The Cursed Key

by Miranda Brock

  Kael growled.

  I held my hands up in surrender as I leaned back into my chair. “Sorry. I’m sure your tiny, razor-blade kitten claws were very menacing.”

  I allowed myself another laugh and finally managed to rein it in as Cordelia returned with the tea and scones.

  As the witch poured our tea, Kael peered into his cup with suspicion. My lips quirked slightly. Cordelia started to walk away, and I twisted in my chair.

  “Cordelia, would you mind joining us?”

  Her glance shifted from our table to the front counter. “I suppose for a minute. I’ll need to close soon, though.”

  “We won’t be long.” I took a sip of the tea and cut Kael a glare as he opened his mouth impatiently. A bite of the scone proved her cooking skills were even better. “This is marvelous.”

  Apparently, Kael couldn’t hold himself back any longer. “I want to know—”

  I kicked him under the table and glared. Then I cleared my throat as I smiled at Cordelia. “Actually, Renathe sent us over. He said you might be able to help us with something.”

  Cordelia finally smiled. It really lit up her face. I’d been right, smiling seemed to be something she did a lot. Why the warning from Renathe about how dangerous she was? He must have been as superstitious as Kael. Men.

  “I see that old man’s still sending people over to me when he’s too stumped to figure things out on his own.”

  Old man? Renathe couldn’t have been much older than me. Kael took advantage of my confused silence to launch into the story of the mage. He told the witch how the dark mage had taken something of theirs, but I noticed he didn’t say it was the key.

  Cordelia’s fingers played with one of the tassels on her shawl as she considered us. “I will need payment for my services.” Her gaze swept to Kael as he reached for his wallet. “Not money.”

  I pulled the tiny ice fox from Ren out of my pocket. It hadn’t even picked up any pocket lint. “How about this?”

  The witch took the fox from me. “Formed with everfrost?” She smiled. “That fae always has enjoyed gifting valuable rarities to beautiful women. Very well.”

  She pocketed the fox. I tamped down the thought of just how much that fox-shaped ice cube had cost me.

  “The mage took a key that she found in ruins in the Vale do Javari.” Kael tossed me an accusing glare. He described the artifact in such great detail, I wondered if he had seen it before.

  “I know of the key. However, I cannot say more in front of a human,” Cordelia said. “You should know this, shifter. You are held by the same limitations.”

  I slowly spun my teacup on the saucer. “I’m not just a human...anymore.” My own words surprised me. What exactly was I now? I most certainly wasn’t normal. What was I going to do after we caught the mage? Would the magic go away? What if it didn’t?

  “What do you mean, you are not just a human?” Cordelia asked.

  “Ever since I found the key, I’ve had…magic.” Was that the proper way to describe what I could do? Ren had said it was something that had been woken inside of me, but I still didn’t understand what he’d meant.

  Cordelia fixed me with a hard stare. “Show me.”

  I glanced uncertainly at Kael. He was busy stuffing a scone into his mouth, but he nodded. I pulled in a deep breath. The magic wasn’t something I had been able to just summon at will. So far, it had mostly happened when I was in danger.

  I sat very still, the witch and the shifter eyeing me silently. A buzzing energy waited eagerly beneath my skin, warming my body. I embraced it.

  The energy came forth, magic curling around my fingers in fuchsia tendrils. I stared at the energy and wondered what I could do with it. It grew larger, dripping from my fingers and crawling across the tea table like smoke.

  Power. I could sense it writhing inside of me. If I unleashed it, what would happen?

  Cordelia waved a hand, and my magic snuffed out like a candle.

  I stared at the witch, and suddenly Ren’s warning about her being dangerous seemed very real. Shadows crawled out from behind the rattling, decorative plates and tea cups clattered in their saucers. Goosebumps raised on my skin as the air grew stale and chill. The cheery tea shop had been a façade.

  My stomach twisted, every instinct screaming at me to run. My fingers gripped the edge of the table, anchoring me. Beside me, Kael growled.

