Cursed (The Price of Magic Series Book 1)

by Freya Black

  She’d stood over me, clasping the back of the chair, and in her angelic voice, she’d said, “One day, you will be the leader of this Coven. You will sit at this table and stare into the eyes of your people, knowing you have to make a choice between doing what’s right and wrong. But, sometimes, in life, the line gets blurred, and it’s not a decision between right and wrong but of life or death.”

  It was strange how I could remember every piece of advice my parents had given me or the first time I’d practiced magic with them. But when it came to Sloane, all I had were the few visions we’d shared together.

  “The Fey Queen gave this to your mother as a gift,” Kate said, sliding out the chair for me. She motioned for me to sit, and then she traced her fingers along the table. “It’s made from the bark of sacred black alder, grown in Krona. The wood has protective properties.”

  Kate extracted a leather-bound book from the mantel above the fireplace. At the book’s spine were two gold crescent moons and the words Luna Crescent. She set the book on the table and took a seat. As she flipped through the pages, I marveled at my surroundings. Walls of bookshelves were rich in our Coven’s history, an alcove filled with texts, apothecary jars, and other magical items. Centuries of Coven Leaders’ pictures stared back at me.

  My mother looked beautiful in her photo, and so did the rest of my family members. All were blonde and blue-eyed, like Kate and me, and had a certain hopefulness about them that struck a nerve. They, too, had thought they could escape the curse, but fate was inescapable.

  For years, I’d worked with Kate in the ritual room on the first floor of the store. The secret gathering room of the Luna Crescent Coven was off-limits until after Initiation. I wanted to ask why the sudden change of heart, but I knew better than to question her judgment.

  Kate glowed as she slid the book between us. “This is the Luna Crescent Grimoire, the oldest living testament of our ancestors’ history. Katherine Cleary brought this with her from Dublin. It contains every spell cast by a member of our Coven for over three hundred years.”

  “Finally. I’ve been dying to see this.” I pulled the yellowed parchment paper toward me, bursting with anticipation. The divine powers of the Crescent Witches who had created the spell book prickled my fingertips.

  Kate waved her hand at the endless shelves of canvas. “Additional books—dedicated to the invocation of spirits, incantations, and ingredients required to make potions, amulets, and talismans—are kept in our personal libraries. But the Luna Crescent Grimoire is the most sacred.”

  I hung on every word as Kate turned to a page bordered with Celtic knots. The brown ink was faded in certain places, but Luna Crescent Founders at the top was still legible. Kate traced her finger down the family trees and stopped at the bottom. My jaw dropped when I saw Blackwell with a lightning bolt—the mark of a Telepath, representing mind over matter.

  Afraid to look up, I kept my face buried in the book to hide the embarrassment burning my cheeks. “You’re a Telepath,” I said to Sloane. “It all makes sense now. I thought I was going crazy.”

  He reached out to touch my hand, and this time, I let him. The warmth of his energy surged through me. I didn’t understand it, but I sensed every one of his emotions, as if they were happening to me.

  “I wanted to tell you everything the first time we met, but I knew you didn’t remember me.”

  “You should’ve tried harder.” I recoiled when I realized that wasn’t the worst part.

  Not all Telepaths can read minds, but what if Sloane can?

  That would mean, he’d heard every crazy thing that had run through my head, unfiltered.

  The thought made me cringe.

  “I wanted to show you, but you wouldn’t open your mind to me.”

  “I thought you were a Hexenjager. So did Kate. We were planning on killing you.”

  The table burst into laughter, and as they had before, Sloane’s emotions shook right through me.

  “You’re so much like your mother,” Quinn said. “Amelia would have done the same thing.”

  With a smile, Kate brushed against Quinn’s arm. “Do you remember their binding ceremony? They were so adorable.”

  “Yeah,” Quinn said. “I checked our house before I came to Enchanted Books and Beans. The pictures from Dakota Pointe were still on Sloane’s nightstand.”

  “I kept everything exactly as you’d left it,” Kate said.

