CHAPTER 40

"Some rocks fell in here." Sofia pointed to the rats. "They were nice enough to help us clean up this area. And we might have news." She patted the stack of books next to her. All of them had multiple bookmarks inserted into their pages. "We think we know how to get Mike to the faerie realm."

"I'm sure he'll be ecstatic. Will probably drop everything to do it."

Sofia sighed. "Yeah, I bet he will. You're still planning to go with him... right?"

"I am."

Sofia and Ratu exchanged a look.

"Then we need to address the issue of your spiritual hitchhiker first," Ratu said. "The last thing we need is to discover that Oliver has been biding his time until he can get you alone with Mike. Going to a strange realm would be the perfect time and place for such a move."

Beth frowned. "So what are we going to do?"

"I have everything ready for that, actually." Ratu pointed at the woman on the floor. "Asterion, can you please take our guest to the pagoda? Put the irons on her—they're enchanted to prevent her from leaving—but give her a nice room. Beth, is Jenny with you?"

Beth laughed. "Always." She turned around to reveal the doll sitting in a handmade pouch that Tink had knitted for her. Jenny dangled her arms over the side and did a slow clap.

"Good. We'll need her help. I'll need your help as well, Sofia." She looked over at Sofia. "And Yuki's. That should be enough."

"That's a lot of hands." Sofia closed the book she was working on. "But I could use the distraction. I'll get these put away for safekeeping, and then come join you once I find the fox."

"Thank you, Sofia. Walk with me, Beth."

Ratu walked toward the pagoda, which looked like it had been stolen from a miniature golf course. It was only fifteen feet tall and was decorated in silken flags. Asterion was ahead of them, and he ducked down to step through the silken folds hanging over the entryway.

Beth stepped through and gazed up. The pagoda was far bigger on the inside, stretching several stories high. She had only been inside a couple of times, but never long enough to explore it properly.

Asterion took the cat girl into one of the rooms on the first floor, but Ratu continued up the ramp that spiraled toward the top.

Beth followed the naga, pausing to look in one of the rooms on the way. Inside was a lone table with a sphere of water hovering above a marble bowl. Inside the sphere was a necklace with a blue crystal pendant. She had seen it once before.

"What's that about?" Beth asked.

"Oh. That's an interesting story I don't have time for right now. Let's just say it's a research project. This way." Ratu gestured for Beth to follow her, and they climbed the spiral, moving even higher.

Beth often wondered what would happen if she were to drill a hole in the wall and look outside of it. Would she only be seven feet off the ground? Or would the pagoda burst like a giant balloon, spilling its contents everywhere? If they climbed all the way to the top, would they become tiny?

"In here, please."

Ratu pointed to a room with an unusually large entryway, and she realized that they were at the top of the spiral. When she walked in, she expected to find a throne room, or maybe a giant bed for the naga to sleep in while in snake form, but neither of these was the case.

Glowing runes lined the floor and walls, but in the center of the room were a pair of large glass chambers stacked one on top of the other, and both were suspended within a wooden and wire frame. The magical device was an impressive eight feet tall.

Beth stared. "Is that... an hourglass?"

"Sort of. The premise is the same. What goes up top will fall into the bottom. However, this one has been built to allow the flowing of souls from one place to the other."

Beth's stomach tightened. "That sounds super dangerous."

"Oh, it is." Ratu regarded the device. "Soul magic always is. However, your current situation is potentially worse. Think of it like cancer. For now, that remnant is benign, but it could start to grow, and consume your immortal soul to become something else."

"Shit. So, what, you're going to pull my soul out and stick it in that... thing?"

"Ah, that's where Jenny comes in." Ratu walked up to the device. "The larger the device, the more chances for error. It's actually a thought I had the other day. Jenny will inhabit your body and you will be inside the doll. When I put you, as the doll, inside of here and turn it on, your soul will pass to the bottom of the chamber, carrying along the soul shard itself. I've designed a filter that will allow your soul to return to the doll and trap the demon soul in this." She pulled a crystalline container from beneath the hourglass. "I got the idea for this material very recently. It's capable of holding a human soul indefinitely and should be able to ensure that your parasitic passenger is isolated and contained. Then we put you back in the doll and take you out."

"So what happens if my soul doesn't go back into the doll?"

"Jenny's an expert. She'll get you back where you need to be, no problem." Ratu winked. "Worst case scenario, this fails and Jenny gets a body."

"Ha ha." Beth examined the equipment again. "How long will it take?"

"Once the device is ready, about twenty minutes. I would like the others here to assist me first, so we should probably make ourselves comfortable." Ratu looked around the room. "There's a sitting room just below us that is far more comfortable. We should wait there. Would you like some tea?"

Beth nodded. "Do you have something for frazzled nerves?"

Ratu smiled, then pulled a tin from her sleeves. "I have just the thing."

"What else do you have in there? I've seen you pull stuff out before. Is that a magic kimono? I would kill to have pockets like yours."