Cursed Witch

by September Stone

  “Oh, I’ve got plenty of doubts,” Poe mutters. “But in this case, I’m thinking the spell going wrong is on us. We weren’t on the level with them about the curse, and it came back to bite us in the ass.”

  My chest tightens and it’s a struggle to drag in another breath. There it is again—the ugly truth. This is my fault. If I weren’t at the center of this curse, Calder and Taj would be fine now. If not for me…

  A thought tickles the back of my mind. “Why wasn’t it me?”

  Poe straightens, his hand finally dropping from my shoulder. “What’s that?”

  I hold up my left hand, displaying the mark we both bear. “I was the target for the curse. I’m the one Lillian wanted. So when the counter-curse went sideways, why didn’t it hurt me? Why are Calder and Taj in the healing ward and not me?”

  From the impassive look on Poe’s face, I get the sense he’s considered the same question already. “You were the target.”

  I nod. “Yes. And if you all hadn’t been touching me when Silas cast the curse, you’d all be fine now. But that doesn’t answer the question.”

  “Unless it does. Lillian wants you—she wants your magic. So maybe when the curse sensed interference, it started taking out the rest of us first in an attempt to keep you marked.”

  I consider the answer, but it doesn’t make any sense. “Are you saying that the counter-curse was… draining Taj and Calder to keep from messing with me?”

  He shrugs. “Makes sense to me.”

  “Only because you’re not a witch. In a spell, you draw on all of the elements at once to power it. Everything gets pulled from equally.”

  “Is that so?” Although it’s a question, Poe’s tone makes it sound like a challenge. “So you’re telling me there’s no case you can think of where some elements get used up first?”

  I open my mouth to insist I’m sure, but something stills my tongue. Closing my eyes, I go over the countless potions I crafted for Mona over the years. Although she kept me as far away from my element as possible, she seemed to know just what herbs and crystals to have on hand in order to ensure I could still cast her spells. My supplies were replenished often—fresh herbs, more gemstones to add to elixirs. But there were four large stones that sat on high shelves in each corner of the room. Jade, agate, hematite, malachite. I spent enough time in that room to notice when things changed, and in my years using the workroom, three of the gems remained the entire time. It was only the malachite that changed out.

  “Maybe,” I admit finally. “If a spell requires a certain type of energy, something with a resonant energy closest to it might be used up first.”

  Poe nods as if he was expecting me to come to this conclusion. “We know this isn’t an ordinary death mark. Lillian has a vested interest in you staying alive until it runs its course. Since that’s the case, it makes sense that Taj and Calder were being drained first to sustain you. You’re closest with the two of them.”

  A flush of heat washes over my body, but I do my best to keep my face impassive. “Of course they are. I’ve known them both longer than I’ve known you and Silas. Calder and I were close back when he still belonged to Mona, and Taj…”

  Poe shakes his head. “That’s not what I mean.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m sure I don’t know—”

  “Yeah, you do,” Poe says, holding my gaze. “I know what’s going on with the three of you. You’ve been wearing each other’s smells to the breakfast table the last two mornings.”

  Another wave of heat surges through me, along with a flash of embarrassment so acute I want to hide myself from Poe’s gaze. But that momentary sensation is almost immediately overshadowed by something else. A swell of desire and contentedness surges through me, snuffing out any unease.

  So what if Poe knows? Silas probably knows, too—after all, he did walk in on Taj, Calder, and me back at Elowen’s cabin. We’re all consenting adults who are in agreement about our arrangement. It doesn’t matter what Poe or Silas or anyone else thinks about it because we’re happy.

  “I didn’t think shifters were so squeamish about sex,” I say, lifting my chin. “My old roommate at Mona’s compound was a bear shifter, and she used to tell all kinds of stories of goings-on in her den. No one in her pack seemed to care who was watching—whether they were in bear or human form.”

  The corner of Poe’s mouth quirks. “I didn’t say I had a problem with it.” He takes a step closer, until there’s barely a whisper of space between our bodies and I can feel his heat radiating off him. “It’s your body, kitten. You can do with it whatever you want.”

  Tendrils of gold and green unravel within me so fast, I press a hand to my stomach for fear my whole body is about to fall apart. My magic hasn’t reached for Poe in days, and it feels as though I’m being punished for having kept my distance from him for that long.

  He takes a step backward, leaving a gaping void between us. “I suppose now isn’t the time for joking.” He rubs the back of his neck, and it may be a trick of the light, but for a moment I’m sure I see color rising in his cheeks.

  The energy surging inside me collapses in on itself, turning from a rolling boil to a gentle simmer. But for as unexpected as it was when it began, I miss the swell of magic when it evaporates. It’s as if something inside me is trying to communicate a message, but I don’t speak the language.

  Or maybe I’m pretending I don’t understand.

  I open my mouth, but before any words form on my tongue, the door to the ward opens and a man in a light green robe steps into the hallway.

  “Sister Bryn. Brother Poe.” He says our names with a curt nod at each of us. “Brothers Taj and Calder are still unconscious, but you may see them now.”

  Poe waves a hand toward the ward. “I’ll leave you to it, kitten.”

  Before I can say anything, he turns on his heel and strides back the way he came. A tug in my gut pulls at me, urging me to follow him, but in the next breath it’s gone. Shaking my head, I make my way inside.

  As I sit on the padded wooden chair between Taj and Calder’s beds, each of my hands slipped into one of theirs, I replay the scene in the hallway with Poe in my head on an endless loop.

