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“Ah, yes. The price.”
Something about the way she said it made me suspect money was the last thing she wanted. Sure enough.
“The price is a favor. To be determined,” she stated.
“I don’t hand out blank checks. Especially not when they’re favors. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Haven’t considered it. Don’t entirely care. But you can rest assured that the favor will not endanger lives, take lives, involve any sort of misdemeanor or felony, or go against the wishes of your own heart.”
“And I have the power to veto the favor,” I asserted.
“Up to two times.”
“Five.”
She ground her teeth. “Four.”
“Perfect!” I trilled. Four had been my goal anyway.
“This will be a verbal agreement, but I hope you can understand that consequences will be dire if you go back on your word.”
Something about the way she stared, unblinking, and how the shadows of the room seemed to deepen and creep toward me, made me certain that believing her was the smartest thing. If I didn’t know any better, the darkness was sentient, and this bitch could control it.
“Got it,” I agreed, eyeing the pulsing shadows. “No need to sic the hounds on me.”
She chuckled with the first sign of real humor. “You are a brave one. I’ll give you that. Very well.” With a flick of her fingers, the shadows retracted to their natural places.
I ignored the cold shiver of fear that shook my core. “Now, tell me the details. How long does this last, and will it kick in immediately?”
The humor and sinister threat in her posturing smoothed away. Back to business, she replied, “You’ll feel the effects within a few minutes of ingesting the elixir. If you want to disclose the type of magic you have, I may be able to advise you on the particular side effects, which may very well be severe.”
“I have tracking skills,” I said. “That’s all I can reveal.”
“Hm…” she considered, twirling a lock of her hair thoughtfully. “Smell? Or magical?”
I didn’t answer.
“A scent-based tracking skill interacting with this potion will make your senses extremely raw, much like exposed nerves. If you have any other enhanced physical abilities, those will be affected too. However, a tracking power itself is tricky. Since those skills are usually connected to deeper powers, I can’t say how that may be affected. The deeper magic may rise up. The tracking may become ultra-powerful. There’s no way to know with that one.”
Figures. Why would she have direct, specific advice that would be actually helpful?
I masked my annoyance with a nod. “How long does it last?”
“Up to an hour.”
“Only an hour? What the hell can I do in that amount of time?”
Her sinister grin pissed me off. “Trust me. You’ll hardly be able to handle the hour itself. Like I said, this potion isn’t for the faint of heart.”
“I need more time,” I ground out. I didn’t even have a plan on how I’d go about my investigation once the spell activated.
“That’s your problem, girl. I’m the mage. I can make the potion and tell you what it does, but using it is up to you.”
A minute later, she poured a greenish-brown water into a pink quartz shot glass and slid it in my direction. “Efficacy declines by fifty percent every minute. If you want it to work to its fullest extent, drink it now.”
Urgency was the theme of the hour, so I didn’t let myself get too irritated that she basically forced me into action right here, right now. On top of that, my weak intuition nudged me forward with all the power she could manage.
“No time to waste, then. Cheers.” I clinked the glass against the rim of her glasses before she could move and tossed the drink back.
