Heiress to a Curse

by Zandria Munson

  She paused a few feet away from the stone table with her attention fixed on Lord Drakon. A flash of anger reflected in her silver-gray eyes and Alexandra recognized her instantly. She was Marius’s mother!

  “I suppose you are pleased with yourself,” she said to Lord Drakon. “Ordering your wife and son locked away in the cellar.”

  “This is not the time for this, Amelia. There are only a few more minutes left to the equinox and this task must be completed.”

  Lady Amelia’s eyes dropped to Alexandra, who met her gaze with an imploring stare. She experienced a fluttering of hope. Could Marius’s mother save her? And if Lady Amelia had managed to escape the cellar, then where was Marius?

  “Release her,” Lady Amelia said, and her eyes snapped back up to her husband. “There is another way to break our curse, a way that will not shatter our son’s heart.”

  Outbursts of disbelief fanned through the audience.

  Lord Drakon shook his head slowly, regrettably. “I am sorry, my love. In this I cannot oblige you. In time, both you and Marius will come to forgive me.”

  Lady Amelia’s eyes widened and her lips separated in a desperate gasp as he lifted the knife high.

  Alexandra’s scream echoed throughout the chamber and she squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the pain. The loud smashing of glass didn’t register in her mind, nor did the outraged cries and the ensuing commotion. Her head was spinning and she could see her parents’ faces. Were they calling to her? Were they waiting for her to join them? Tears streamed down her temples. She’d failed them.

  It wasn’t until she felt the chains on her wrists being yanked off that she realized something was amiss. Her eyes flew open and she was surprised to see an outraged Marius tearing away at her shackles. He was streaked with blood, and bits of colorful glass reflected in his hair. She gasped as she looked beyond him to see the shattered stained-glass window near the ceiling. Had he actually flown through it?

  He took a second to look her over before turning his attention to the huge dent in the wall behind them. Alexandra followed his gaze and realized that his father had been thrust away from the stone table and now lay beneath a pile of rubble.

  Around them, the occupants of the room, including Marius’s brothers, weren’t very pleased with the proceedings. His mother was trying to calm them, to explain, but Alexandra could tell that her words of a new solution were falling on deaf ears. Why bother to try something different when the Descendant lay before them, ready for the slaughter?

  Marius scooped her up and lowered her to the ground. “I’ll hold them off,” he said. “I want you to run out that door and keep going. No matter what happens, do not turn back.” He pointed to a passage that she hadn’t noticed before, perhaps because it was half-hidden behind one of the large posts.

  Her fingers tightened on his wrist. Strangely, she didn’t want to leave him. She wasn’t sure what the repercussions of his actions would be, but from the angry throng approaching them, she knew he wouldn’t be able to face them alone. Lord Drakon growled, and she cast a look over her shoulder. His massive form was rising from the pile of stone and dust and he was reaching for the knife!

  Marius shoved her toward the doorway. “Go!”

  Alexandra hesitated for the slightest fragment of a second and their eyes locked. The intensity within his silver stare told her that he accepted his fate regardless of its nature. It was in that instant that she realized just how far he was willing to go to protect her, just how sincere he’d been. So much so that he was willing to challenge the will of his own father. She knew then that she wanted him, needed him—this powerful and beautiful male, her mate, her partner, her guardian. She loved him.

  With those thoughts consuming her, she raced toward the doorway. She chanced a glance behind her and saw Marius atop the stone table dueling with another gargoyle. Several of them had taken to the air and were swarming toward her. Surprisingly, his mother was heading toward her, as well. She’d taken flight and was fending off the other gargoyles, giving Alexandra ample time to make it through the doorway.

  The grandfather clock posted in the hall just outside the main double doors began to chime. It was striking six! Alexandra was nearly at the doorway when a series of gunshots rang out and she heard her name bellowed over the chaos. She spun around, knowing the voice.

  April stood behind one of the tall pillars, motioning to her. Detective Beckford had his gun aimed and was firing at anything that came within a five-foot radius of them. Her heart leaped with joy. April was all right!

