Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  Lorcan protested again.

  “Doc!” Roy yelled at the doctor.

  “Please!” Orla begged.

  Lorcan struggled, but Roy was too strong for him, and Lorcan was not at his best.

  “We really need their help, doctor. They know what they’re doing,” Rose said. The doctor nodded reluctantly and approached the bed with a needle. In a moment, it was all over. Lorcan stopped moving, and his body relaxed.

  “Lay him on his side. You should stay with him and make sure he’s breathing okay,” the doctor said and exited the room.

  Chapter 14

  The riverbank was foggy and unusually cold for a summer day. Six-year-old Lorcan gazed at the empty sandy strip, watching the cool water rolling miniature waves onto lonely stones and rocks. His mother pulled at his shoulder when he tried to get closer to the river.

  “She’s not there, Lorcan.”

  “But she’s always there.” Lorcan’s eyes filled with anxiety.

  “Maybe her parents realized how dangerous the riverbank is and decided not to let her come here.”

  “What if something happened to her?”

  “Don’t think like that, Lorcan.”

  “But I know. I just know it, Mother!” Lorcan tried to run out to the river, but his mother held him back again, lifting him from the ground.

  “Lorcan, if you don’t calm down, I’ll tell your father you’ve been coming here, and I’ll never be able take you anywhere. I should never have brought you here.”

  Lorcan stopped struggling, so his mother put him back down. She crouched and wiped a tear from Lorcan’s face. “I haven’t seen the girl, son,” she said, “but from what you’ve told me, I believe she is strong and resilient. I have a feeling she’ll be fine.”

  “Really? You really think so Mother?” He trusted his mother. He was only six, but he knew he could rely on her and trust her unconditionally.

  She nodded, pulled his tiny body into her arms, and rubbed his back. “There you go, good boy. You’ll grow up to be a good, strong man, and you’ll be able to protect your girl and build her a castle. I promise.”

  “I don’t want to build castles anymore.”

  His mother released him and looked into his striking blue eyes. “Why not?”

  “A castle is just a thing. If I build it, someone else can destroy it. I want to give her a happy life with me. If I make her happy to be with me, then the happiness is always hers. It will always be with her, and no one can take it away.”

  His mother looked at him, she merely smiled and kissed his cheek. “Now you make me want to meet that girl.”

  “I’ll do the same for you and Dad. I’ll make you happy. I’ll make you proud.”

  A tear rolled down his mother’s face.

  “Why are you crying, Mother?”

  She smiled again. “I’m just happy, Lorcan. I’m the luckiest mother in this world.”

  They heard a low growl from the bush nearby. His mother stiffened. She stood up, glanced around, and moved Lorcan behind her. The growl grew louder and closer. She grabbed Lorcan’s hand and ran. They ran as fast as they could. Through the brush and over the other side of the hill was their home, where they’d be safe. They stumbled over rocks, tree branches, and tree roots that seemed to float on the ground like a giant’s petrified fingers.

  They had to make it to the other side of the woods. He resisted his mother picking him up because he knew he could run faster on his feet, and she could run faster if he wasn’t her burden. At that moment, he regretted making his mother take him to the riverbank that his father had forbidden him from for this very reason. The peaceful and pretty Irish forest didn’t help and wasn’t trying to be particularly friendly. He thought he knew this area because he had spent so much time here but the trees didn’t look so familiar now. It seemed as if they had rearranged themselves to make Lorcan and his mother run aimlessly deeper into the darkness.

  Then they slammed straight into a large lump of fur and muscles. His mother fell backward, landing on Lorcan. In front of them was an enormous black wolf with glowing green eyes. The wolf bared its teeth and charged at them. His mother pushed him away when the wolf grabbed at her clothing. Lorcan pulled his mother’s legs, but the wolf was too strong for him. It kept dragging his mother away. Then he couldn’t remember much except that he knew he needed a weapon. He let go of his mother’s legs to search for one. In a haze of confusion, he found a large rock, as large as his tiny body could handle. He hefted the rock up and charged in the direction the wolf had just gone, following the trail of his mother’s blood. His fury intensified. Lorcan kept searching frantically. He didn’t cry. He needed to protect his mother.