  As the shadows and cold vanished, making the room warm and inviting again, Cordelia stared at me. “Your magic is an ancient thing. Weak and untested, but ancient. Practice will help it grow stronger.” She folded her hands in front of her. “I will help you find the stolen key, because you are the only one who has a true claim to it.”

  I glanced at Kael, who seemed as clueless as myself, then back to Cordelia. “I don’t understand.”

  “Not all things are for me to reveal. Some things you must figure out for yourself.”

  For every mystery we solved, three more unfurled. “Okay, fine. What about the key? Where do we find it?”

  “In order for you to find the cursed key you plucked from the earth, you must first find another relic.”

  “Another relic?”

  She reached over and put her hand on mine. “Another key.”

  Oh God. Please don’t tell me this key is going to be cursed, too.

  Chapter 15

  Had I heard the witch correctly? Surely not. Cordelia’s stare was completely earnest. My narrowed gaze slid from her to pin onto Kael.

  “What kind of PITO agent are you? Isn’t a second key something you should have known about?” I twisted in my chair. “It would have saved us a lot of time.”

  Perhaps my sharp tone was misplaced, but I couldn’t help but be angry. Though Cordelia had been cordial enough, despite the sliver of danger she’d let shine through her façade, had it been necessary that we come here? What about the fae, Renathe? I had sold my father’s beloved car to him in exchange for the tip to visit her. Had the key been in the ruins with the first, and I had missed it? If Kael had known about a second key all along…

  “I didn’t know about a second key.” His voice rumbled, an echo of the anger inside of me.

  “Isn’t that your job?”

  Kael’s dark hair trembled as he shook his head. “It must be outside of my jurisdiction.”

  Outside of his jurisdiction? Did that mean it hadn’t been in the ruins with the first key?

  Still, I wasn’t about to let the shifter off the hook so easily. “Your knowledge is incredibly lacking considering you were in Brazil to protect the key. Why are you having to chase down people who know about it?”

  “We are not always told what we are protecting, only of its importance. It protects the objects, in case we are captured and interrogated.”

  I sighed sharply, my finger tracing a silver spoon patterned with flowers on the table beside my teacup. If Kael’s knowledge was so limited on this case, was he really the best to be working with?

  His hand landed roughly on my shoulder, jerking me to face him again. “I am perfectly capable of moving forward. I have resources you will need. Without me, you will fail.”

  His dark eyes held mine, and I swear I heard a slight growl rolling from his wide chest.

  I ignored the tingle the feral sound sent across my skin, more delightful than I wanted to admit. Scowling, I brushed his hand from my shoulder. “Excuse me, but I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I obtained the key in the first place without aid, remember?”

  Kael leaned forward on his elbows. The delicate table creaked beneath his weight. “Indeed you did, and look where it got us.”

  “If I hadn’t found the key first, the mage may have.”

  “Or maybe he wouldn’t have. And even if he did, that’s a moot point, seeing as he got his hands on it anyway, thanks to you.”

  My new power buzzed for release, rising with my anger, but I pushed it down. “Well, at least we have clues to work with. If the mage had gone into the ruins, yo
u wouldn’t have any idea where to start.”

  “The dark mage is going to get even farther away if you two do not cease squabbling like children.”

  Cordelia sat with her back straight, a disapproving frown weighing on her lips.

  Kael leaned back against his chair. I had the spoon in a tight fist. What was I going to do, stab the insufferable shifter with it? Ridiculous. I released the spoon and turned toward Cordelia.

  “You’re right.” My neck had warmed a bit at the witch’s reprimand. What had gotten into me, arguing with someone like that? It was Kael’s fault. Apparently, he had the ability to bring out the worst in me. “Could you please tell us about the second key?”

  After a long and weighing gaze, Cordelia said, “The relic has been known in my bloodline for centuries.”

  “So, you know where it is?”

