by Pat Esden
Chase grabbed Culus’s head, holding it still. “Go on. Do it,” he said to me.
Standing on my tiptoes, I poured the oil over Culus’s forehead and massaged it down onto his eyelids. The smell of violets and the oil’s slick chill brought back memories of Kate’s fingers on my face. Blood trickled from Culus’s nose as I chanted, “Hecate, Queen of the Sky, take these memories, Protector of the Gateways, of earth, heaven and sea.”
As I settled back down onto my heels, a sinking feeling gathered inside me. I knew nothing about witchcraft. I wasn’t a follower of Hecate. This wasn’t going to work. “Please, Hecate, please,” I said under my breath. I should have asked Grandfather to do this.
“Don’t worry,” Kate mumbled from behind me, “she knows who you are.”
Warmth flushed my face and I stepped back.
Instead of fighting against Chase’s grip, Culus’s head was now bowed, rocking back and forth like a child on the edge of sleep.
Grandfather nodded at me. “Yes, very well done,” he said.
Then, he held the poison ring up and his voice boomed as he recited the ring’s incantation.
But what I heard, what I experienced was far beyond anything I could have imagined. The words of the incantation were living things. They brushed my skin with an electric prickle. Their breath filled the air with the scent of sandalwood and left the flavor of salt on my tongue.
Culus dropped to his knees and began to tremble, harder and faster until his body shimmered like a heat mirage. Then, with a loud hiss, he transformed into a greasy mass, spinning into a fine blue thread, tendriling toward Grandfather, and into the poison ring—which had started this whole mess.
CHAPTER 26
May the shadows never die away nor
the dark of night cease, without them
there would be no glory of sunrise.
—In Praise of Darkness
Once we got upstairs, we discovered Selena’s family had set up a makeshift infirmary in their apartment. And Selena had taken charge.
She stood with her hands on her hips, barking orders to anyone who dared come near her. “Laura, get a fresh ice pack for Tibbs and make sure Mother’s bandage hasn’t bled through.”
When she saw me, Selena rushed over and gave me a huge hug.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said. “You’ll have to tell me everything thing later.” With one last hug, she breezed past me toward Chase, who had just lumbered into the apartment with Kate in his arms.
He glanced at her. “The bleeding’s under control. But she needs attention right away.”
Selena rubbed her hands with enthusiasm. “Put her on my bed.” She turned to the Professor. “I’ll need Calvatica spores for the smaller wounds. And a tranquilizer—well, you know, there’s going to be pain when I start stitching.”
I winced. Even Kate didn’t deserve that. “Maybe she needs a real doctor,” I said.
Selena harrumphed. “Our family has never trusted hospitals. Besides, how else am I going to learn?” She turned away from me and shouted, “Zachary, get me the suturing kit and more gauze.”
David and Chase headed back to the treasury to find a more permanent home for the imprisoned shadow and hunt down the one that had vanished. It wasn’t like either of the shadows could escape since the mirrors were the same as locks. Still, it would be nice to know they were sealed in jars or something, instead of slithering around in the basement. Also, we’d put the Lamp of Methuselah back in its display case before we came upstairs, but they wanted to move it to an even more secure location for safety’s sake.
I fixed a cold compress for where the shadow had bruised my neck, then scuffled to the den and settled down on the couch next to Grandfather.
Dad’s shadowy form stood in front of the window, staring out at the darkness beyond the glass. He scratched his elbow three times. He was thinking about something important, maybe about Mother or what he and I were going to do next. Clearly, he didn’t remember a lot that had happened over the last few months. But I was sure what he did recall troubled him.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said.
Grandfather picked up one of the pebble-like game pieces from the Petteia board and rolled it between his fingers. “About what?”
“Now that Culus is inside the ring,” I said, “couldn’t we take it to the gallery and tell Malphic’s spy that we’ll trade him the ring and Culus for my mother?” I glanced at Dad to see if he was listening.
He turned slightly toward us and cocked his head.
Grandfather sighed. “Malphic wouldn’t go for it. To him, Culus allowing himself to get trapped by humans is a disgrace. Genies aren’t like us, Annie. They don’t believe in forgiveness.” His gaze went to Dad for a second. Then he set the game piece back on the board.
Hours went by and Dad continued to stand by the window. Silent and unmoving, like he might fade at any second. During that time, Selena finished treating everyone and David returned from the basement. It seemed impossible, but I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up, the apartment was hushed, except for the slow tick-tick of an egg-shaped clock.
Four-thirty. Almost sunrise. Soon the oil’s effects would wear off and Dad’s body would return to normal.
Grandfather patted my arm and whispered, “If you feel like stretching your legs, I’d love a cup of tea and one of Laura’s macaroons.”
The floor creaked as I hurried down the hallway to the elevator. When I got to the kitchen, I stopped at the sink to wash my hands before I fixed Grandfather’s snack.
Through the window above the sink, I spotted a movement on the lawn.
In the silver-plated darkness, a shadow drifted through the gardens, toward the stairs and the beach, like ashes drawn seaward by changing tide.
Dad.
