Fatal Circle (c-3) by Linda Robertson

Author:Linda Robertson [Robertson, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sf_fantasy_city
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5680-3
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2010-03-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“What?” On my feet, I stared down at Beau, incredulous.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“N-not as bad as it sounds? Not as bad? What the hell, Beau? It’s—”

“It’s a binding ritual.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, plopping back into the metal chair. Noticing Beau’s questioning look, I added, “I’ve dealt with enough binding issues lately.” Sarcasm helped make my point. I thought.

Beau seemed unimpressed. “Suck it up, Lustrata.”

I sat straighter, took a deep breath, and readied to give him a speech he’d not soon forget.

He beat me to the punch line. “Do you want to fulfill . . . and survive . . . this destiny of yours, or not?”

My lungs deflated. “Of course.”

“Then you have to pay the price. It’s gotten worse with each incarnation. Each time the stakes are higher, and the enemy’s investment has grown stronger. If you fail, it will be worse for the next one.”

“How do you even know that?”

He gauged me steadily; I maintained an air of firm expectation. I wanted an answer. Finally he said, “I had cause to do an enormous amount of research.”

“What cause?”

“We’ll discuss that before the next full moon.”

I hated being inveigled. “You were researching the Lustrata?”

“I researched everything. I help you solve your problem, and you’ll help me solve mine. That’s fair, isn’t it? Balanced enough for you, O Bringer of Justice?”

I could do without the sarcasm and with a lot more information. “I’d like to know what you want me to do to help you.”

“For now, protect yourself. Don’t let them seal your magic in. Place a piece of your soul with someone else, and take a piece of someone else’s soul into you.”

“How do I do that?” I demanded. “And how does that help?”

“Menessos knows how. It’s in that old book of his.”

My breath caught. “Menessos sent me to you to find out how to do whatever it is I have to do. Wait—you know about—?”

“The Trivium Codex? Yes, I know of it. And he sent you to me so I could tell you what you didn’t want to hear or wouldn’t have believed if he told you. It’s all in the book.”

“You’re telling me to give a piece of my soul to the vampire?”

“No, I’m telling you to give up two pieces, and to receive two pieces.”

“I need to give him two pieces of—”

“No, give two people each one piece.”

I blinked.

“Catching on, doll? The trade-off must be done at one time—the three of you together. Convincing Johnny will be thorny at best.”

“Johnny’s a waerewolf. No magic.”

“Johnny’s Domn Lup, doll. He is magic.”

“What?” Magic? And how does he know Johnny’s Domn Lup?

“Those tattoos. Someone figured out what he was long ago. And whoever it was had him tattooed as a . . .” He struggled for the right words. “It’s not so dissimilar from being Bindspoken.” He leaned back in the chair a moment. Closed his eyes. Opened them and spoke rapidly, as if he’d found what he wanted to say in some mental dictionary. “Instead of

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