Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“What is it?” Pell is very growly now.
“It’s Tarq’s book of spells.”
“The one from Ostanes?” There is a lift in my voice. It’s a lift of hope.
Tomas brings the book over to me and I sit up on the couch to take it and place it in my lap. “Find something to fix this, Pie. That’s what this book is for, right? It’s got all the magic and all the answers, doesn’t it?”
My eyes drift down to my lap. Yet another book we never even looked at. Things were so weird after the wood nymphs came. Things were normal, but they weren’t. And I didn’t want to spend another moment thinking about anything more magical than spelling up shampoo that smelled like flowers and making love and fireflies with Pell in the forest.
I often questioned Pell about his deliberate forgetting.
Maybe it wasn’t so deliberate.
Or maybe it wasn’t forgetting? Maybe it was just lack of interest?
“Well? Are you going to read it?”
I look up at Pell and nod. “I figure we should probably read all of them before we make any more stupid decisions.” Then I open the book and read the first page. “‘How to Kill Gods.’” I glance at the recipe for this spelling and frown.
“Why are you frowning?” Pell asks.
“Because it says… bloodhorn and dragon scale.” I look up at Pell. “That’s the same shit for walking through doors.”
“And banishing,” Pell adds.
I make a face. “Yeah.”
Tomas taps the book. “What’s the next one say?”
I flip the page. “‘How to Break Curses.’” Then I scoff. “Bloodhorn and dragon scale.” I flip the page again. “‘How to Start Over.’ Bloodhorn and dragon scale.” Flip another. “‘How to End an Era—’”
“Let me guess,” Pell growls. “Bloodhorn and dragon scale.”
I look up at him. “What’s it mean?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Tomas lets out a long breath and resumes pacing the apothecary. “It means it’s all worthless, that’s what it means.”
“No.” Pell is shaking his head. “It’s not worthless. We used this spelling twice and it worked both times. It’s Pie.”
“What’s Pie?” I ask.
“The magic. You’re the difference in the spells. You. Your words.”
“Hmm.” Tomas considers this. “You could be right.”
“So we can… just… do anything? As long as we have these three things? I’m not so sure. Pressia’s riddle was pretty specific. We lost.”
“It doesn’t say that.” It’s so unlike Pell to be such an optimist. But I won’t complain.
“Listen, Pressia says she stole the spells. Look, there are no words. There’s no spelling, only ingredients. She. Stole. The spells.”
“But she also said she saved them for us,” Tomas offers.
“Yeah. But then she says, ‘They bring the end.’ That’s all that’s gonna happen here, guys. It’s over. She made it very clear. ‘The cost is high.’ ‘Make it crash.’ No matter what we do, we lose.”
“So what’s the point of doing anything?” Tomas asks.
I just shrug. “There is no point.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – PELL
“‘Fix the past.’”
“What?” Tomas looks at me. “What are you blabbering on about?”
“That’s what she said. ‘I put you here to fix the past, but every choice will make it crash.’ That’s why we’re losing. We’re supposed to ruin it, you guys. That’s our fate.”
Tomas straightens up and a little smoke comes off his body. “That’s fucking stupid. I’m tired of losing! What’s the point of losing? No one wants to lose!”
Pie says, “You’re looking at it the wrong way, Tomas.”
“Am I?” He’s worked up. His tone is… slightly threatening, which is out of character when he’s talking to Pie. “Am I getting worked up?”
“Just listen,” she says, putting up a hand. “A hero has to make a sacrifice.”
“I’m not a hero! I’m the antithesis of a hero! I’m just a fuckin’ dragon who wants a family!”
“Well, I’m sorry to break it to you”—and now Pie is getting heated too—“but you are the fuckin’ hero. Whether you want to be or not. Because you’re in the room, and you’re part of the spell, and… and… that’s enough. OK? That’s enough to secure your place in history as the fuckin’ hero!”
Tomas leans back a little, stunned by Pie’s outrage. Then he sighs and pulls himself up to sit on the closest alchemy bench. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“None of us do, Tomas.” My voice is surprisingly gentle. He’s been through a lot. And while we’ve all had a tragic day, he lost the only thing he ever wanted. A family. And meanwhile, Pie and I still have each other. “And maybe we’re just destined to lose, but what else is there to do but go face the eros and finish it?”
“What are we gonna do?” Tomas asks. “Kill him?”
“That’s one option, I guess.”
“No,” Pie says. She has picked up the first book of Pressia’s and has paged forward. “It’s not. Look, there was more. We only read the end of the spelling. There was another page before it. There’s so much more, you guys. Listen.”