Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  She shook her head. “No. I can’t lose you, dead or alive. I can’t. I can’t even handle the thought of losing you.” Tears rolled down her face now.

  Lorcan pulled her in to his arms. “Orla, how could even think of that?” He kissed her hair and left her sitting on the sofa as he went to the desk. He pulled out his computer bag, opened the zipper of a small compartment at the side, and pulled out a tiny velvet bag. He put something in his palm.

  “You never look in my computer bag, and that’s why I put it there.” He opened his palm revealing a thumbnail-sized rusty yellow stone.

  Orla stared at the stone. The stone looked back at her. It was an ordinary stone she had picked up at the riverbank in Ireland. Emotions poured out of her like a storm. He gathered her into his arms and let her weep.

  “I keep my promises, Orla. Until the end of my time, that stone is not going to turn into gold. Until then, I will love you no matter what. It was my vow to you, and I’ll live up to it.”

  “Damn you, Lorcan. You were nine when I picked up that stupid rock.”

  He lifted her chin, “And you were six. A six-year-old girl who believed she could turn that piece of ordinary rock into gold. That’s the girl I love. Not because she might be able to turn rock into gold, but because she had the crazy and idiotic belief that she could.”

  He kissed her forehead. “As long as the rock is not turning into gold, you’re mine. So as long as the result of whatever you traded with whomever is not turning that rock into gold, I can take it. I will still love you. Nothing will change.” He smiled. “Now, hit me with the truth.”

  She shifted. “I’m supposed to be a sorcereress.”

  There was silence.

  Lorcan released her.

  “God damn it. I knew this would happen!” she exclaimed.

  He stood up and looked at her.

  “Lorcan . . . never mind . . .” she sighed.

  Lorcan jammed his hand with the rock into his pants pocket and stepped back. “What do you mean by you’re ‘supposed to be’? Are you or are you not a sorcereress?”

  “That’s what was expected of me . . . but no, I’m not a sorcereress . . . I don’t have the training.”

  Lorcan let out a sign of relief. “So you’re not turning my rock into gold?”

  She let out a watery laugh. “No. I’m not going to turn that stupid rock into gold.”

  “But can you?” He frowned.

  “No.”

  “Promise me even if you can, you won’t, okay?”

  “I promise I won’t. Is that all you’re worried about? Me turning that rock into gold?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded solemnly.

  She laughed, tears rolling down her face. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. “You weren’t surprised. You were pulling my leg.”

  Lorcan smiled. She flew at him, slapping at his chest. “Damn you, smart ass.”

  He let her hit him for a while. Her beating had no real heat in it. Then he snatched her hands and looked into her eyes. “I met a deity. I saw your telepathic reaction. I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw unicorns walking down the street right now. So knowing you’re a sorcerer or a witch doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t change a thing. I thought you’d say you traded my soul for a demon in exchange for my life.”

  “Hmmm.”

  Lorcan’s smile faded. “Is there a second half to the sorcerer reveal?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t trade your soul or anything.” She blew out a breath. “I did, however, let you receive a life force . . .”

  “Life force? Like in Star Wars?”

  “No. I don’t know any Jedi Knights, I’m afraid.” She shrugged and looked at him. Her eyes darkened. “The life force that you received is a bit like qi in Chinese medicine, which is supposed to be a natural source of energy. What I used on you was a qi created by dark magic from a special branch of sorcery.”

  Lorcan arched an eyebrow, waiting for what was coming next.

  “The dark qi in your body won’t change you. It makes you stronger in mind, body, and spirit. You don’t have to do anything about it.”

  “What did it cost you?” Lorcan asked.

  “The special branch of sorcery that gave you the dark qi, they’re my family. They’ve been performing dark magic for more than a thousand years. Five hundred years ago, we were one of the strongest branches. Then everything fell apart because the leader violated a fundamental rule. We aren’t allowed to have positive emotions. The emotion of the light, they called it. Love, happiness, enlightenment . . . All of those are not allowed. The leader at that point let himself love a woman, and that emotion corrupted his magic. The branch was ruined until . . .” she paused and looked at Lorcan.