  Lady Amelia flew above her then, keeping the other gargoyles away from her. They seemed torn between the desire to kill Alexandra and to respect the wishes of their mistress.

  Lady Amelia looked at her. “Linger no more, child. You must go!”

  The clock chimed.

  Alexandra looked at April. She knew that there was no way she’d be able to make it across the room to her friend and the detective. There were just too many gargoyles. Her only hope was to follow the passage that Marius had directed her to.

  She was about to exit when she heard Marius cry out. She spun around, afraid that something had happened to him. She was shocked to see him moving swiftly toward her and fear gripped her when she saw Nicholas just a few feet away. Marius’s brother had ripped a medieval spear from the wall and was aiming it at her. With a ferocious growl, Marius dived in front of her just as the slender object zipped through the air. It lodged within his chest and he cried out, stalling in the air before plummeting to the floor.

  Stillness filled the room and Alexandra looked on in horror as Marius pushed to his feet, gripped the long spear and wrenched it from his chest. Blood streamed down his body in a heavy flow as he stumbled a few paces toward her, his hand reaching out. Then he collapsed.

  She screamed. Forgetting her own danger, she raced to his side and dropped to her knees, rolling him onto his back and cradling his head in her lap.

  “Marius!” she cried. “Marius, talk to me!” Shaking hands pressed on the wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

  She could feel his heart thumping wildly beneath her palms, trying desperately to adjust to the extreme blood loss. “Someone get help!” she shouted to the throng of onlookers.

  Lady Amelia was at her side immediately, her gaze frantically combing her youngest born. Tears welled in her eyes and her lips trembled as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words.

  The clock chimed.

  Marius’s eyes opened to slits and he looked up at Alexandra.

  Alexandra was sobbing now. “Marius…” was all she managed.

  “I love you, Alexandra,” he declared faintly, his breathing coming in short gasps now. Then his hand fell away.

  His words struck her like a bolt of bittersweet lightning. To think that after all they’d been through and only now just realizing their love for each other, it was too late.

  She watched his eyes drift closed and knew the moment when his last breath slipped from his body. He went perfectly still in her arms, his face a vision of peace rendered within a most exquisite and beautiful portrait. A burning agony consumed her and she cried out. She looked to the occupants of the room who’d stood by and allowed this to happen. Her gaze paused on the one who’d wielded the spear—his own brother.

  The clock chimed.

  Nicholas had fallen to his knees and now watched his brother’s lifeless body with anguish.

  Alexandra fought to find words, wishing she could damn them all to hell, but nothing could slip past her lips as she struggled to breathe. Dizziness washed over her and she fell over Marius’s still body. From the ache deep within the pit of her stomach came a mournful cry with the echo of a voice that wasn’t her own, riding on its tail.

  “Cerc de viată şi cerc de death, lumină şi darkness…” The voice grew louder. “Rival nu mai mult şi consulat this vas. I chemare upon art.hot. puternic de bun şi beseech art.hot. puternic de evil la spre reignite this a umbla s
oul.”

  All present looked in disbelief at Marius’s body and at Alexandra, who was spewing the ancient language. The grandfather clock chimed its last tune, marking the morning hour.

  Solemnly, many of the gargoyles lowered their heads or bent at their knees, bracing themselves for the inevitable change. Their time was done, they knew, yet none raised a hand to harm Alexandra. The love she and Marius shared was apparent now—an emotion that was self-sacrificing and unbiased.

  A chill infiltrated the room and thickened the air. It prickled over Alexandra’s skin and frosted her breath so that each exhalation came as a cloud of white smoke.

  The gasps of disbelief and the touch of cool fingers on her arm drew Alexandra’s attention and she mustered enough strength to look up. A beautiful middle-aged woman knelt before her, her hair softly wreathed by the pale light of dawn that shone down from the shattered window above. Saddened eyes met Alexandra’s own and she knew immediately that this was Lady Amelia…but she couldn’t understand how she’d come to be human.

