“Take him back to Aviary… His time will come.”

“His time will come,” I said out loud. “But my time never came. Because my parents rescued me from Aviary before I could be of use.”

“Precisely,” Aisha said with a small smile.

“And then the oracle’s prediction also came true… When my mother was in the supernatural realm recently, she found out the result of the war that erupted between the Elders and the Hawks. She was told that the two sides attacked each other so viciously that they both finished each other off… And now neither of them are a force to be reckoned with.”

“That is what happened,” Aisha said.

“But if I had stayed in Aviary longer,” I continued, “then it’s likely that the Elders would have won?”

“According to the oracle… She saw that you could have been a great tool in discovering the inner workings of Aviary’s battalion.”

“Do you have any more visions to show me?” I asked, sitting back down on the edge of my armchair.

Aisha shook her head.

So that’s it…

I still felt partly in shock. It felt like I had been searching for answers for the longest time, and now I’d discovered the mystery of my past all at once, in a series of visions that had come in quick succession. Supposedly they had the answers as to how I could cure myself, but I still had no clue as to how to go about that.

“But how do I actually solve this?” I said, my insides in knots. “How do I disinfect myself? I’m too far gone. Even the cure didn’t work.”

To my horror, Aisha simply shrugged. “I’m not sure about that, Benjamin. I was able to reveal things about your past, but I don’t know how to actually solve your problem… Honestly? I don’t even know if it’s possible.”

Her words carved a hole in my stomach.

No. There has to be a way out of this. Even if I’m stuck with these jinn, I’m not going to live for the rest of my existence as this crazy bloodsucker.

There just has to be a way.

“What about your aunt?” I asked, even though Nuriya had already told me she didn’t know how to cure me.

“You already discussed this matter with her, Ben… She doesn’t know how to solve your problem. We can give you information and knowledge, but we can’t always guarantee solutions.”

What use are information and knowledge without a solution?

“That oracle,” I said suddenly. “Hortencia. She’s supposed to be all-knowing and all-seeing? Surely she would have some insight as to how to cure me. Is she still living?”

“Yes,” Aisha said, bringing some semblance of relief to my churning insides. “She is. Hortencia is actually the love child of a jinni and a witch. Jinn and witches have a long history of hostility toward one another. They usually avoid each other at all costs, and the two species are never supposed to mate. However, Hortencia’s parents… somehow or other, they fell in love and out came the creature that became known as ‘the oracle’… Actually, two creatures. They gave birth to twins. Pythia and Hortencia. I have never seen Pythia and don’t know much about her state, but Hortencia… She is deformed in many ways—for example, she has no eyes. But although physically blind, she has been gifted with sight like no other. By now she is older than anyone knows, but she is still living.”

Jinn and witches being natural enemies—this explained why they had turned our witches into birds at the first opportunity, rather than keep and mark them like they had done with vampires, half-bloods and humans. I wondered if, since both species were able to wield magic, the jinn felt threatened by witches—and perhaps vice versa. Now that I thought of it, maybe this was also the reason why Jeramiah’s atrium held so few witches.

Of course, more than any of this, I was filled with relief to hear that Hortencia was still alive.

“Do you know where to find Hortencia?” I asked.

“She has moved since the Hawks made visits to her… but yes, I know where to find her.”

“Then my next wish is that you take me to see her,” I said, standing up again.

“Very well, Benjamin,” Aisha said, with almost a touch of weariness in her voice. “Let’s hope she will have the answer you seek.”

Chapter 21: River

As I stared at the dove, I couldn’t believe that she had been Corrine all along. I shuddered to think what might’ve happened had I not decided to open her cage and try to free her. She might’ve been stuck in here forever.

Now that I knew who she was, it felt odd to pick her up. I felt the need to ask permission first.

I was also bursting with questions for her, and it was frustrating to not be able to ask any of them. Most of the ink had dried by now, so it wasn’t like she could just answer everything by spelling out letters on the floor.

I bent down so that I was closer to her level as she stood on the floor.

“Ben’s going to come back soon,” I said. “And he will demand that Nuriya, or her niece, turn you back into yourself.” I couldn’t begin to imagine how traumatized she must be feeling.

There wasn’t an awful lot else that I could say while she was still a dove. I looked up at the clock. Come on, Ben.

“Shall we, um… clean that ink off you?” I asked, eyeing her ink-stained feet.

I held out my palm, and she stepped onto it. I took her to the bathroom, filled the sink with warm water, and dipped her feet inside, washing them thoroughly. I wasn’t sure whether or not the ink would transfer to her witch feet when she turned back, but it was something to do to make me feel less awkward around Corrine as a bird, and pass the time a bit until Ben returned.