Cursed, p.9
Cursed, page 9
part #3 of Haven Realm Series
Ash spoke up. “I believe in Bee. She seems different from the other witches. Not prodding us for payment and insisting she had to leave right away.”
I grimaced because those exact thoughts had crossed my mind, and I’d said something to that effect to Leven and Raze last night.
Still, Ash was a star, and already my favorite of the brothers.
“Hold on,” Raze said. “Bee,” he called out, “you can join us!”
Rocking on my heels, I stopped myself from bolting out of there. Instead, I tucked the pouches of ingredients under an arm and marched into the kitchen with my chin high.
“I…I didn’t hear a thing you were talking about.”
Four sets of eyes fixed on me. Yeah, I didn’t believe me, either. But each of their expressions couldn’t be more different, from Talin’s wrinkled brow to Ash’s soft smile to Leven’s stoic mien. Then there was Raze and his devilish grin. Oh, he so knew I’d read his message, so I held his gaze and stuck out my tongue.
“Now, I could grill your asses for a week straight before I even make sense of the mess you’re all in. But let’s be honest, that’s none of my business.” I set the pouches on the table. “And I doubt you’d want to indulge my curiosity. So I need someone to bring me a handheld mirror. And a bowl with fresh, clean water big enough for the mirror to be dunked into.”
Within seconds, three of the men left the room, though two would have been sufficient, and only Talin and myself remained. I collected a small, empty bowl and a knife from the pantry, then returned to the table, positioning myself right next to Talin.
He looked up at me from his seat, one corner of his mouth lifting, as if he weren’t sure if he was ready to smile or not. “You going to cut me as payback for last night?”
“Nope. But you’ll do it yourself.” I set the blade in front of him and poured the powder from the satchel into the bowl. When he didn’t pick up the knife, I added, “I need your blood.”
“You sure this will work?” The tone beneath his voice carried a desperation I’d picked up on from the others. From Ash when he’d spoken of Talin. My dad sounded the same when he’d realized that Mom’s time had been ending. He’d say all the right things, but his words had been dead, empty, barren things.
I sat next to Talin and placed a hand on his. “I can’t guarantee anything. I wish life came with such guarantees. Then I wouldn’t have lost my mom. You wouldn’t have had to bury your parents and sister, and you wouldn’t be facing this fucked-up predicament. But that doesn’t mean we need to accept it. We have two days until the full moon, so I’ll work day and night to save you.”
He smiled, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. “Ash was right. You are different from the others, but I’m curious, why are you so generous?”
“Because I hate nasty pieces of work, like Rek. I’ve known a few in my life and they won’t stop until they get what they want!” I hissed, my hands clenching, thinking of the priestess in Terra, even Tristan and his guards, harassing my dad. “And if I can help fight him, I’ll do it.”
The sorrow in Talin’s gaze thickened my throat and screams of frustration at his cousin exploded in my head. Was it too much to ask for Rek to love the princes? Goddamn, they were his family. I’d move the world for my dad.
Talin frowned and rubbed a hand across his brow. For that moment, he looked lost, as if he saw his demise and found it too hard to keep fighting.
“Why haven’t you gotten married yet? If that’s not too personal a question?” Maybe he hadn’t met the perfect woman—though to me he seemed like the perfect catch. Not that he’d be interested in me because I was a commoner, carried no royal blood, and I wasn’t a shifter. Three things that were probably on his future-wife list. Anyway, that kind of stuff only happened in fairy tales and I was being foolish for indulging in such thoughts.
Seeing the rigid way he sat while staring at me blankly, I regretted my query. “Look, it’s—”
“In White Peak, wives gain equality and ownership of half their mate’s possessions. Father always told me to not rush into the decision and first make sure my mate’s love is genuine and she isn’t marrying me for dominance or wealth. Bear shifters mate for life. There’s no such thing as a separation. So I will not jeopardize this realm and those who call the mountains home to Rek or anyone until I find my right mate.”
