“Thanks.” Warren stumbled to the chair that she indicated under the window. How the hell would he defeat Aurora if she had him crippled by illness?
Twenty minutes later—during which time he watched the witches put their cottage to rights while Cora and two of her sisters went to the infirmary—Cora returned.
“Here.” She handed him a clear plastic bottle full of neon-green pills. “These should keep the symptoms at bay. But you can’t take them forever. They’ll eventually become ineffective. Then they’ll kill you.”
Shite. “How long can I take them?”
She shrugged. “Two weeks, maybe? It’s different for everyone. One every twelve hours.”
He fumbled one out of the bottle and swallowed it dry. “How the hell did she get out so soon?”
“Too powerful, I think. She’s stronger than we thought. Stronger than any soulceress before her.”
“What the hell does she want with Esha?”
Cora looked away, hesitating. “I don’t know. But I’d guess that she wants her power.”
“Her power?”
“Yeah, they can steal each other’s power. Or their ability to absorb power, that is. It’s one reason that soulceresses can be so strong—they have a potentially infinite well of ability. And why we stay the hell away from them.”
Damn. He hadn’t known that. Esha could permanently steal another’s power, not just siphon it off temporarily? “Can they steal yours?”
“We don’t know. None have tried in our written history, but that doesn’t mean they can’t. It’s why we wanted Esha put on the other side of campus when she joined.”
“Does Esha know soulceresses can steal power?”
Cora shrugged. “Doubt it. She’d probably have taken ours if she knew, right?”
Warren wasn’t so sure. “How many soulceresses are left, if they’ve been stealing each other’s powers all these years?”
“I don’t know how often they do it. They used to be very loyal to each other, since no one else wanted to be around them. Aurora is one of the few who rampantly stole souls and power. The Burnings killed most of them. I think that Esha and Aurora are the only two left in Britain. She must want Esha’s to complete her collection.”
The idea of Esha’s power being i
n Aurora’s collection made his chest hurt. But if she didn’t have her power, then she’d be normal. The idea wasn’t wholly unappealing when he thought of it that way. Though he wasn’t a big enough arse to wish her power away. But how would he ever convince her to help him, especially after his first blown attempt?
CHAPTER TEN
“Come on, Chairman, we’re blowing this Popsicle stand.”
Esha swung her bag onto her shoulder and headed for the door of her tower apartment. This was it—she was leaving. It hadn’t taken but a moment to throw her valuables in a bag. A couple of goofy T-shirts from Ana, the Chairman’s fluffy green squeaky toy that was the only thing he deigned to play with, her journal, and a necklace that was supposedly from her dad, though she’d never met him, so she couldn’t be sure.
Her first stop would be to see the witches and check on where the soulceress might go when she was released. If they didn’t know anything, the second would be to the historian Lea’s office. She might know. Either way, the other soulceress would leave the university right away. Hence the packed bag.
She skipped down the spiral staircase, her dire mood improved by the possibility of what was to come. The brisk November air hit her face as she ran out the door at the base of her tower. Nearly all of the leaves were off the trees now. Snow would be here any day.
“New adventure, Chairman.”
He meowed, low and deep, as he trotted at her side.
As she was pushing her car keys into the door lock, a hand landed on her shoulder. Shocked, she spun around and threw a blast of power that put the assailant on his ass.
“Warren?”
He coughed and rose, shaking the dirt from himself. “Aye. Damn, lassie, what’d you pack in that punch?”
“You’re lucky that’s all it was. Only an idiot would sneak up on me.” She looked him up and down, letting the insinuation hang in the air. He might be an idiot, but not a bigger one than she. And he was a hot idiot. Golden hair that was such a contrast to the shadows at his feet whipped in the wind. “Why the hell are you sneaking up on me, anyway? I thought you’d be smart enough to leave me the hell alone.”