Read Online A Shade of Vampire 22: A Fork of Paths by Bella Forrest - Free Book Online
Authors: Bella Forrest
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cold. “And what do you propose exactly? That I just forget about what you did to Benjamin and let you go free?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head fiercely. “You may not believe me, but I meant it when I said that I want to help solve this.” My words were true. I wanted to solve this problem… just for a different reason than I’d revealed to Aisha. I didn’t want to slaughter them, at least, not Hans’ siblings. I needed to find a way to cure them, or find some way to get them back to a state where they were at least semi-recognizable. Hans was still trapped in that dark cave in Cruor, but if I could just figure out how to fix his siblings, it would be a step closer to reuniting with him again. The real him.
“I just think that we should know what we’re doing before attempting it. Is that so unreasonable?”
Aisha paused, and I even dared get my hopes up that she was considering my words.
“Well, what exactly are you proposing then?” she huffed. “I have a suspicion about what these creatures are, but I’m not aware of how to eradicate them. That’s why I said we need to experiment. You don’t have a clue about them either, and heck, even the Elder was tight-lipped.”
Here, I had to be cautious. I held my breath, bracing myself for her reaction. “I, uh… I think that we should go see a witch.”
Aisha’s nose wrinkled. “A witch? What witch?”
“I was thinking that we could return to the witch doctor’s island… Uma’s island. She has vast medical knowledge about all types of supernatural creatures because she treats them. She may not have encountered one of these creatures before, but I’m sure she would have more of an inkling than us about them and how one might be able to kill them.”
“I still think decapitation is the way to go,” Aisha said, still on edge at the mention of seeking help from a witch. It appeared that jinn and witches were reluctant about accepting help from each other. “It’s probably as simple as finding a sharper blade to cut through the bone. We don’t need a witch.”
“I think we should at least try Uma,” I said, desperate to get through to her. “We’re not even that far from the island. With your powers, it wouldn’t take us a long time to get there.”
Aisha shook her head. “That snotty witch won’t even see us unless we scout some impossible list of ingredients for her. Seeking her out is a stupid idea.”
In my desperation, I’d forgotten about Uma’s ridiculous demands. Of course, the witch would expect something in return.
“I-I still think that we should try,” I persisted. “If we bring a specimen with us, she might just see that as valuable enough an offering to grant us a visit… I mean, this is an entirely new species of creatures. I’m sure that we would be able to arouse her curiosity enough for her to agree to take a look.”
“A specimen, huh,” Aisha said, glancing down at me with a frown. Then her expression lightened, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. Somehow, Aisha’s smile was far more disturbing to me than her scowl. “Very well,” she began slowly, “if you want to gather up a specimen, I’ll take you to the witch’s island… Let’s see how much you really want this.”
I gulped, glancing over the bald, white-headed creatures.
I was hoping that the jinni would help me with this at least. But doing it all by myself had at least one advantage…
I could see that Arletta was still in transformation at the far end of the deck. My eyes shifted toward the main crowd and I scoured the faces in search of Hans’ brothers. I spotted Braithe at the forefront, the other two close behind him.
I wanted to take them all with me, but I knew that would be too suspicious.
But I was getting ahead of myself. Before thinking about saving all of them, I had to figure out how to get just one of them out of there.
“I’ll need to use the box,” I said nervously. “But how? How would I do that without
“No,” I said, shaking my head fiercely. “You may not believe me, but I meant it when I said that I want to help solve this.” My words were true. I wanted to solve this problem… just for a different reason than I’d revealed to Aisha. I didn’t want to slaughter them, at least, not Hans’ siblings. I needed to find a way to cure them, or find some way to get them back to a state where they were at least semi-recognizable. Hans was still trapped in that dark cave in Cruor, but if I could just figure out how to fix his siblings, it would be a step closer to reuniting with him again. The real him.
“I just think that we should know what we’re doing before attempting it. Is that so unreasonable?”
Aisha paused, and I even dared get my hopes up that she was considering my words.
“Well, what exactly are you proposing then?” she huffed. “I have a suspicion about what these creatures are, but I’m not aware of how to eradicate them. That’s why I said we need to experiment. You don’t have a clue about them either, and heck, even the Elder was tight-lipped.”
Here, I had to be cautious. I held my breath, bracing myself for her reaction. “I, uh… I think that we should go see a witch.”
Aisha’s nose wrinkled. “A witch? What witch?”
“I was thinking that we could return to the witch doctor’s island… Uma’s island. She has vast medical knowledge about all types of supernatural creatures because she treats them. She may not have encountered one of these creatures before, but I’m sure she would have more of an inkling than us about them and how one might be able to kill them.”
“I still think decapitation is the way to go,” Aisha said, still on edge at the mention of seeking help from a witch. It appeared that jinn and witches were reluctant about accepting help from each other. “It’s probably as simple as finding a sharper blade to cut through the bone. We don’t need a witch.”
“I think we should at least try Uma,” I said, desperate to get through to her. “We’re not even that far from the island. With your powers, it wouldn’t take us a long time to get there.”
Aisha shook her head. “That snotty witch won’t even see us unless we scout some impossible list of ingredients for her. Seeking her out is a stupid idea.”
In my desperation, I’d forgotten about Uma’s ridiculous demands. Of course, the witch would expect something in return.
“I-I still think that we should try,” I persisted. “If we bring a specimen with us, she might just see that as valuable enough an offering to grant us a visit… I mean, this is an entirely new species of creatures. I’m sure that we would be able to arouse her curiosity enough for her to agree to take a look.”
“A specimen, huh,” Aisha said, glancing down at me with a frown. Then her expression lightened, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. Somehow, Aisha’s smile was far more disturbing to me than her scowl. “Very well,” she began slowly, “if you want to gather up a specimen, I’ll take you to the witch’s island… Let’s see how much you really want this.”
I gulped, glancing over the bald, white-headed creatures.
I was hoping that the jinni would help me with this at least. But doing it all by myself had at least one advantage…
I could see that Arletta was still in transformation at the far end of the deck. My eyes shifted toward the main crowd and I scoured the faces in search of Hans’ brothers. I spotted Braithe at the forefront, the other two close behind him.
I wanted to take them all with me, but I knew that would be too suspicious.
But I was getting ahead of myself. Before thinking about saving all of them, I had to figure out how to get just one of them out of there.
“I’ll need to use the box,” I said nervously. “But how? How would I do that without
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