Page 79 of Terror at the Gates

“So there are others who know you have it?”

“Not anymore.” I let the weight of my words settle in the silence between us before asking again. “What is it?”

She watched me, and I wondered if she was silently cursing me or planning some way to keep me from leaving.

“I’ll tell you,” she said at last. “But I require something in return.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

“There is a price for trust,” she said.

“Don’t make it sound grand,” I said. “It is what it is, payment. What do you want?”

“Jade,” she said.

My brows rose. “Jade? As in the drug, jade?”

She just stared.

“Do you have an addiction?” I asked.

She narrowed her eyes. Despite her obvious irritation, it was a valid question, not that I expected her to tell me the truth.

“I do not,” she said. “I use it to induce visions.”

“How do you know they are visions and not hallucinations?”

“I just know,” she snapped, coming around the counter. Her sudden approach put me on edge but also made Cherub hiss. At some point, she must have freed her little paw, because she swiped at the woman. She was too far away to do any damage, but her reaction caused the woman to halt. Surprisingly, she smiled.

“You have an excellent familiar,” she said.

“She’s not a familiar,” I said and immediately regretted it.

The woman offered a crude smile. “Not so disentangled from your beliefs as you’d have me think,” she said.

My face grew hot. It was true. Her use of the word had frightened me though. I didn’t know what it meant, save that it was related to witchcraft and considered a crime against God.

“I… What is a familiar?” I asked.

“Your church calls them demonic spirits,” said the woman. “Creatures controlled by the evil behind the Seventh Gate, but they are just guides, only harmful to those who threaten their charge.”

I watched her, wary.

“If familiars are not demonic spirits,” I said, “then what is a demon?”

“There are no such things,” she said.

I frowned, but the woman offered a small, humorless smile.

“Not the answer you wanted, is it? Consider that before you return. Nothing I have to tell you will be comforting.”

Right. Okay.

“You promise,” I said. “If I bring you what you’ve asked for, you’ll tell me about this blade.”

“I’ll tell you more than you’ve ever wanted to know,” she said. “Just get me the jade.”

I felt uneasy about her request, but I wanted answers.

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