“Me too,” Daniel said quietly. “Do you remember Johnson? I remember him from junior school.”
Phil did. Johnson was a huge hulk of a boy who intimidated everyone on and off the field, but he had the gentlest soul you could meet, until you annoyed him. “I do. Didn’t he go to play for Harlequins?”
The two men chatted for a while about Johnson, and rugby in general. Phil was aware of Sean’s eyes upon him as they talked, and he looked up once to see the doctor giving him a grateful look. Suddenly he felt ashamed at the way he had been treating Daniel. He wasn’t by nature a dick. It was just that he had become a little warped recently by the constant strain of being a Fitzwarren, and yes, maybe a little jealous of his best friend’s happiness.
The doorbell rang again, and Phil looked up, hoping it was Lee, but again he was doomed to feel disappointment. Mark and Jack entered with an old lady, as round as Mark was angular but with similar piercing green eyes. She gave a pleased nod as the men got to their feet as she came into the room.
“That’s a relief,” she said with a huff of breath as she sat down. She didn’t seem disconcerted by being the centre of attention.
Mark looked apologetically around the table. “Sorry, guys, Gran wanted to get here now for some reason.”
Charlie smiled at Mrs Renfrew. “No problem, Mark. Hi, Jack. Hello, Mrs Renfrew. I’m Charles Fitzwarren, and this is my wife, Carol. Would you like a cup of tea?”
The Fitzwarrens were all being extremely polite, but it was obvious they were uncomfortable in the presence of another Renfrew.
“Call me Alice, please. And yes please to the tea,” she said, with a ready smile.
Already primed to make Twinings Darjeeling, Carol got up to make the tea whilst Charlie introduced Alice to the rest of the table. Her gaze lingered longest on Phil, Sean and Daniel, the latter squirming uncomfortably under her striking eyes.
When the introductions were finished, Alice looked around the table. “There is one missing,” she said.
Mark looked exasperated. “You know that we’re not all here yet, Gran. We don’t know who the seeker is yet.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true, is it?” she said placidly, looking straight at Phil. Alice hadn’t taken her eyes off Phil. He was starting to feel like a butterfly on the end of a pin. “Why don’t you ask the landless lord?”
All eyes swung to him.
“But you don’t know…” Flustered, Phil started and then stopped as a look of glee spread over Will and Diana’s face. “You’ve not met him yet.”
“Met who? Phil, have you been holding out on us?” Sean asked, reaching for a plum tomato in the salad bowl.
Daniel leaned over to smack his hand. “Manners!” he chided, the reprimand ruined by the tender smile on his face.
“Sap!” Will laughed at his friend and received the finger in response, then laughed again as Daniel apologised to Mark’s grandmother.
If Phil was hoping this exchange had diverted attention from his slip, he was sadly mistaken.
Jack accepted a cup of coffee from Carol and looked at Phil. “Does this mean you’re… um… attached?”
“Delicately put,” Mark said, grinning at Carol who was still handing out drinks.
“So?” Jack asked.
Just as Phil opened his mouth to answer, the doorbell rang.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this,” Sean warned at the look of relief on Phil’s face.
Will came in with a wicked grin on his face. “There’s someone here to see Phil,” he said, and Phil groaned.
Lee’s first introduction to the Fitzwarrens was nine pairs of eyes staring at him. Not Phil’s though. Phil was slowly banging his head on the table.
“Er… hi, everybody. I’m Lee. Is something wrong, baby?” Lee asked Phil, walking around the table. Phil wanted to kill him but, instead, found himself wrapping his arms around Lee’s neck and pulling him down for a kiss.
Diana burst out laughing. “You are so whipped, little brother.”
“Er, Phil. Is there someone you want to put down for a minute? Introductions would be good,” Charlie suggested, chuckling as Phil looked up with a dazed expression on his face.
“Um, yes. This is Lee,” Phil managed.
“Lee Curtis,” Lee supplied, smiling at everyone and nodding at Alice.
“Curtis?” Mark asked with a strange expression on his angular face. “Did you say your name was Curtis? Your mum is Brenda?”
“C-u-r-t-i-s, not e-s-s,” Phil explained. “Lee’s family have lived in Eastbridge for years.”