  “Oh no . . . ,” he muttered.

  She nodded. “Until me.” She sighed. “The telepathic ability makes me one of the strongest Alphas since the incident five hundred years ago. I was raised to believe I would one day be the leader and revamp our branch of magic. I could have anything and everything I wanted. Money. Power. Hell, I could turn that rock you have into gold if I wanted to.”

  Lorcan approached, lifting her chin up so she looked him in the eye. “But you’re not allowed to live as a normal person. You can’t love. So what’s the point of all that power?” He wiped a tear that trickled down her face. “That was why you never let me see your family. All that time we spent at the river, picking out rocks, playing children’s games, you never told me. Then you ran away without a whiff of warning.”

  “But you found me.”

  Lorcan smiled. “It’s not hard to find the second half of your soul. We’re soul mates, Orla. How could you even think of losing me by telling me about your family?” He kissed her again.

  “For years, I just wanted to make a lot of money, be successful so to speak. Then I could go back to my family and tell them we could have the life we wanted without using dark magic. I thought it was that simple. After I ran away, my uncle took over and built it up further.”

  “They still want you, I assume?”

  Orla nodded. “At Fossey Way, I couldn’t let you die. So I called them for the dark qi. In exchange, I have to go back to the family. They still want me to lead.”

  “What if you break the deal with your family? If you don’t come back, what will they do?”

  She blew out a breath. “It’s not that simple. There were curses. When I ran away, a black curse was placed against me. When I am loved by someone, the black curse will kill me. My late aunt, she loved and raised me. She placed a white curse on me to protect me. So if I am loved by someone, the white curse will kill that person.”

  “Nice work,” Lorcan muttered.

  “I didn’t know how much to buy into until . . . until you were going to die at Fossey Way.” She cried again. “It was my fault,” she said.

  “No, Orla. No . . .”

  Orla’s phone buzzed. She looked at it and picked it up. “Riley? . . . No, don’t cry darling, tell me what happened . . .” Orla hung up and phone and rushed toward the door. “Noah just called. Riley’s in trouble,” she said as she flew out the door. Lorcan followed her.

  Chapter 23

  Riley saw Lorcan and Orla charge into the house. Noah cried again, darting over to hug his uncle. Riley wanted to gather his son into his arms and take all of his fear away, but instead, he could only stand still, looking at his lifeless body and the people panicking around him. He regretted causing the look on Lorcan’s face. Lorcan was like his brother. The only family he and Noah had. Riley wanted to help, wanted to stir and give them some signal so that they would stop worrying.

  He wasn’t blown up when the ancient man had exploded at Fossey Way. Riley hope he didn’t actually kill the guy. He had looked like a ghost, so Riley assumed he was already dead. He couldn’t kill a dead man, could he? Then Mya took him and Noah home. Riley had only had a few cuts and bruises, so he’d assumed everything was fine. That was why Mya left him and Noah and went about her business. If something
were going to happen to him, a deity like Mya would know, wouldn’t she? That was what she said before she left. Then he’d had another episode. It was like someone had pulled the rug out from under him. He fell into a coma again. But unlike what had happened when the old woman was here, this time, it hurt. His entire body felt as if it was on fire.

  But what hurt him most was the fear on Noah’s face. He had tried, but this time, he couldn’t communicate with Noah. Riley needed to know what happened and how to snap out of this. He concentrated. From a distance, he saw a light. He walked toward it and moved through the light gate.

  In front of Riley was a stone chapel. He walked into the hall of the long chapel. A cold breeze brushed across his skin. The stench of mud and rotten meat oozed up from the damned floor, covered in broken stones, bricks, and something that looked like broken bones. He didn’t know what this place was, but he was certain it wasn’t Heaven.

