Alexei considers this with a tilt of his head, then nods. “I believe so, yes. What I didn’t know when I performed the spell was that Roanac had already imbibed dark magic. He had strengthened himself with unholy spells. It made my spell more powerful, but it also twisted it. He’s invincible except for that weakness.”
He looks me directly in the eye. “And if he does indeed get your blood, if you really are pureblood fae from the ancients—then he will be unstoppable. There is more power in your blood than you can possibly know.”
“Are fae really that powerful?”
Alexei gives me a small smile. “Yes.”
He sighs and stands up, crossing to the fire. He crouches down and rubs his hands over it. It’s hard to remember that this cozy home isn’t real. That we’re in a cold, unhappy hovel. I guess that’s the kind of power you wield as a mage, to make people believe these things. I like being a fae instead. Everything about me is real. Even if it’s inconvenient at times.
“Why are you telling us all this?” I ask.
“Well, you are rather powerful, I don’t know if you noticed that altercation in the street back there.”
“That’s because you gave up,” I point out. I get to my feet. “If you were powerful enough to do this to Roanac, and help him, then you’re powerful enough to stop us in a fight. You just stopped fighting. Why?”
“How do we know you aren’t playing nice to get information on us and give us up to Roanac the second we leave?” North adds, a growl entering his voice.
Alexei gives us a look that I know well. It’s the kind of look adults give kids who don’t know what they’re talking about, that kind ofsomeday you’ll understandlook that drives me nuts.
“I can assure you, Roanac will get nothing from me.”
Alexei sticks his hand into the fire and draws out a vial that was apparently hidden inside. That’s clever, I have to admit. I never would think to look for something valuable like that in a raging fire.
“I have to atone for what I’ve done, and I have to make sure that Roanac can’t use me for more of his nefarious ends,” Alexei explains. “Go for the scar on his chest. It’s the only way to defeat him. And whatever you do, don’t let him get a hold of your blood. Or it’ll be doom for everyone.”
“And how do we know that you won’t rat us out the moment we leave?” North asks. “You could’ve played at being easy to beat and played at giving up so that you could get information out of us and tell Roanac.”
“Oh, trust me.” Alexei gives an odd smile. “He’s never going to get anything out of me ever again.”
He opens the vial and pours it down his throat, and that’s when I realize, like an idiot, that there’s something afoot.
Stupid, stupid! I should’ve known that vial was going to be used for something! But I never thought he would use it on himself!
Alexei makes a strangled noise. His eyes go wide. I jump to my feet, my heart pounding, my instinct to help someone in distress, that natural human feeling of compassion, overriding everything else.
“What are you doing?” I grab him by the shoulders. “What was that?”
“I shouldn’t have lived even this long after what I’ve enabled,” Alexei whispers. “I never knew what I was holding out for, but now I know, it was this. I’ve told you how to defeat him. I did what I needed to.”
He grabs onto me. His voice is choked and his skin is slowly turning purple. It’s horrifying. “Take down Roanac. Right the wrong that I started.”
“I will,” I promise him. “I will but you don’t have to die, what did you take, let us help you—”
It’s too late. Alexei falls to the ground.
Around us, the illusion slowly fades. First the dog, then the bookshelves, the couch, the stairs, until bit by bit it’s all gone.
We’re just in the hovel, with the small fire still crackling in the hearth.
North gets down on his knees and puts two fingers to Alexei’s neck, then does the same thing to Alexei’s inner wrist. He puts his nose up against the man’s neck and sniffs him, then grimaces and stands up.
“Dead. I think poison.” He looks at Cain.
Cain nods and then goes over to do his own examination. “Magical poison, yeah, fast-acting, induces a heart attack. Pretty painless, all things considered.”
I feel a little sick. It didn’t look painless. “Why would he do that to himself?”
Sure, he was living in a hovel, but he could’ve moved into any one of those empty houses. He could’ve lived a better life. Yet he was punishing himself. And then he killed himself.