The Curse of Blood (Love Lines Book 4) Read online

  “Was Christian that bad?” I joked.

  “What?” She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, she didn’t immediately realize what I was talking about. “Ugh, you are impossible!” She said a few moments later. “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with Christian.”

  Amanda and I shared a worried glance. “Does it have to do something with me?” I asked.

  “First, I would really appreciate you getting dressed,” Eileen said, ignoring my question. Then she rose to her feet and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  “She was right about you getting dressed,” Amanda said, a little nervous. I’m sure her thoughts were wrapped around Lucas’s arrival.

  “Do you want me to talk to him?” I said, coming to her.

  “No. I need to do it on my own. After all, I’m the only traitor here.”

  I couldn’t agree with her. After all, Lucas and I were friends. All of a sudden, I realized that my egoistic feelings for Amanda would break someone else’s heart.

  “I will still talk to him,” I said, putting on my shirt. “Not today. But after you try to explain things. I owe him an explanation too.”

  Amanda didn’t say anything. She only nodded absently and went to the wardrobe to find something to get changed into. A new day has come, adding even more crap to the mess that we already had to clean up. Great…

  Chapter 17

  Eileen

  I don’t think it was the first time I thought that my life was hopelessly screwed. I was staring at my reflection in the mirror and couldn’t rid of the very unpleasant feeling I had that was telling me that more problems were about the roll down the hill that was named my fate.

  I shook my head, leaning over the bathroom sink. Evan’s accusation was correct, he was the reason for my bad mood. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, and now I felt like a ball of nerves with tons of curses in my head, ready to spill on everyone whose ‘Good Morning’ wouldn’t sound good enough for me.

  I was dying to try and find Elizabeth. I hoped I had the correct password to find it. The only problem was that I wasn’t allowed to leave Dever without telling my father beforehand. Of course, I could escape through an illusion, but this time, that was not an option. Unlike other times, I was going to leave alone and I wasn’t quite sure about what Evan’s mother wanted from me, so the chances that I would either die or stay locked in the damn illusion forever were too high for me to attempt getting to Elizabeth that way.

  There was one more option that I was also sure no one would approve of. I could always ask Will to mastermind the guards to let me out.

  “No freaking way, Eileen! I do care about my life, you know?” He said, looking frantically around, as if he was afraid someone would overhear us.

  “Come on, bad-ass Lord! You’ve done things much worse than masterminding some guards!”

  “I have never done anything to mess with the Keepers that guard Dever’s territory! Do you realize that they can feel it if someone intends to lie to them? Just the intention of lying, not to mention the act. Which means they can and will feel whatever I intend to do with their minds, even before I try to risk my butt and make them let you out of Dever!”

  I sighed with disappointment and even a little irritation.

  “Who knew you would be so scared to ‘risk’ your precious butt? You’ve risked it so many times, I didn’t think you would be afraid of a few Keepers!”

  “I’m not afraid of them, but I am scared of your father, who I’m sure will do his best to lock me in the dungeon for the rest of my for-fucking-ever, forever Eileen! Do you realize what he will do to me if he catches me helping you get out of Dever without his prior knowledge? Forget about the Keepers and think of the damage your father could do to me Eileen.”

  I smiled, hoping I would still be able to make him change his mind. “Is there anything you always wanted but could never have?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not Evan, you know? I won’t betray my principles for a date with a lovely brunette.”

  “How about I help you organize one unforgettable date with my cousin?”

  He hesitated for a moment. “Hmm… That might work for me. What exactly do you have in mind?”

  I knew that Will was a little crazy about things that could be created with magic only, things that he couldn’t make happen on his own. It was for my own purposes that I was offering to do this for him. It was his weakness and I was using it against him because I knew it was an offer that he simply could not refuse. So I thought I would turn one of those long-forgotten rooms of The Great Hall’s tower into a real paradise where he and Melanie could spend as much time as they wanted. After all, I never doubted the power of love. And better than anyone, I knew that love had never been afraid of taking risks.

  “Fine, you win,” Will said, after I told him about my plan. “Just make sure that that place will also be able to save me from everyone’s fury when they find out what I have done to help you get out of here. Because I’m sure many people will want my death the moment they realize that I helped you run away.”

  “Don’t worry, Marion will save your butt if anything goes wrong and anyone finds out.”

  “Does she know about all of your crazy theories and plans?”

  “Yes. She is actually the only person who fully agrees with my plans on finding Elizabeth.”

  “I didn’t know that. Why would she be supporting you?”

  “Because unlike anyone else, she knows how important it is to find Evan’s mother. She’s sure that talking to her will explain a lot.”

  “The woman keeps more secrets that the entire Universe.”

  “Marion would never betray us. She’s a good person, and she has been through too much to risk losing what she has now forever, including her daughter Elena.”

  “I bet. Okay, so when do you want me to mastermind the guards?”

