The woman would be just as insane as she appeared by now though. The twisted magic of a curse warped whoever was afflicted by it. That was part of why he had risked so much to push the curse out of Amber before it could take hold. She was too valuable to lose at a time like this.
This better earn him massive amounts of trust, and perhaps a favor. He would have to push for that after the time this setback was going to cost him. It might be a full day before he could travel again. With everything going on, that was less than ideal.
He managed to pull himself up to the cabinet without vomiting again and grabbed the potion he needed. It tasted almost as bad as the vomit but as soon as it slipped down his throat the muscle cramps eased and the nausea was washed away.
Slowly, his breathing eased and his heart rate slowed to normal. He stared at one of the potions in the cabinet. He was tempted to take it now but it was only a temptation.
Distilling magic was a lost art. Another thing the curse had taken from them. He held the glass vial up to the light, admiring the vibrant substance inside it for a moment. It was translucent but gleamed with colors that he wasn’t sure actually existed. Looking at it made his eyes ache.
With a sigh, he put it back in its spot and shut the cabinet door. He’d have to pay the price for what he did today.
He would get back to Amber as soon as he could but while he recovered there was something he could do here. This cursed prophetess was after something. That’s how the curses always worked. It drove them to fulfill some prophecy, even if it killed them. It also explained Deward’s kidnapping.
In order to fulfill whatever prophesy this elf had fixated on she needed help. And she had found it in the tunnels when she had spread the curse to the troll. Deward was helping her now.
Kadrithan stripped off his soiled clothes. If the elf was after Raziel, that could mean only one thing. The prophecy had something to do with Raziel’s key. Which meant it had something to do with him.
Chapter 48
Tommy
Tommy stared at the note. It was Deward’s handwriting. It was in his room. On his pillow. Deward’s scent filled the space. He had been here while they had been running around downtown Portland looking for him.
He dragged his hands through his hair then turned around and kicked his chair into the wall. Fur crept up his shaking hands as he tried to hold back the shift. His anger hadn’t gotten the best of him in a long time but he wasn’t sure he could hold this back.
His door flew open and Amber ran into the room, already half-shifted herself. “What is it?”
He sat down heavily on his bed and picked up the note and held it out to Amber. He hadn’t read it yet. “Deward was here.”
Amber straightened, the red glow in her eyes fading. “His scent is pretty fresh in here.”
“The window was open when I got up here. I haven’t been keeping it locked since we have the wards and everything.”
She took the note finally. “Tommy, we must find Raziel’s key before many futures are lost. Tell the demon time is running out. You must trust me.” Amber lowered the note and looked at him with a worrying amount of pity in her eyes. “The curse has him too, then. This is almost exactly what that elf said when she grabbed me.”
He put his head in his hands, staring at the floor to avoid the look Amber was giving him. “Has Kadrithan shown back up yet to explain what the hell Raziel’s key is?”
“No. I think he might have been hurt when he helped me with the effects of the curse.”
“Great.”
Amber sat down next to him. “Any chance Evangeline might recognize the name? Or know what Deward is talking about?”
“I don’t know and I don’t have any way to contact her. She always comes to me.” He frowned. “Actually, I should have heard from her last night.”
Amber tapped the note against her fingers nervously. “Then we have to do what we can on our own. Kadrithan said the other day the trolls are historians. Ceri is planning on trying to break that curse tomorrow. While she’s doing that, we can talk to Xenya, the elder, and see if she knows anything about Raziel or this key. We can ask about the curse too.”
“Yeah.”
Amber patted him on the shoulder. “You want me to leave you alone for a while?”
He glanced up at her. “You’re getting better at not hovering.”
She stood and did a little bow. “Yes, I am. You should be proud.” Pausing in the doorway, she hesitated.
“Just say it.”
“If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.”
“Feel better?”
“Loads.” She shut the door firmly behind her, leaving him alone in the dark.
He stared out the window and just felt sorry for himself for a moment. This was supposed to have been fun. Him and Deward, searching for a missing book. Maybe he was cursed to ruin every good thing he got.
A hard tug on the demon mark snapped him out of his pity party.
“Why does it feel like you’ve gone full emo?” Evangeline asked as she appeared, flooding his room with light.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re great at being comforting?”
“Nope.”
“Shocking.”
She sighed loudly and floated over toward the bed. “What happened?”
“Deward is cursed. We don’t know why or how, but he’s working with the person that kidnapped him, and I think it’s all tied up with the angels. And Kadrithan.”
Evangeline’s form shifted, condensing into a human shape. She held out her hand and he twined his fingers in hers. “Is he being helpful? I can yell at him if not.”
“Amber was affected by the curse and he did something to help her, but I think it might have backfired somehow. He disappeared and Amber says the mark feels strained.”
“Well, shit. That explains why he didn’t show up when…” She let the thought trail off.
“When what?” he asked, looking at her suspiciously.
She cleared her throat awkwardly. “You’re not allowed to be pissed at me. You were safer ignorant.”