  I stared at Sloane, and a smile spread across his lips that made me blush all over again. Somehow, I was more embarrassed than when Kate had decided to show Marco my baby pictures on our second date. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping Quinn wasn’t about to slap the pictures down on the table.

  “Your mom made you the cutest headpiece. It took her forever to get the orchids just right,” Kate said, tilting the coffee mug to her lips. “For weeks, you danced with your dad in the living room, wearing that thing.”

  “I think I have a picture of Preston and Fiona dancing together that day,” Quinn said.

  My father and I had made a habit of twirling in the living room or singing in the kitchen together as he made breakfast. Every morning I’d wake to his blonde mustache brushing against my cheek as he kissed me before work. The fact that everyone had a memory of my parents that my mother had stripped away from me made me sick to my stomach. I wished I could remember, too.

  I racked my brain in search of answers, and then it hit me all at once. “Was I wearing a white dress with a yellow sash?”

  Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  I pushed the grimoire away from me, as if it were about to combust.

  A look of concern furrowed Kate’s brow. “What’s wrong?”

  I glanced down at my fingers meshed together with Sloane’s, wondering if he would think I was crazy. “Today, in class, when you woke me up, I had been dreaming about that day. You’ve been in my dreams since the day we met…maybe even before we’d met.” I paused to gauge Sloane’s reaction. The smile that spread across his lips forced me to continue, “What did you do to me? You provoked my visions, the ones with the Druden.”

  Sloane held up our hands. “Can you show me?”

  I looked at him sideways. “Show you what? My visions?”

  Sloane nodded. “Yes. That’s why I’ve been trying to get you to open your mind.”

  I turned to Kate for confirmation. She nodded at Quinn with an expression that didn’t need words.

  Quinn slid his chair closer. “Telepaths have the ability to connect with Crescent Witches on a deeper level. Because your dad was a Telepath, your connection should be much stronger than what your parents shared. Your father could see your mother’s visions when she chose to show them. By nature, your mind is more guarded than other witches. Even I can’t get a read on you. But I could read your mother, which means you have the ability to ward off telepathic intrusions, just like your father.”

  I looked at Quinn, perplexed. “Only the men in my family are Telepaths?”

  “Trust in your ability,” Quinn said with a reassuring grin. “Close your eyes, and focus.”

  Sloane tightened his grip on my hand, and an electrified sensation tingled my fingertips. Quinn latched on to the other, but for some reason, I couldn’t sense his energy. I concentrated on the dream I’d had the day I met Sloane. It played in my mind like a silent movie. Sloane squeezed harder when the demonic creatures sliced off the heads of innocent people roaming the streets. Before I opened my eyes, I could sense the palpable discomfort in Sloane’s aura.

  “It’s the Glamour War,” Sloane said in a hushed tone.

  Kate’s eyes widened. She had an odd expression on her face when she turned to me. “How could you possibly remember that?” She paused for a second to collect her thoughts. “When you mentioned the Druden, I thought that maybe you had a vision, but—”

  “What’s the Glamour War?” I said, stumbling on my words.

  “The Imperium Council called it the Glamour War because of the
Glamour magic used to deceive our Coven,” Quinn said. “For the first time in over a hundred years, dark Fey broke through the realm of Tartara to invade Arcadia. We did everything we could to stop them from tethering, but they were too powerful.”

  We learned a lot about the three supernatural realms during Witching Hour. Forged through fire and reinforced by its impenetrable adamantine walls, Tartara and the molten lava pits that encased the realm were, in my mind, as close to hell as one would ever see in their lifetime. But a mortal could never enter the realm. Even if they could, the likelihood of surviving the poisonous gasses would be impossible.

  My mind swirled with questions as the words slipped off my tongue. “Why did they come here?”

  “Two reasons,” Quinn said, holding up his fingers. “Druden require the souls of the living to remain immortal. What you saw in your dream was the Druden hunt. Hexenjagers used them as a distraction to steal the magic built underneath the city.”

  “The Catacombs,” I mumbled.