  “I think tomorrow night would be perfect. I will find an excuse not to stay with Christian. Besides, Lucas is back, so Evan won’t be able to stay in my room, so I won’t have to explain anything to him, especially if I manage to avoid him for the entire day. I think he knows that I know more than I am telling him, or even would tell him for that matter.”

  “Just promise me that you will be careful, Eileen.”

  “Always,” I said, smiling.

  He rolled his eyes. “If my memory serves, only a miracle manages to save you from saying good-bye to your life. And don’t look at me like that. It’s a well known fact.”

  “Well, thanks for your support, but I hope this time, I will be able to do everything on my own, and stay alive.”

  “Amen.” He hugged me tight and we agreed to meet in a few hours to discuss the details of my escape tomorrow.

  It wasn’t easy to pretend that I wasn’t up to anything. I kept catching Christian watching me closely, as if he could see everything that I was trying to hide written all over my face. He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask any questions, he simply tried to figure out what I was up to. Well, good luck with that. Not that I felt great about lying to my boyfriend yet again, but it was all for his and everyone’s own good.

  I smiled at him, and took a sip of my coffee. It was noon and I still had one and a half days to get myself ready for my meeting with Elizabeth. Somehow, I was sure she would try to kick my ass, and we all knew that the woman was damn good at that.

  I didn’t want to attract too much attention, I said I needed to check out a few more books that could tell us more about the Lords of Mind, and went to the library that I knew would be empty at that time of the day; most students had classes right now.

  Evan’s mother was well known for the invention of spells that not just any magician could repeat. She rarely used those that everyone else knew. According to Evan, she liked leaving traces of every spell she used. She never practiced dark magic, well, at least that was what we thought. I still wasn’t sure about her intentions when it came to me, and I truly hoped she wouldn’t want
to kill me, because all I wanted from her, was an advice on how to help Evan deal with the consequences of his transformation.

  Every day, I could see him changing. I don’t know if anyone else noticed the changes, but they scared me to death. In every step he took, I could see something dark, as if with every breath he took, he was getting closer to something that none of us had ever seen or heard about. In my opinion, he wasn’t turning just into another Lord, he was going to be so much more than that, and I had to help him.

  There was only one section in the library that no students were allowed to visit, but following the rules had never been one of my virtues. So I made sure no one saw me slipping behind the door which had a spell cast on it, and to my surprise, I managed to unlock the door without even a little effort. What is that saying? Evil communications corrupt good manners? Well, Evan wasn’t an evil person, but still close enough to that, especially when it came to locks and closed doors. The guy simply didn’t know what the word obstacle meant.

  I went to the bookshelves that kept records of the most sophisticated and difficult-to-cast spells. Damn my powers, I had never been thrilled about the idea of being that powerful, but my fate just couldn’t give me a break. And right now, I hoped my powers would be enough to defend myself from whatever Elizabeth had prepared for me. Of course, I knew that there is safety in numbers, but maybe for the first time ever, I didn’t have a choice but to face this new challenge alone. Elizabeth made herself clear about her desire to see me, and only me, which meant there was no safety in numbers this time, I simply couldn’t have the numbers with me for this excursion.

  I looked through a few books, describing different spells and elixirs, made a few notes for myself to be able to practice them before tomorrow, and when I was about to leave the closed section, something caught my eye. It was a book, with a dark-red velvet cover. What surprised me most, was its title.

  “A Guide to Masterminding,” I read aloud. “For the Lords of Mind Only,” the subtitle said.

  Carefully, I took the book and looked around. I was alone in the room, but somehow I suddenly didn’t feel brave enough to read whatever was written inside. Though my cowardliness didn’t allow me wait too long, I had to suck it up. There were more important things to worry about right now.

  The moment I opened the book, I realized that I couldn’t even read it. I guess I shouldn’t have been worried about it at all. It was written in the language that I guess only Evan knew how to read. I sighed, turning the pages absently. There were different pictures inside the book as well. One of them showed a familiar rose field that I thought was kind of strange, considering that before a few weeks ago, no one knew how to get there. Then I thought that maybe I was imagining things, and the picture could show any field with the roses. But when I turned one more page, I froze speechless, because it showed the very same field with the hurricane that was simply impossible to forget, because its every element was made of pure magic. Under the picture was an inscription written in English, and it said, “A Kingdom of Death.”

  I thought back about the events that had happened on the field, and yes, the words definitely made sense. The Dragons brotherhood died there, but it was also the very same place where Evan and his father were years ago, even though my friend didn’t remember that. And again, I thought that taking him there couldn’t be just a coincidence. Things like that didn’t just happen.

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the book with me. Unlike breaking through the door, I didn’t know how to break the spell that would immediately let everyone know about me stealing a book from the closed section. So I put it where I hoped I would be able to find it later and went to the academic building, hoping to practice a little before my escape.

  Less than a half-hour later, I was as tired as ever. I could barely breathe and no amount of energy seemed to be enough to help me cast the spells that I had found in the library.

