Flickering Creatures | ONC 2024 | ✔︎

(14) The Sweetest Poison

Daphne and Titus hadn't left their camp since that morning. Bella pulled up in the forest nearby and swooped stealthily from tree to tree as she assessed the situation. The pair were up to something. Daphne sat in the grass amidst a potions-lab explosion of materials. The space was scattered with a variety of potion bottles, stoppers, tubes, and ingredients—some Herbal, some Alchemical, and all apparently in use. Titus sat in the midst of this beside Bryony's open notebook. Bella was too far away to hear their earnest conversation.

Anger seeped up through Bella's feathers like icy water. She'd let this pair pull her along on their investigations, but the moment she left, they went about pillaging Bryony's notes with as little respect for another Witch's privacy as a Theriologist had for familiars. Daphne was young, but not that young: she knew the full gravity of what she was doing. Her parents had surely drilled it into her.

And Titus. How long had he spent waiting for this opportunity to undercut Bryony's work? Bella was sure he would have done it years earlier if he'd had some other human shield on hand. The incident—the accident—he'd brought up before had occurred at a time when he was banned from Bryony's study for snooping where he wasn't supposed to. He'd expressed regret at the time. Not for the snooping, either: for not being able to continue it. She should have known.

She had to get that book back. Whatever else they were doing, she couldn't care less. If they were stealing Bryony's secret recipes, they couldn't continue those without the book anyway. The problem was that neither Witch nor cat looked ready to go anywhere. The remains of their lunches lay scattered on a plate nearby, indicating hours of work. Trying to decode whatever Bryony was doing in the bog before Wightnight, no doubt. Violating her privacy still further.

Titus and Daphne looked up sharply as Bella landed in a tree at the camp's edge. "What are you two doing?" she demanded.

"We could ask you the same thing," said Titus, rising to his feet. The fur along his spine was spiked. "Do you have any idea what we've found since you took off this morning?"

"Things you're not supposed to, if I was to hazard a guess. Give me that notebook."

Titus nodded to Daphne, who tucked the notebook inside her coat.

"Oh, we've found things we weren't supposed to, alright," said Titus. "Bryony coded that whole book for a reason. I don't think I've ever seen someone experimenting with magic so dangerous."

Bella's whole body chilled. That had to be the response Titus was going for: casting doubt. "The investigation—"

"Found nothing, yes. Because it's not Wight-Witch magic. She's hybridizing the disciplines, Bella. Herbology and Alchemy in particular, but there are crow-feather ingredients in at least six potions. She's been using you. She's been using both of us."

Bella laughed, a cruel, sharp sound that startled even her. "Well, nice to hear you've actually amounted to something, then. When you're done slandering the Witch who feeds you, you can turn right around and head back to Hyacinth. Bryony doesn't need any of us."

Titus tensed, claws sinking into the grass. "You found her?"

"Alive, well, and in no mood for distraction."

"What is she doing?"

"That is none of our business, I believe."

"What is she doing, Bella?"

Titus's words left him in a furious hiss. Bella stopped midway to her next comeback. The cat's back was arched now, tail puffed like a bottlebrush. He bared his teeth. "Either you tell us where she is and what she's up to, or we'll be left with no choice but to report you to the Covens alongside her."