“Eva, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m not in Mexico. We were only there for a few days.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re being hunted. We’re moving a lot to try to stay ahead of them.”
He pulled his hand away and stood up. “By the angels?”
She nodded. “They send mercenaries to do their dirty work, but yeah.”
He started pacing, feeling like he was stuck in a cage. “I don’t understand why they want you dead that badly.”
“Me neither. Kadrithan still won’t explain.” Her human form dissolved and she snapped back into the floating ball of light. “But, look, this isn’t important right now. I have people protecting me. Deward needs all your focus.”
“I just…I feel like it’s all connected somehow. We’re missing something. Kadrithan keeps warning us about the angels. We’re being targeted by freaking everyone right now. Other werewolves –– who are being paid off by someone –– and the MIB.” He stopped and shook his head. “Why us? Why now?”
“I don’t know, but––crap. I have to go. I’m sorry.”
“What––”
“I’ll be back. I promise.” She disappeared.
Tommy stood in his room, staring at the spot she had been in. She could be fighting for her life right now and he had no idea where she was. There was absolutely nothing he could do.
Chapter 49
Amber
“He hasn’t come back,” Amber said, pressing her hand to her chest. The demon mark still felt wrong. Faded and stretched.
Ceri sighed. “I wish I could see that as a good sign.”
“Me too.” Her brush caught on a tangle and she set it down, coaxing the knot out of her wet hair with her fingers instead. “Never would have guessed I’d end up worrying about a demon.”
“I still don’t trust him.” Ceri picked up the brush. “Sit. I
’ll brush it out.”
She scooted down from the couch and sat in front of Ceri. Captain Jack took that as an invitation to crawl into her lap. His claws pricked through her pajama pants as he settled into place. The monster had to weigh at least forty pounds now. He was closer to the size of a dog than a cat now.
“I don’t trust him either. He’s lying, or at the very least, withholding information still. It’s just…he put himself on the line to help me with the effects of that curse. Either I’m important enough to keep alive or he has a heart after all.”
Ceri was silent for a while, just brushing her hair. She let her eyes slip shut. This was soothing. She’d never had a friend she could relax with like this before. When her mother had brushed her hair it had always been rushed. The woman hadn’t exactly been…tender.
Captain Jack batted at her hand until she started petting him. He’d gotten awfully comfortable around her. It was probably because she’d stopped trying to kick him out of her bed. Genevieve liked him best, but she was pretty sure she was the cat’s favorite.
“There are very few people in this world that are cackling, evil villains,” Ceri said quietly. “Sure, some of them are about as evil as you get. Cold hearted, power hungry, and mean. The reason I don’t trust Kadrithan is because he’s after something. As long as you are helpful to him in achieving that, he’s going to try to keep you alive. The second you aren’t, he’ll turn on you. In some ways that’s more dangerous because you won’t see it coming.”
She knew it was true. It was what she’d been telling herself from the beginning. It had been easy to hate him for a while after he’d called in the mark. He’d been so angry and honestly, just plain rude.
“What are you guys doing?” Genevieve asked, padding tiredly into the living room.
“Contemplating the moral code of demons,” Amber said drily.
“Fascinating.” Genevieve plopped down next to Ceri and leaned her head on her shoulder. Captain Jack grabbed her foot and tried to gnaw on her toes. “What’s the conclusion?”
“Not to be trusted,” Ceri replied for her.
“Despite the lack of trust, it does worry me that he hasn’t come back yet.” She cringed when Ceri hit a knot.
“Sorry,” Ceri said, setting the brush down to get the knot out more gently.
“All of this seems to be tied up with whatever it is he’s after. I don’t like that it’s also somehow connected to whoever took Deward.”
“I can agree with that. And…” Ceri sighed as if it pained her to say the rest. “I’m glad he was there to help you fight off the effects of that curse. I don’t think I would have been able to stop it.”
Amber snorted. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him you said that.”
“I’d deny it if you did.”
Genevieve glanced up at the stairs. “How’s Tommy?”
She sat forward, wrapping her arms around her knees. “Upset he can’t do more. Just like we all are.”
“Tomorrow morning we’ll break the curse and get some answers,” Ceri said decisively.
Amber smiled into her knees. This was the Ceri she knew. Confident. A force to be reckoned with.
Chapter 50
Ceri
Ceri parked behind what she assumed was Ithra’s car. The trolls had beat them here.
Tommy ruffled his fingers through his hair. There were dark circles under his eyes that matched her own. Apparently no one was sleeping well anymore. “You sure you can do this?”
She turned the car off and dropped her hands in her lap. He deserved an honest answer but she didn’t want him to lose hope. “I’m not going to lie and say I can do it for sure but I’m going to try. I am pretty good at this magic stuff, so the odds are in your favor.”
He took a deep breath and nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. “I guess that’s all anyone can ever do.”
“Let’s go get this over with,” she said, patting him on the shoulder.
