“Lia didn’t have enough power on her own to get the job done, so she needed mine to complete the spell…of course that definitely would have killed me. So this time, I’m all for finding the most powerful objects we can, just to make sure no one has to die. Except maybe Hudson, but I’m okay with that.”
“I’m fine doing it Lia’s way,” Hudson interjects. He’s back to lounging indolently against a wall near the bars.
“That is shocking,” I agree, then get mad at myself for answering him, giving him the attention he obviously wants. Especially since he’s now got a ridiculously smug look on his face.
“Yeah, well, Lia was totally unreasonable when it came to Hudson, even when he was alive,” Jaxon mutters. It takes me a moment to figure out what he’s talking about, but then I realize he thinks my last comment was to him. “But she knew how to do her research. The full spell calls for at least four powerful items.”
Four items. That doesn’t sound so bad.
The Bloodletter adds, “Well, four to bring him back as he was, a vampire. Five if you want to bring him back as a human, stripped of his powers.”
Even better. “So how do we get all five?” I ask.
“Wait a minute!” Hudson is up and pacing again, indolence replaced by a quiet kind of desperation. “You don’t need five to get me out of here. You only need four.”
Maybe, but five will make sure you never hurt anyone again, and right now, that sounds pretty good to me.
“You don’t get to make that choice!” Hudson tells me.
Considering you just used your powers to attack my boyfriend and you’re in my head…yeah, Hudson, I’m pretty sure I do.
But I am curious. “Why five items to bring him back human but only four to bring him back?”
The Bloodletter narrows her eyes on me, clearly not enjoying being questioned.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” I tack on nervously.
Which must do the trick, because she answers. “To strip a paranormal of their powers requires the magical consent of all five ruling factions, by covenant. But simply bringing him back as a vampire, since he’s already crossed into the mortal coil again, requires only power. Enormous power. And that power can be found in magical objects.”
Jaxon nods. “Every faction has magical objects that hold the most power, so we’ll need at least four from the different factions to have enough power.” But then his eyebrows shoot up, and he pivots to the Bloodletter. “Wait. How can we have an item from all five factions if Grace is the only gargoyle in existence?”
As though she’d been expecting this question, she continues. “The four items needed to bring him back are the eyetooth of an alpha werewolf. The moonstone from a powerful warlock. The bloodstone from a born vampire. And the full bone of a dragon. Which combined should have enough power.” The Bloodletter’s eyes take on that eerie electric-green glow as she mentions the last item we need. “But you’ll need the heartstone a mythical Unkillable Beast protects to have enough power to break the covenant and strip Hudson of his powers.”
Jaxon doesn’t seem to notice the change in his mentor. “We can get some of the items at school,” he insists. “A couple of the other ones we’ll have to travel to find, though.”
“And I can ensure the bloodstone comes to you,” the Bloodletter promises.
“How are you going to do that?” Jaxon turns to her and asks. “Bloodstones are incredibly rare.”
The Bloodletter shrugs. “People owe me favors.”
“That’s not an answer,” Jaxon insists. Her only response is an attempt to stare him down, holding his gaze with the green ice of hers. Somehow, Jaxon doesn’t flinch under her glacial stare.
“Looks like they’re going to be at that for a while,” Hudson says with an exaggerated eye roll. “I say we make a break for it.”
“Yes, because the only thing worse than having you trapped in my head is having you trapped in my head while I wander the Alaskan wilderness, freezing and alone.” The thanks but no thanks is implied.
“No pain, no gain.” He chuckles.
“Easy for you to say when you’ll be getting all the gain and none of the pain.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” There’s an inflection in his voice that has me wondering what’s up. But when I glance back at him, his face is as blank as the snow Jaxon and I traversed to get here.
Still, Hudson has a point about what looks to be turning into the world’s longest staring contest between the world’s two most stubborn people. If I don’t break it up soon, I’m pretty sure we’ll be here all night.