  “Yes.” Quinn rolled the sleeves of his olive dress shirt to his elbows and leaned into them. “Dark Fey have been stealing magic from the human realm for centuries. At one time, there were gateway portals and cities like Arcadia all over the world, but as their dark magic strengthened, it became harder for witches to fend off their attacks.”

  “Katherine Cleary escaped Dublin right before they destroyed the portals.” Kate’s soft voice sounded like a whisper in the silent air. “She came to Arcadia with what little magic was left. That’s how the Founders built the Catacombs.”

  I stared at her with a mixture of intrigue and resentment, the latter driven by my irritation with my mother for concealing so much of my past. The reason I felt inadequate, unable to fill my mother’s shoes, was because everything I knew was a lie or a half-truth. “How did we survive the Glamour War?”

  Kate picked at a chip in her nail polish and sighed. “They destroyed most of the town. The amount of casualties forced us to involve the Imperium Council.”

  “Is that why Mom erased my memories?”

  The dejected look on Kate’s face made me tense. I forced myself to breathe one slow breath in and out, but the tightness in my chest remained. Kate took my hand that Quinn had released and traced circles with her index finger, the same way my mother used to. When I’d woken up, screaming, in the middle of the night, it would calm me down. Now, instead, it made me sick to my stomach.

  “For a month after the war, you had nightmares every night. Your mom couldn’t stand to see you like that.” Kate clutched my wrist, and at that moment, I wished she’d had the same powers as Sloane. “To make you forget, she made a strong Memory Elixir. In order to break the spell, you and Sloane would have to meet again.” She studied each of us, a sly grin on her face. “Did the two of you kiss?”

  I looked away, my eyes darting between pictures of previous Coven Leaders. I wished the walls could talk because I needed someone to provide some insight. I stared at the tiled ceiling, as if it would open up and a sign from the Gods and Goddesses would fall into my lap. Nothing happened, so I turned to face Kate as I sighed.

  “Yeah. So…what’s the big deal?” My voice sounded cold, but Kate didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed.

  “That would explain all the nightmares,” Kate said matter-of-factly. “When your mom created the elixir, she added a few precautions. For you, the only way to break the spell was with a kiss. You and Sloane are bound to one another, so your mother wanted to ensure that, if your future changed, you and Sloane would be together. Declan and Celeste were given a different version of the potion. They’ll remember Sloane after Initiation when we perform the Binding Ceremony that will link all of our powers together.”

  “Seriously? What are we? Snow White and Prince Charming?”

  The room filled with laughter, and even I managed to loosen up.

  “But the spell didn’t work,” I said. “We kissed and I still have very little memories of Sloane.”

  Kate shook her head. “The fact that you can remember the Glamour War and some of your childhood memories of Sloane means it’s working. Sometimes, a spell that powerful takes time.”

  I felt cheated even though I was happy to forget the war. Losing every memory of Sloane and a childhood I desperately wanted to remember stung. “Well, how much time? I want my memories back. What else was taken from me?”

  “Nothing,” Kate said. “Just memories of Sloane and the Glamour War, but the effects of the potion seem to be wearing off. Don’t worry. It will come to you in time.”

  Sloane’s energy shot through me as his fingers grazed mine. “You’re lucky. I wish I could forget it.” His eyes drifted toward the table.

  The pained look on his face made we wish I had the power to absorb his emotions.

  “How did you make it out of the Glamour War alive?” Kate stared at Quinn, a hint of resistance in her voice. “Is Emma here, too?” She said the name Emma like she was chewing glass.

  Quinn paused, unaffected by the harsh nature of Kate’s tone. “We jumped through the Krona portal with some of the light Fey right before they sealed it off.” His downcast eyes peeked up from the table, and when he spoke, his voice cracked, “Emma didn’t make it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Kate said, stroking his arm. “Have you been in Krona this whole time?”

  “Yes. The Praetorian Guard took us to see Queen Moira.”

  The thought of the army responsible for defending the realms against malevolence made me shudder.

  “Because of Queen Moira’s relationship with Amelia, she let us stay inside the castle.”

