The Curse of Blood (Love Lines Book 4) Page 9

  We came to a dark room, containing nothing but a small cupboard pushed to the corner, with a velvet box and the Cup of Power inside it. The Cup itself didn’t look like a cup at all. In fact, it was a silver brooch, a part of the famous jewelry collection, named Perriart. It was created by a magician, many centuries ago, and consisted of seven different pieces.

  Evan took the box with the brooch and opened it carefully. We all breathed a sigh of relief seeing that it was still inside the box.

  “Don’t touch it,” Melanie said to Evan.

  “Why? It can’t do any harm.”

  “It can,” she said, staring at the silver piece.

  Evan and I shared a glance.

  “See these small, red diamonds, forming a sign of infinity? They mean blood, the blood of its creator. If someone whose powers are stronger than the powers of the woman who created the brooch touches them, he or she will be cursed and die.”

  “Wow, can you see that from the only look at the brooch?” Evan asked, stunned.

  “It was created with the help of dark magic, so yes, I can tell a lot about the thing.”

  “What else do you see?” I asked, curious.

  “Whoever has the rest of the pieces forming the collection, can find a way to this particular piece. Because I’m sure that the pieces of jewelry were connected by the blood of their creator. If someone has one piece, he will find the others, using the calling of the blood binding the objects.”

  Evan shook his head in disbelief. “Holy shit! Three weeks have passed since the day you started attending Dever’s classes and you already know this much about blood magic?”

  “You seem to forget who you are talking to.” Melanie smirked. “Blood is an essential part of the biggest part of the dark magic spells. And I used to be a real expert in it, remember?”

  “Damn me, you are truly gifted!”

  “What is this surprised tone about?”

  “No offense, Darling, but I always doubted your abilities.”

  “Even after I destroyed the Dragons brotherhood?”

  “Well, I didn’t have a chance to talk to you after that.”

  Melanie smiled. “At least now you know what I’m capable of.”

  “Sounds like a warning.”

  “It is a warning, Mr. Murray,” she said, heading for the stairs. “Time to get out of here. Whoever tried to find the Cup, will come back here again.”

  She was right: it wasn’t safe to stay in that house. We left everything just the way it was when we came, except for one thing — the Cup of Power was no longer there.

  “We need to ask you for a favor,” I said to Melanie.

  “Sure, what is it?”

  I looked carefully at Evan, who still had his doubts about my plan, but I had to try it.

  “Have you ever heard of Peter Wilowsby?”

  Melanie shifted uneasily in the back seat of the car; her expression darkened. “Of course, I have. Why?”

  “We think he knows where Evan’s mother could be hiding,” I said. “But people say that he’s a very reserved person and won’t talk to anyone he doesn’t know.”

  “We also know that he’s a huge fan of dark magic,” Evan added.

  “Exactly. So… We thought you could try-”

  “Talking to him?” Melanie guessed.

  I nodded, smiling slightly.

  “Well, for starters, Peter and I know each other very well.”

  “What?” Evan and I asked in unison.

  “I used to work for him,” she said.

  “Really?” Evan looked at her through the rear view mirror. “And what exactly did your work consist of?”

  “Let’s say, I was his spy. I needed to tell him everything about the work of other blacksmiths, their clients and magic tricks of course.”

  “Oh, I see. Is that why you visited Olsen Brady?” I remembered the day Christian and I found out about Melanie’s existence. We were looking for a present for Evan’s birthday and went to the blacksmith shop that turned out to be full of surprises. First of all, its owner was a former Dever’s student. He immediately felt the presence of all the elements in me. He said that I wasn’t the only magician possessing the powers of all of them. Then he told us about Melanie’s visit. Back in that day, we thought that she was our enemy. Fortunately, our assumptions turned out to be wrong.

  “He told you about my powers, didn’t he?” Mel asked.

  “Yes, he gave me a charmed cup that still contained a part of your energy after you touched it,” I said.

  “I didn’t know the cup was charmed. The old man did a great job, creating it,” Melanie said. “Only later I realized that something was wrong about the thing. When I came back to Peter’s, I told him about the silver cup, and he said it was not just a cup, but a trap that revealed all my powers.”

  “So how long ago did you stop working for Peter?” Evan asked.

  “About two months ago. He sent me to check on one of the blacksmith shops in London, but its owner turned out to be a little more aggressive than the others. She didn’t even let me in. Somehow, she knew I was working for Peter and said that if I crossed the threshold, she would burn me to ashes. And, well, I didn’t like the sound of that. I backed off and went back to Gloster, telling Peter that I would never spy for him again. I never liked the job actually, but it had its advantages.”

  “Like what?” Evan asked.

  “I could practice dark magic as much as I wanted. Peter let me use his shop as a personal playground. He liked to watch me practice.”

  “So he’s a watch-like guy, huh?” Evan smirked.

  Melanie punched his shoulder. “Shut up, smarty! He liked watching me because I gave him energy to create new things.”

  “In other words, he was using you to recharge himself.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Then why did he let you go?” I asked, curious. I knew another person who used other people to restore his life energy balance, and as far as I remembered, his victims rarely made it to the next day. I thought about Eric Lanster and his attempts to use our friend Anna to recharge himself.

