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

  My previous fears returned. Now, I had one more reason to believe that whatever was happening to me, had something to do with the Lords and their power of masterminding. The harder I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind, the less I succeeded, because with every passing second, the reality of it seemed to be too surreal to be true…

  Chapter 22

  Eileen

  “He knows,” Elizabeth said into my head.

  “What?” I couldn’t believe it took her less than a few hours to make Evan understand everything. “How much does he know?”

  “Deep down in his heart, he knows it all.”

  “Oh, my God… Please, let me back into my reality. I know he needs me now!”

  “I’m sorry, Eileen. The right time hasn't come yet.”

  “How much longer will I be here?” I asked. “I heard Salazar saying that other Lords are on their way to Dever.” Evan was right about the Eileen he saw in my room, she was not even thinking about sleep. Elizabeth couldn’t afford it now. She was so worried about her plan failing, even through the mental bond that she and I shared now, I could feel it.

  She kept showing me her every move and step she took. Salazar used a hiding spell to mask himself. No one could see him, but I knew that it wouldn’t take long for William and Evan to feel his presence. After all, Lords never knew how to hide their energy from each other.

  “Will Maribel come with them?” I asked. I still wasn’t sure if what Elizabeth said about her role in the whole situation was true. But she refused to answer my questions about Will’s mother.

  “Did you check the table I told you about?” She asked.

  “No,” I snapped, frustrated. I didn’t have time to think about some table when I had so many other things to worry about.

  “Don’t forget to check it. It will answer some of your questions.”

  I stopped pacing the living room in Evan’s house and thought back to what she said about the table. Maybe checking it was not such a bad idea after all?

  I went to the stairs leading to the second floor of the house, where the bedrooms were. “I can’t believe you have forced me to stay here,” I mumbled. “Tomorrow is Tara’s wedding! How am I supposed to be her bridesmaid if I’m still stuck here?”

  “You will get back just in time for Tara’s wedding,” Elizabeth said, as if my worries meant nothing at all.

  “I hope you will keep that promise, because there’s no way I’m gonna miss the ceremony after all that she has done for me.”

  “There is no need to worry, Eileen, if everything goes according to the plan anyway.”

  I smirked, humorless. “No, really?”

  I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going into Elizabeth and Dominic’s old room. But Elizabeth didn’t give me a choice. So I opened the doors and let myself in.

  “You are there, aren’t you?” She asked.

  “How did you know?” I stared at the huge room that looked as if it had been taken from some palace.

  “I can feel your surprise. You didn’t expect it to be that majestic, did you?”

  “I surely didn’t,” I said, stunned. The room was made in the shades of red and gold, with heavy curtains decorating the windows, a king-size bed, pictures and other decorations which I was sure cost Dominic a fortune.

  “I always loved that room,” Elizabeth said. “Regardless of how much I hated the man I shared it with.”

  “You didn’t always hate him, did you?”

  “Of course, there was a time I was thrilled to call myself Mrs. Dominic Murray. Too bad, I was so naive that couldn’t see his true nature before it was too late.”

  “But you have two amazing sons. I guess that is the best reward you could hope for, for everything you had to go through because of him.”

  “True. My sons will always be the one thing I will never regret about my marriage.”

  I walked over to the table Elizabeth had mentioned and kneeled next to it. “What am I looking for?” I asked her. For me, the table looked just like another coffee table, but it certainly was a beautiful coffee table.

  “There’s a button on one of the legs. Push it.”

  I did what Elizabeth said, and then the tabletop opened, showing me items that I never expected to see there. There was my birth certificate inside the table together with a medallion that looked just like the one I found in Dominic’s car.”

  “What does it all mean?” I asked.

  “Open the paper,” Elizabeth said.

  It showed my name, the names of my parents and even the name of my…

  “It can’t be possible,” I whispered, staring at the name of a woman who was signed as my Godmother. “Maribel Fairey?”

  “This is the answer to your question, Eileen.”

  “But I don’t understand… How could she be my Godmother if I didn’t even know her? And why do you have a certificate which is different from the one I have at home?”

  “Because this one is the real one. The one that you have, is just a forgery.”

  “How long have you had it?”

  “All your life. Your father couldn’t have it, because he didn’t want anyone to find it. He was sure that by abandoning you, he would save you from a future that looked so scary and dangerous.”

  “Did Dominic know that Maribel was my Godmother?”

  “Only Frederick and I knew that. So he, Maribel and I agreed to keep our mouths shut.”

  “But if she’s my Godmother, she will be able to-”

  “Share her powers with you. For a half-hour, she will give you her power of masterminding.”

  “So this is why you needed her help, right? If I can have her powers, I can combine them with mine and persuade Evan to abandon the darkness filling him! This is why you helped her when she needed help with her son! You wanted her to play for your team, because even back then you knew you would need her help, right? That is also why she became my Godmother, to share her powers with me when I needed them.”