  He saw an empty altar and the shadow of someone praying.

  Hearing Riley’s footsteps, the person turned around. At the same time, large candles on the stone base and torches on the wall lit up. The woman at the altar was stunning. Her sandy hair cascaded to her waist. Her milky skin shone in the flickering light. Her slanted blue eyes, although intense, looked at Riley with affection.

  “Michelle,” Riley whispered, thinking she looked like an angel.

  As much as he wanted to, he didn’t run toward her. Instead, he stopped with caution. There was something missing in her eyes. When he’d seen her before at their place, he had reached out, wanting to embrace her. But now, he wanted to withdraw from her. Something was wrong. He was fully aware that he was dreaming or operating at a subconscious level. This incident wasn’t supposed to be real. But the danger he felt now was as real as it had ever been.

  Michelle stepped closer to Riley, her long dress sweeping the floor. She reached her hand out. “Come here, darling,” she said.

  Riley staggered back.

  The smile on Michelle’s face faded. “Why won’t you come to me? You always wanted this.”

  “You’re not my wife,” Riley said, feeling a lump in his throat. “What did you do with my wife?”

  The woman smiled, and her face cracked, turned pale, and then darkened. Her skin and hair, dried up and tangled up like straw, turned black. Her eyes became bloodshot, and her lips blackened. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m not your wife, but I’m the death of her.”

  “But . . .”

  “Yes, I know what you’re thinking. She’s already dead. But she couldn’t pass to the next plane because of your stupid love for her. Not that I care about any of that. But it hurt my brother when he came claiming a sacrifice for a black curse. So I ought to fix it for him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Someone was giving a sacrifice for a black curse. My brother was supposed to claim it, but then somehow you jumped into the process. He touched you without knowing you hold onto that love for your dead wife. That’s lethal to my brother, and he’s now stuck between worlds.”

  “Well, I didn’t know. He was going to hurt my son. So I did what a father should.”

  The woman stared at Riley. “And you think I care about that?”

  “But you care about your brother.”

  “You are mistaken. I don’t. He’s the head of the family. If he finishes, the power comes to me. But if he’s stuck between worlds, I can’t get the power, and no one can do anything about it.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Release your wife.”

  “How? Just say I don’t love her anymore? Not only is that a lie, but I also don’t see how it will free your brother.”

  “You have to say the reverse spell for the love your have with your wife.”

  Riley narrowed his eyes. “So in your world, it’s an official statement, like a divorce.”

  The woman smiled. “Ah, you’re smarter than I thought.”

  Riley shrugged. “All right then. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to say it. It might matter in your world, but not in mine. I need to get back to my son. So if I say what you want, you’ll let me go back to my world?”

  The woman smiled. “Of course. You and your son can live happily forever after.”

  “How do I know you’ll keep your promise?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Well, verbal conversation, even in a form of a spell—or maybe especially when it’s a spell—doesn’t work as an official record in my world. I need proof. A guarantee.”

  “How do you propose I do that?”

  “I need something in writing.”

  The woman nodded and waved her hand. A scroll of paper appeared. She opened it. “I’ll sign it with my blood,” she said, signing. Then she held out the scroll to Riley. He smiled and approached.

  “If my love for my wife bound your brother in a spell, it would most likely do the same to you,” Riley said, and before he finished the sentence and the woman had a chance to react to it, he reached out and grabbed her hand instead of the scroll. The woman screamed in pain and tried to shrug off Riley’s grip.

  “Let me go. Let go of my hand.” She tried to cast Riley away, but couldn’t. She was weakening by the second. “Why?”

  “My love for my wife can only get stronger. I refuse to physically or spiritually divorce her. Living or dead, she will always be my wife. You think I would ever believe that a simple reverse spell would release her from our ritual commitment? I don’t know you, and I don’t know your world, but I do know that the spell would do a lot more damage to my wife than that.”