  “Peter knew about my powers. He knew that fighting with me was a lost cause, and he cared about his life, a lot.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?” Evan asked, stopping at the roadside. Then he turned to look at Melanie.

  She smiled, crossing her arms. “Because you are so good at seeing lies.”

  Chapter 9

  Evan

  I knew that Melanie was hiding something. She didn’t trust us completely, and I didn’t blame her for that. After all, she was a newbie in Dever, a place where the dark magic had never been welcomed. Despite the fact that she was pure now, the darkness was still living inside her.

  I was a little surprised to know that hiding her aura was not on the list of her strongest powers. It looked a little blurry, but I could still see what was hidden behind it.

  “So tell us about your final good-bye,” I said, waiting for something that I was sure was so much more than simple words. “What did you do to the old man that scared him half to death?”

  Melanie’s dark-brown eyes flashed joyfully. “You will see.”

  We continued our trip to the outskirts of Gloster, where Peter’s shop was. It looked like any other blacksmith’s shop, with an old sign with the man’s name on it and a few samples of his work, standing on the wooden shelves near the only window.

  “Okay, am I blind, or are there no doors here?” I said, looking at the shop carefully.

  Melanie laughed quietly. “I thought you were smarter than that, Mr. Murray.”

  My eyes followed her. She came to what looked like an old dustbin, and started looking for something inside it.

  “Who would have thought I needed to dig in the trash to find the door,” I said, with my hands on my hips.

  Melanie laughed again. “Why would they call you one of the best students if you can’t even see that the dustbin is the only magical thing around here
?”

  I frowned, looking at the rest of the things near the shop.

  “Hmm… indeed.”

  Eileen tried to hide her smile. She knew how much I hated being cut down to size.

  “Stop smirking, Eileen,” I said, without looking at her. “She should have warned me beforehand.”

  “You should be on alert without any warnings,” Melanie said. “You knew where you were going, didn’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay. I am the only loser here, happy now?”

  “Almost,” she said, finally showing us what she had been looking for.

  “A stick?” I asked, staring at the thing in disbelief. “And don’t tell me it’s magical, because I know it’s not.”

  “Thank God, you can see at least this,” Melanie said, heading for the only window we could see in the shop. “Maybe you are not as much of a lost cause as I thought you were.”

  You have some nerve…

  I turned to Eileen, saying, “Tell her to stop trying my patience.”

  “Why don’t you tell her yourself?” She gave me her best smile, and walked over to Melanie.

  She found a small hole next to the window and put the stick into it, turning it clockwise. As soon as the stick stopped, the window disappeared, turning into a black wooden door, opening to a beautiful garden, full of exotic plants and singing birds.

  “Wow, are you sure he still practices dark magic?” I asked, following my companions.

  “Again, I’m surprised to see how badly you fail all Peter’s tests,” Melanie said. “It’s just an illusion, Evan. As soon as you pronounce the necessary password, everything around you will become real, and freaking scary too.”

  I frowned again. I never failed and right now, I couldn’t understand what made all of my instincts die.

  “Valentina,” Melanie said quietly, stopping at an old well. The moment she pronounced the word, the water started boiling inside it, and splashing all around us, washing away all the magical flowers and trees. The garden disappeared in no time, leaving nothing but wooden walls with different metal pieces hanging on them.

  “Welcome to Peter’s,” Melanie said, looking around.

  I didn’t like the place. It was so full of darkness, it made me sick.

  “My, my,” a voice behind me sang. “The son of a former Dragons leader himself!”

  Slowly, I turned around and saw a man in his late sixties, with silver hair and a thin, red scar crossing his face from forehead to the neck.

  “Never thought you would honor me with a visit, young man.” Peter stopped in front of me and outstretched his hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t attack you,” he said, seeing my hesitation.

  “I know,” I said, shaking his hand. “You used to be one of the Dragons, didn’t you?”

  Peter’s face paled. “I thought the tattoo’s energy was not as strong anymore.”

  But I could still feel it. As well as I could feel its energy in my brother. Even though his tattoo had never been completed, it was full of spells and blood of other Dragons members. And now, I could feel it all even better than before the brotherhood was destroyed.

  “How did you escape?” I asked the only question bothering me at the moment. As far as I knew, only Marion Blanche managed to leave the brotherhood alive.

  “I gave your father what he wanted and he let me go.”

  “And what was that?”

  “A promise to serve his friends that became my permanent clients.” His gaze switched to Melanie and he smiled curtly. “Never hoped to see you here again, Beautiful.”

  “Never thought I would come back,” she snapped in response.

  “Why don’t we leave our personal issues aside and get down to business?” Peter said, nodding for us to follow him. “I’m sure you are not here for a cup of tea.”

  “Damn true,” I said. He looked briefly at Eileen, but said nothing, which was more than surprising; I was sure he knew who she was.

  “We know that your son, Jeremy had a farm. Where is it?” Melanie asked. We came to a smaller room, with an old fireplace and a round table with a few chairs around it. The room was as dark as the rest of the house. But something about it felt different.