  “Correct!”

  “Oh, God, so there’s still a way to help Evan.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t you tell me about that earlier?”

  “You needed to figure it out on your own. Put the medallion on your neck. It will help you control her powers. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I can’t talk anymore. I need to see Salazar.”

  “Okay.” I smiled happily at the paper and the medallion I was still holding in my hands. Evan was out of danger now. It was the best news I had received in what felt like forever. The only thing that made my smile fade away was the thought about William. I still refused to believe that he didn’t have a choice but to die with the other Lords of Mind. My heart dropped to my feet the moment I realized that I was actually going to help Evan kill him…

  No less than a few hours passed before I heard Elizabeth’s voice again.

  “Evan’s coming here, run!” She said to someone I couldn’t see. I guess it was Salazar, but the moment my vision cleared and I could see everything through Elizabeth’s eyes, I could see only Evan coming over to her.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” He all but barked at her. “Are you out of your freaking mind, Eileen? We all know that walks around the Black Lake’s shore never end up well.”

  He looked and sounded nervous, and I didn’t like it, at all. Being separated by the illusion, we couldn’t feel each other, so I had even more reasons to be worried about him.

  “I just wanted to see the Lake. Are you okay?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Not even close,” Evan snapped, breathing heavily. “Something happened,” he said, showing her the book that I found in the closed section a few days ago.

  “What’s this?” Elizabeth asked, as if she didn’t already know the answer.

  “Something that helped me answer a few questions. Here,” Evan said, opening the book to the page with the picture of the field. “I bet you still remember the place.”

  “It’s kind of hard to forget it.”

  “Would
you believe me if I said that the day you and I first met in Dever was not the first time we saw each other?”

  Elizabeth didn’t answer. And I knew she wouldn’t. There was no point in continuing to lie to Evan.

  “Oh, my God.” Evan stared at her in shock. “You knew, didn’t you? How much do you know, Eileen?”

  Elizabeth took a deep breath before she said, “Everything.”

  Evan studied her for a long minute. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, but something told me that he was not happy to know that I had been hiding the truth from him for so long. Then he asked, “Who am I?”

  “You are the Master of Lords. The only Lord, whose powers go beyond masterminding. The only Lord gifted with enough powers to destroy the entire world of supernatural.”

  Seriously, Elizabeth? Couldn’t you keep that last part to yourself?

  “I’m sorry, Evan. I couldn’t tell you anything about it,” she said.

  “Why couldn’t you tell me?”

  “You needed to figure it out on your own.”

  “What is going to happen next?” Evan asked.

  “All of the Lords are coming here. They want you to destroy all of the powers that were buried within the walls of Dever, many centuries ago.”

  “What? Why would they want me to destroy the powers?”

  “They hate their gift, and they want to become humans.”

  “But… No one would ever allow them to get inside Dever! Do they really think they can come here unnoticed? What about the Keepers, won’t they keep them out?”

  “Actually… We have no choice but to let them in, even the Keepers can’t stop them.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Of course, we have a choice!”

  “No, Evan, listen to me. There’s something else you should know about.”

  “Well, feel free to enlighten me then!”

  “First of all, you need to calm down because I can’t talk to you about this while you’re as angry as you are right now.”

  “That’s the thing, I can’t calm the fuck down! Since I read that damn book, all I have been trying to do is to calm down. But I feel like something inside of me won’t let me. And do you know what I want more than anything else right now? I want to kill. I want to destroy everything and everyone I come in contact with. I want to burn the entire world around me to ashes. Do you think it sounds like a good way for me to calm myself down?”

  Oh, Evan… How I wish I could be with you now. “Elizabeth, do something!” I said through the bond.

  Hesitantly, she took Evan’s hands in hers and said, “We will help you. Don’t be afraid of anything. No one is going to let you down.”

  “Wait… Are you saying that you are not the only person who knew the truth about me?”

  “Actually, I am the only person who knew everything, not just about you, but all of the other details as well. But our friends know a lot too.”

  “Okay, what should I do now?”

  “Go back to your room. Stay there as long as you can. I know you are dying to read that other book that Patrick has now, but you must stop yourself from running out to get it. You need to keep control over yourself right now, Evan.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because the other book is a grimoire. The moment you open it, you will feel the full force of your powers. Unfortunately, we can’t prevent it, because you are the only person who can destroy the book. But for now, you need to do your best to stay away from it as long as you possibly can.”

  “Why don’t you just lock me in the dungeon, to keep me from hurting myself or someone else?”

  “Because sooner or later, you will find a way to escape. We only need a little more time to be ready to face whatever it is that you are going to have to do next. So please, try to suppress the darkness that is overwhelming you.” Elizabeth put a palm to Evan’s cheek and stroked it lightly with her thumb. “I know you can do this.”