“And this didn’t seem odd to you?”
Lee’s hand slid to Phil’s shoulder, grounding him as the words sank in. He wasn’t aware his hand had snuck up to hold Lee’s until he felt Lee’s thumb run across his knuckles.
“What do you mean?” he asked tightly.
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Mark snapped. “You all went loopy when I told you my name was Renfrew, but you’re sitting holding the hand of a Curtess without any issues.”
The Fitzwarrens looked at each other. Phil wanted to tug his hand away, but the death grip Lee had on it told him it wasn’t going to happen.
“You mean…?” Di began.
“Finally, the light dawns!” Mark nodded, pointing at Lee. “He is a Curtess, just as much as me. We’re going to have dinner with your parents tonight.”
“Oh, right,” Lee said, comprehension dawning. “But we only moved into the area when I was a nipper. Mum and Dad got some trouble then because of our name, but Dad’s family come from Glasgow, not around here.”
Shaking her head at him, Alice said, “Sorry, dear, but dig deep enough and you are descended from the get of Jonathan Curtess. You’re Mark’s cousin, many times removed.”
A sick taste in his mouth, Phil tugged his hand away from Lee and slammed it on the table, ignoring the other man’s low, “Phil, don’t—”
“So what?” Phil started, looking at the Renfrews, “Is this the way the curse is broken? By forcing us out of the castle? You overwhelm us with numbers when we’re down? Get your lands back by sheer numbers?”
“Don’t talk bollocks, Phil,” Di said.
“Better than killing to get your lands like a Fitzwarren,” Mark snarled, his fists clenching.
Anger clouded both Charlie and Di’s faces then, and the other men all moved closer to their partners.
“Hey, Mark, calm down.” Jack laid a hand on his arm, pushing Mark down where he had half-stood up.
“Calm down, both of you. You’re both talking rot,” Sean snapped brusquely. “Phil, don’t be so bloody stupid. Sorry, Alice. And quit treating Mark like he’s the reincarnation of Jonathan Curtess. He’s done nothing but try to break this wretched curse since he came here. This isn’t a ruddy invasion. Mark and his Gran are helping. As for Lee…” He looked up at the man standing behind Phil, and a smile curved his lips. “Have you seen him, and you with him? He’s perfect. For you,” he added with a hasty reassuring grin at Daniel. “I’ve never seen you let anyone call you baby before.”
“Shut up,” Phil muttered, but he turned to face Lee, who was watching him with a hurt look on his face. He pulled Lee down to sit next to him. “I’m sorry. I just get this noise in my head when anyone mentions the name Curtess.”
“You don’t say,” growled Mark from across the table. Jack made soothing noises to calm him down.
“Not helping,” Sean told him firmly.
“Mrs Renfrew,” Phil said, aware of how rude he had been earlier, “I’m sorry—”
“No need to apologise to me, dear,” she said brightly, subtly pointing out that he’d apologised to everyone except Mark. “Daniel, do you have your knife?”
The soldier had been sitting quietly since Lee came in. Now he nodded, and the knife appeared from beneath his clothing. Lee and Mark shuddered at the sight of it.
“What do you plan to do?” Carol asked Alice.
“I think it’s time for the Fitzwarrens and the Curtesses to m
ake their peace, don’t you?” she said.
Mark looked at Alice and then at the others. “Gran thinks blood is the key. My blood started it off. If all six of us cut our hands, and our blood mixes in the crack of the stone, it should break the curse.”
“Blood started the curse, and blood should break it,” Alice agreed.
“I bet that bastard never thought it could be broken,” Di said, placing her cup and plate in the stone sink. Giving his wife a kiss as he handed her his plate and cup, Will then wrapped cling-film over the rest of the food and put it in the old fridge.
“Do you want the rest of us there?” he asked as he closed the fridge door.
“I think so,” Mark said. “But whatever happens, stay away from the six of us as we bleed the stone. All the Fitzwarrens are still vulnerable.”
“Did you hear that, Will?” Diana knocked his elbow. “You’re a Fitzwarren now.”
Lunch seemed to have been put on hold. Phil certainly wasn’t very hungry any more. He stood, holding his hand out to Lee. “Are you ready?” he asked, a little hesitantly.
