Page 91 of Shadow's End

She hesitated.I can only sense the one, but that is not a guarantee there is not another. The Fenna do imply there is more than one.

I wearily rubbed my eyes. This wasn’t what I needed right now, especially given our plans for tonight.Okay, I’ll head up there now.

Thank you.

Her thread unwound from my wrist and floated away. I glanced around, looking for a thread from the older wellspring, but there was nothing. Maybe they simply didn’t want me questioning them any more than necessary, and that thought only had the doubts ramping up.

It’s better to take the chance than notcame Belle’s thought.In the end, whatever else they’re up to, they need you to survive so that your daughter can become one of them.

If stepping into Katie’s spring affects me as badly as stepping into the main wellspring did, I’m not going to be in any fit state to help tonight.

“We’ve got four witches, a telepath, and a werewolf,” she replied, coming back out the door with a small chiller bag and my backpack. “If all of us can’t cope with a solitary vamp, then this reservation is doomed.”

I accepted the bags and tossed them both onto the front seat. “Given what Katie just said, it might not be just the one vamp.”

“If either of them are conjuring the mother of all supernatural nasties, then they’re not going to waste them against us.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Even as you fear I’m not.”

Her voice was dry, and I smiled. “Just remember that Maelle seems to be following our every move with unnerving ease, so it’salways possible she’ll send something nasty up to the meeting point to kill whoever Marie sends.”

“Then we will need to be well prepared.” She motioned toward the front seat. “Make sure you drink the revitalization and strength potions I made.”

“Potions? Plural?”

She smiled. “One for before the hike up Katie’s mountain; one for after the immersion.”

I groaned. “Seriously? Two in one day is just cruel.”

She laughed. “You’ll be thanking me if you come out of the wellspring in a less than pristine state. I’ve added a few special herbs.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s sounds ominous. Maybe even illegal.”

She laughed. “If this meeting goes like every other one you’ve had with Katie, you’ll somehow lose time, so it might be an idea if we simply meet you at Muckleford.”

“Hopefully I won’t be that late, but…” I hesitated, wanting to ask them to wait for me but also knowing how important it was that we gained whatever information we could from this Hank.

“We’ll be fine,” Belle said gently. “If it’s a trap, well, we’ll deal with it. You’d better get going, before the older wellspring starts getting shitty with you again.”

“I’ve a feeling shitty will be the defining word of our relationship over the next sixteen or so years.”

Belle grinned. “Well, they signed you up as caretaker until your daughter is old enough; now they have to suffer the consequences.”

I laughed, jumped into the SUV, then reversed out and headed toward the wellspring. The roads were reasonably clear, but smoke filled the air, cutting visibility down. Right now, the wind wasn’t strong, and I couldn’t help but hope it remained that way. The last thing we needed was the wind changingand Castle Rock coming under threat … although it was always possible that, if this fire had been deliberately lit by our vamps, that might be their intent. After all, if the town was evacuated, then we’d lose the one place we were generally safe from their attacks. Fireballs aside, of course.

When I reached the parking area at the start of the track up to Katie’s wellspring, I gulped down the first of Belle’s potions, then washed the foul taste away with a bit of water. After locking the SUV, I grabbed the backpack—mainly so I could throw the second potion, a bottle of water, and my keys into it—then headed up the mountain. Smoke tainted the air, scratching lightly at my throat, and the day was still but not quiet. The waves of noise coming from the cicadas just about drowned out all other sounds, but in this heat, it wasn’t like there’d be much moving about anyway. Even the snakes would have found somewhere sunny to bask rather than moving about in the shadows haunting the tree-lined path.

I was about halfway there when the wellspring’s luminous threads appeared. Their gentle song surrounded me, creating a harmonious wall that at least went some way to muting the wretched cicada song.

The clearing, while not large, was noticeably cooler than the rest of the forest, despite the fact a good percentage of it was baked in sunshine. It was also strewn with rocks due to the distant landslip that had taken out a good portion of the cliff directly opposite. At the base of the slip was an ankle-deep rock well. The water bubbling up from a seam near the cliff’s base lapped over the edge of the basin, then wound down the gentle slope, eventually joining the larger streams farther down the mountain. Unlike many other tiny streams in the area, though, this one had not evaporated in the heat.

But that tiny well was the source of the wild magic, and the air above it shimmered with its force. Its output had increasedfurther since I’d last been here, and was now a gently swirling vortex of rainbow brilliance taller than me and at least five feet wide.

And I had to step into it.

Unease stirred, but I tried to think of the positive—at least this time, I didn’t have to step into a goddamn mine and drop who knows how many feet into the earth to reach the heart of the spring.

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