I slipped out onto the terrace. Here and there, slivers of light slanted down from the second floor. I crept down the stairs to the lawn, an ache building deep inside me. Soon the sun would rise, Dad’s body would become solid, and we’d be free to leave Moonhill.
A hand touched my shoulder.
Pulse racing, I spun around.
“Sorry,” Chase said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t—”
He pressed a finger against my lips. “Let me talk first. I’m sorry I scared you in the mausoleum tunnel. I usually have better control over”—he took a long breath—“over the aura thing.”
“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “It was just a little unnerving.” More like totally terrifying, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
“Adrenaline causes it, like when I’m working out or”—he gave me a crooked smile—“excited. It’s been getting a lot harder to control lately.”
I slapped his arm playfully. Then I remembered why I’d come outside and glanced toward the cliff top.
“Go on.” Chase’s voice was gentle. “Your father needs you.” His fingers skimmed the line of my jaw and a flutter went through me. “We’ll talk later,” he said.
I went up on my tiptoes and kissed his mouth, letting my lips part just enough to lead him on. Then I pushed away. “We could talk or maybe find something more interesting to do.”
“Hmm. I like the sound of that.” He drew in a long breath, and then his voice became more serious. “Annie, I meant what I said, I will find a way to get your mother back.”
I met his gaze. “She was like a mother to you, wasn’t she?”
He nodded, but something flickered through his eyes, like I’d hit a deeper nerve.
“Oh,” I said, as a realization came to me. “Malphic. Your real mom. When he kidnapped you, did something happen to her? Your parents are alive, right?”
He nodded. “Your grandfather tracked them down for me.”
“They must have been thrilled to see you.”
He laughed, but there was no joy in it. “My father used to call me the little bastard. Even as a kid, I knew it wasn’t just a nickname. He could se
e I wasn’t his.” Chase turned away, his voice sad and distant, as he stared toward the gardens. “I remember sitting on a footstool, rolling up balls of yarn while Mother knitted mittens. It was our ritual, every Sunday after supper. She must have made hundreds of pairs, and gave them all away at Christmas. Mine were always blue and green. I was wearing them the night Malphic came.” He punched his fist against his thigh. “I remember her begging him not to take me. The sound of her screaming. Screaming like he’d ripped her heart out.”
“That’s awful,” I said. I hesitated, torn between my need to get to Dad and my desire to be there for Chase. Before I could make up my mind, Chase continued.
“Your grandfather and Kate think it’s better to let her think I’m dead.”
I rested my hand on his forearm and softened my voice. “They’re wrong.”
Chase squeezed his eyes shut. Light from the upper story of Moonhill glistened on his eyelashes and streaked his cheeks. “I’ll only remind her of the horrible things that happened, between her and my father, of Malphic. My training, what I am, they aren’t things a mother would be proud of.”
“Chase, your mother loves you. She’d want to see you.”
His eyes flickered open. “You really think so?”
“My mother cared about you. She didn’t think you were just a bastard or a killer. She wouldn’t have risked teaching you, if she did. I don’t think that’s what you are either. Your mother would see the child that was torn from her arms. You should go to her.”
He pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapping me tight and warm. “Thank you,” he whispered into my hair. Then he released me and glanced skyward. “It’s getting lighter. Your father.”
“You’re right,” I said. I drew a finger down his chest and smiled. Inside my body thrummed from thoughts of what could happen now that his secret no longer stood between us. “I’ll be back. Promise.”
I breezed through the gardens to the stairs, the darkness sliding off me like black oil from a lamp.
Dad sat on the stone outcrop: a hunched shadow staring across the ocean to where a thin line of dawn was replacing darkness. He didn’t move when I sat down beside him.
Finally, he sighed. “If I knew how to get to her, I would go to her right now. Before the sun rises, while my body is still like theirs. If I knew how to get into their realm, I could bring your mother back to us.” His voice was low, an echo of the water washing against the sand.
I covered his hand with mine. It felt strange to touch his shadowy form and have it feel warm and real.
“It’s too late for tonight,” I said, “but we will find a way to free her, you and me and Chase, even Kate and Grandfather will help. All of us. We’ll do it together.”
“No, Annie,” he said. “Sometimes hate runs too deep.”
“Dad, you can’t go on hating them. Kate lied to you, but I don’t think she was really trying to hurt you—or me.”
The sound of morning birdsong filtered down from the garden, and a slice of sun appeared above the waves. Beneath my fingers, I not only felt the warmth of Dad’s shadowy hand, but also, now, the softness of his skin.
“That’s not what I meant,” Dad said. “I risked everyone’s lives. Culus promised not to hurt you.” He looked at the sky as if he might find the words he needed written in the fading stars. “I don’t remember much of the last few months, but I remember coming to myself and seeing the hurt in your eyes. I thought I’d be able to control him. But I was too weak. You—everyone has a million reasons to hate me.”
I swallowed back the swell of tears. “No one hates you. Anyone might have done the same thing.” For a heartbeat, I thought of reaching into my pocket and taking out the signet ring with the purple stone that Grandfather had given me. I could tell Dad that Grandfather forgave him, that he wanted Dad to have the ring, that he wanted Dad and me to stay at Moonhill forever, to be a part of the family.