They climbed out of the car and joined the rest of the pack on the walk to the tunnel entrance. Everyone was silent and a little tense. She couldn’t blame them. It felt like everything hinged on this.
Olwen and Ithra nodded in greeting as they approach. Velgo was examining the runes that had guarded the entrance, recreating them carefully in a notebook.
“Xenya,” Amber said with a nod in greeting, which Xenya returned.
Ceri hadn’t noticed the elder leaning against a tree. She’d blended into the forest completely.
“Are you ready to begin, Ceridwen?” Ithra asked.
“I am if you and Velgo are.”
A round of nods from the group confirmed they were, so she began the descent into the tunnels.
The air down here was just as stale and wrong as it had been last time. If anything, the stench of decay was even more prominent, as if leaving the entrance open had accelerated it. Ithra and Olwen maintained their stoic focus even as they walked past the area stained with Deward’s blood now. It had dried, leaving dark smudges. She was glad she didn’t have the wolves’ sense of smell.
Relief lightened her steps when they reached the room. Soon, this would all be over with. As she stepped across the threshold, it seemed as if the curse sensed her. Sensed her intent.
“Alright, Velgo and Ithra can stay in here with me. Everyone else has to wait outside the room. There will be backlash as we break the curse. It’s going to fight back.”
Olwen pressed his forehead against Ithra’s, whispering a quick word of encouragement before following the others back into the hall.
Ceri took a deep breath. This was for Deward, but until it was done, she had to forget he existed and focus on the magic.
She righted a charred bench and set her bag on it. It was still solid enough to work. She laid out her supplies one by one. This circle couldn’t be drawn in chalk or even carved into the stone. For it to protect them from the backlash of magic it had to be something more.
Normally, this would be when she’d drain some poor goat of their blood and paint it on the floor. It was borderline blood magic, something witches liked to ignore. She was sorely tempted to do that now but her instincts told her it would be a mistake.
As a shaman, she was drawn to nature. Defiling nature for a brief taste of power went against everything she had come to believe was right and good. There had to be a way around it. She’d spent all night thinking about it and going through the options. She wasn’t sure if the solution she’d settled on would work but she had to try.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her jar of dirt. She’d taken it from the garden near the guest house last night. It was from the pack’s den, blessed by an elf, and it –– theoretically –– would help to ground and protect her.
“Is that dirt?” Velgo asked, clearly confused.
She cleared her throat. “Yep.”
“What is it for?”
“The circle. I use white magic, especially now that I’ve joined the pack. I had to find an alternative to animal blood.”
Understanding dawned on Velgo’s face, as well as excitement. “Dirt is an interesting choice. What made you choose that medium?”
“A combination of things. The earth is solid and for this aspect of the spell, that’s what I need. There are rules we can fall back on for spell-casting but I’ve found the greatest power comes from somewhere else. Intuition or…imagination.” She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. Magic was her passion. “My family excelled at using that skill to invent new spells or bend existing ones. It also allowed us to be really, really good at cracking wards. Hopefully those skills will help me today too.”
“Have you never broken a curse before?”
She shook her head, smile fading. “I’ve cast them but never broken one. Never had a reason to.”
“Are we ready?” Ithra asked as she walked up to them.
“Almost,” Ceri said, unscrewing the lid to the jar. “I need to make the circle and cleanse the room.”
The two trolls stepped back. Ceri lit the sage, letting the sharp scent of it clear out the lingering stench of smoke. Hesitating only for a moment, she picked up the totem she’d made and hung it from her necklace. Perhaps it would come in handy today.
With that done, she carefully poured out the dirt in a large circle. Next, she set out the three candles that would be part of the ritual and a single bloom she’d also taken from the garden.
Breaking a curse required speed, power, and an understanding of the curse. She was sure she could act fast enough but she wasn’t sure working with the trolls would give her enough power. Understanding the curse was another thing entirely. In order to analyze it, she needed to see it.
Stepping into the circle, she cast the first spell of the evening. Magic crawled up her neck, over her cheeks, and melted into her eyes. This never failed to unsettle her. She’d only had to cast this twice before and she hadn’t liked it then either.
She opened her eyes and looked at the curse. It was woven into the stone, the edges frayed from years of decay. Whoever had designed this hadn’t wasted time making it elegant. The spell was utilitarian. All blunt force power and no intricacies. That made her job simpler, if not easier.
“Step into the circle then light the candles,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The trolls joined her in the circle, the three of them standing in a triangle. Velgo and Ithra leaned down, lighting their candles in unison with her. The flames flickered wildly as if wind was blowing through the room.
She picked up the sage in one hand and a flower in the other and held them out in front of her. It was time to begin.
“In terra. Ad lucem. Et sacrificium.” She crushed the flower in her hand, letting the petals fall to the ground by her feet. “Sumo imperium.”
Green tendrils of magic rose up from the ground within the circle like flowers sprouting from the ground. They extended toward the curse as Velgo and Ithra continued the chant.
Misfit Fortune Page 22
