by Jones, AE
“Where is your grandfather’s house located?”
McHenry shook his head. “My house sits on the same spot. This house doesn’t exist anymore.”
“What?”
“The question isn’t where did we travel; it’s when did we travel.”
McHenry walked to the house and opened the door without knocking. The inside was simply one room with a small table, an old-fashioned wood stove, and rough shelves with pots and some dishes. In the corner sat a rough-hewn table with a chair in front of it, serving as some sort of desk.
He rushed over to the corner and looked down at the leather book. He knew this book.
“McHenry, tell me what the hell is going on.”
McHenry’s hands shook as he picked up the book and opened it. He knew what he was going to find, but the words on the page still sent his nerves reeling. He would recognize that handwriting anywhere.
He held it out in front of him like a shield. “This is my grandfather’s journal. I know, because I have it.”
Roderick’s face paled. “What does this mean? Why are we back in time?”
“The curse sent us back to when it all began, but I don’t know why.”
“And where is your grandfather?”
“Or your grandfather? He lived here too.”
“What are you talking about?” Roderick said as he moved farther into the room.
“I’ve read my grandfather’s journal multiple times. Our grandfathers built this cabin and ran the smith business together until they started fighting.”
“Fates. I didn’t know that. We have to find a way back to our time.”
“Agreed. Maybe if we figure out more about the time we’re in now, it might help.” McHenry opened the journal and flipped to the farthest page with writing. “The last journal entry is dated May eighteenth.” He read the entry out loud.
We’ll leave tomorrow to talk to a new customer. If we can gain the stablemaster’s favor, we could supply horseshoes and harnesses for the whole faerie kingdom.
McHenry closed the book with a definitive slap. “This is the start of it all.”
“So let’s look around and see what else we can find. Maybe something will help us get out of here,” Roderick said.
McHenry nodded as they started to look through the cabin. “Put everythin’ back in its place. If this is truly the past, I don’t know what would happen if we disturb anythin’.”
Roderick’s eyes widened before he carefully put the dishes he was holding back on the shelf. “I need to get back to Selina.”
“I’m sure the team is workin’ on this too. Maybe they can figure out a way to bring us back.” And Darcinda, the tenacious female who never took no for an answer. She would be in the midst of things, trying to help as well.
“Except all they know right now is your cryptic answers about the curse before we ran away. What happened, anyway?”
“I was compelled to tell the truth. It had to be some sort of spell.”
Roderick rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m surprised it took this long for the truth to come out.”
“Maybe, maybe not. My father put the fear of the Fates in me about ever speakin’ of it to another livin’ soul. It was going to die with me.”
“You didn’t tell your nephews?”
“No reason to. My father did not sire my sister, so my nephews are safe from the curse. Does Selina know?”
“No. And she has to be frantic by now. We need to get back home, right away.”
“Let’s finish lookin’ through the house and then we’ll check the shed.”
They spent another ten minutes in the house, and even more time in the shed. McHenry wasn’t sure what he expected to find. Some magical device that would take them back to the present?
They stood at the entrance to the shed and looked around them.
“How does your transportation power work?” McHenry asked.
“I imagine where I want to go and then I let the earth absorb me.”
“Can you take someone with you?”
“Yes.”
“What if you imagine my house, do you think we could try and transport there?”
“It’s worth a shot.”
Roderick grabbed his forearm and his eyes lost focus. McHenry braced himself…but nothing happened.
“It’s not working.”
“Try on your own.”
Roderick’s eyebrows rose. “You want me to leave you here?”
“Hells, no. But if you can get back to the present and tell them what’s goin’ on, then you need to try.”
He nodded and let go of McHenry’s arm. A few seconds later, Roderick blew out a frustrated breath.
“Nothing.”
“Maybe it isn’t workin’ since you’re imaginin’ the same location. What if you think about somewhere else?”
Roderick nodded, and dropped into the ground.
Fates! It worked.
Seconds later, across the meadow, Roderick shot up into the air and landed on his back.
McHenry tore across the grass and dropped to his knees next to him. “Are you okay?”
Roderick blinked up at him. “Yeah. Fates, that was weird. I imagined the land around the castle, and everything was fine until something blocked my path.”
McHenry got to his feet. He already knew what he would find, but it didn’t keep him from reaching his hand out to the edge of the meadow and touching the air.
A blister of heat shot through his arm and he yanked it back.
Roderick sat up. “What is it?”
“A barrier. It must extend down into the earth as well.”
“So we’re trapped.”
McHenry held out his hand and Roderick grasped it to stand up.
“Yes.”
“We need to get out of here.”
McHenry looked up at the sky and took a long, deep breath to stop the scream threatening to erupt. There was no getting out of here. He knew better than anyone what it felt like to be trapped.
He’d been living in a cage for more than twenty-five years.