  My mother and the Queen had been very close. Mom had told me stories of the humanlike fairies—known as light Fey—blessed with eternal beauty and flawless fair skin. Not all Fey were evil. In fact, even dark Fey were from Krona. Years later, they’d defected when Queen Moira had had enough and kicked them out of her realm. Some Fey were immortal, like the Queen and her two sisters, but most were not. All magical creatures known as Fey—such as elves, dwarves, and pixies—had come from fairies.

  Kate seemed pleased that the Queen had taken mercy on them. “When we didn’t hear anything from Queen Moira, we weren’t sure what to think. Months later, right after I took over for Amelia as Coven Leader, the Imperium Council informed me of your deaths. We lost all communication, except for our link to Castra, but the Council never mentioned the Glamour War once it was over.” She paused for a second and shook her head. “If you were in Krona the entire time, then how did you get back to Arcadia?”

  “I found a portal in the orchards,” Sloane said, looking across the table at his father. “How did you get back?”

  “A portal in the Fomorian Forest,” Quinn said.

  “You’re lucky you made it out of there alive.” Sloane sounded terrified. “There’s nothing but one-eyed giants and sorcerers in that forest.”

  “I didn’t have a choice. I looked everywhere for you, even the orchards, and when I saw the portal, I assumed you’d tethered.”

  Kate shot up from her chair, the muscles in her face tightening as she spoke, “We need to contact the Imperium Council.” Frantic, she paced back and forth along the golden tiles. “I’ve been checking the gateway portals every day since Sloane came into the shop. They’re still sealed off from the Antebellum Curse, but a freestanding portal…” The panic in her voice was disturbing. She paused for a second, which I was thankful for because she was starting to make me dizzy.

  “In English,” I blurted out. “What’s an Antebellum Curse?”

  “After the Glamour War, the Imperium Council created the curse as a fail-safe to minimize exposure to the Norms. It returned Arcadia to the way it had been before the war.”

  “Do the Norms remember the people they lost?”

  “No.” Kate shook her head. “It’s as if they never existed.”

  The idea of the curse and the effects it would have on all of us had not fully sunk in at that point. “Is that why
the portals are closed?”

  “Yes. It was the only way to keep Fey from entering Arcadia, but that also meant closing off communication to the outside world.”

  Over the mantel, a large mirror framed by silver crescent moons cast a soft glow against Kate’s cheek. Our attention shifted to the kaleidoscope of colors. Pale blue, blood red, and electric green swirled together into a magical cloud. Once the haze dissolved, a woman’s face appeared in its place. Underneath long brown hair, perfectly sculpted features, and porcelain skin were pointed ears and a devious grin.

  Kate stood in front of the mirror with her hands behind her back. “Madam Councilwoman, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Councilwoman Valdis Stone, head of the Imperium Council, was a fairy from Krona who had been reelected to her position at least ten times. She spoke on behalf of the Council in all matters pertaining to Magisterial issues. I had read some of her sentences over the years. She was known for the harshest punishments. The Council operated similar in fashion to the Supreme Court, except their reach was beyond judicial matters. If you combined the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of American government, you would get the Imperium Council. And they were the people you feared most.

  The woman pressed her lips together. “Magistrate Cleary, we received word of unauthorized tethering into Arcadia. Do you have anything to report?”

  After my mother’s death, Kate had assumed her position as Magistrate for the human realm, a position she would hold until after my Divine Succession Ceremony.

  “I was just about to contact you,” Kate stammered. “Two of our members, Quinn and Sloane Blackwell, have returned through freestanding portals opened in Krona.”

  The woman paused for a second. Her beautiful features stiffened, and when she spoke, the refined eloquence of her voice grew stern, “I know I don’t need to remind you of your magisterial duty to report the possession of a stolen Scipio wand.”

  “I’m aware this breaks Divine Law, but the portal wasn’t opened by a member of the Luna Crescent Coven.”

  Quinn slid next to Kate and gazed into the mirror. “Madam Councilwoman, forgive my intrusion. My son and I are not in possession of a Scipio wand, but I can tell you, someone used one to open the freestanding portals in Krona.”