Chapter 6
Lee took a step backwards. He looked rather pale.
“I’d prefer you told me exactly why I have to be cut with that rusty old knife.”
“It’s not rusty,” Daniel grunted, obviously offended.
“Of course it isn’t.” Sean patted his shoulder and laughed when Daniel shrugged him off.
“Seriously, do I have to be sliced open like a piece of meat?” Lee backed up against the wall, as far away as he could get from the knife Daniel was holding.
Concerned at Lee’s reaction to the knife, Phil nodded at Sean and Daniel to follow the others out of the kitchen.
To his surprise, Mark asked Daniel to stay. When Phil quirked an eyebrow, he said, “Daniel is the keeper of the knife. He needs to be here. Believe me, Lee, that dagger is having the same effect on me.”
Mark went to stand next to Lee and didn’t object when Lee sought his hand. It brought odd feelings in Phil; rage at the sight of the two Curtesses together, jealousy at Lee seeking comfort from Mark, and also mixed in with an acknowledgment that he found it really, really hot.
“Maybe the six of us need to be here, by ourselves for a little while,” Phil suggested, relieved when all the men nodded.
“I’ll call Jack back,” Sean said, and loped out of the kitchen to retrieve the archaeologist.
Turning his attention back to Lee and Mark, both still pressed white-knuckled against the wall, Phil deliberately walked so he was between them and the knife, pleased to see them relaxing fractionally.
Jack walked in, eyes widening at the sight of Mark and Lee holding hands. He looked over to Phil, who shrugged. Sean came in behind and shut the door to the kitchen.
“Your gran is being well looked after by Will and Di,” he said to Mark. “I don’t think you’ll have many secrets left by the end of the day though.”
Mark groaned and rolled his eyes. “She’s a menace when she gets going.”
“You should try living with your older brother and sister,” Phil added. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, is sacred.”
Lee perked up at that. “Does that mean I can get all the gory details of little Phil from them?”
“Not if you want to live,” Phil advised him.
“You only have to ask me, Lee,” Sean pointed out. “But can we get this over and done with? I’ll tell you anything you want to know about your baby here, after the main event. Ow!” Sean ducked as Phil went to clip him around the ear but didn’t move quickly enough. “Jesus, Fitzwarren, enough!”
“That was for hitting me earlier on, moron!” Phil returned.
Lee looked at Daniel. “Are they always like this?”
The soldier shrugged. “I’ve no idea. I’ve only been around them for a couple of weeks. Mark and Jack have only been together fractionally longer than us.” He eased into one of the chairs. “But do they always behave like idiots? Yeah, that’s a given.”
Sean and Phil poked their tongues out at him, and everyone laughed, easing the tension in the room. It lasted until Daniel raised the dagger. Immediately Mark and Lee pressed together.
“You didn’t react like this to the dagger before,” Jack observed to Mark.
“It’s like I’ve got this target painted on my chest,” Mark said. “I can see Daniel aiming it at my heart.”
Lee was nodding. “Exactly. I know it’s not happening, yet that is what I can see as well. It’s shrieking ‘Danger! Danger!’ at me.”
Looking over to Phil, Jack had a thoughtful expression. “The anger you’ve been experiencing recently is different. I mean, Mark said, of all the Fitzwarrens, you were the voice of reason when you first met them. How do you feel about the dagger?”
“I hate it.” Phil’s words erupted from him like a vicious snarl. “Curtess should suffer the way he made me suffer. Not die cleanly with a knife.” He wasn’t sure where that came from. It wasn’t from him, and he hated the horrified way Lee was staring at him. “God, that isn’t me speaking. Lee, that really isn’t me.”
“Oookay then,” Sean said, deliberately moving to stand between Phil and the knife. “Got anything you want to tell us, Dan?”
Daniel shrugged. “I can feel the emotion in the room. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve no desire to throw it at anyone in particular. I have it under control.” His voice was steady and controlled, and Phil could see the trained soldier in him for the first time.
The doctor gave Daniel a tender smile. “I know you have,” he said, and turned to Jack. “It’s down to you and me then. We need to be on alert for any of these monkeys going gaga.”