  Alexandra cast a look around her. The other gargoyles were gazing down at themselves in awe as they, too, were changing. The curse has been lifted. But…how? Had Marius’s sacrifice for her broken the incantation? Had he forfeited his life to spare hers and to free his family? Or had it been Necesar’s intervention?

  Nicholas, who remained on his knees, swiftly drew the sword from the sling across his back and the rasp of steel echoed within the chamber. Wondering if she was still in danger, Alexandra shot a glance at Lady Amelia, who was rising slowly to her feet. With his head bowed in remorse, Nicholas brought the blade down into the mosaic tiling and began carving a large circle about himself.

  His mother took a step forward. “What are you doing?” she asked with some measure of disbelief. “Do you wish for your brother’s death to be in vain?”

  Without looking up, Nicholas brought the steel against his palm and lacerated his flesh. And as his blood trailed down his fingertips, he began to trace a symbol within the confinement. Regardless of her lack of knowledge of the arts, Alexandra knew immediately that he was drawing a Triquetra about himself. A symbol of the white craft, this protective spell was simple yet powerful enough to ward off most magic. So many times had Necesar performed that very spell and others like it.

  Simion quietly crossed the room and entered the boundaries of the circle. He wound his fist in the leather strapping across his chest that held his quiver in place and stripped it away. The steel arrows clamored to the floor and he met his mother’s gaze.

  “We are not worthy of this gift,” he said solemnly. “Had we listened, our brother would still be alive.” His attention fell to Alexandra. “Please, forgive us,” he beseeched.

  Alexandra looked away. No amount of apology would bring Marius back to her. They’d chosen to forfeit their right to humanity as penance, but it solved nothing. In her arms still lay the lifeless form of the only man she’d ever love. Their sacrifice was as useless to her as her death now would be to them.

  Just then there was a mild stirring in her arms and her attention snapped to Marius as he gasped. Her breathing stopped. He was alive! And he was changing—thick horns sank back into his skull, the heavily chiseled features smoothed into the masculine face she recognized, and his wings were incinerated by a burst of blue flame.

  Her heart raced as his eyes opened. She was oblivious to the gasps of disbelief that filled the room. He is alive! And the wound in his chest seemed to be closing! He looked lost, as if he’d been on a long journey and returned to an unfamiliar place.

  With a mix of emotions filling her heart, she smiled down at him. “Marius, you’re going to be okay,” she reassured him.

  Her tears continued to flow, but these were tears of joy. She’d seen the spear penetrate his chest, had seen him fall and had watched him die. How it was that he breathed again and was a man, she didn’t know and decided not to question this good fortune. For now, it was enough for her to hold him in her arms, to feel his warm breath against her skin and the racing of his heart.

  He was alive! Marius had come back to her!

  “Get down, all of you! On the floor!” Detective Beckford was moving through the crowd with his gun braced in his hands. “I’ve had enough of this freak show. I’m taking all of you in for conspiracy to commit murder!”

  Everyone began complying. They were human now and would die just as easily from a gunshot wound as the next person. Only Simion and Nicholas hadn’t been released from the curse, and they looked on in disbelief as Marius stirred in Alexandra’s arms.

  April crossed the room to Alexandra, her eyes fixed hesitantly on the man whose death she’d witnessed and who now breathed with new life. “Are you okay, Alexandra?” she asked.

  Alexandra nodded. “Somehow we broke the curse,” she told her. “We have to get Marius to a hospital. I don’t want to lose him again.”

  April knelt beside her. “Don’t worry. Tyrese called for backup. An ambulance is on its way, too.” She placed a reassuring arm over her shoulder. “He traced the license plate of the car. That’s how he found us.”

  Alexandra looked past April to see Detective Beckford slowly circling the two gargoyles with his gun aimed as he read them their rights loudly enough for everyone to hear. Her gaze swept to Lady Amelia, who’d moved to stand next to her husband. She had a resigned look in her eyes, as if she was prepared to face incarceration.

  “No!” Alexandra cried, then looked to Detective Beckford. “Leave them,” she said.

