Page 57 of Investigation of a Quest

“No,” Eamon said.

“Here.” Olivia shifted the terrier to the crook of her arm and brought the injured woman a drink.

“Thank you.” The witch downed the glass and then refocused on the dhampir hovering threateningly over her. “I think it’s best we start at the beginning.”

“So, start.” Eamon sat on the edge of the bed, and he didn’t miss how Cerberus crawled across the floor to lie on his feet.

“My name is Morana West, and I am the last surviving member of my coven,” she began, a subtle sorrow haunting her eyes. “There were two of us, but I’m all that’s left… A heavy price to pay for betrayal.” She fingered the empty cup, and it took long seconds before she could meet her audience’s gaze. “Centuries ago, our coven leader, Morrigan, became obsessed with the dark arts. We don’t know why, but her unhealthy curiosity transformed into a deadly obsession. Black magic consumed her, but she was a witch unmatched.

“She grew ravenous in her hunt for power. We tried to stop her, but our lives no longer mattered to her. We were either with her or dead, so we fell silent until we uncovered her plan. She wanted to bind a monster to her will and make it serve as her slave. We never learned who she’d set her sights on, but it didn’t matter. With her immense power and her obsession with black magic, even a shifter under her influence could usher in the apocalypse. My coven understood that if she succeeded, she would destroy the world, and we accepted the burden of stopping her. It was a bloody battle, and my entire coven sacrificed their lives to stop her. We couldn’t kill her. She was too strong, but we managed to bind her magic and trap her. Every witch died to see her defeated, save for Ruby East and me, and it became our sacred duty to ensure Morrigan never broke free.”

“Ruby East?” Griffin said. “She’s the woman whom the falling dollhouse crushed.”

“Yes.” Mourning filled West’s eyes. “Binding our leader came at a high cost, and since Ruby and I were the only survivors, the spell we unleashed stole our mortality. We’ve been alive for centuries to ensure our prisoner never escaped, so we took her far from civilization and built a tomb around her.”

“The yellow brick,” Olivia said.

“Yes,” West said. “Centuries ago, Mexico’s jungles were far from civilization, so we sealed her body there. The magic from our binding spell leaked into the stones, giving them that yellow hue, and for hundreds of years, her tomb crumbled into ruins in solitude. No one disturbed her resting place until those four hikers twenty years ago. I don’t know what those men did, but somehow, they unleashed her. Perhaps the ruins let her magic seep through the cracked bricks, and she corrupted them into releasing her. Ruby and I didn’t know what happened in that jungle. All we knew was that those men disappeared into the trees, and when they emerged, she was free.”

“That was two decades ago,” Ewan said. “Why are you only just looking for her now?”

“That’s how powerful she is,” West said. “Ruby and I spent every day since her escape searching for her, but we never found her. She vanished without a trace, but then we heard rumors of something taking up residence in Bajka. Something powerful, and we thought it was her.”

“There are rumors about me?” Eamon asked.

“There are whispers, in the way one warns about the boogeyman,” West said. “Don’t worry, you’re a well-kept secret. No one knows the truth, so we were certain it was Morrigan. It wasn’t until we arrived here that it became obvious the power signature wasn’t hers. Your presence is much darker and more brutal. It’s ancient and terrifying, even compared to us, so Ruby and I realized the rumors weren’t about our witch. But we knew she was here. If she reigned in her magic, your strength could hide her indefinitely, but hiding wasn’t her objective. She’d come here for you.”

“Morrigan plans to pick up where Alcina left off,” Eamon said, flinching even though he ordered himself not to. “She’s planning to curse me.”

Alcina Magus had been the most powerful being he’d encountered since he eradicated the vampires. She’d cursed him, trapping Bel as the sacrifice needed to seal her control over the dhampir. If she’d selected any other victim, her plan would’ve succeeded. Eamon would’ve been a slave to her dark whims, and she very well could’ve ended the world. But Bel had been the sacrifice, and even as strangers, he hadn’t been able to bleed her dry. Her power over him had saved them both, but a witch strong enough to annihilate her entire coven? A witch so evil that she’d been hidden from the world for most of his ancient life? The love of a mortal woman, even one born of true love, would be powerless to break her curse.

“Her coven turned on her and locked her in the ground for centuries,” West said. “She’ll want revenge, and she won’t stop with Ruby and me. She wants to burn the world for her pain, and a dhampir as her slave will make her a god. Killing the four hikers who released her and stealing their organs—sacrifices of black magic. She’s here to finish what she started. She’s here for you.”

“That’s why you were trying to warn him,” Ewan said when Eamon couldn’t open his mouth. Dread pooled in his gut at this knowledge. He’d been cursed by a powerful witch before. It was how he met the woman he loved with his entire being, and now she was missing. History was repeating itself, and he wanted to throw up. He was so used to being at the top of the food chain that learning a witch with the power to enslave him had kidnapped Bel darkened his vision. He was going to pass out.

“I’d never met a dhampir,” West continued as if Eamon wasn’t on the verge of having a stroke. “But I’ve heard the warnings. You never want to cross paths with one. You don’t make it out alive… ever. But I also know that if Morrigan sinks her claws into one, she’ll end the world. Black magic and a son of hell? I will fight to the death before I see that future, but we couldn’t approach you. We didn’t know you were so… reasonable. You aren’t the monster history painted you to be.”

“Oh, I am,” Eamon corrected. “I am exactly who history claims me to be.”

“You were,” Olivia interrupted. “You’ve changed. Even I can see that.”

“I’m only kind to you because Isobel loves you,” Eamon snapped.

“Stop lying to yourself,” Olivia snapped back. “Bel might be the reason you’re healing, but you aren’t that monster anymore.”

“Don’t put too much faith in me. I have not forgotten what I am.”

“We don’t want you to.” Olivia shifted the fully healed terrier to one arm so she could place her palm on Eamon’s shoulder. “We still need the devil. He’s the one who will get Bel back.”

“No,” West said. “That’s why we wanted to warn you. When we first arrived, we didn’t know how to approach you without inciting your wrath, but then we noticed the detective. As impossible as it is, you seem to have a bond with that human, so we attempted to warn her instead. We figured we could get closer to her than you, but it seems Morrigan spotted the same connection. She killed Ruby when she approached your detective.”

“The witch caused the dollhouse to fall?” Griffin asked, suddenly piecing the events together.

“Her first victim, yes,” West said. “We’d finally found her after twenty years, so she killed my sister for it. Now I’m without a coven to help me bind her. I tried warning your detective again, but you wouldn’t let me close. Then, when I came onto your property, you chased me off.” She swiped at the tears dripping down her cheeks. “Ruby and I spent centuries together, and now she’s gone. I’m alone, and the most powerful witch in history is after the greatest monster to walk this earth. And I tried—gods, how I tried to stop Morrigan. I would’ve died if you hadn’t given me that potion when you did. I tried to stop her from taking the detective. I came here last night hoping to speak to her. I sensed you weren’t with her, so I figured by the time you realized I was here, I would’ve already warned the human. But then she left her house. I don’t know why. She went into the woods without protection, and Morrigan came for her. I tried to stop her. I truly did, but she almost killed me.”

“Why did she take Emerson?” Griffin asked. “Bait for Mr. Stone?”

“The sacrifice,” Eamon and West said in unison.