Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted)

by Stephanie Julian

  “But this is a blood curse and blood demands blood.”

  A vicious chill cut through Shea’s body. Oh God. Serena knew. She had to know about her father’s visions. What should she say? Should she confess—

  Serena grimaced and turned away. “I’m sorry. I’ve been locked away in this house for so many years, I forget myself.” After taking a deep breath, Serena returned her gaze. “Though we know how Fabrizio performed the curse, we’ve never been able to break it. Our seer, Dafne, foretold the end but died before she could tell us more.”

  “Burned at the stake.” Shea forced the words through the knot in her throat.

  Serena’s eyes filled with tears. “Fabrizio’s eldest son, Remo, had her burned at the stake in 1509, when it became obvious we were no longer aging. Then he incited the villagers against those of us who remained. They killed our families and tried to kill us, too. But instead of burning our bodies or our hearts, which we cannot survive, they merely slit our throats. When we dragged ourselves out of the shallow grave they’d buried us in, we realized we could not die by normal methods.”

  Horror made Shea’s stomach seize in on itself, multiplied by the stark agony on Serena’s face. Her grandfather’s journal had made no mention of this. How had they survived?

  Blessed Goddess, Mom…

  “My daughters, Madrona and Furia, both members of the boschetta, had been cursed as well, but my beloved Niccolo and your mother’s Antonio were lost that night. After…” Serena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if willing away the images in her brain. “Those of us who remained scattered across Europe.

  “What we didn’t realize at the time was that Fabrizio’s curse had returned on his sons. We don’t know what happened to Remo and Parente. But Dario made it his duty to hunt us down and kill us.”

  It sounded like some fictional horror story to Shea, better suited to a Stephen King novel. But Shea had seen Dario’s methods up close and personal.

  “Dario wants your brother because he has power, power he would force him to use against us. He’s managed to take other children before. I don’t know how he managed to find your brother or your parents but—”

  “It was my fault.” The words tried to stick in her throat but she forced them out, forced herself to say them.

  Serena’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  Shea dropped her gaze to the floor, not wanting to see the condemnation in the other woman’s eyes. “I left six years ago. Left Wisconsin for Philadelphia and never went back. I didn’t see them before…” She shook her head. “I must have left a trail, something… I don’t know. That must’ve been how he found them.”

  Serena shook her head. “Shea, I was your mother’s best friend, and I knew nothing about you. Believe me, Dario doesn’t know you exist. You are not to blame for your parents’ deaths.”

  Bullshit. She was responsible. She knew it. But instead of allowing Serena to try and change her mind, Shea moved on.

  “Was my dad really my mother’s reincarnated blood-bound mate?”

  Serena’s laugh wasn’t faked, though it sounded rusty. “Yes, he was. They were very much in love, no matter what century.”

  Shea had never doubted her mom’s love for her dad. It had been evident in every look, every touch. “Were you blood bound?”

  Serena’s amusement vanished and, in its place, Shea saw pain. Centuries of it. “Yes.”

  She should stop. She knew it was none of her business. Still… “Do you know where he is now?”

  “Yes.”

  “But he’s not with you?”

  “No.” Serena sighed. “It’s been more than two-hundred years since his last reincarnation. You learn not to wish for what you can’t have. And you learn that loving is much worse when you know you’re eventually going to lose it.”

  Shea’s breath caught in her throat and her chest closed in on itself with pain. And not just her own. Serena’s pain went so deep, it felt cold against her skin, like a bitter fog.

  Shea started to reach for Serena, but stopped, curling her hands into fists. Afraid if she touched her, Serena’s despair might drown her.

  All five hundred years of it.

  “I’m so sorry.” Sorry she hadn’t broken the curse, sorry she didn’t know how.

  Yes, you do. Your father’s vision…

  Serena’s mouth twisted but not in anger. “Sweetheart, none of this is your fault. My shortcomings cannot be laid at your feet. Yes, I love him with all my heart but…there are complications.”

  “Only in your mind, Serena.”

  Quinn spoke from behind her and Shea turned to find both Quinn and Gabriel in the doorway.

  Quinn’s angry, anguished expression cleared up any question of who Serena’s mate was.

  “Did you find anyone?” Serena directed her question to Gabriel, ignoring Quinn.

  Gabriel’s jaw set as he glanced from Quinn back to Serena, but he shook his head. “As far as I can tell, no one followed us. We’re safe.”

  Serena nodded. “Good. That’s good.” Serena glanced back at Shea. “I was hoping you and Leo would join me tomorrow for the summer solstice treguenda. It’s been a while since I’ve had guests for a ritual. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some work I need to do.”

  Shea watched Quinn stiffen as Serena dismissed them, watched Gabriel glance at his mom and his best friend with sympathy in his eyes. Then Quinn turned and headed down the hallway without another word.

