“Fuck you!” Hudson snarls, and he sounds like a totally different person—one more than capable of doing all the terrible things Jaxon once told me he did. “You don’t know anything about me!”
I don’t repeat what he said to Jaxon. In fact, after what he just used me to do, I refuse to acknowledge him at all.
“How did he get through the cage?” Jaxon demands as he turns on the Bloodletter. “You said we had to put Grace in the cage to neutralize his powers. How did he get through?”
“I’m not sure, though I would imagine it has something to do with the mating bond. Even magic this strong”—she gestures to the bars between us—“can’t neutralize the bond completely. He must have found a way to use it to reach you.”
“But walling him up will stop him, right? He’ll never be able to hurt Jaxon like that again?” I choke out the words.
“It will stop him,” the Bloodletter answers. “For at least a week, maybe even two. Hopefully it will be long enough for you to do what needs to be done to banish him completely.”
“Don’t do it, Grace,” Hudson tells me. “You can’t trust her.”
Maybe not, but I can’t trust you, either, so I’m going to go with the person who can help me the most.
“This is not how things were supposed to happen.” He shakes his head. “Why won’t you trust me?”
Maybe because you’re a raging psychopath, and I am tired of doing your bidding.
I turn to the Bloodletter. “I’m ready. Show me how to build the wall.”
35
I’m Going to Wash
That Psychopath
Right Out of
My Hair
The Bloodletter assesses me for several seconds before she answers. “Every single paranormal finds a different way to build a shield inside them. They do what feels natural—what feels right—to them as they explore and grow into their powers.
“At a different time, that’s how you would learn to build your wall. As a shield to keep your powers from adversely affecting the people around you.”
“But I don’t have any powers,” I tell her, more than a little confused. “I mean, except the ability to turn to stone. I’m still skeptical on the flying part.”
She smiles a little at that and shakes her head. “You have more power than you know, Grace. You just have to find it.”
I have no idea what that means, but at this point, I’m willing to try anything. Especially if it means Hudson can’t hurt Jaxon again—or anyone else. “Is that how I build the wall or the shield or whatever you want to call it? By channeling my power?”
“Not this time. Because you’re not trying to keep your powers in. You’re trying to separate yourself and your powers from Hudson and his powers. So while we would normally be talking about a shield, right now, we have to talk about a wall.”
“Inside me.”
“Yes. It won’t last forever—as you just saw, Hudson’s power is too great to be contained for long, and eventually he will break the wall down. But hopefully we’ll be able to buy you some time before that happens. Maybe a week or two, I’d guess.”
I look from her to Jaxon. “Time to do what?”
Now Jaxon is the one who answers. “Time to get what we need to perform the spell that will get Hudson out of you once and for all.”
“There’s a spell for that?” Relief swamps me, and I sink back onto the edge of the bed. “Well, why don’t we just do it right now?”
“Eager much?” Hudson drolls.
Once again, I ignore him. He’s not worth talking to, especially not after the shit he just pulled.
“Because, like all magic, it has a price,” the Bloodletter tells me. “And that price includes certain accoutrements that you don’t have yet.”
“What kind of accoutrements are we talking about here?” I ask as I picture eye of newt and wing of bat and God only knows what else. Then again, before Katmere Academy, most of my knowledge about witches came from Hocus Pocus and Charmed, so maybe I don’t have the clearest picture of it all. “And where do we get them?”
“When you were…gone, and I was looking for a way to help you, I found the spell Lia used to bring Hudson back,” Jaxon says. “She had the items she needed, but they didn’t hold as much power as she needed them to. Plus, she had to bring him back from the dead and not just re-form him from fading, which is all we’ve got to do.