A Shade of Vampire 22: A Fork of Paths by Forrest Bella

Author:Forrest, Bella [Forrest, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2016-01-22T08:00:00+00:00

Julie

I thanked my lucky stars when we finally arrived at Uma’s island. As we entered shallow waters, again, Aisha insisted that I handle the box myself. I hauled it off the boat and managed to pull it onto the sand without getting it too wet.

Aisha joined me next to the container. I gazed up at the sloping hill, at the top of which stood a castle—the witch’s medical center. I already guessed that Aisha expected me to drag the box all the way up there by myself. This was just her wanting to inflict suffering on me, because she could have easily used her powers. Wasting time waiting for me to lug this thing up the hill was just plain stupid. But even aside from that, I had another incentive for wanting to do things a different way.

“It’s going to take far too long,” I dared to complain. “Let me go and get the witch. I’ll try to convince her to come down here.” I eyed the jinni cautiously.

Aisha paused, then to my relief, she nodded. “I’ll wait here by the box. But don’t take too long, or I’ll come after you.”

“Okay,” I said, thankful that she had agreed without fuss. Aisha waiting here was best for many reasons. For one, the presence of the jinni would only get the witch’s guard up and make it more difficult for me to persuade her. Aisha was so prickly, I was sure that one misplaced comment from either of them would blow the whole deal.

Secondly, and more importantly, I would be freer to steer things in the direction that I needed them to go without the jinni breathing down my neck and listening in on every word I spoke during the initial meeting… assuming I was even going to be able to get one.

Before heading off, I waded into the ocean to wash away the worst of the filth from my body, so that the witch wouldn’t slam the door in my face in disgust the moment she opened it. Then, even as it pained me to leave Braithe alone with Aisha, I turned my back on her and the ocean and began racing up the hill toward the witch’s medical center.

It was early in the morning. I guessed that the witch sisters would be asleep. I hoped that they wouldn’t be too angry at my disturbance.

Arriving in front of the castle, I moved cautiously toward the front door. I placed my ear against the wood, listening for any sounds indicating that someone was awake inside. All was quiet. Waves crashed against the shore in the distance.

I knocked loudly, five times, then waited for several moments. I took a step backward, craning my neck to look up at the tall building. All the windows were dark, which worried me. I hoped they were home. And I didn’t want to be forced to break in to verify it. It would make my task of convincing her to help us ten times more difficult. I knocked again, and waited some more.

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