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

by D. N. Leo

  “Bricius. I’ve killed him,” he muttered.

  “But you didn’t kill his clan …” Jane suddenly gasped. “They’re coming now!” she said.

  Lorcan looked toward the door and saw Alana and a man walking toward them with Maeve trailing behind.

  Chapter 25

  “Which one? Can you tell, Mother?” Lorcan asked. He recognized Maeve, who had been with Orla before he got shot, and he recognized Alana, who had been holding Orla back when she’d tried to run to him. The two women had seemed to be on Orla’s side. But he hadn’t seen the man before.

  Jane shook her head. “It was just the aura coming from them, but I don’t know any of them,” Jane said.

  Alana walked into the house without invitation and spoke quickly before anyone could say anything. “My name is Alana. This is my cousin Sam. We’re from Orla’s family. We came to let you know that Orla has agreed to take leadership of our group, and in doing so, she will never see you again. But she did say that you were married in front of God. Therefore, you will have to denounce your marriage in front of our God.”

  “That’s bogus. You guys are holding Orla against her will,” Maeve said.

  “Shut up, Maeve. You’re not part of the family,” Alana growled and turned back to Lorcan. “My family will be waiting at the temple at noon tomorrow. If you don’t come . . .” She shifted her stance and glanced at Sam for instruction. Sam raised an eyebrow. Alana continued, “If you don’t come, Orla will die.”

  “That’s bullshit. It’s a trap, Lorcan. They won’t bring Orla there,” Maeve hissed and pointed her finger at Alana. “Your family never kill their own. So they won’t kill Orla.”

  “That’s enough, Maeve,” Sam growled.

  “You come into my home without invitation, without permission, and you try to lure my son into a trap?” Jane said.

  “It’s not a trap. The temple is our place of family worship. Orla promised to be with us. All Lorcan has to do is to end their relationship—and do it for her sake. Why would we want to trap him?” Alana said.

  “I’m warning you not to go there, Lorcan,” Maeve raised her voice.

  “It’s not your call,” Alana snarled.

  “Which one of you is from Bricius’s clan?” Jane’s voice cut through the chaos like a hot knife through butter. She advanced. Lorcan had never seen such animosity in his mother before. “You can all leave except the one from Bricius’s clan because that person is responsible for my husband’s death.”

  “Hey!” Alana’s voice shook. “We do black magic here!” She pointed her finger at Jane. Lorcan darted forward to stand next to his mother. Keeva and Riley advanced, but he gestured them to stay back.

  Alana dropped her finger and withdrew. “We’re just the messengers. Lorcan should go to the temple and talk to my family. You can come, too, if you want.” Jane moved toward her, and Alana backed away again.

  “Let me ask once more, which one of you is from Bricius’s clan.” Jane’s voice was as cold as steel.

  Alana turned around. “Sam!”

  “What?”

  Alana grabbed him and pushed him forward, standing behind him. “Use some of your black magic! She’s going to curse us,” Alana said to him.

  “All right, we’ve delivered the message. Take it or leave it—it’s up to you. We’re leaving.” Sam turned leave, and Alana scurried after him.

  Maeve glared at Jane. “Do you really think pulling a stunt like that is going to work on magical creatures?”

  Jane smiled. “I have a very good singing voice. Let me sing you a song and see if you enjoy it. We can talk afterward.” Lorcan knew his mother was going to sing the lullaby to see which one reacted to it.

  They heard a crash. A large window shattered as a gigantic golden wolf flew through it and head straight at Jane. Lorcan pulled his mother out of the way. The wolf landed on the table, crushing it to pieces.

  Alana took one look at the wolf and fainted. Sam cursed and picked her up, rushing outside. The wolf bared its teeth and lunged at Jane. Lorcan shot an electric wave at the wolf. It dropped to the floor in convulsions. Lorcan dropped to his knees, exhausted.

  Riley leaped at the wolf and grabbed it. It turned around and bit his right arm then sprung to its feet, running through the door. Lorcan stood up and charged after it, catching up to it at the edge of the woods.