Where, oh where, has that demon gone…
Chapter 24
Darcinda held her breath while Maeve and Tim set up the last of the ingredients for a locator spell. They had taken over the magistrates’ table, and everyone gave them space while they mixed the powders and herbs in a bowl. Selina went and got her father’s suit jacket out of his cell, and Andrew brought one of McHenry’s plaid lumberjack shirts to them as well, since they needed objects from the people they were trying to locate.
Belinda stood quietly to the side with her arms crossed, but every so often she gave Darcinda the stink eye.
More than likely because Darcinda wasn’t doing the spell. But she wasn’t going to explain why. Not that she cared what Belinda thought, especially after what she’d said earlier. But she didn’t want to distract from the process of figuring out where McHenry and the king were.
Tim placed a map of the world on the table and unfolded it. Maeve then held her hands over the bowl and chanted the spell. Everyone held still while smoke wafted up from the bowl in a small funnel cloud before moving over the map and swirling around it.
They watched while the smoke started in North America and then billowed over the other continents before dissipating.
Darcinda’s heart clenched as she looked up and caught the worried expression Maeve and Tim shared.
“What happened?” Andrew asked.
“It didn’t work. I’m going to try again.” Maeve said.
But the smoke disappeared like the first time.
“I’m not getting anything,” Maeve said.
Selina looked around frantically at everyone. “If you can’t find them, does that mean they’re dead?”
Andrew wrapped his arm around her at the same time he put his free hand on Jamie’s shoulder.
Darcinda wouldn’t believe it. “Actually, it could just mean that the curse is blocking the spell. Andrew, Jamie. Are you s
ure your uncle never said anything to you about the curse?”
Andrew pulled Selina tighter. “We don’t know about the curse. I wish he had said something.”
“So we look for anything we can find about the curse.” Devin turned to Andrew and Jamie. “We start with the house. Where should we check first?”
“His office. If we don’t find anything there, his bedroom,” Jamie said.
“Okay, let’s divide and conquer. Darcinda, you lead the search at the house. Alex, Sheila, and Olivia want to help somehow, so I think we have them help search the house. Some of us will search the forest as well,” Devin said.
The elf king said, “Julia and Godfrey, please stay here with us to report what has happened to the Tribunal. I can attempt to cast a spell to set up communications with them, but I understand Tim has created a phone we can use in the Burrow.”
The groups split up, and Darcinda and Maeve headed back to the house. Sheila, Olivia, and Alex met them at the door as they came in.
“Have you found them?” Alex asked as she balanced JT on her hip.
“Not yet,” Darcinda said. “We need your help.”
“Name it,” Sheila said.
Darcinda explained about searching the house and looking for anything that referenced a curse. The women split up, with Darcinda, Alex, and JT detailed to search McHenry’s bedroom. When she opened the door, Darcinda experienced a moment of guilt about invading McHenry’s private space when he wasn’t there, but she pushed it aside. If they found something to help him and Roderick, it would be worth it.
Even though Darcinda had been in the room tending McHenry, she hadn’t really looked much at the contents. The room was neat, but Darcinda expected that. There was a tall dresser, and a chair in the corner where she imagined he sat and read. McHenry struck her as someone who read a lot. His large bed with a handmade quilt took up most of the room, with nightstands perched on either side. Your standard bedroom, except for the headboard. She had noticed that before. It had an intricate metal design of a leafy tree that took her breath away.
Alex set JT in the middle of the large bed with pillows on either side of him and some rubber blocks to play with. Darcinda started rifling through his closet while Alex went through his dresser.
Nothing but clothes and shoes, which she fully expected, but she checked the pockets and rifled through the boxes on the closet shelf just to be sure.
She closed the closet door. “Anything?”
Alex stood from her squatted position in front of the bottom dresser drawer. “No. Socks, T-shirts, thermals, and underwear. When we find McHenry, I will not be telling him I went through his underwear.”
“Good plan,” Darcinda said.
JT squealed and threw a block across the bed. The yellow block landed on the nightstand. Darcinda walked over and reached for it, stopping when she saw a slight crack along the front of the stand. She tossed the block lightly to JT before kneeling to get a better look at the wood.
“Did you find something?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know for sure.” Darcinda ran her fingers along the crack, and when she got to the edge, she felt a small notch, and pressed on it. The front dropped open, and inside was a leather-bound book.
JT hollered “ba-ba-ba” while he patted his hands together.
“What do we have here?” Darcinda pulled the book out and opened the front cover. Alistair McHenry was written in script on the front page. “I think it’s some sort of journal.”
“Something McHenry wrote?”
Darcinda turned to the first page of script and scanned it. “I don’t think so. Maybe his father or grandfather?” The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Why did he have this hidden?”
“Maybe it talks about the curse,” Alex said as she sat on the bed next to JT.
“If it does, it means this mess might not have started with McHenry.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “Can a curse pass through a family?”
“Normally, no. It would have to be one hell of a strong curse.”
Alex lifted JT into her lap. “You mean one strong enough to suck two powerful demons into the earth for simply uttering the words out loud?”