  After a look from Gabriel, Shea swallowed the rest of her questions and walked out. Gabriel shut the door behind her, closing him in with his mother.

  Shea stared at the door for a second. Guilt, fear, sorrow felt like a boulder tied around her neck. She wanted to sink to the floor and crawl up in a little ball.

  The voices buzzed, soothing her somewhat. Weird how, for so long, she’d thought them an annoyance. Now…now they were a comfort. Something familiar to hold on to when everything else had turned to shit.

  She started to head back to Leo, but the sound of something smashing against the wall in a room behind her stopped her in her tracks.

  Quinn. She heard him pacing, like a caged animal. Heard something else break, something crunch. Then…nothing.

  She didn’t want to intrude, but Quinn’s agony was palpable. She could feel it, like smoke in the air.

  Turning, she stuck her head through the slight open door and into a tiny bedroom. Quinn sat on the bed, elbows on his knees, head in his hands.

  He didn’t look up. “I’m not really up for visitors.”

  “I know. I just…It’s your pain. I can feel it.”

  He blew out a gusty sigh and, when he raised his head, Shea saw tears in his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not that good at burying my emotions. But I’m heading out soon so that won’t be a problem. Tell the kid goodbye for me, okay?”

  “Do you have to go?” She still wasn’t sure she could leave Leo behind, even if it was for the best. But to leave him in the care of a woman they’d just met, without anyone he considered a friend? “Gabriel wants to leave Leo here but I don’t think he’ll be comfortable without someone he knows.”

  Not that they’d known each other long, but it was funny how you could become so close to someone in so short a time, yet live with someone for seventeen years and not know the most important things about them.

  “Shea—”

  “Quinn, please. Please stay. For Leo’s sake.”

  Quinn didn’t lift his head, just shook it. “Serena will be okay with the kid. She loves kids.”

  “But he doesn’t know her. He knows you. He trusts you.”

  “Shea—”

  “Quinn—”

  “I can’t, Shea. I’m sorry.” Quinn cut her off then drew a deep breath as he wiped his wet eyes. “Look, there’s stuff…I can’t…” He huffed and stood to grab a duffel bag off the bed. “I guess you figured out whose mate I am, huh? Let me tell you something about love, babe. It sucks. And I can’t stick around anymore without havin
g my heart torn out of my chest.”

  His anger and hurt brushed against her senses like sandpaper, raspy and harsh. She knew he was in pain, but she had to make him stay.

  “Quinn, please. I’ll beg if I have to.”

  He was halfway to the door when he stopped, his head hanging. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  Oh, she had a bit of an idea, but Leo was her priority. “Probably not, but I have to ask anyway. Please stay. For Leo. He’s just a little boy.”

  He stood still as a stone, his breathing ragged, his back rigid. Finally he turned and she knew she’d won by the look on his face. But at what cost to him?

  No, he was a grown man. He’d cope. Leo was just a baby. He needed someone with him. Someone he trusted, someone he knew. He’d taken an instant liking to Quinn therefore Quinn had to stay if she or Gabriel couldn’t.

  “Shit. Fine. I’ll stay. For Leo.”

  She walked to him, kissed his cheek and hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He dropped his pack and hugged her back so she felt the slight tremble in his arms. “Just don’t blame me when the house implodes.”

  * * *

  “You going to put him out of his misery or do you really want him to leave?”

  Gabriel watched Serena rise from her chair and head for the liquor cabinet, where she pulled out the Jack Daniels and a shot glass. She held up both and shook them at him.

  With a sigh, he held up his index finger. One shot wouldn’t kill him. And maybe a few would loosen up his mother to the point where they could talk.

  “Mom.” He watched her hand falter at the term. He used it sparingly and only when they were alone. He’d been taught early on not to call attention to their relationship. “This is killing him. And you’re not too steady yourself. He loves you.”

  “Love is painful, Gabriel.” She poured herself a shot and downed it with practiced ease. “Haven’t you learned that?”

  Ooh-kay. It was going to be one of those nights. Usually when his mother started on the hard stuff, he headed the other way. He knew, only because his sisters had told him, that their mom sometimes had a problem with alcohol. The problem being she liked it too much.

  He’d never seen her sloppy drunk but after what she’d been through, he couldn’t say he blamed her for using liquor to dull her pain for a while. But he couldn’t stand to see his mom or Quinn in so much pain.

  “You taught me,” he took the bottle out of her now shaking hand and poured his own shot, “that love is the most all-consuming emotion in the world and the only thing worth living for.”

  He downed his shot then put the bottle on top of the cabinet, out of his mother’s reach.