  April frowned at her. “What are you saying? These people kidnapped us and tried to kill you!”

  Detective Beckford sent her a wary look, but said nothing. Alexandra knew he must think her insane, but she wasn’t. She wanted the suffering to stop. Enough had transpired and she wanted it all to end. Marius was alive, and that was what mattered to her. She looked down at him, resting quietly in her arms. She didn’t want him to awaken to find his entire family facing another life sentence.

  She shook her head. “It’s over, April.” Then to Detective Beckford, “Please, let them go. I won’t press charges. I just want to leave this place.”

  Detective Beckford looked from Alexandra to April then back again. Slowly, he lowered his gun and replaced it in his holster. “An ambulance will be here in about fifteen minutes. Is he well enough to be moved?” He nodded toward Marius.

  Alexandra looked Marius over again. The wound had closed considerably over the last few minutes and the color had returned to his face. “Yes, but we have to be careful.” She brushed a stray hair from his face.

  Lord Drakon moved to tower above them, his face laden with regret and anguish as he looked Marius over. “You may leave if you wish. I will see to my son’s care,” he said without meeting her eyes.

  Alexandra frowned up at him. “I’m not leaving Marius,” she told him.

  Lady Amelia stepped forward and fixed Lord Drakon with a reproving glare. She motioned to two servants standing nearby. “Falon, Remus, take my son to the green salon.” The butlers moved quickly to do her bidding and she extended a hand to Alexandra.

  “Come, my dear. We shall tend to his wounds,” she offered.

  Gently, Alexandra lowered Marius’s head to the tile and allowed Lady Amelia to assist her to her feet. They watched as the two servants, with Lord Drakon’s assistance, carefully eased Marius from the floor.

  As he was carried from the oval chamber, Alexandra’s attention fell to the pool of blood on the floor and her brows puckered with worry. He’d bled so much. Her hands and clothes were covered with it. She hoped to God that Marius would be okay.

  She moved to follow Lady Amelia from the room, but was suddenly assailed by a crushing pain in her chest. Gasping, she fell to her knees and gripped the place over her heart as it began to thump wildly and the air began to twist.

  April raced to her side. “Alexandra, what’s wrong?” she cried.

  Her friend’s words were barely audible beneath the tor
rent and the room began to spin. Alexandra shut her eyes as she fought the abrupt onset of dizziness. She covered her ears in an attempt to muffle the heinous screeching that haunted the winds about her.

  Then, as it had begun, it all eased into stillness. As the pain in her chest subsided, Alexandra opened her eyes and found herself immersed in a cold darkness. She was outside, kneeling in the dirt among a thick gathering of bushes. Before her was the silhouette of a dilapidated building with a backdrop of a similarly maintained water tower. The bold letters H.W. were printed across the rusting white surface.

  The place was unfamiliar to her, but suddenly Alexandra knew. Mady Halman. With all the life-altering events she’d just experienced, she’d nearly forgotten about the poor missing girl.

  Somewhere on the third floor of the decaying structure a light flickered within a single window, and she knew that it was there she would find Mady.

  Her fingers moved to caress the charm bracelet on her wrist and she was about to stand when two bright headlights appeared, momentarily blinding her. Alexandra squinted into the bright beams and the vehicle came to an abrupt halt a few feet in front of her. She recognized the van instantly. With the bright yellow Tweety Bird air freshener swinging from the rearview mirror, it was unmistakable.

  A tall, thin man climbed out and reached across to the passenger side to remove a large duffel bag, which he slung over his shoulder. He slammed the door shut and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a handgun. Alexandra was frozen with fear, for she was directly in his line of vision. For a moment she thought he would shoot her, but instead he slipped two bullets into the barrel of his gun and replaced it.

  He was shaking, she noticed. And he seemed quite anxious. He took one hard draw from the cigarette in his mouth before smashing it in the dirt with a tattered sneaker. Alexandra remained completely still as he stalked by her as if she were invisible. As he headed toward the building, the darkness around her began to fade into the soft lighting of the oval chamber.