment. Vampires had beensuch a staple of fiction in her life, yet Avery had actually met one—several even by the sound of it. “So… What are real vampires like?”
Avery stabbed a bite of pancake with her fork. “Hungry.”
The word sent an uncomfortably cold shiver down Saga’s spine. She pushed her food around a moment before her appetite declared itself gone and she set the plate down beside her. “What’s the likelihood of Eira being brought back as one?”
“I don’t know.” Another big bite. Avery’s appetite was rather impressive considering how the food she consumed didn’t appear to ever go anywhere. “The number of undead things she could come back as is a regrettably long list. There are liches and zombies and wights…”
“Oh my,” Saga whispered to herself.
“The likelihood of them resurrecting her to something trulyalive? Very slim. If they lack the understanding of the deeper workings of the fetch magic they’ve employed, I am not terribly confident in their skill to resurrect anything properly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Creating a fetch is creating something that mimics life. Like a mirror image. It looks like you, but all it can do is reflect you. It can’t interact with your reflection independent of you. Then again, as far as we know, they have Eira’s body and living tissue organs, so they might have a better chance than others.”
“But they don’t really have living tissue, do they?” doubted Saga. “I mean, notreally. Kidneys can only last about twenty-four hours on ice—hearts? They may be viable for six, maximum. Brain transplants are still a long way from being feasible, so as far as I know, the brain is pretty useless once it’s been removed from its original host.”
Avery shook her head as she finished her pancake, giving herself time to swallow. “You’re thinking within the bonds ofyourmagic.”
“I’m talking about medical science.”
“As I said,” Avery agreed. “Butfeymagic is different. If the organs were extracted from a living creature and kept in proper stasis and care, they remain living tissue.”
“So if someone is trying to genuinely resurrect her… What else do they need? Do they have to replaceallthe organs or…?”
“I believe it depends,” said Avery. “Though truth be told I’m not terribly well-versed on the matter. But I am hoping now that we have the why, we can better ascertain thewho. For instance, who stands to gain the most by bringing back Eira Goff?”
“Someone super screwed by the will, maybe?” Saga shrugged.
“To what end, though?” asked Avery. “To get her to change it?”
“Or gain access to something that only she could give them? People do crazy things for money.”
Avery leaned her head back on the tufted chair behind her. “We need to get a copy of that will.” She allowed her eyes to close for a moment. Her muscles visibly relaxed as she luxuriated against the cushion.
“Has the sleeping improved any?”
“Mm,” said Avery. “Ioccasionallysleep, so I suppose that would be an improvement.” Her eyes opened in thin slits and the corner of her mouth tugged at a smile. “Don’t be put under a sleeping curse, Saga, I just can’t recommend it.”
Saga smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How is adjusting otherwise?”