I could give Dad the ring and lie.
But that would be no different than Kate giving him the vase of cat’s ashes and saying it was Mother’s. I would not do that to him. Instead, I’d tell him the truth, before I lost my nerve.
“Dad?” I looked down at our cupped hands.
“Yes, Annie.”
“Dad, you know how much I love you. How much I love picking antiques, traveling, doing shows.” I hesitated. I could stop now and everything would go back to the way it was before he met Culus—us doing shows, while I took classes online. I could even take one of Sotheby’s fall classes, go to London next summer, become a certified fine art appraiser, have my freedom and own life, but sometimes work with him too.
The trouble was, things were different now. There was Chase and my family, not just my living family but my ancestors as well, and what they’d done and stood for all these centuries. They were a part of me. And I was a part of them.
“Go on,” he said, still staring out across the waves. Here and there, the sunrays passed through his body like tiny spears. In other places, they brightened his solidifying skin and clothes.
I lifted my voice, trying hard to sound cheerful. “Grandfather showed me the Aztec calendar stone. He bragged about how you rescued it when you were my age. The family business is interesting.”
Before I could continue, the morning light struck Dad’s face and body, full force. He hunched over and groaned in pain. A hissing noise sizzled out from every inch of him and the stench of cabbage, cloves, and lanolin filled the air.
An instant later, it was over. Dad was once again solid and real, and the smell was gone.
I moved in close to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “You okay?” I asked.
“I feel. Empty,” he said.
“Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine. Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll get Mother back too. I promise.”
He nodded. “I know we will.” He squeezed my hand. “I never did tell you the story about the Aztec calendar stone and how I first met your mother, did I?”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “No, Dad, you didn’t.”
There was sadness and fear and uncertainty in his voice as he began, but I could hear his confidence returning. “Your grandfather and I were deep in a cave that was beneath an Aztec temple. It was a dark, creepy place with huge tarantulas and scorpions. The only sound was the scrape of our feet against the stone floor. Then, out of the darkness, came the soft lilt of a girl singing. It was your mother, Annie, and her voice was so pure and beautiful, so carefree. It was like I was spell-bound.” He laughed. Then his tone became serious. “Annie, I’d like to leave here, but maybe staying wouldn’t be so bad, at least for a little while, until I’m rested and we find a way to free your mother.”
I looked out at the waves and the sun and smiled.
Staying for a little while was the perfect way to begin.
Don’t miss the next book in the Dark Heart series,
Beyond Your Touch
Available in September 2016
wherever books and ebooks are sold
CHAPTER 1
Bury the truth in robes of marble and ivy,
In halls of learned books and tomes ripe with
false beliefs, But it still breathes, still whispers and waits.
—Excerpt from Devils and Djinn
By Samuel Freemont
His neck tasted like strawberry jelly. Well, actually like jelly and powdered sugar—which was no surprise since we’d spent the last hour wreaking havoc on his freshly washed sheets, first by having a jelly doughnut fight, and then by making love in said newly created mess. Chase was no slouch when it came to lovemaking, far from it. But the doughnut fight had made me laugh until I cried. In all honesty, I’m not sure which I enjoyed more, the fight or the sex—or seeing him laugh, his mind and body off duty for a change, just there in the moment with me.
Chase rolled me onto my back and straddled me, his forehead resting against mine, his soft blue aura soaking my skin with warmth. We kissed again, gently this tim
e, then I wiggled a bit lower and licked a lingering dab of jelly off his collarbone. He flinched when the tip of my tongue brushed the scarred skin just below his left shoulder, the fist-size mark created so many years ago by Malphic’s branding iron.
It was hard to even begin to think about how different Chase’s childhood and mine had been: me traveling and dealing antiques with my dad, blissfully unaware that the stories Dad was telling about magic and his family were real—and Chase kidnapped from his human mother, taken to the djinn realm, branded and enslaved by his genie father, raised to be a Death Warrior until my family rescued him five years ago. It was crazy. Almost unbelievably so, but it was the truth.
The phone on the floor beside his bed jangled, and our private world evaporated as Chase climbed over me and sat on the edge of the bed to read the text.
“Damn. I was supposed to go see your grandfather this morning.” He was up, grabbing his briefs and jeans, his aura fading with each step.
In less than a dozen strides, he was across his attic bedroom and inside the tiny half-bath. It wasn’t like my growing relationship with Chase was a secret, something banned because I was a Freemont and he worked for my family. But finding any semblance of privacy had proven impossible with both of us living on my family’s estate of Moonhill. In fact, since I’d come to Moonhill a month ago with my dad and Chase and I had met and things started to sizzle, we’d only managed to get together a dozen times—counting this morning.
I retrieved my jeans and shirt from the floor, then glanced out the window. It had been foggy and barely dawn when I’d driven the ATV up from the main house to have doughnuts and coffee at the cottage with Chase. Now the fog had lifted and sunshine brightened everything. It had to be close to eight or nine o’clock.
My eye caught the movement of a dozen black sheep drifting under Chase’s clothesline and heading around the corner of the cottage toward the estate’s front gate.