In the little time I’d been with him, he seemed like he’d be a fair and caring ruler. Not like the priestess over in Terra. What would he do with the guards who were harassing Dad and me? Maybe if Talin became king, the solution was for Dad and me to move into White Peak—after making some state-of-the-art bear repellent.
And I remembered Ash explaining how Rek wanted Talin to marry a fourteen-year-old girl. Like that wasn’t an obvious power-grabbing decision. I couldn’t help but admire Talin for sticking to his principles despite the shitload of trouble they’d landed him in.
He slouched in his seat. “The same night I showed initial symptoms of the illness, all castle staff changed as if they were under a spell. They picked up and left without a word. They returned to their homes and even when we followed them, they insisted they couldn’t work for us. No reason, just a feeling they had to follow. It was as if they were mind-controlled. That’s why we have no one in the castle. I suspect Rek was responsible. He’s trying to force my hand to wed his granddaughter. That was three weeks ago.”
So how was I supposed to ever get home if the rebels patrolled the woods to keep anyone from coming in or going out? I’d almost died reaching the castle.
I tried to sift through everything I’d learned, the corruption within the family, the reason the castle lay empty, the atrocity Rek had thrown on the princes for petty revenge and to gain their throne. Fat chance of the cousin retracting his assault. Goddess, someone had to stop him.
Talin offered me a gentle smile, and my heart sunk. His world had shattered and it wasn’t just his life at risk, but his brothers’. He had to be gutted. I took a deep breath, reached over, and placed a hand on his, fear looping around in my head. I wanted to bundle him in my arms, take away the agony etched across his furrowed brow.
“Let’s fuck up your cousin’s curse and send it back to him.” Here I’d thought my life was complicated. Holy crap.
Talin’s fingers curled over mine, and his sincerity touched me. No wonder the townsfolk under his jurisdiction feared losing a compassionate leader.
“Do you have a mate?” he asked, the question so random, I tilted my head, facing him.
“Nope,” I said, loathing the answer because who didn’t want to find their perfect match? That was all I wrote in my stories, happily ever afters. The longing to find someone to love me hit me in my chest like a spiked mace.
“When you encounter him, make sure he treats you as you deserve.” Talin broke our touch and picked up the blade. With a swift motion of the knife, he sliced the fleshy part of his palm, and red droplets rolled down his fingers. He clenched his fist over the bowl. Blood trickled onto the powdered potion.
His words still haunted me. Despite our initial encounter. He couldn’t have been more opposite to the monster I’d met upstairs yesterday.
I was on my feet and unraveled the tie-cord of my shirt, my pulse fluttering in Talin’s presence.
He eyed me, his mouth widening. “Is stripping part of the spell? Because I’m for it.”
“It’s not what you think.” Yet my blood sizzled at his innuendo. But flirting with the up and coming King of White Peak wasn’t a smart move. I couldn’t take the heartache later. “I don’t want to dirty this gorgeous top I borrowed from the wardrobe upstairs.”
“The color suits your hair.”
I drew the fabric over my head, pulling down on the white undergarment riding up my stomach.
“When my sister, Vivienne was alive, I promised to keep her safe. As the eldest, it’s my responsibility, but I ruined that. So I made myself a promise to put an end to the tension of the four ruling families in White Peak and unite the tribes. Now I’m losing that chance.”
Placing my top on a chair, I pressed my fingers into the mixture, mushing it up. “That’s enough blood, thanks. And you wrecked nothing. The world is filled with fuckwits who take pleasure in tearing others down. You should see the idiots who live in Terra. I ought to convince Dad to sell our place and move to another realm.” Just thinking of Tristan and his idiotic guards had me tensing. Not to mention the guard I’d spotted near the Golden Lock tavern. I prayed he hadn’t seen me.
Talin rose from his chair. “Your honesty is refreshing. Most of the time I’m surrounded by those who say anything they think we want to hear. Never the truth.”
“Ha, then you should meet my dad. He has an opinion on everything.” That was one of the many things I loved about him and I was happy to have inherited it and more.