  “What if I fail?”

  That was probably the first time I saw Evan so scared. It was a bad sign. Apparently, whatever he was feeling at the moment, was so much stronger than any of us could have ever imagined.

  “We won’t let you fail. Remember that, okay?”

  Evan nodded wordlessly and hugged Elizabeth. Unlike me, she couldn’t influence his feelings. But I think Evan didn’t need to know that. For now, I hoped that if he were just in my presence it would help him.

  “Please, don’t let me screw it up,” he pleaded, looking into Elizabeth’s – my eyes.

  “Never.” She took a step back, and I felt her heart ripping into two. She wanted to tell him that she was his mother. She wanted to tell him everything, and it took a hell of a lot of self-control to not give away too much. “Now, go,” she said in a firm voice. “Go, before it’s too late.”

  Evan looked at her one last time, and turned back towards campus.

  I spoke, “What if he tries to do something reckless before we are ready?”

  “You of all people should know that he’s so much better than that, Eileen. He would kill himself first, instead of allowing his crazy and reckless emotions get the better of him and make him hurt anyone.”

  “You are not helping at all Elizabeth!”

  “Sorry, I’m only telling you the truth.”

  “How much time do we have left?”

  “The Lords will be here in a few hours. By that time, I need to take Evan out of Dever. We will go to the wedding, and I hope it will help us save time. When they realize that Evan is not here, they will be furious. They will start looking for him and me. That will be the perfect time for you to show up, because I will have to change back into my accustomed appearance, so that I will be able to protect you, Evan, and everyone else for that matter.”

  “Will we have to go back to the field?”

  “I’m afraid so, yes. It’s the best place to destroy the Lords.”

  “Then why don’t you want to stay in Dever and go to the field from there?”

  “Because while Evan is here in Dever, all of his powers will be stronger. And we need every excuse we can get in order to take him away from the darkness living inside of his body right now. If he stays, he won’t be able to suppress his powers. Besides, the wedding is a perfect distraction for him. After all, he and Tara have always shared something very special with each other.”

  “I only hope we won’t mess up her wedding day. She deserves to be happy.”

  Elizabeth didn’t reply.

  “What is it?” I asked. “Do you know something that I don’t? Is it about Evan and Tara?”

  “There are things that we can’t change, Eileen.” That was all she said before I couldn’t feel her presence in my head any longer. The bond between us was gone, and I was all alone with my thoughts and emotions, for the time being.

  I didn’t like what she had said. What could she possibly know? Did it have anything to do with Tara’s change of heart and her choice in husband, instead of Evan? Was there still a way to make her change her mind? Was it still possible for her and Evan to be together again? What about Amanda?

  I don’t know how much time I spent thinking about the upcoming day, but when I was about to try to contact Elizabeth again, she decided to make contact and speak with me, so I didn’t even have to try.

  “It’s time, Eileen,” she said into my mind. “Are you ready?”

  “No, but I guess I don’t have a choice. Will Amanda and Christian be in the church too?”

  “Yes. They are already there, looking for you.”

  “Where will you be?”

  “Near,” she said a second before I felt the nausea pulling me into the fog that was going to take me out of this illusion and back to reality.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was blinded by the brightness of the sun, shining high above the ground. I was standing on the opposite side of the road from the church. People were running here and there, holding flowers, candles, and other things that were needed for the we
dding. I looked around, but didn’t see any familiar faces. My knees were shaking badly, I took a deep breath and walked over to the church.

  “Eileen! Finally! I didn’t think you were going to make it for a minute there.” Amanda said, pulling me by the hand to the door that opened to a small dressing room.

  The moment I entered it, I wanted to cry. Tara was there, standing in front of the floor-length narrow mirror, wearing the very same dress we saw a few weeks ago when we first found out about her wedding. Only this time, the bride and the dress appeared even more stunning than before. She was wearing a long snow-white veil. Tara looked like a princess from one of those fairy tales that we loved when we were kids.

  I felt tears burning my eyes. “I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful bride,” I said, walking over to her, to give her a hug.

  “No crying today!” She said strictly. Then she smiled and added, “Everything’s gonna be okay, right?”

  “Of course it is going to be okay, Tara. There isn’t an option for it to not be okay.” I forced a smile and turned to Amanda. “Where’s my dress?”

  She was already wearing hers: a knee-length, emerald dress, matching her eye-color perfectly.

  “Yours is turquoise,” she said, giving me my dress.

  “It’s beautiful.” It was actually the first time I had seen it, because there were so many other things that I needed to do, I didn’t even have time to try it before the wedding day.

  “I hope I was right about the size,” Tara said.

  “I’m sure you were.” I went behind the white room divider, separating me from the rest of the people in the room. “Have you seen Evan and Christian?” I asked, taking off my sweater and jeans.

  “I think they are in the groom’s room,” Amanda said.