  “Hey!” he called out. Lorcan wasn’t sure how much energy he had left, but he had a feeling he didn’t have anything remaining to shoot at the wolf if it actually attacked him. But the wolf held the answers to many of his questions. He couldn’t let it run away again. “Look, I told you before that I’m not going to fight you. I know you want something that I can offer. Let’s work it out. I don’t think you want to harm us unless we’re threatening someone you care for, and that person belongs to Bricius’s clan. Am I right?”

  The wolf stopped and looked at Lorcan. It quickly glanced back to see if Riley or Keeva had caught up. There was no sign of them. The wolf’s lips curled back from its teeth, and a low, rumbling growl came from its throat.

  “Right, so we’re friends now. Just tell me what you want, and we can work things out. I don’t speak wolf, so you’ll have to shift back to your human form.”

  On silent paws, the wolf took a step or two toward Lorcan, then hunkered down low to the ground and lifted its body up into the air in a giant leap, landing squarely on Lorcan’s shoulders. The weight of the wolf made Lorcan stumble to the ground. Lorcan scissored his legs and flung the wolf away before it could take a bite of him. He planned to save the last electric shot he had for the worst case scenario.

  The wolf and Lorcan circled each other. It wouldn’t shift its gaze because it thought he might shoot at it again. But Lorcan wouldn’t waste his last beam that easily. The wolf ran out of patience quickly and charged at him again.

  Lorcan braced for the impact. He’d learned an Aikido movement when he was younger. When a strong force came at a defender, a circling motion could utilize the force of the attacker. The harder the coming force, the worse the crash. As the wolf landed, Lorcan sidestepped in a half circle, grabbed its neck, swung, and released. The wolf flew through the air and smashed straight into a tree trunk. It howled in pain and crashed to the ground.

  Riley and Keeva had arrived. Riley grabbed the wolf and jabbed a needle into it. It wriggled hard, biting and clawing at his arms. Riley held the wolf to the ground, and it whimpered under the pressure.

  A wail from somewhere off in the forest made everyone cringe.

  Chapter 26

  It was a howl of pain and outrage, sadness and anger. While Lorcan was busy searching for the source of the sound, the yellow wolf bucked like a wild horse, throwing Riley off and rolling to its feet. Keeva jumped in to help. It took the two of them to force the wolf down again until the tranquilizer took effect.

  Lorcan listened to the silence for a few more minutes. He didn’t like it and did a mental check of his energy level. One shot was all he had left, he was sure of it. They heard the howl again, but this time it was closer. They heard a loud roar, and then a large shadow landed in front of them. It was a magnificent puma.

  Lorcan cursed.

  “Stay right here,” he said to Riley and Keeva. Then he stood up and ran. The puma leapt after him. He knew he wouldn’t be quick enough to outrun it, but he needed to get a bit of distance. The paws of the puma landed on his back. He rolled on the ground and felt blood gushing from his wounds. The puma was growling at him, advancing. He didn’t have a good angle to shoot. He stood up and ran again. The animal pounced a second time, catching him in the side with one large paw. Lorcan jammed his foot at the puma’s face, pushing it back a bit. He stood and raced off again, stumbling and falling to the ground. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the puma leapt up in the air so that it could land its front paws on Lorcan’s chest. While flying, its chest and midsection were open to Lorcan.

  He gave it one blast with all he had. The electric current shot out
in a wave, curved up, and split into thousands of knives and spears flying at the puma. It roared painfully as the sharp blades hit it. Blood, fur, and flesh rained down to the ground. The puma dropped. It howled and clawed its way into the woods. Lorcan wanted to give chase but he lost sight of the animal as it loped into the cover of the trees.

  Bradan ran aimlessly through the woods. Maeve had been gone for hours, and he couldn’t let her fend for herself out there. They’d never been together, and he knew she would never consider him, but he wanted to tell her how much he cared for her. He couldn’t bear the thought that she might never return to him, or that he’d die before he could tell her any of his feelings.

