“Do you know where Eve is today?” I asked. “We should go to her. She’ll be able to sort you out right away.”
“I think she’s at our guild tower.” Mac stumbled, gasping.
I gripped her tight to keep her upright and looked at her, worry pulling at me. She was paler than she had been, her eyes duller. “How do you feel?”
“Fine.” She gave a wan smile.
“Liar.” I helped her forward. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
We passed in front of fabulous shops with displays designed to catch the eye. Glittering dresses twirled in a popular Fae boutique, a ghostly ball that invited the shopper in. Knives and swords clashed in a weapons shop, a mock battle.
Passersby parted for us, concern flickering in their eyes as they looked at Mac. I glanced over at her frequently, my heart dropping a little more every time I saw her. We could go to hospital, but this was magic that plagued her.
Eve, our Fae friend, and potion master, would be our best bet for a diagnosis.
“Almost there,” I murmured, turning down the narrow alley that led toward the city wall that surrounded the ancient town. Its magic hid our town from humans.
We exited the alley onto an open square. On the other side, the wall loomed. A tall stone tower was built right into it, one of thirteen in Guild City. Each guild had been established by one of the main magical species that lived there: Vampires, Werewolves, Seers, Mages, among many more.
Our tower, however, was for the misfits.
The Shadow Guild took in those who fit nowhere else, and that included me. Members of other guilds lived in their towers, but we used ours for meeting space.
Together, Mac and I stumbled across the clearing toward the tall stone tower. The door was swung open to the cool autumn day, welcoming us in.
“Eve,” I shouted as we neared.
Glass windows twinkled in the sunlight, and I imagined her hurrying toward one and seeing us staggering toward the tower. Every footstep was slower than the last as Mac’s strength leeched out of her.
Eve appeared in the doorway. “Mac! Seraphia!”
Her hair was brilliant pink today and flew wildly around her head. Concern flashed in her green eyes, and she looked pale in her long black dress. Her Fae wings were hidden away by magic.
Beatrix, our new friend, appeared at her side. She wore insane neon green leggings and a black tank top, despite the chill in the air. Her dark hair gleamed like bird feathers.
The two of them raced toward us.
“Here,” Eve said.
She slipped an arm around Mac to help me support her, and the scent of lavender and the taste of honey wrapped around us. A supernatural’s magic was represented by signatures that corresponded to the five senses. The most powerful supernaturals had signatures linked to all five.
Beatrix’s signature, in contrast, felt like bubbly water on the skin and smelled of a fresh breeze. “What happened?” she asked, hovering anxiously in front of us.
“A curse of some kind, I think.”
“I’m fine,” Mac slurred. “Right as rain. Fit as a fiddle. All that malarkey.”
“You are not fine,” Eve said. “Come on, we’re getting you upstairs.”
The four of us squeezed through the front door and into the large main room. A fireplace flickered with warm flame, but we moved past it, headed toward the spiral stairs that led up to Eve’s workshop.
By the time we reached the top, Mac was nearly unconscious.
“She’s gone downhill so fast.” Fear beat frantically inside my chest as we laid her down on a padded bench against the wall.
The entire room was full of tables and shelves, each stuffed full of potion ingredients. Eve was in the process of moving her shop to the tower. Rent was free, and the space looked like an alchemist’s dream.
The large windows illuminated the space with bright light, and I crouched by Mac’s side, inspecting her pale face. Beatrix crowded next to me, testing Mac’s pulse at her wrist.
“What do you know about the curse?” Eve bustled toward the middle of the room, where a large table sat, covered with dozens of tiny instruments and potion bottles.
“Not much.” Guilt twisted at me. Did I admit it had come from a shadow that was following me? Did that matter? “A dark shadow has been lurking around the library.” That much was true. “Last week, a rat entered the shadow’s domain, breathing in the black mist that it emitted. I found it dead on the floor.”
Beatrix’s gaze flashed up to mine, her eyes stark. “Dead?”
I nodded. “I don’t think it was natural causes, either. The shadow manifests as a dark mist sometimes. And the magic is distinctly dark.”
Dark magic was devoid of goodness. It served only itself, an instrument of pain, destruction, and oppression. It was used for evil, selfish purposes. Whereas light magic was all that was good or even neutral in the world.
Eve nodded, mixing up potions in a small silver cauldron. “Well, Mac is bigger. That should help.”
“I don’t think she was there long. I found her pretty quickly and dragged her out.” I clutched her limp hand, fear twisting my insides.
“I think I can feel the dark magic on her,” Beatrix said. “Is that possible?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I feel it, too.”
Beatrix was a recent arrival in Guild City. Until a month ago, she’d been a raven. Or rather, she’d been a nearly dead human soul trapped in a raven’s body. Now, she was the new girl in town who was still learning the magical ropes.
Eve hurried over and knelt by us, a frown on her face. In one hand, she clutched two small vials containing colorful potions. With her free hand, she pressed her fingertips to Mac’s neck and waited a moment. “Pulse is steady. That’s a blessing.”
She raised one vial and uncorked it. “This should revive her enough that she can drink the potion that will diagnose her.”
Carefully, she held the vial toward Mac’s lips, tilting it so that a few droplets entered her mouth.
A moment later, Mac sputtered and sat upright.
I heaved a sigh of relief, even though I knew it wasn’t a cure. Just seeing her conscious relaxed the fist that gripped my heart.
Mac turned toward us, her complexion still pale and her eyes heavily shadowed. “What’s going on?”
“You’ve been cursed.” Eve raised the other vial, which glittered with green liquid. “This will help us figure out what it is.”
Mac nodded and took the vial, her hand trembling. She knew the drill, and knocked it back, drinking the entire thing in one gulp. For a moment, nothing happened. Then she shuddered and gasped.
Her eyes turned a brilliant purple and faint veins showed more brightly under her skin. They streaked across her flesh like violet lightning, and Eve winced.
“What is it?” Mac demanded.
My heart thundered with guilt and fear as I looked between Mac and Eve, my breath held.
“I don’t know, exactly.” Eve raised a hand slowly, hovering it in front of Mac’s cheek. Mac nodded, and Eve touched one of the streaks of purple lightning that was beginning to fade. “The potion has revealed dark magic of some kind. Something hellish, I think. Demon magic, maybe an underworld. It’s spreading quickly.”
“Quickly?” I asked. “How quickly? Is it deadly?”