  He found the wolf on top of her. From behind, he wasn’t sure if she was still alive. But it made no difference now. Lorcan charged, pounding the rock on the wolf’s head and body. He wanted to grind the animal into the dirt. He heard his mother crying out for him to stop. That meant she was alive. That was good. But the wolf had hurt his mother, had wanted to kill his mother. That he wouldn’t allow. Lorcan kept pounding on the pile of fur and flesh. “Flesh?” He thought he saw some human limbs. Blood. There was so much blood that he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He attacked the thing on the ground until he heard his mother’s voice and felt her hands pulling him away from the messy pile of blood and whatever else was left beneath the rock. He remembered nothing else.

  In the room, Lorcan’s body convulsed with the experience, and his fever shot up. Orla held him. She didn’t know what he was dreaming about, but she could feel the pain seeping through every pore of him, and it was terrifying. She could feel its intensity, but there was nothing she could do to take it away from him. She wiped the sweat from his face and wrapped her arms around him.

  “You have to get through this. You have to do this for me.” She held him until her body vibrated with his pain. For a while, he settled. She knew it more than a dream. It was a flashback, and it was excruciating for him. She knew he wouldn’t tell her about it, but she promised herself that if they survived this, she would get it out of him—if she survived this.

  His breathing was even now, and his body was healing.

  Orla kissed him. She enjoyed looking at him in the dark. She propped herself up on her elbow and traced her fingers along his jawline, his eyebrows, his exquisite nose, and his kissable lips. She wanted to remember every line of his face, his body. She recalled his striking smile and the lust he stirred in her whenever he winked one those blue eyes at her. She kissed him again gently. “I love you, Lorcan.” Then she climbed off the bed and went out onto the dark veranda.

  Roy stepped out in front of her.

  “I promised Lorcan I wouldn’t let you leave.”

  “I wasn’t leaving. I just came out here for some fresh air.”

  Roy nodded. “I can see you love him very much. The moving mountains and crossing oceans sort of love. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for him. But you shouldn’t lie to him and make false promises. You told him you wouldn’t leave him. And now you are just coming out here for some fresh air? Do you think I’m stupid, Orla?”

  “On the contrary, you’re too smart for my liking. What do you want to do about Mori? I can see you love her. The moving mountains and crossing oceans sort of love. So you’re just staying here, guarding this door while you don’t know where she is at the moment?”

  Orla looked straight into Roy’s eyes. His deep brown eyes darkened, but he held his stance. “Mori will be fine. She’s resourceful.”

  “What stops you from going out to look for her now?” Orla gazed deeper into Roy’s eyes.

  “Nothing. But I can’t afford a wrong move. I need your help, both of you. So I have to wait until Lorcan gets better. If I act in haste and anything happens to Mori, I won’t forgive myself. It’s easy if they just want to lure me out. But they want the key, and that involves you both. As long as they haven’t gotten what they want, they won’t kill her.” Roy shook his head to stay ale
rt as his vision started to blur.

  “You’re coolheaded, Roy. I have to give it to you . . .”

  Roy’s body started to sway. “Huh?”

  “I said you and Mori are perfect couple . . .”

  Orla’s voice sounded like a bell ringing in Roy’s head. He flopped forward, and Orla caught him before he fell face first on the veranda. She helped him into the room and lowered him down onto a chair. “Sorry,” Orla whispered and left.

  Chapter 15

  The winding road hugging the edge of the tropical forest posed more mysteries than threats to Orla. There was a sense of familiarity hovering in the air. She didn’t need much light to see the path as she followed her instincts, ingrained in her since childhood. The wind whispered among the trees as if someone was chanting tunes from the days she had lived with magic. Insects silenced when she walked past, showing respect to her and what she was doing. Somewhere in the depths of the dark forest, she heard the hissing sound of a snake—the kind of snake that her branch of sorcery used in sacrificial ceremonies. Orla remembered vividly the struggle and the desperate hisses of the animal before the blood was drained from its body. She didn’t care for the ritual, but at the time, she was a kid and was there to learn.

