Chapter 126

Almara’s Pov

The three of us stand dumbfounded for a moment. How can we meet Roman back at that accursed canoe without any putrid saliva from these wicked old bastards? Lily begins growling and I have to deepen my breath or I’m going to snap.

“If members of the Hurricane Pack are here, wouldn’t it be likely they’re here to gather remedies to cure Arthur?” Robert asks.

“Yes, quite likely.” The one with the deep voice responds, amused.

“So, shouldn’t we act quickly?” Robert asks. Bess slaps the back of her hand against his side telling him to be quiet.

“They gave us their ruling and we will respect it the elders. Where is your patience?” Bess says as if scolding Robert.

“Listen to the wisdom of your grandmother, son.” Delfino advises. “You let us take of the Hurricane Pack.”

Edward chimes a bell and the stout man who let us in reappears. They’re ready to leave now, Timmothy.”

Timmothy gives another deep bow. We slowly follow him out, hoping one of the councilmen calls us back with a changed mind, but that doesn’t happen. The heavy doors are closed, shutting out the possibility of getting a vile of their spit.

“May I use the restroom? We have a bit of a long walk.” Bess asks in a syrupy grandmother sweet voice.

“Of course, ma’am. Right this way.” Bess follows Timmothy through the side doors the earlier servants walked through. Robert and I wait in the hallway.

“Now what?” I ask, though not really hopeful of an answer.

“Not here. We’ll discuss when we’re far away from this building.” Robert says in a low voice.

A long time passes before Bess returns, I was beginning to get the feeling that she got lost.

“Thank you.” Bess says with another smile of innocence.

We’re outside the building and of course bag is gone, stolen I presume. Could this day get any worse? I let out an irritated growl and move briskly, wanting to get far away from this stupid building that hasn’t done us any good.

Once we’re far enough away, I throw my arms up in aggravated defeat. “Now what!” I hate the whine in my voice, but I can’t help it. My husband is going to either completely turn or die, which is really no differ than the first option and we’re no where near closer to stopping it.

Robert sighs. “I don’t know, but stop making a scene.” My blood boils. I’ll show Robert a scene.

“I have an idea.” Bess says, standing off to the side. She pulls back her long sweater just enough to reveal a book about as thick as a dictionary and as old looking as the council members.

“What is that?” I ask, finally with a glimmer of hope returning to my attitude.

“Not here, somewhere more private.” Bess says, quickly pulling her sweater over her.

We continue walking until we come into a narrow alley way. The street is mostly deserted and there’s no windows on the building. We hover over Bess as she opens her long coat to shield whatever she can of the book.

“Is this why you took forever in the bathroom?” Robert asks.

“Where did you find this?” I ask, impressed by her actions- though maybe I shouldn’t be. She is a warrior after all.

“You noticed the servants my dear, I noticed what they were carrying.”

“How did you know what it was?” I ask flipping through the pages. It’s a book full of every potion imaginable.

“You don’t live as long as I do without knowing what to look for in places like that.” Bess says with a wink.

“Did anyone see you?” I ask, suddenly worried that a book of this importance going missing is sure to be noticed.

Bess shrugs. “Eh, by the time they realize it’s gone and who took it- we’ll be someone else.” Bess flips through the pages and lands on a disguise potion. We look at the concoction and read the results.

If we mix together Polyjuice, juniper, some form of DNA of the person we want to imitate, and some of our own saliva and say the chant written below, we can disguise ourselves for up to three hours.

“This is incredibly easy.” I say with relief though perhaps I should be concerned how easy it is to fake being someone else.

“No different than the CGI’s we see nowadays.” Robert said with a shrug. I shake my head, telling myself we’ll ruminate on the deception of the world later.

“Whose DNA did you get?” I ask. Bess pulls our a curl of red hair and a scrap of shaggy blond.

“No one cares if a grandma gives a gentle touch on the back.” Bess says with a smile.

“How did you manage to cut their hair?” Robert says with awe. Bess shows her sharpened claw.

“Same way I got the spear that was plunged inside Jafe.” Bess puts t locks back into her pocket. “Now this will only be enough to last us an hour so once we drink the juice, we have to act quick.”

Bess tucks the spell book safely back to her side, shielding it with her jacket once more.

“There was a brewery shop a few blocks back. They should have what we need.” I say. We decide to split up. Bess going to the shop, an old lady buying some loose-leaf ingredients is nothing to raise suspicion.

Robert stays here, hiding in the alley as a lookout and I continue walking the streets. We all agree to meet back in the alleyway in thirty minutes.

I pretend to browse the shops, which is more challenging than it seems. There aren’t many shops to look at and the ones that are open have scarcely any items. It’s clear that any money produced in this town all goes to the Council of Bloody Hollow.

People are beginning to stare. Lily says, using her heightened senses to pick up on my surroundings.

“Can I help you with something?” A shop owener asks .I put down the trinket I was holding and stammer out a no thank-you. Then decide to change my mind.

“Actually, yes. Just this.” I say picking the bottle back up and go to check out. The saleswoman eyes me curiously, I’m beginning to sweat under this coat and I worry my make up is starting to cake.

She checks me out without another word and I scurry out of there and make my way back to the alley. Robert peels off the old brick wall.

“Where’s Bess?” He asks.

“She’s not here yet?” I look around. I thought I was running late.

We anxiously wait for a couple of more minutes before Robert says, “That’s it. I’m going to look for her.”

Just then, Bess appears and I release a sigh I didn’t know I was holding.

“Sorry. I had to go to a couple stores to find the Polyjuice. Not to worry, I have it.”

The rest happens swiftly. We combine the ingredients, only the red hair this time. Bess closes her eyes and says the chant. The purplish liquid begins to bubble and smoke. I take the bottle and tilt my head back and drain the contents. It doesn’t taste too bad, kind of like grape.

At first nothing happens but a warm spreading sensation in my belly. Then my face begins to tingle and I feel the need to stretch. It’s almost like a way less painful version of my first time transforming into Lily.

“You look good as a redhead.” Robert says and I want to growl at him, but instead what comes out is a pathetic groan.

“Wow, this stuff is good.” I say, realizing I can’t even reach Lily if I need to. Poor girl, I hope she’s doing okay.

Bess is already mixing the ingredients once more with the man’s hair this time. Once she’s transformed, I can see for myself the poignant effects of this potion.

“Let’s get back inside that wretched building.” Bess says, leading the way.