  “Well, then let me tell you something else.” With the flick of one finger, Serena bespelled the bottle off the cabinet and into her outstretched hand, her back to Gabriel as she stared at the Jack. “In the immortal words of J. Geils, ‘Love stinks.’”

  He snorted in amusement. His mother was a complete contradiction, full of old-world and pop culture. She made her own clothes though she did it with the most up-to-date sewing machine on the market. She grew her own food but couldn’t get enough Doritos. She made her own shampoos and soaps yet couldn’t live without her satellite TV or radio.

  But his amusement turned to frustration when she looked at him. Fat tears rolled down her face as her bottom lip trembled.

  “Damn it, Mom, why do you do this to yourself?” He reached for her, pulled her into his arms and felt silent sobs rack her. “He loves you. Yeah, he’s young and he’s a pain in the ass and sometimes he’s furry, but he would die for you.”

  She laughed, but it sounded more like a whimper. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? He’ll leave me eventually. You’ll leave me, and I’ll be alone again.”

  Shit. He didn’t know how to answer that because it was true. Unless Shea…

  He bent to whisper in her ear. “But we’re here now. And there’s hope. Finally.”

  A shudder rippled through her slender frame and she sighed. Then she backed away, the bottle still clutched in one fist. “I’m going to finish the bottle now, il mio figlio caro. You should get some rest.”

  “Mom—”

  “Gabriel.” Her voice held more than its normal hint of the old country, and Gabriel knew the conversation was finished. “I will see you at dinner.”

  With deliberate movements, Serena poured herself another drink.

  Gabriel shook his head and left, closing the door behind him.

  * * *

  “Have you found it?”

  “We believe so, yes.”

  Dario turned from the window, eyebrows raised. “You don’t sound convinced.”

  Peter swallowed, blinking rapidly. “We’ve narrowed the area to a couple of square miles. We’ll know for sure in a few hours. They’re closing in on the site now. I sent five men—”

  Dario cut off the other man by raising his hand. “I don’t need to know details. Not yet. Report back when you do know for sure.”

  Then he waved the terrified man out of the room and turned back to his contemplation of the Gulf of Mexico across the street from his house.

  This water was nothing like the murky Atlantic. It reminded him more of the soothing blue Mediterranean. He hadn’t been to Italy in years, and he was starting to feel the irresistible pull of home.

  Florida was so different, brown and flat where Tuscany was lushly green and hilly. He’d been living in Florida for the past fifty years, drawn to the proximity of the water and the relative quiet of the jut of land that was Pass-a-grille Beach. The community was secluded and the residents transient enough that he’d never had anyone become suspicious of his never-changing age.

  But he wanted to go home, wanted to finish out his natural life in the land where he was born and go on to his reward. Whatever that may be.

  His father had died nearly five hundred years ago. Freed from the constraints he’d condemned his remaining sons to bear.

  Christo had been the lucky one. He had died—at the hand of the streghe, his father had believed. Dario didn’t have an opinion on that. Frankly, he hadn’t cared enough about Christo to miss him. His youngest brother had been a mean-spirited faccia di stronza.

  He’d been closer to his older brothers, Remo and Parente. But they’d been given different directions for their lives. And while they had come to grips with their unnaturally long existence, only Dario continued to fight to release their souls.

  Hell, the women should thank him. They should seek him out and ask him to take their lives. And when the last of them was dead, the curse would be broken. Blood for blood. His father had drilled that into his head.

  Instead, the streghe continued to elude him, to bear male children he ruthlessly turned—when he could catch them young enough—to hunt the women and destroy them. It was for their own good, of course. They would thank him when this was over and they could return to the natural order of life, death and rebirth.

  When he broke the curse.

  Now Peter believed he’d found what had eluded Dario for centuries. He didn’t know whether to hope the imbecile had really done what he’d said or laugh in the man’s face.

  How could he have found the women’s American stronghold when Dario himself had searched for years? How had they finally given themselves away?

  He’d find out soon enough. But God help Peter if he was wrong this time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After wringing that hard-won promise from Quinn, Shea fell into the bed beside Leo’s and forced herself to go to sleep.

  When she woke, she opened her eyes and found her brother sitting by her side, his face inches from hers, staring straight at her.

  She yelped and sat straight up, knocking Leo off the bed as he dissolved into laughter.

  “Gotcha! I gotcha good, Sissy.”

  It took her a minute to orient herself, to remember where they were, why they were here. She drew in a breath to scold him
—and then it hit her.

  Leo was laughing.

  In all the time she’d known him, she’d never heard him so much as a giggle. The sound was so joyful, so normal, that the words died on her tongue, and she could only stare at him. The kid hadn’t said more than a hundred words to her before they’d met Gabriel. And now he was laughing so hard, he had to hold his stomach.