Raze entered the room carrying a small handheld mirror encircled by a frame of silver. He blocked Leven’s and Ash’s path as they drew up behind him, each carrying a large, round bucket filled with water.
“Shit, Raze,” Leven growled. “Move your ass out of my way.”
“Ash, place the mirror into the water,” I said. “Then add the black salt. Then take it out in the main hallway. We’re doing this there.”
I turned to Talin. “I need to paint your face. The enchantment will look at your reflection and not recognize the person who’s been cursed, and instead return the hex to the one whose blood was used to cast the magic, placing the burden on them.” Part of me hesitated in doing this spell because it wasn’t white magic, or black. Maybe gray. But with no sacrifice required, I was happy to try it out. Curses weren’t easy to break, so sometimes that meant going a bit heavy-handed on the solution.
“I can’t tell you how much you’re turning me on right now,” Raze said. “Not only are you sexy with your little white number, but if you’re about to slap Rek with his own spell, fuck yeah.” He punched the air. “Let’s do this.”
I glanced down at my top, not sure what Raze referred to, and noticed my pebbled nipples pressing against the fabric. Okay fine, if it gave them a show to lighten the mood, I could live with it. Though at the back of my mind, I wasn’t fully happy with cursing someone, but technically, wasn’t I just returning something that belonged to them? And if the prince was in danger of dying, damn right I would help cleanse him.
Scooping the mixture with my fingers, I faced Talin. “Concentrate on me the whole time.”
Sharp green eyes met mine, and he gave a slight nod. The stolen moment between us wasn’t helping me stay focused. I could picture myself chatting with him for a full day about anything and everything as he made me feel at ease in his company. But they were foolish dreams. After this spell, I’d help him get his life back, and then I would leave. Even if the knot in my stomach tightened at the thought.
I glanced over my shoulders at the others. “Once we start the spell, be ready to jump in if Talin shows any signs of transforming.” So many maybes rolled through my head, like the spell backfiring. Did the curse have too strong a hold on Talin for this to work?
Chapter 12
Static buzzed across my skin, and the telltale signs of dark magic licked the length of my spine. I held myself strong, ignoring the shivers, the doubts, the dread coiling in my head. We had to do this now, and that meant showing no fear, controlling my emotions, and working fast without a distraction. When Mom used to practice using her power, she’d became a different person with a blank expression.
I called out, “The negative energy sent to you shall be revoked. Returned to the individual who cast it, threefold.” I spoke directly to Talin, who sat in a chair in the middle of the hallway near the staircase. The herb and blood concoction smeared his cheeks and brow, giving him a tribal look. He wasn’t shaking or flinching but held a look of determination. His mouth was thin and tight, while a cord of muscle in his neck pulsed. My earlier admiration of Talin just went up a notch as he sat there, brave, ready. No running away or poking fun at magic.
Around us, his brothers fanned out. Far enough and positioned to avoid a reflection in the mirror, but close enough should Talin go feral.
Please, Goddess, fill me with your strength. Give me the power to eradicate this spell.
I turned to the bowl of water placed on a chair behind me and lowered my palm over the surface. At once, a charge skipped across the surface and crackled up my arm, as if a dozen spiders sank their fangs into my flesh at once. I winced but bit down on my lower lip until I tasted the metallic taste of blood.
Show no weakness. No hesitation. My gut clenched.
I collected the consecrated mirror out of the water by the handle. A sharp ache swept up and over my shoulder from the mirror. A dull hum played in my ears like mosquitoes, and I squirmed inside. Except this wasn’t the time for emotions.
Hexes were nasty things that always fought back. So I had to stay strong and called to my power. It trickled over my skin.
Thrusting the mirror toward Talin, the reflection facing him, I bellowed, “I repel this curse. Return to your owner.”
At first, nothing happened. Then a thread of black energy coiled out of the mirror, swinging left and right as a blind worm might do when unsoiled.
I trembled, my breath caught in my chest, and fought to find my voice. “Re…Retract your curse. You do not belong here. You have the wrong person.”
