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The room in which he was standing was actually quite spacious and well furnished. I wanted to look around, to see if I could find Erin, but Dredge was focused on the view out the window, so I couldn't.
As I stared into the Seattle night I caught a glimpse of two important landmarks: one was a statue over on the docks that had recently been unveiled. Called The Deckhand, it was a tribute to all the dock workers who'd labored away on the ships that pulled into port. And the other landmark was the Sushirama, a restaurant Camille had been talking about that had recently opened down on the Pier. That meant Dredge was in one of the old warehouses on the other side of Alaskan Way, and if I didn't miss my guess, he was probably staying at the Halcyon, a hotel and nightclub combo owned by an Earthside Supe. I got the vague sense that, although the hotel catered to Supes, the owner didn't realize Dredge was a vampire from OW.
With one last look out the window to try and gauge the height from the street—probably third or fourth floor—I slipped out of his body.
I'm ready.
Jareth led me away. As soon as we'd retreated from Dredge's astral form, in a whoosh, we were back in the circle and I opened my eyes.
"I know where he is. Let's get this done so Camille and I can get home and take him out." I glanced over at her. I knew what she was thinking. "I didn't see Erin. I don't know where he's keeping her, but I do know where he is and it won't be hard to pinpoint the exact location." She nodded.
"To sever your connections with him, I need only one tool, along with your desire to be free." Jareth withdrew a crystal dagger from the folds of his robe.
I stared at the blade. Made of elaborately carved quartz, it was polished to a high sheen, with a sapphire cabochon embedded in the handle.
"Are you from the Tygerian Mountains? The Order of the Crystal Dagger?" If he was from the brotherhood of monks that guarded the Tygerian Well, no wonder he was so powerful.
Jareth inclined his head. "Several of the brotherhood have come to live in the City of Seers." His tone told me that we weren't going to get anything more out of him about that little fact. "I need you to remove your shirt." He paused, as if trying to figure out how to say something.
"Just tell me. Whatever it is, I can take it."
"Very well. The tip of my blade needs to enter your neck where the cord binds you to Dredge. The blade is sanctified. While it won't physically harm you because you're a vampire, it will negate cords that hold oath and bind."
"You carry a warlock blade?" Camille flinched. Warlocks—or oath breakers—were traitors… magicians of the worst kind. Over Earthside, they'd been bounty hunters who infiltrated villages during the dark ages, looking for midwives and witch-women, who they then turned over to the Inquisition. In Otherworld, warlocks were actual magicians who'd broken their pacts with the gods and had been cast out of their orders.
Jareth gave her a cold look. She shut up.
"I am no warlock. But I am authorized to break oaths forced upon others unwillingly, such as your sister, or oaths coerced through unfair means. And the ritual requires a warlock blade."
Camille hung her head. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize the significance. Please accept my apologies." She looked so repentant that I almost laughed. My sister seldom apologized, and it was obvious she felt like a heel.
"It's all good," Jareth said. "Let it be. Menolly, as I said, I have to insert the tip of the blade into your neck. I give you my word that I won't do you any more harm than necessary, but it will be painful. The severing of a vampire from her sire is one of the most drastic bond-breakings that can take place. The only thing it's on par with is being cast out by the gods, or being exiled from a magical order. You've been carrying the link for twelve years. I guarantee you'll notice the difference. Are you prepared for the change?"
I stared into his eyes. "The truth is I don't know what to expect, but I'm ready. Just get it over with. If I'm going to destroy Dredge, I have to sever the link. And I can't stand being chained to him another minute." I removed my shirt.
Jareth stared at me as my scars came into view.
Camille flinched. She always did when she saw my body, but now she knew exactly how I'd received them. I could read the anguish in her eyes. I gave her a thumbs-up and she forced a smile to her lips.
"Kneel in front of me by the crystal ball, and move your hair away from your neck. Bow your head so I can get a clear view." He skirted to my left, muttering a few words over the dagger.
I shook my braids out of the way and knelt on the marble, hanging my head. Scared out of my wits, there was a little part of me that was afraid that when the cord was severed, I'd go up in flames or poof into a thousand ash flecks. Stupid, but fear doesn't run on logic.
As Jareth continued to incant, the energy built like a cyclone around us, catching us in the eye of the twister. Jareth's voice rose. "Menolly D'Artigo, do you renounce your sire?"
"I do." The energy shifted counterclockwise—widdershins.
"Do you choose to walk an isolated path, cut off from the lineage you bear with Dredge, and with his own sire?"
"I do." The winds began to swirl against the turn of the sun and with every rotation, they wiped away a layer of the bond forged over the days and weeks and years I'd spent linked to Dredge. One by one, the connections began to unravel, to unknot, to unwind.>The rest of the room was empty, except for four podiums, one at each quarter of the circle, where pronged stands held gemstones as big as my fist. Camille's eyes went wide as she stared at the jewels. To the north was an emerald. To the east, a diamond. To the south—a ruby. And to the west, a sapphire.
I tapped her on the shoulder. "Your jewelry fetish is showing."
She flashed me a smile. "Amazing, aren't they? I didn't know some of those gem crystals could grow so big."
"They must be worth a fortune." I turned to Jareth. "How do you protect them from being stolen?"
Jareth stared at me, clearly amused. "Do you really think anybody could manage to not only infiltrate the City of Seers, but then get through our temple with all the wards and bindings? For one thing, we're outside of normal time. Within this space, we've entered a parallel realm and there's only one way in or out. The door through which you entered is only visible when we deem it so."