  “What do you do in this room?” I asked, looking at the drawings that were decorating the walls. They reminded me of those pictures archeologists found during diggings. Some showed animals, others — symbols and numbers.

  “I meet my clients here, why?”

  “These are protective spells, aren’t they?” Eileen said, looking at the drawings. “And they have nothing to do with the dark magic. Who made them?”

  Peter took his time thinking about the answer. “A friend of mine.”

  “Valentina?” Eileen asked. Melanie and I stared at her in confusion.

  Peter’s expression hardened. “Why would you think that?”

  “Did you love her?” Eileen asked, ignoring his question. Apparently, she was after something that we were missing.

  “It’s none of your business, young lady.”

  “You are not a dark magic user,” Eileen said, watching him intently.

  My eyebrows rose in surprise. And so did Melanie’s.

  “What are you talking about, Eileen?” She asked. “The man has been using dark magic since he was born.”

  “No, he hasn’t.” She was still watching Peter, and for a second, I thought she could read his mind, because the man was getting more nervous, with every passing second.

  “Why did you lie to everyone?” Eileen asked.

  “I didn’t lie. I only did what I had to do.” Peter turned away from her eyes, and stared at the burning fireplace.

  “What did Dominic Murray make you do? And the main question is, why did you agree?”

  “I didn’t have a choice. I needed his help.”

  “Help with what? Your son’s health?”

  I didn’t know how Eileen managed to see it all in the man’s eyes, but judging by his reaction, her every word was true.

  Slowly, he turned around and looked at Eileen. “The moment I saw you, I knew you were trouble. Never in my life have I seen such a pure magician. You can see the light everywhere. Even where everyone sees nothing but the endless darkness. Do you know what these paintings on the walls mean?”

  Eileen shook her head. “No, but I can tell for sure that they were made by someone who loved you a lot. They are full of love, light and protection.”

  Peter nodded. “You are absolutely right, girl. They were made by Valentina. And you killed her.”

  “What?”

  “Wait, she didn’t kill anyone,” I said, stepping to shield Eileen from the man’s angry stare.

  “Yes, she did! Val was a Dragon and she killed her.”

  “Wow, why don’t we calm down for a moment,” Melanie said, standing on the other side of Eileen. “Dragons possessed only dark magic, right?”

  “Right,” Eileen said, even though I was sure the question was addressed to Peter. “But the pictures were made before she became the member of the brotherhood. Am I correct?”

  Peter seemed to be totally shocked by everything that Eileen was guessing. He took one of the chairs and sat, running both hands through his hair.

  “She was never supposed to become one of them. But Dominic… He was a greedy bastard, he wanted all the best magicians to serve him.”

  A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t like the beginning of this story. I only hoped I wouldn’t start hating my father even more than I already did after hearing the rest of it.

  “Valentina and I were engaged. I was much older than her, but it had never been an obstacle. We loved each other. Nothing was supposed to ruin our happiness. But one day, she went for a flower fair where she met Dominic. He immediately knew that she was gifted. The son of a bitch had a nose for talents. He invited her into his house. Since that day, everything had changed. I knew that something was wrong with her, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then, I saw her talking to Dominic. I
knew him. Well, of course, many people did. First, I thought they were having an affair, but the reality turned out to be so much worse than that.” He stopped for a moment and poured a glass of water for himself. Taking a few sips, he proceeded, “I was a gifted man too. So Dominic asked if I wanted to join the Dragons ranks. I agreed at once.”

  “Because you didn’t want to lose her, right?” Eileen said.

  Peter nodded. “She was my life, and I was ready to do anything for her. Though Dominic never asked me to become a dark magic user. He knew that I was a blacksmith. So he asked me to make different metal pieces; I never knew what he needed them for. He said I wouldn’t have to follow any of his orders. I only needed to make those pieces for anyone who came for them.”

  “But Valentina and you never got married, why?” Eileen asked.

  “Because she went to the dark side. She abandoned whatever she was capable of and became a dark magic user. She was so thrilled about everything that Dominic was teaching her. She couldn’t stop talking about different curses that took people’s lives away, and I couldn’t stand it. We broke up and I never saw her again. Years passed, but I never stopped loving her. For me, she had always been the Valentina I met when she was twenty. I cherished every small thing left from her. Even this room… It’s full of memories of her. The drawings she made to protect me… Sometimes I think I can still smell the scent of her perfume here. I come to sit near the fireplace, thinking about the days we spent together. It takes hours, but I never count the time. For me, it stopped running the day she left.”

  “What about Jeremy?” I asked. “Whose son was he?”

  “I don’t know,” Peter said. “I adopted him to make my life at least a little better. When I found out about his disease, I went to your father and asked him to help me. He refused, saying that there was no way to save my boy. But I was still bound with the brotherhood, and I said I would leave and tell everyone about what he was doing to its members. Of course, those were just words, because we both knew that I couldn’t stand against one of the most powerful magicians ever. So I made a deal with Dominic. He gave me an elixir that prolonged my son’s life for a few years. In exchange, I promised him to keep making metal pieces for his friends.”