  The forest came to a small clearing. She saw the strange man who had been in Jay’s house earlier standing by a fire, finishing the last part of the snake ritual. His eyes were closed, but Orla knew his mind’s eye had seen her. Not only now, but back in the house. He had known she would come and find him. The man took his time to finish, then opened his eyes and looked at Orla on the other side of the fire.

  “You’ve grown up a pretty girl, Orla.” The man’s voice was earthier than his look. He smiled at her.

  “Bricius, you’ve been gone a long time. Rumour had it you’d died,” Orla said. Her body tensed up. She controlled her breathing to stay calm. She didn’t come here to lose her life in a fight with one of the most dangerous sorcerers she knew.

  Bricius laughed. “I’m impressed that you remember me. Rumor is good when it spreads exactly what you want it to. I needed to bide my time to create more power.”

  “It’s been more than twenty years. I assume you got what you wanted? Otherwise, it wasn’t worth your faked death, was it?”

  Bricius laughed. “Indeed. You’re right. This island is mine. Soon, there will be many more. Many many more. I respect your family, so I’m willing to share a part of what I’ve created with you . . . as a gift.”

  “You’re a loner. You never share. And I don’t remember having any kind of a bond with you.”

  “I’ve been fond of you since you were a kid. I hope you remember that. If you don’t want anything from me, why did you come here?”

  “You could have killed Lorcan in the house. Why didn’t you? What did Jay say to you?

  Bricius shrugged. “He said he needed your help.”

  “I know that.”

  Bricius snorted. “But he doesn’t need you. I can help him. I didn’t know the Yakuz hid these people in the Raven House. I didn’t even know when they had gone missing—otherwise, I could have saved them. He didn’t need your help. You just stuck your nose into our business.”

  “They asked us to stay.”

  “Well, they shouldn’t have.”

  “You’re one of the strongest sorcerers in your clan. Why did you take Jay’s word at all? From what I know of him, he’s an English teacher, not a creature, and he doesn’t look like he has a fortune that could buy the entire Earth.”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

  “We might have the same enemies.”

  “I doubt that. I know you just want to save your lover, but it’s not going to work. When this is over, I’ll kill him, and there’s nothing you or Jay can do about it.”

  “Why?”

  “He must pay for what he did.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Why don’t you ask him?”

  Orla nodded. “All right. I’ll do that.” She tilted her head slightly up, judging the direction of the wind. Then she turned to Bricius. “I knew you had come for Lorcan. I knew it the moment I saw you. Before you even realized it yourself.”

  Bricius arched an eyebrow. “Then you also know you don’t have the power to go against me, right?”

  Orla stepped closer to the fire, the shadow of the dancing flames reflected in her eyes making them spark with confidence. “Are you sure about that? You grow older while I grow stronger.” Bricius shifted into the fire’s light and gazed into Orla’s eyes. Orla continued, “I come here barehanded. I didn’t even cast a protection spell, and you know that. Does that say I’m afraid of you?”

  Bricius narrowed his eyes. “Let’s say we focus on the bigger picture, and then after that, we can talk about your lover.”

  “Oh, now you suddenly want to negotiate. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested. Lorcan is mine. You know my family. We protect our own kind. It’s not negotiable.”

  “I protect my own kind, too, and that’s nonnegotiable as well. Lorcan killed one of mine, and now he has to pay for that.” Bricius raised his voice, his face turning crimson, and anger creeping into his eyes. His memories flashed across him like a tidal wave. He roared and glanced back at Orla across the fire, but it was too late. The fire surged up as if it was alive, surrounding him. Blades of scorching fire lashed out at him, cutting into his flesh with searing heat. He screamed.