  He knew he wasn’t talented—in either black or white magic. He was just a guy who had stumbled into a bloodline of magical creatures and was lined up for a position of power. He didn’t want it, but he had a responsibility, and people’s lives depended on him. He was wrong to tell her he had planned to run away like Orla. The thought had crossed his mind, and he had planned on it—but he was a man. If anything, he had his integrity and honor. He was not going to run away like a little girl.

  He had agreed to allow Maeve release the false news that he was dead in order to figure out who the traitor in the clan was and see who surfaced to claim the power. But he had never wanted her to risk her life to do so.

  Where is she? he wondered.

  He stopped by a tree to catch his breath, and then he saw them. Maeve and Alana, unconscious, bathed in blood. There were body parts scattered on the ground, torn into unrecognizable pieces. Both Maeve and Alana were breathing. He couldn’t tell whose blood it was, but it was everywhere.

  “Maeve!” He shook her shoulders. No response. He scrambled over to Alana and got the same result. He couldn’t take both of them back to the village with him. He could barely walk himself. Bradan pulled them between two large trees and covered them as much as possible with whatever he could find—leaves, weeds, tree branches. Then he charged through the woods for the village.

  The commotion in the house woke Orla. She wriggled but couldn’t free herself from the rope. She was blindfolded. She cursed and struggled even harder. Someone kicked the door in and stormed into the room. She heard Bradan’s voice. “Help her, or you won’t have either of us.” She felt the bed next to her sink down as if someone had lain down there. A burst of light assaulted her eyes when Bradan yanked off her blindfold.

  She looked at the person next to her. “Oh God, what happened to Maeve?”

  “I don’t know. But they won’t treat her.” Bradan leaned against the wall, a jar in his hand. He was as white as a sheet. At the door, Uncle Tony stood, scowling.

  “I don’t care for being threatened, Bradan.”

  “I’m not threatening anyone. You need me or Orla. You care about this jar, so save Maeve.”

  Bradan removed the rope off Orla.

  “Since when did you become completely reckless, Bradan?” Tony snarled.

  “That’s what we’re all about. We do black magic, and we’re reckless.”

  “You’re wrong. We aren’t reckless. We don’t kill our own. And we don’t destroy our ancestors’ remains. Give me the jar. I will ask Anna to come and look at Maeve.”

  “I don’t believe you. I told you we have a traitor in the clan. They killed my father. I don’t know who’s who anymore. You want a vessel for your energy at full moon, I’ll do it. Just treat Maeve, and let Orla go.”

  “You’re asking for too much, Bradan.”

  “I’m not asking. I’m telling.” Bradan thrust the jar out as if he was going to drop it.

  “Okay, calm down, son, I’ll call Anna.”

  Tony backed out of the room. As soon as he’d left, Bradan flopped to the floor.

  “Go, Orla. I know you’ve sworn in just to take that stupid potion for me. But if you don’t come at full moon, you should be fine. Now run! As far away as you can.”

  “You think I’m going to leave Maeve like this?”

  “I’ll take care of her.”

  “How can you take care of her? What if she dies?”

  “She won’t! Maeve wanted to tell Lorcan to get you out of here. She wanted you to be free. If that’s what she wanted, I’ll do it for her.”

  “If I leave you, they’ll crush you in a heartbeat. And that will break her heart.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “You heard me well enough.”

  “You . . .”

  The door swung open, and Anna stomped in. She scowled at Orla and Maeve and pointed at Bradan. “You. Out. Unless you want to see the girl naked.” Bradan scrambled out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Orla knew he stood on guard in front of the door.

  Chapter 27

  Lorcan awoke and found his chest bandaged and his arm in a sling. He shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Riley.” He got up and pulled his arm out of the sling, put on his wrist unit, and went downstairs.

  “You’re butchering me!” Riley’s voice shot to the hallway from the living room. Lorcan found Keeva cleaning up the gashes on his arms. The wolf had left quite a few bites on Riley even after it had been tranquilized.

  “Stay still, Riley. I do this all the time,” Keeva said.

  “For rabbits and squirrels?” Riley hissed again. Noah sat in a corner rubbing Aris’s ears. They both seemed to be enjoying the scene.