  Cordelia reached for the teapot on the table. She poured more tea into my cup and hers. Kael’s own tea was probably cold by now; he hadn’t touched it. Was he suspicious about the contents? Maybe someone had slipped something into his drink once. The witch that had hexed him previously, perhaps? Tea with Crème de la Kitten?

  I covered the threatening giggle with a smile and thanked Cordelia for the cup of fresh tea.

  The witch wrapped her hands around her steaming cup but didn’t lift it to her lips as I did. “I do know the whereabouts of the second key. It’s in Scotland.”

  I nearly spat the hot liquid from my mouth. My throat burned as I quickly swallowed the mouthful.

  “Scotland?” Though it was only a plane ride away, it seemed so far. The mage could get even farther from our grasp as we chased after this other relic.

  Kael’s chair creaked as he shifted. He looked ready to bolt to the airport that instant.

  “The relic is protected by a coven,” Cordelia continued. Her spoon clanked as she stirred cream into her tea. The woman looked as if she had settled into a brunch instead of discussing evil mages and cursed keys. “It will be dangerous, no doubt more difficult than it was for you to obtain the first key.”

  Her words struck me. More difficult than obtaining the first? My thoughts raced back through the sweltering jungle and to the crumbling ruins. It had been difficult to get through those ruins. I could have died quite easily in several places.

  The strange runes floated back to me, then. They had guided me safely through the earth’s deep and forgotten clutches.

  I tilted my chin up and smiled. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  Cordelia barked a laugh, cold and without mirth. “You had better hope you can handle it, child. If not, you will either lose the key or end up dead. There will be no in between if you choose to pursue this relic.”

  Right. As if I had a choice.

  “I will be there with her,” Kael reminded the witch.

  She leveled him with a hard stare. “Yes, and I have already seen the evidence of what I am sure will be a stellar and successful partnership.” Her tone oozed with sarcasm.

  I glanced at the shifter. I really did need to at least attempt to get along with him. If we didn’t get our act together, we would most certainly fail. He seemed to come to the same conclusion as I did. The tenseness in his shoulders lessened a bit.

  “Where do we need to go?” I asked.

  Cordelia excused herself and headed to the back. I sat silently sipping my tea as Kael took the opportunity to stuff another scone into his mouth. When the witch returned, she had a small, creased and wrinkled map in her hand. How often had she looked at it?

  “This is where you need to go.” Cordelia shuffled over a sugar bowl, and I moved my cup. She tapped her finger on a place called Kinloch Hourn. It looked to be a small place settled in the western portion of the Highlands.

  In all my travels around the world, I had never been to Scotland. Bagpipes and muscular men with glorious hair filled my vision. I could dig Scotland.

  Cordelia’s voice broke through my likely inaccurate Scottish visions. “You will find a small bed and breakfast there. The woman who owns it is named Aileen. She is the witch you need to speak to.”

  Kael stood as though too restless to sit any longer. “Why would she tell us about this other key if she is supposed to be protecting it?”

  “Because of you, Olivia.”

  My gaze shifted from the towering Kael to Cordelia. “Yeah?”

  “Show them your magic, just as you showed me. They, too, will be able to sense its ancient breath.”

  A hundred questions bubbled up in my thoughts every time my magic was mentioned. “I honestly don’t know what to do with my magic.” Between the mage, this new relic, and having to race to Scotland, I wasn’t even sure when I would have time to learn more about it. “What if it isn’t enough to help?”

  “In order for your magic to help, you will need to stop fighting it. Magic is like a muscle. You must work it for it to gain strength.”

  What if I didn’t want it to gain strength? What if I didn’t want this magic to be a part of me?

  Cordelia leaned toward me and laid a hand on my arm. A smile quirked at her lips, the first sign of genuine friendliness I had seen on her face since the moment we had come through her door.

  “Do not doubt yourself,” she told me. “This magic is not something you are suddenly cursed with, Olivia. It’s always been inside of you, just recently awakened once more. Embrace that, or you will not be able to withstand whatever the mage may throw at you.”

  Veiled answers and a slew of new questions. It was enough to make my head hurt.