  Outside the fire ring, Orla stood watching. She was calm and collected, but a trickle of blood ran down her nose. She had to be strong, she might win this.

  Bricius screamed. “You can never beat me, Orla! This isn’t dark magic! You’re betraying your ancestors!” He screamed again as his body caught fire.

  “My family isn’t all dark magic and hatred, Bricius. I’m sorry I have to do this to you, but I have to protect those I love.”

  “What have I done to you, apart from leading you to power?”

  “Power? You call that power? All the girls in my class—they deserved every chance to live. But you killed them all. My cousin, Brian—you killed him, too. If you died a thousand times, it still wouldn’t pay for the sins you’ve committed.”

  “Sins? What sins did I commit to solve your clan’s problems?”

  The fire surged higher. And then Bricius’s eyes returned to their icy glare—and he smiled. The fire died down as a result.

  Chapter 16

  Damn! Orla thought and knew she was in trouble. Think harder. Orla searched her mind frantically for what her aunty had told her about Bricius, about his weaknesses. She had to make him angry. She’d done that. He was furious, and he was now burning. The internal flame alone would kill him. Once it caught, he could never put it out. But it was dying down now. Why? Think harder.

  Bricius started laughing. “You were the smartest, the best in your clan. I was fond of you, and I regret having to lose you like this.” He laughed louder as the fire turned toward Orla.

  She crouched and erected a protection boundary around her just before the fire hit. Its force was so strong that it knocked her out of her protection zone. She crawled on the ground, trying to avoid her own blade of fire. Regaining her feet, she raised her arms. The fire at her end died out, and the fire at Bricius’s flamed up again.

  He withdrew a step and swung his arms. A wave of icy particles appeared like a crystal arm. The arm extinguished the fire around Bricius, then twirled around, flattened like a sheet, and flew toward Orla. She only had barely enough time to turn away and cover her face before the ice particles rained down on her like a million pieces of broken glass. Orla slumped to the ground, bleeding.

  Bricius approached Orla. “You’re trying to be a good girl, aren’t you? You think your pathetic little white spell can stop me? You’d do much better using dark magic.”

  Blood streamed from what seemed like every part of Orla’s body, but she smiled weakly and said, “I pity those who love you.” He approached as she dragged herself backward on t
he ground. She didn’t understand why her fire had failed.

  Bricius crouched. “I don’t want to kill you now. I want you to live to see me destroy your lover. But with you bleeding like that in the middle of the woods, any creature coming around is going to devour you, and that ain’t my problem.”

  “If I die, Lorcan will mourn. He loves me, you know. And my family will seek revenge. I have people who love me. If I die here, I’d die a happy woman.”

  “Your lover might seek revenge—if he lives. But your family? I doubt it. Do you really think I had nothing better to do with my time and power than to kill those girls? And just so that you are the first in line for the alpha role? Ask your parents for the truth! Oh, wait a minute—you can’t, they’re dead. We’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but the truth is, they hired me to do that dirty job.”

  “Liar.”

  “Why would I lie?”

  “Because you’re lonely, Bricius. My family loves me. If my parents have done evil things to put me in power, they did it because they loved me. You have no family. You lie to me to make yourself feel better. What do you have, Bricius?”

  “People love me, too. My family loves me . . .” Bricius’s breath quickened.

  A thought flashed in the darkest corner of Orla’s mind. She had sparked the wrong fire of fury before. She hadn’t touched Bricius’s deepest emotional wound, and that was why it had died out. Orla caught a sign of Bricius’s weakness now. She remembered.

  “Now you’re lying. You don’t have a family, Bricius. Your magic won’t allow a family. I know that much. Don’t try to tell me the shapeshifter who died just before you disappeared had anything to do with you. You’re the best in your clan, but that guy? He didn’t have any skills. He was killed by a random human hunter. You wouldn’t dare have such an embarrassment in your family, would you?”

  Bricius roared, grabbed Orla by the throat, and shook her. “Shut up! Shut up, you little bitch.”