Jack stood in front of Lee and Mark. “We need to get this done before it’s taken out of our hands. I’ll walk with these two. Sean, you escort Phil, and Dan, you bring up the rear. I know you can keep control if anything tries to force you to hurt them.”
“What about Charlie and Will coming with us? They won’t be affected by any paranormal activity,” Sean suggested.
“Not Charlie.” Phil shook his head. “He’s a Fitzwarren and in just as much danger from Curtess. I-I can’t lose another brother. And Di would fall apart if she lost Will.”
“Just us then,” Sean agreed, and started herding them towards the door. “It’s liable to be worse near the stone. Jack, keep a grip on Mark.”
At Lee’s confused glance, Mark said, “The stone is powerful. It knocked me out the first time I went near it.”
“He started bleeding on us. It was messy,” Jack explained as he put himself between the men and the knife.
“I knew then he was mad,” Phil agreed. “And then I met the rest of you.” They started walking out of the kitchen. Sean was escorting Phil and dug him in the ribs for that crack. Everyone laughed as Phil yelped, the tension relieved momentarily.
Rain clouds were gathering overhead as they assembled around the stone, the wind increasing to whip strands of hair around their faces. Mark and Lee were still huddled close together, with Jack on the other side of the psychic. The colour had drained out of Mark’s face, and Phil could see he was only on his feet with the help of the two men propping him up.
There was another nudge in his ribs. Sean was watching him with compassion in his eyes.
“Ready for this?” Sean asked, indicating the stone with the large crack running through it, jagged and deeper since the wedding.
Phil stared at it. It was such an innocuous slab, yet it had contained evil wrapped in its very pores for so long. “We do this and the curse is gone? Everybody lives?”
“I can feel Curtess and Fitzwarren,” Mark said, his free hand to his forehead. “So much anger and hurt in my head. Please, we’ve got to get it over and done with before my head explodes.”
“When it’s all over, I want my boyfriend back,” Phil said, receiving a wide beaming smile from Lee. The smile relieved Phil enormously.
“You’re coming to dinner with my mum,” Lee told him. “
And then you’re going to—”
“Later!” Phil interrupted hastily, colour staining his cheeks. Beside him, Sean chuckled. Phil glared at him.
“Guys,” Jack said, and they turned to see him catch Mark as he slumped over the stone. Jack brought him to the ground in his arms. Mark looked semi-conscious, his eyes rolled back to show the whites.
“You have to act quickly,” Alice said. “There’s too much energy inside of Mark. He won’t be able to hold it back for much longer.”
Phil looked up in surprise. He hadn’t seen the old lady walk towards them. “Daniel, cut Mark and Jack’s hands. Jack, hold Mark’s hand and drip the blood into the crack,” she ordered.
Quickly the soldier did as he was told, swiftly and efficiently drawing the blade over the two palms. Jack took Mark’s hand, forcing the blood between the cracks in the stone. Jack left their palms there as Sean helped Daniel sink to the ground next to the others. Phil noticed Daniel’s hand shaking as he sliced Sean’s palm and his own, holding them over the crack. Kissing him quickly, the doctor placed their bloody hands on the stone next to the archaeologist and the psychic.
The rain started beating down in earnest. Ashen-faced, Lee stared down at the four men. Phil walked forward to enfold him into his arms. “Ready, Lee?”
Lee buried his face in Phil’s neck. “Not sure, baby,” he confessed, his voice shaky. “I wasn’t anticipating bleeding for you immediately. I hate the sight of blood. Especially with that knife doing the cutting.”
“You don’t have to look,” Phil assured him, his hand cupping the nape of Lee’s neck. “Just keep your face there.”
He guided them to the ground and held out their hands to Daniel. “Let’s give this bastard notice that the curse is officially over.”
Dan took their joined hands, parting them so he could stroke the knife over their palms. It stung like hell, and Phil could feel Lee wincing as the knife cut into him.
As Phil slapped their palms down on the crack, he looked up into the sky, blinking as the rain fell into his eyes.
“We’re all here, Curtess,” he yelled defiantly. “When the one who reads the earth joins with he who sees beyond, when the warrior and the healer stand to swear a sacred bond, when the one who seeks in danger is sworn to the landless lord. We’re all fucking here so lift the fucking curse!”
The Fitzwarren Inheritance Page 19