“Point taken.”
Alex nodded. “Start reading.”
Darcinda read the first couple of pages while Alex and JT listened. The author had to be McHenry’s grandfather. He had built a cabin on what sounded like the land they were on now. Like McHenry, Alistair worked with metals. She gasped.
“What is it?” Alex asked. “Stop reading ahead!”
My friend and business partner has joined me here. We will build him a house in the meadow once we’re able to increase our business. Our hope is to supply many of the supernaturals with our horseshoes and tack. It is good to finally have Roderick working with me.
Alex gasped too. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“You’re right, it can’t. ‘Roderick’ has to be the demon king’s relation.”
Alex stood. “Come on. We have to tell the others what we found.”
Within minutes they had gathered the others in the tent. With the exception of Jack and Connor, who were searching the forest in wolf form, the rest of the team had returned from searching the forest, and the conversation with the Tribunal had been wrapped up as well by the time the group gathered.
Darcinda explained what she had found and read so far.
“Dad was named after his father, who was named after his,” Selina said. “Do you think he’s referring to my great-grandfather?”
“I think so. They not only knew each other, but they were business partners.”
“Since no one was aware of this, I would say something went wrong somewhere down the line,” Sullivan said.
Darcinda started to flip through the pages, scanning. “Most of this describes their business and Roderick settling here with him.”
“There’s a marker toward the back of the book,” Devin said. “Flip there.”
Darcinda opened the book at the thin red ribbon and read. “Something definitely went wrong. Listen to this.”
I can’t believe Roderick betrayed me. We were friends, more like brothers, and he went behind my back.
“Don’t stop now,” Alex said. “What else does it say?”
“Nothing else on this page. And the next pages were ripped out of the book.” She turned the page. “Here’s something.”
Anna is gone. Now all I have left is the land. My land. Roderick tried to lay claim to it after he had already stolen Anna from me. No more. He is dead to me.
“Whoa,” Maeve said. “That’s intense. Do you think he cursed Roderick?”
Darcinda looked at the angry words on the page. “I don’t know. But if he did, I don’t know why McHenry would have been affected by it earlier.”
“And who is Anna?” Sheila asked.
“Not my great-grandmother,” Selina said. “Her name was Meredith.”
“So neither ended up with her. She might be the key,” the elf king said.
“The key to what?” the fairy queen said. “We have nothing to go on but McHenry telling us there’s a curse and them both disappearing. This could be a hoax.”
“I agree. How is this getting us anywhere?” Cambridge said.
“If there is a curse, someone had to cast it,” the elf king said.
“A multigenerational curse is huge,” Maeve said. “Who has that sort of power?”
Darcinda paged back in the book, ignoring them while they argued. Maybe she could find out more about Anna.
After a couple minutes she interrupted them. “Hello!”
The group turned to her. “The pages right before the ripped-out ones talk about them both traveling to meet with a stable master to sell their horseshoes and horse tack.”
“A stable master for whom?” Charlie asked.
Darcinda’s stomach dropped as she found the answer. “The Faerie Kingdom.”
“That explains how this curse could traver
se generations. Faerie magic is one of the most powerful,” Tim said.
It also explained both McHenry’s and Roderick’s animosity toward faeries.
Belinda shook her head. “Curses have been outlawed.”
“Not back then,” Darcinda said.
“So what does that prove?”
“If we know it’s faerie magic, it might help us find them.” She turned to Maeve. “Let’s adjust your locator spell. I have some ideas.”
“Why are you not casting the spells, Darcinda? Relying on this witch to do work that you are better suited for?”
Darcinda narrowed her eyes. “This witch has a name. Maeve is one of the most powerful supernaturals I have ever worked with.”
“And you avoid my question.”
“I don’t have any powers right now.”
The faerie queen clenched her fists. “And why am I just now finding this out?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Maeve muttered.
The faerie queen glared at Maeve, who glared back at her without cowering.
“How did you lose your powers?” she persisted.
“The demon king cast a binding spell.”
“The demon king. The same person you’re trying to help right now?”
“Yes. And we’re wasting time. We can discuss this later,” Darcinda said. “Maeve, let’s work on the locator spell. Charlie, can you go to the house and get my healer’s bag and book?”
Charlie nodded before jogging to the house. They started mixing ingredients and after a couple of minutes, Charlie returned. Darcinda took a few more items out of her bag and added them to the bowl.
She flipped open her book and showed a spell to Maeve. “Add this sentence to your spell at the end.”
Maeve nodded before adding the last ingredient in the bowl. She started to chant as a deep red smoke curled up and moved across the table. Instead of hovering over the map, the smoke circled over the journal. Pages fluttered and opened to a page with a drawing before sinking onto the page, making the drawing glow.
Darcinda picked up the book and read the notes under the picture. “This is a drawing of the log cabin Alistair built. McHenry and Roderick must be there.”
Andrew shook his head. “They can’t be.”