The mirror in my hand trembled, and I tightened my grip. “I revoke you. Return to sender.”
Power surged into my palm. At once, golden shards of energy shot out of my hand and engulfed the mirror in a flaming ball.
The object shook harder, pulled in the opposite direction as if someone else held on to the top. I grasped the handle with both hands, keeping it facing Talin. My muscles ached, screaming for release.
Bastard! Curses didn’t usually fight this hard, and the dread trickled into my mind that I’d made a mistake. That the spell could spin against me, and I’d harm someone. My teeth locked tight. I couldn’t stop or reverse time because I didn’t know the full extent of the curse. Who’d placed it? What ingredients had they used? Had a sacrifice been made?
I forced everything I had into the mirror. “Curse, be gone!”
On the last word, an explosion of black tentacles burst out of the mirror, throwing me backward. My feet tangled on the steps, and I fell onto my butt, my breath racing. I gripped the mirror tightly, rage boiling deep inside me. “Fucking son of a bitch.”
I pushed myself up, noting all the men were on the ground, groaning, except Talin. Right then, invisible hands seized the front of my top and pants and hurled me forward. The screaming came involuntarily as I slammed into Talin, the chair beneath him smashing and both of us crashing to the ground.
My heart raced, and he had me to my feet in moments, his hands over mine to control the freakin’ mirror in my grasp.
“I got you.” His panicked voice didn’t help my own emotions.
“It shouldn’t be doing this,” I yelled back. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
More tentacles shot outward straight for the three brothers, each one colliding into their chests so fast, they slid back down, convulsing. Paintings fell off their hooks. Howls echoed around us.
“No!” I scrambled forward on trembling legs, Talin by my side. “Goddess. I ask for your divine intervention. Vanquish this curse from this family.”
Nothing. Not a single jolt of energy across my skin.
But when a black viper from the mirror curled around and rushed toward me, the tip splitting into a gaping mouth, I screamed.
Talin flew backward from an invisible force.
“Stop! I command you to halt!” I jutted out a hand, driving every inch of strength I possessed toward the oncoming slaughter.
The tentacle smacked into my chest, winding me, pushing me off my feet. And my world blacked so fast, I couldn’t even breathe.
I woke gasping, my hands batting the air, legs kicking.
“Get up, Sugarplum.”
Startled, I flipped open my eyes and stared at Leven’s face. Dread wrinkled the bridge of his nose, yet my head fogged, and I couldn’t formulate a plan. I glanced around the empty hallway. Portraits had fallen off the walls, some cracked, others lying face down. The chandelier swung wildly. Yet the bucket of salt water lay intact on the chair, untouched. Had it been the spell?
A growing pressure to run and never stop until I reached home filled me. The house was quiet, and heaviness hung in the air.
“Where’s everyone? Is Talin okay?” A boulder might as well have been sitting on my chest.
Leven took my hand and yanked me upright in a flash. “We need to go.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” At my feet I found the mirror, smashed. Yep, the spell had ended, but what had it unleashed?
A roar erupted from somewhere deeper in the house. I shuddered and flinched as I turned around. “Talin’s turned?”
Leven snatched my elbow and dragged me upstairs. “Talin transformed first. Then Ash, and just recently, Raze.” His accusing voice hurt.
“I didn’t curse them.” I pulled free and we both stood inches apart halfway up the steps. “Tell me what’s going on! Are you going to change too?”
“I don’t know. But they’re hunting me. And now that you’re awake, you’ll be on their radar too.”
I couldn’t swallow, and fear clung to my ribs. “We’re being hunted?” Coldness sunk through me. Yet Leven hauled me up the stairs by an arm. I stumbled after him, trying to make sense of what had happened. The spell had backfired, and instead of reverting to the creator of the curse, it had attacked us. Almost as if whoever had placed it had laid a trap for anyone tampering with the hex.
It hadn’t even crossed my mind. My stomach ached. How could I not have suspected a trap? Had I just made the nightmare worse? We were being attacked by the other brothers?
