To my surprise, Corrine hesitated.
“Ibrahim must be sick with worry by now,” Ben pressed.
Corrine bit her lip, looking conflicted. “I know how much Ibrahim will be worrying,” she said. “But… No.” The doubt that had been in her eyes just a few moments before was replaced with resoluteness. “I will stay with the two of you. I think you need all the help you can get.”
Ben shifted on his feet, looking frustrated. “I have these jinn to help me. I don’t need you. I want you to return. And I wish River would go back with you.” His eyes fell on me, revealing a sense of urgency. “We’ve reached a fork in the road. I don’t know where this path will lead me now, River. Please, just return.”
I’d already made it amply clear that I was staying with him, so I wished that he wouldn’t bring up the subject again. It seemed that Corrine was just as determined as me.
“No, Ben. I’ll stay with you,” she said. “I-I still feel partly responsible for what’s happened to you. If only I had been more alert that night and vanished before Kiev could snatch you from my arms…”
Ben looked at the witch in exasperation. “Beating yourself up over that is just moronic, Corrine. Stop it.”
“All the same,” she said, her determination unwavering, “I’ll stay.”
Then Ben looked down at me in one final attempt to plead with me to return. I just looked up at him like he was stupid for even thinking that I might have changed my mind.
He heaved a sigh. “All right… Aisha, let’s go pay a visit to Hortencia.”
Chapter 22: Ben
We arrived on the ledge of a cliff overlooking a beach scattered with boulders. It was daytime, but the weather was overcast. The wind was blustery and so bitingly cold even I noticed. I stared out at the sea—or perhaps it was an ocean—wondering where on earth we had just arrived… Then again, maybe we had left Earth.
“Where are we exactly?” River asked, even as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “Are we still in the human realm?”
I wished there was something I could do to warm her up. I wanted to hold her close, but that would only make her colder. I was grateful when Corrine removed the shawl from her shoulders and wrapped it around River.
“If you must know”—Aisha scowled—“yes, we are still on Earth. We are on the west coast of Canada.”
“Canada,” River muttered, gazing around the shore.
Thankfully, there wasn’t a human in sight.
Aisha turned her back on the ocean, and moved toward the face of the cliff. I realized as she approached a narrow crack in the wall that Hortencia obviously had a certain taste in the dwellings she chose. I squeezed through the crack, River and Corrine following after me. We found ourselves moving through a damp, narrow tunnel—not unlike the one I had seen in the vision. It wound this way and that until we reached the end where, no surprise, there was a moldy-looking door. The four of us stopped and gathered round it.
“When was the last time you saw this woman?” I asked Aisha.
“I have never met her before, but my aunt has,” the jinni replied. “I’m not sure when Nuriya last saw her… But in case you’re worried about whether she still lives here, don’t worry. She’s here. Hortencia?” Aisha raised her voice. “It is Aisha Nasiri. I mean you no harm. I have come with friends. We would like to ask you a few questions, if you would be so kind as to let us in.”
My ears picked up on a faint grumbling on the other side of the door. Then there was the clinking of keys and the heavy door clicked open. As the door creaked open, the shadowy form of the oracle appeared before us.
She looked identical to the person I’d seen in the vision. Despite her apparent youth, she had the same almost-bald head, symbol-inked skin, strange silver visor covering her eyes, and unless I remembered wrong, she was even wearing the same dark green colored robe.
She froze in the doorway, her lips pursing. River looked part intrigued, part terrified by the woman. I held my breath as, slowly, she raised a small hand and hovered it upward, directly toward Corrine, who was standing outside the oracle’s front door.
“Who have we here?” Hortencia spoke in a low voice. “A frazzled witch.” She moved her outstretched hand so that it pointed next at Aisha. “A jealous jinni.” Aisha stiffened. Hortencia pointed at River. “An infatuated half-blood.” A flush of red rose in River’s cheeks as she avoided my gaze.
Finally, the tips of Hortencia’s fingers grazed my chest. But as they did, she withdrew her hand abruptly as though she’d gotten an electric shock. She turned her body to face me directly, her head tilting upward. “And, oh, my… A vampire seeking answers. We have met before, boy… Benjamin Novak. The imprinted.”
The imprinted. I was relieved that at least she brought us straight to the subject.
“Hortencia,” I said, “I’m glad to meet you.” I considered holding out my hand to shake, but given the reaction she’d had to touching me, I thought it wise to keep my hands by my side.
She backed through the doorway, gesturing with a flick of her hand that we follow her.
We stepped into a small cave that was so austere it didn’t look fit for habitation by anyone but an animal. There was an old thin mattress laid out on the floor in one corner, covered with some grubby sheets and patchwork blankets. Lining one of the walls were makeshift shelves containing an array of strange objects—some of which appeared to be crystal orbs. There was a narrow table with a missing leg, at which a wooden chair was pulled up. Then there was an area which could hardly be called a kitchen, although clearly she prepared food there. There was an ancient-looking stove and on the floor was a small pile of unwashed pots, plates and spoons.