Innocent Blood

Five

Salix

    Adrenaline pumping, Salix hopped on his motorcycle and sped back to the hotel. Having come face to face with the blood mage had been enough excitement for one day. Whatever he was expecting out of the encounter didn’t even come close to the reality of what happened. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. The other two humans seemed to possess some magical abilities themselves. The oldest looked somewhat familiar, like he’d seen her somewhere else. He couldn’t place her. The protection circle she had laid down was more potent than even the one he used to harness the Rakshasa.

    He hoped that he’d piqued the young witch’s curiosity enough to have her come willingly. He paced from the door to the bed and back again and ignored the urge to wait at the door to see if she was coming to him. He didn’t have long to wait before someone banged loudly on the door, shaking the generic wall decor nearly off the wall. He checked the peep hole and, sure enough, it was the blond witch. She was alone. He smiled.

    She was short, falling below the level of the hole, but the expression on her face and her crossed arms made him second guess this plan. By the looks of it, he’d poked a hornet’s nest.

    He opened the door. “Please, come in.” His voice quavered a little and he hoped that she didn’t notice.

    She entered and scanned the room with her deep chocolate eyes before turning to him. “Are you going to tell me what the hell this is?”

    “Like I said, I think we can help each other.” He closed the door behind her.

    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How do you know about me?” Her voice echoed off the hotel walls and hurt his ears.

    “I know someone who needs the services of a Blood Mage and I was asked to find one. You.”

    “And who are you?”

    This human was intense. Her anger rolled off her in waves. Beneath her aura of rage bubbled untapped power; the air in the room seemed to vibrate with its mere presence. He’d need to be cautious. “Please, sit. I’ll explain everything.”

    “I’ll stand. Talk.” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.

    “Okay, like I said, I know someone who needs the help of a blood mage. It wasn’t hard to track your magic to find you.”

    “You still haven’t told me who—or what—you are.”

    “My name is Salix. I am a dryad, a tree nymph.”

    “That’s bull. Nymphs are females, never heard of a male nymph. What are you really?” Her speech grew louder, and she tapped her foot on the floor, her shoe making a dull thumping noise against the carpet.

    “Typical human, you don’t know about something so it must not exist. For a witch, you aren’t as different from the others as I’d hoped. You’re partially correct. Most nymphs are females. In my clan, a male is born every few generations. That’s me.” Salix focused on keeping his voice even and low. Arrogant humans just rubbed him the wrong way. Time to change the subject. “I didn’t catch your name before?”

    “Holly.” Her response was curt. “So, let me get this straight: You show up out of the blue, and want me to help your friend? Why in the seven hells would I do that?”

    “I said we could be mutually beneficial to each other. I noticed earlier that you have a furry companion who seems to be quite bonded to you. It also felt a bit angry. Restless, maybe? Whatever the case may be, that is one unhappy spirit.” For the first time in the conversation, she looked away and he thought he saw her cheeks flush.

    “You can,” she paused. “see him?” Salix nodded. “And what would you know about helping him?” she asked. Her stance relaxed ever so slightly.

    “Of course I can see him. I’m a child of the Earth, we’re so much more connected than you humans are.” Holly remained silent for a few moments and fidgeted with the rings on her fingers.

    “So, you can help us? You can set him free and let his spirit move on?”

    “Yes.” His voice fell flat. He had no idea how to help her cat, but her cooperation was essential to gaining his own freedom.

    “Okay. Who is your friend and what does he need?” Holly’s emotional aura had calmed down a bit while they talked. Now that he wasn’t worried about her casting some sort of magic on him, he was able to really look at her. She was pretty—for a human. Her dark brown eyes were kind and caring. Her short frame carried some womanly curves that his sisters would be jealous of. Dryad females tended to be on the lean side, taking traits off their associated tree. The satyrs, however, often chose those who had more curves than the others. The witch was dressed in a tank top and tight, black, spandex pants. What caught his eye was a crystal pendant she wore on a bracelet. It was suspicious; he guessed that it’d been enchanted in some way.

    “My friend’s name is Quasim. He never did tell me why he needed your specialty, but he lives on another plane. I’ll summon him when you’re ready to talk with him.”

    Her eyebrows shot up and she looked at him, puzzled. “So, you went through all the trouble of finding me and you don’t even know why?”

    “I owe him a favor. He helped me out of a pretty bad situation so it was the least I could do.” This, at least, was mostly true.

    “You said that you’d been waiting for a blood mage. Why me? There are so many others who have more power than I do.  And he lives on another plane? What sort of friend is this?” She walked over to the window and back to the door again, her face lined with doubt. “No, this isn’t right. I can’t help you, sorry.”

    “Look, you have time to think, I—”

    “If we have so much time, why can’t you help me with my situation first? Then I’d know I can trust you because, right now, I’m not too sure I can trust a word you say. You have no idea the trouble you just made for me. Not to mention the fact that you have surprisingly little detail on anything. I’m just supposed to go along with a supposed dryad who shows up out of nowhere? No thanks.”

    Salix said nothing. Instead, he stood from the chair and walked toward her. She didn’t back up an inch as he got in her personal space, she pulled her shoulders back and craned her neck up to continue looking at him. He grabbed her wrist and turned her woven bracelet until the crystal was on top. “Since you don’t seem to be affected by my natural charms anymore, I am going to assume that you are a capable witch who can care for herself.” Holding her wrist created a sensation that he couldn’t place. A warmth spread up his hand and through his arm from her body. It wasn’t painful, not quite pleasant either. Somewhere in the recesses of his memory, the feeling sparked a familiar, comforting emotion. It wouldn’t come to the forefront of his consciousness.

    She yanked her wrist out of his hand, breaking the warm feeling. “Do not come near me again and leave my family alone.” Her voice was low and threatening. Holly opened the hotel door and left.

    “You haven’t exactly been able to break that bond yourself, have you? You might want to reconsider your decision. I’ll be here until the next full moon,” he called after her as she stalked down the corridor. He hoped he was right about the cat. The bonding spell binding it to Holly was clearly present. What he didn’t understand was all the magical restraints placed upon it, too. For the cat to be bound to her and restrained, something didn’t add up. He’d had little experience with witches or with humans in general so he could only guess her motives. She obviously wanted the cat gone. From what he’d observed in the shop the cat was also agitated by the circumstance, whatever it may be. Hopefully that would be his ticket to getting her to the Rakshasa.