Soul Ink Read Online Free PDF Page B

piles within the circle. At the center, a single coal still glowed.
    “Get out, Marissa. Princess, can you exit the way you entered?” Grimm’s tone brooked no argument, not even from me.
    Ari nodded, and together we limped down the stairs to the basement. I piled up enough junk to reach the coal chute and pushed Ari out, then followed. Years of experience had taught me that when Grimm said to get out, getting out was usually justified if I wanted to survive.
    After I’d set a fire and called it in, we called a cab so Ari could sleep in the back. The cabby didn’t ask why we were covered in drying ooze. Or why I had white feathers in my hair. He didn’t even comment when I tossed a bloody pinky in his tip jar. When the driver wasn’t looking, Grimm watched me from the rearview mirror, but he kept his silence.
    After we arrived at the Agency, I sent Ari for an MRI, swore to myself that this time I’d have showers installed, and headed to Grimm’s office. He waited in the mirror, his hands behind his back.
    “You want to tell me what that was?”
    “Not really,” said Grimm. “Some secrets are better kept, but I fear this bodes ill.”
    I thought about his words. Never had been a fan of secrets, but as the Fairy Godfather, Grimm’s secrets had secrets. “Ill for me? Or for Ari?”
    He turned away, and for a moment, the mirror showed his home realm, a distant field of green with an eternal sunset. He almost whispered the answer. “For everyone, Marissa.”

Four
    One can only stomach so much pending doom before someone has to enjoy some pending other-than-doom. So I called my boyfriend, hoping he’d be close enough to the Agency to have lunch. By call, I mean I had Grimm connect us using our bracelets.
    “M, how’s your day?” Liam’s voice came through my ears and directly into my brain at once, lending him an echo.
    “Bloody. Yours?”
    Liam snorted. “I’m wading through sewage looking for a giant alligator. I’d take bloody over what I’m standing in any day.”
    “So lunch—”
    “You know how everything tastes like what you smell?”
    I sighed and hung my head. “Yes.”
    “I’m probably not eating tonight. But if you meet me at my studio, I’ll grab a bottle of wine. Hey, I think I found the lair!” Liam’s excitement at finding another forty-foot crocodile lair never ceased to amaze me. “Gotta run. Love you.”
    Liam cut out, leaving me still thrilled at his last words. I knew he loved me, but it helped to hear it every day. With my lunch plans ruined, I sought out Ari, finding her locked in the Visions Room at the back of the Agency.
    The Visions Room existed purely to take weird to a new level. With walls built from celestial crystal prisms, the Visions Room could let even people like me see ghosts, spirits, and occasionally people’s souls. Which is what Grimm had pulled up on the monitor. He studied it from the mirror, rubbing his chin.
    “Can I come out yet?” The walls muffled Ari’s voice, but not enough to hide her annoyance.
    “Soon,” said Grimm. “This is most fascinating. I had been reluctant to teach the princess magic because I wanted time for her soul to heal.”
    Ari’s soul needed healing because she’d used her natural talents before touching a realm seal. The first time a seal bearer came into contact with a seal, the two formed a bond, which unlocked their magic. Most seal bearers began training young, but Ari’s mother died without initiating her.
    I couldn’t do magic myself, but I helped her decipher just enough to be dangerous before we knew the consequences.
    “Stop regretting, Marissa.” Grimm glared at me, and I returned it because I didn’t like him reading my mind. “You cannot undo what is done. But it appears that using seal magic has positive effects. I believe a regimen of careful seal magic could heal the damage entirely.”
    “And then what?” Ari opened the door, letting normal light destroy the Vision Room’s view of her. “I can