  “It’s just a release spell, I swear,” the woman cried. She slumped to the ground and started to burn. The heat transferred to Riley, but he wouldn’t let go.

  “I’ll burn you, bitch. Even if I die with you, I’ll burn you now.”

  “Please don’t . . . what do you want?”

  “Let me go back to my world, and I’ll release you there.”

  “I don’t know how. Please don’t kill me.”

  “How did you get me here?”

  “You walked through the light yourself. Please let me go.”

  The woman burned like a torch. She swung harder and threw Riley against a wall. He slid to the floor. The woman screamed and raised her arm as if to strike him. He looked in the distance and saw the light gate. He used whatever strength left in him to charge at it. A force struck his back. He rolled on the floor, and then stood up to dive through the gate. Behind him, he could still hear the burning woman’s screams.

  Riley rolled out onto the floor of his house. He saw his body convulsing as if he was having a seizure. His nose and mouth bled. Lorcan grabbed the car keys and said he was taking Riley to the hospital. Orla stopped him, saying that this was a supernatural thing. They scuffled for the keys. Noah wailed and held on to his father.

  There was a bang on the door. Lorcan yanked it open and saw Mya. “Just in time! Get in here and tell Orla that this has nothing to do with your spooky stuff, and I have to take Riley to the hospital. In fact, I’m calling an ambulance right now.”

  “No, you’re not.” Orla grabbed the phone. “He’ll die if you do that. You have to let me perform a ritual.”

  “He’s dying, and you’re going rely on magic?” Lorcan yelled.

  Mya walked into the house and glanced at Riley.

  “Mya, tell me if he’s going to die. I know you can’t do magic. But it’s the least you can do,” Orla asked.

  “I’m not supposed to say. It’s only natural.” Mya stared at Orla.

  “Oh my God,” Orla whispered. “He’s really destined to die. That’s why you aren’t doing anything.”

  Noah cried out loud. He ran to the door. The kitten jumped up, clinging to Noah. The young boy ran out into the darkness of the night.

  “Noah!” Lorcan called out and chased Noah. Orla followed. Mya was about to follow, but decided to stay with Riley.

  Chapter 24

  In
the darkness, Noah ran as fast as his tiny body could tolerate, the kitten on his shoulder. He had turned into a quiet part of the national park. As much as the area was peaceful and serene every morning when he took walks with his father, now the darkness distorted the shapes of the trees and bushes, making them look like demons reaching out to grab him. An eerie wind howled around him, blowing the sounds of hell’s chanting into his ears, a melody of death.

  Lorcan called out and raced after him. He caught up and grabbed the boy. “Noah, please, don’t do that. It doesn’t help your father.” He wiped the tears from Noah’s cheek. “He’ll be just fine. I’ll make him better. Don’t worry.”

  “How?” Noah cried.

  “I’ll find a way. You have to trust me. Your father’s very strong. He’d never give up. He’d never leave you behind. You know that, right?”

  Noah didn’t answer. Tears kept streaming down his face. Orla caught up with them. “This isn’t the place for talking. Let’s get back inside the house.” They didn’t even have a chance to turn around when there was a demonic roar from behind a tree. From a dark corner, two shadows came toward them. Lorcan pushed Orla and Noah behind him. The kitten hissed profusely, teeth bared, eyes wildly green. They withdrew.

  The two shadows approached—a woman and a man. They appeared human except for their deathly pale skin and blazing red eyes.

  “Are they demons?” Noah asked.

  “No, but worse. Much worse,” Orla whispered, then raised her voice, “I’ll break your curse. You know I’m good enough. I’ll send you back to where you came from. You have three seconds to disappear.”

  The woman looked at the man, then both of them cast menacing looks at the group of humans and a cat. They laughed. “Nice try,” the woman said. “But we aren’t the ones who placed the black curse on you. You can’t reverse it on us.”

  “What do you want?” Lorcan asked, stepping in front of Orla.