Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“I’m so glad you came for me!” I nuzzled my cheek against him—as well as I could with the damn arm in the way. “He would have killed me otherwise!”
“I don’t think so—you nearly killed him yourself before I swung my axe,” he objected. “That’s some powerful magic you’ve got there, Babygirl.”
“I don’t even know what it is,” I admitted, looking down at the arm again. “It just happened when he tried to hurt me.”
“Looks to me like he did hurt you.” Tark frowned at my ripped blouse and the scratches on my shoulder and cheek. “I should have gotten to you sooner.”
“The fact that you were able to tell I was in trouble and come at all is amazing,” I told him. “I’ll heal—I just have to get this horrible arm off me!”
“I think maybe Madam Healer can help with that. Or if not, we’ll ask Goodie Albright. Somebody must have a spell or a potion that will do the trick. And look—here we are.”
He carried me outside as he talked and I saw a magic door, standing in the overgrown parking lot just outside the abandoned apartment building.
“Thank God!” I said fervently.
“No, thank the Goddess,” Tark corrected me. “It’s her power that makes Hidden Hollow and all the Creatures that live there possible. But we can talk about that later. For now, let’s get you out of here.”
And then, much to my relief, he carried me out of the Mortal Realm and back to Hidden Hollow.
16
HARMONY
“Well, I think we know what your magic is all about now,” Madam Healer said as she carefully poured the bright blue potion she’d concocted over the golden fingers locked around my neck.
“What?” I asked. I was feeling more than a little claustrophobic. I normally don’t even like to wear a choker necklace because it makes me feel like I can’t breathe and the golden monster fingers were squeezing me tight enough to make me really uncomfortable.
“Why, you’re an alchemist, my dear,” she said. “In the literal sense. You can turn base metals into gold.”
“But Mr. Price wasn’t made of metal,” I protested, frowning.
“Actually, if he really was a Soul Sucker, he might have been—at least in part,” she told me. “They’re a kind of demon—spawned in the deep, dark places of the Earth. They have no mother or father—they’re sentient rock that comes to life when evil touches it.” She shrugged. “So it seems logical to assume that your Mr. Price must have had a lot of iron ore in his make-up.”
“So…he was just a living demonic rock?” I asked doubtfully.
“Essentially.” She nodded. “That’s one reason you can’t reason or plead with a Sin Sucker—they have no soul and their hearts, if they have one, are as hard as…well, as a rock. That’s why they crave emotions.”
“Well the bastard certainly got plenty of my emotions in the time I was working for him,” I muttered. Then I had another thought. “So…do you think that was the real Mr. Price?”
“Almost certainly not,” Madam Healer said, shaking her head. “If I had to guess, I would say the real Mr. Price is dead and buried somewhere and has been for a long time.”
“Sin Suckers can mold themselves into any form they want,” Tark said.
“Yes, they can,” Madam Healer agreed. “He probably saw the real Mr. Price and realized he had power over others—which is the first ingredient in causing the formation of negative emotions.”
I tried to feel bad for the real Mr. Price…and couldn’t quite manage it. Nobody at work seemed to think that he had changed or was acting different in any way from the Sin Sucker that had taken his place, so it stood to reason that he’d probably been a piece of work too.
“I believe I have it softened enough now,” Madam Healer said. “Tark, could you please try bending the fingers away from Harmony’s neck?”
Tark did as she said and this time, much to my relief, he was able to open the long fingers enough to slip the hand from around my throat.
“Thank you!” I took a long, deep breath and then another. It felt so good to be able to do that again—and to have the heavy weight that had been resting on me for the past half-hour off my chest.
“You’re welcome, my dear.” Madam Healer smiled as Tark laid the golden arm down on the exam table beside me with a clunk. “And I’m glad you discovered your magic in time for it to save you.”
“I did, but what good is it?” I asked. “I mean, other than the obvious, I guess—turning any other kind of metal to gold.”
“Yes, you could be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, if you used your magic that way,” Madam Healer said thoughtfully. “Or you could turn your attention to other areas.”
“Other areas? What other areas?” I asked, frowning.