  I cursed mentally, taking a bottle of water. I was definitely out of my mind, hoping I would survive the fight with Elizabeth, if there was going to be a fight of course.

  “Why don’t I like the way you look, Eileen?”

  I turned around and saw Kevin, standing at the threshold of the classroom.

  “Maybe because I’m covered with sweat and dirt?” Some spells involved natural elements, so yes, I was really tired of trying to make the earth and the water obey me.

  “Something tells me that no one was supposed to see you like this.” Kevin didn’t come any closer, and I bet he could feel the wild energy still radiating from me, and considering the spells I was working on, it wasn’t surprising that he preferred to keep his distance from me.

  He leaned against the closed door and crossed his arms, watching me closely. “She will never use this spell,” he said after a short pause.

  “Excuse me?” I looked at him, puzzled.

  “My mother would never use something as complicated as the spell you’ve been trying to practice. Plus, she hates sand.”

  Now, I was really surprised to hear his words.

  “You are training to defend yourself, aren’t you?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “Because I’m sure you would gladly spend the day with Christian, and not stuck here, among imaginary hurricanes and rainstorms.”

  “Do you think meeting your mother is a bad idea?”

  “No, I actually think it’s a great idea.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure she knows more than we do, and I care about my brother’s life, you know? No matter how much I hated him for stealing Tara from me, or for being such an impossible and all-knowing pain in the ass; I still love him. So yes, I want to help him too. I only don’t know how.”

  I nodded, thinking about what to say next. “Do you think she will try to hurt me?”

  He hesitated with the answer. “I don’t know, Eileen. I haven’t seen her for six years, and within all of those years she has been heading the world’s cruellest organization ever. I don’t know the Elizabeth you are going to meet with. I only know that my mom, the one I always loved so much, would never hurt you.”

  “Please don’t tell anyone about what you saw here,” I said. “She wanted to see only me, and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt by following me or trying to help me find her.”

  “Don’t worry, I know how to keep my mouth shut. But I think I can help you a little,” he said, taking a few steps closer. Now that I got a chance to catch my breath, I wasn’t as focused on the spells I’d been practicing and I didn’t look as dangerous as the moment Kevin found me. “Mixing earth and water, you always forget to add some air. Even though it means adding the third element to the spell, it will make everything easier. I possess the power of one element only, but I can help you control the situation, so let’s try together, okay?”

  I nodded and this time, everything did seem to be much easier. Even though I had more powers than Kevin did, he was more experienced, and his advice turned out to be very helpful. He also showed me a few more tricks and spells that I could use if necessary. After the training was over, I went to my room and took a shower, since there was no way I would go to dinner looking and smelling like a trash can.

  “Did you find out anything new?” Christian asked, joining me in the dining room. Evan was nowhere around, and we could talk freely.

  “Actually, yes. There’s a book written especially for the Lords of Mind, but I couldn’t read it, it was all written in symbols.”

  “Then why do you say it was written for the Lords, if as far as we know, Will can’t read those symbols?”

  “Hmm, I didn’t think about that. It was what the subtitle said.” I thought about William and his reaction to the news about Evan’s ability to decipher the symbols. “Do you think he’s lying about his inability to read the symbols?”

  “I don’t think so. But don’t you think it’s weird that only Evan can read them?”

  “Well, for starters, I never liked the idea about
him being one of the Lords, let alone being a special one,” I said. “Have you ever heard of a Lord possessing some special powers?”

  “No. And I guess no one else has either. Do you think Evan will not be just another Lord of Mind?”

  “I don’t know what to think. It’s all so complicated.”

  “Tell me something, Sweetheart, when are you going to leave?”

  I looked at Christian, hoping I didn’t hear what I thought I heard.

  “What?”

  He smiled a little. “We both know what’s going on here, so there’s no reason to keep pretending.” He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “I know you too well, Eileen. You are up to something, I can see that in every step you take. And since there’s only one problem that we are trying to deal with at the moment, I’m sure you have already decided to try to find Elizabeth on your own.”

  I swallowed hard. He was right, there was no point in pretending. “Are you angry with me?”

  “Angry? No. But I’m worried about you. Every time you try to act like the most powerful person in the world, something unpredictable happens and you need someone to help you.”

  “But you are not even trying to stop me. Why?”

  “What’s the point?” He smirked. “I know you will still do whatever you have planned, no matter how hard I will try to talk you out of it. I’m sure that even locked in the dungeon you would still find a way to run away.”

  I laughed quietly in response. “I love you so much, do you know that?”

  “I know, and I love you too. I only want to make sure that you know what you are doing.”

  “At least, I hope I do,” I said, silently praying for my words to be true. I wasn’t sure about my powers, but I was sure that Evan’s mother, regardless of what she wanted from me, would talk to me before making me regret my stupid decisions.

  “Do you need any help?” Christian asked.

  “I think you could help Will deal with the guards.”