  Kael paused behind my chair. “What about the mage? What can you tell us of him?”

  Cordelia removed her hand from my arm and pursed her lips. “I can tell you he has been asleep for centuries. Now that he is awake, he will do whatever it takes to gain power and avoid being defeated again.”

  “How was he defeated last time?”

  The witch stood and grabbed the map. She folded it before handing it to me. “If you wish to know how the mage was defeated, Olivia, you must find the answer inside yourself.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Something strange ghosted across Cordelia’s gaze, as if she were seeing something that wasn’t there. Wisdom, ancient and deadly, seemed to glow around her like a haunting aura.

  “Your visions. They are not—” Her head snapped up, and her gaze narrowed toward the door. “Someone is watching.”

  Kael was little more than a streak as he barreled toward the door. I lunged out of my seat and hurried after him. I bolted from the door and into the night. Kael was lethal as his quick pace ate up the cold sidewalk.

  A wild and untethered snarl tore up Kael’s throat. My magic rippled beneath my skin, tapping for release at the sound. The man fleeing before him didn’t stand a chance as the jaguar shifter’s fingers curled into the back of his leather jacket. Kael jerked him backward.

  “Livvie!” he yelled, tossing the man roughly at my feet.

  Ignoring the shock at the sudden nickname Kael graced me with, I moved without thought. I knelt beside the man. Somewhere between the tea table and the cold night, I had wrestled my knife from my bag.

  My breath rose before me in wisps as I pressed Chaucer’s blade to the eavesdropper’s throat.

  “Who are you?”

  Chapter 16

  The night had turned quiet, the air as cold and sharp as the blade I pressed against the stranger’s skin. I didn’t dare move, hardly dared to breathe, as I stared at him.

  I had a knife at a man’s throat. What was I doing?

  Kael prowled closer, his steps slow and calculating, as if he wasn’t quite certain what the man lying in front of me was capable of doing. His face was hard as he knelt beside the man, gaze flicking between the knife to my face with a silent question. Was I all right holding the knife? I was, I realized, and that was slightly disconcerting.

  “Who are you?” Kael asked.

  The gaunt man, with his skin tinted gray, remained silent. The thin
ness and colorless complexion of his face made him seem older than what I assumed. He shifted under my touch, and I pressed the blade harder onto his throat.

  Kael tried a different question. “What do you want?”

  His voice was low, growling.

  There was something strange about the eavesdropper’s appearance. In addition to looking as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks, his clothes were tattered and torn. His bony knees peeked out from holes in his faded jeans. He had to be freezing beneath the light jacket hanging loose on his thin frame.

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “Who are you?”

  The man remained silent.

  Kael’s nostrils flared, muscles jumping in his jaw as he ground his teeth. He wasn’t going to tolerate silence long. I couldn’t bring myself to let the blade of my knife cut the man, but I dug my fingers into his shoulder. Perhaps the sharp bite of my fingernails would persuade him to talk before Kael tore into him with the claws of his jaguar.

  I knew he had heard valuable information. We couldn’t risk letting this man go without knowing his intentions.

  “Who are you?” I pressed again.

  His eyebrows pinched in, and his lips mashed together.

  I tightened my grip on his shoulder. The magic that churned beneath my skin began to hum. He had to say something. Though I had a sinking feeling he had something to do with the mage, I had to be sure.

  My hands tingled. Magic spilled from my fingertips and onto his shoulder. It crawled onto his skin, where his veins began to protrude across his skin like blue spiderwebs. His mouth opened and closed as if he were a fish above the water’s surface. The man’s eyes watered, and a taut moan squeezed up his throat.

  “Olivia.”

  Kael’s voice broke through a fog I hadn’t realized I’d been trapped in. I blinked and pulled my hand from the man’s shoulder. I glanced up at the shifter, his steady gaze unreadable.

  Wordlessly, he turned his attention to the eavesdropper. “If you do not begin speaking, my friend here is going to release some real power on you.”