  “Where’s the wolf?” Lorcan asked.

  Everyone turned to look at him.

  “Apparently you don’t need my sling,” Riley muttered.

  Lorcan chuckled. “But I need your help. Both of you.”

  Riley shrugged. “Anything except what requires magical talents. We have two in the house, and that’s a handful to deal with! Ouch . . . plus the cat . . . plus you . . . Ouch! That’s enough, Keeva!”

  Keeva let go of his arm while Noah giggled. She stood up from the sofa. “What do you need from me, Lorcan?”

  “I’m going to the temple to get Orla out of there. I need you to back me up.”

  “The woman who came with Orla here before said it’s a trap and Orla wouldn’t be at the temple.”

  “That’s why I need you. We haven’t been married in front of any gods. By telling them that, Orla wants me to walk in there and not have to fight my way in. Once we’re together, we can figure a way out. We can’t do anything when we’re separated from each other.”

  Riley shook his head. “What a wicked plan!”

  Keeva smiled. “I like her already. What about the trap?” Keeva asked.

  “There is only one way to find out! But I don’t want a fight,” Lorcan said.

  “I don’t see how it’s possible without a fight,” Riley said.

  Keeva glared at him.

  “No fighting for any of you,” Lorcan said and trailed off when his wrist unit let out a beep. He glanced at it. “Fuck.”

  “What?” Riley asked.

  “There was an accident, and Orla is no longer operating on her natural energy. We didn’t have time to set up anything permanent before we came back here. Now her energy is running low. If it runs out, she’ll die. I need to get going. Where’s the wolf?”

  “In the dungeon,” Keeva said.

  In the old cellar, Lorcan found the wolf chained to a column. His mother stood watching. When the wolf began to shiver, almost like it was cold, Jane took a rag and wrapped it around its body. Lorcan approached, standing next to Jane, and watched. To no one’s surprise, the shape of the wolf began to change until it resembled that of a human. A flash of bright light later, and a young man lay upon the floor of the dungeon, still unconscious and clearly naked. Lorcan got up and grabbed some blankets and clothes out of a closet that stood against the stone wall.

  Then the man opened his eyes.

  “What’s your name?” Lorcan asked.

  The young man glared at him and looked away.

  “All right, I was trying to be polite, but let’s cut to the chase. You attacked my mother because sh
e was about to hurt someone you care for. That someone is from Bricius clan. To be honest, I’m no expert when it comes to magic. But I know how to deal.”

  The man shook his head and smirked.

  Lorcan grabbed his neck and shoved him against the wall. “Here is the good news. We’ve captured them before they got back to the other side of the woods. I’ll use one person to trade for Orla. I’ll keep one person hostage, and kill one to make my point. Which one of them you don’t you want me to kill?”

  The man glared at Lorcan. He shoved him against the wall one more time.

  “Let me offer you something worth considering. I’ll let you keep the one you care about, and I’ll use the other ones to trade for Orla. However, you have to tell me how to break the curse they put on her. I know with the curse on her, she’ll never be free. If you’ve ever loved someone, you understand what it’s like to be tangled up in a curse. You help me out, and I’ll help you.”

  The man contemplated, then he said, “The curse on Orla is based on hatred. It can only be broken by love.”

  “How?”

  “You have to challenge the clan to take your loved one out. They will offer you three choices—a dagger, poison, and a magic strike. If you don’t know magic, don’t choose that option. I don’t know what the poison is, so your safest bet is the dagger.”

  “The safest?” Lorcan sneered.

  “You’re a werefox—you can heal quickly. Surely you know how to take a stab and make it nonfatal.”

  “Hummm. If I break the curse, will Orla be free forever?”

  “In theory. If that’s the only curse she has on her.”

  “But that means they can put another curse on her, right? And the whole hell cycle will start again?”

  “We’re were-creatures, not sorcerers . . .”

  “There is no we. You and I are very different kinds, and trust me, you don’t want to know what I am. Don’t make assumptions. How can I stop them from placing another curse on Orla, or on anyone for that matter?”