  The easiest answer is that I’m overwhelmed by the situation. The two men I care most about in all the world lie unconscious, and, according to the healer who led me in, they’re not sure what’s wrong with them or how to wake them up. After the botched spell, it’s no wonder my magic would seek comfort.

  But the explanation rings hollow even to myself. If this was the first time the gold and green threads had sought Poe out, I might be able to write off what happened in the hallway as a consequence of the failed healing. Except it’s happened before, and each new time makes it harder to dismiss as circumstantial. My magic reaches for Poe the way it reaches for Calder and Taj. The question is why. Part of me would like nothing more than to seek out Poe and get some answers.

  I smother the impulse as I settle in deeper to my chair. I’m exactly where I need to be right now, and I’ll be damned if I allow anything to pull me away from here.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bryn

  In the morning, neither Taj nor Calder has improved, and every muscle in my body aches from sleeping in a chair that’s ill-suited for anything but brief periods of sitting. After pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads and requesting the healers alert me if there’s any change in their condition, I seek out breakfast.

  Neither Poe nor Silas is in the cafeteria by the time I arrive, but Kari finds me at my solitary table as I’m finishing my meal.

  “Any news?” she asks, sliding onto the bench across from me.

  I shake my head as I swallow my last bite of bread. “They said they’ll find me if anything changes, but… I just can’t sit there, knowing there’s nothing I can do.”

  She nods understandingly. “Then let’s get your mind off it. For a little while, at least.”

  After clearing my plate, I foll
ow Kari out to the grounds where we’ve sparred the last few days. As we begin with our warm up stretches, I’m thankful for her. Although I can see in her eyes how much she wants to speak—to apologize or comfort me, I’m not sure—she keeps her words to herself. Looking out for what I need is something a friend would do, and I’m sorely in need of a friend right now.

  There’s nothing I can do to help Calder and Taj, and that knowledge twists a knife in my gut. After all the years I spent brewing potions, one would think I could pull up something that might help in this situation. But Mona wasn’t in the business of healing, and I doubt I ever made a cure for anything at her bidding.

  When Kari and I begin sparring, my mind is full of worry for Taj and Calder, and end up on my ass so much I have flashbacks of fighting with Poe. After about the dozenth time I collide with the warming earth, I shake the concern from my head. I know what Poe would say if he were here—that I can’t let myself be distracted during a fight. Indeed, the whole reason for coming out here in the first place is to forget about everything that’s happening.

  I dial myself in on what’s in front of me. I study Kari’s movements the way Poe taught me, trying to anticipate her next punch or parry.

  But even when I start trying to beat her, my movements are sluggish and my hits don’t meet their mark.

  “Maybe we should stop for a break,” Kari says not more than an hour into our training. She leads the way to the stone bench where we stowed our glass water bottles.

  I settle down on the seat with more force than I intended, and the jolt of my bones rattling against the stone sends me lurching forward.

  Kari eyes me with thinly-veiled concern. “Did you eat enough this morning?”

  “I don’t think I got enough sleep.” I stretch my back and my spine pops gratefully. “I probably should’ve gone back to my room, but I stayed on a chair in the healing ward all night.”

  Her mouth puckers. “This seems like more than that. Your energy isn’t nearly as vibrant as it usually is.”

  “Because I’m tired,” I insist, gulping down a few mouthfuls of water.

  She shakes her head, still studying me. “That’s not it. Your aura’s off. Maybe it’s a consequence of the ceremony last night.”

  I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to keep out the memory of Taj and Calder laid out on their cots, both looking so pale and small in their unconscious states, not peaceful like they do in sleep. “Great. That disaster screwed me up, too.”

  Kari sighs. “I know it didn’t work out like you imagined, but trust me when I say if the high priests had known what would happen, they never would have tried the counter-curse. They don’t move unless the spirits are with them.”

  I can’t suppress a snort. “Looks like your spirits were wrong.”

  Instead of disagreeing, Kari nods. “I’m just trying to figure out why. A counter-curse should never cause more damage than the curse it’s meant to reverse.”

  A bitter laugh scrapes against my throat. “Well, this curse is meant to kill us all, so I guess unconsciousness isn’t technically worse.” My words come out cutting and sarcastic, but I don’t regret them. I wish Kari wasn’t the one in the line of fire right now, but the venom in my soul is poised to lash out at any target.

  Kari holds my gaze, pure kindness radiating off her. “I know you’re hurting. Bryn, your aura is practically screaming. But I’m trying to help. If we can figure out what went wrong and why, maybe we can fix it.”

  I blow out a breath, the rage inside me fizzling. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  She reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “I know. Now let’s head to the library. Maybe we can find something there that the priests overlooked.”

  Although it’s not a surefire cure for my guys, it’s a glimmer of hope, and I’ll take it. We gather our water bottles and start toward the temple. But the walk through the garden, which usually fills me with energy, feels longer than usual. By the time we finally make it to the library, I feel like I could sleep for a week straight and still be tired.

  Kari’s expression borders on panic by the time I settle onto one of the wooden chairs crowded around a circular research table. “Okay, you can’t tell me this is because of one crappy night’s sleep. What’s happening? Is this some kind of delayed reaction from the ceremony?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’ve only felt like this once before.” The memory of the last time I was this exhausted fills my mind. I was captured by one of Poe’s bounty hunter friends and the elders demanded I brew a potion so they could compare my magical signature with that of the potion that killed their peer. At the time, Calder, Taj, and Silas were trying to break in to rescue me, using every bit of magic and power they had in them to wage battle against the shifters protecting the mansion. I didn’t feel like myself again until after Taj came into my motel room that night. His nearness revived me, and our lovemaking gave me strength.

  I run my fingers along the mark on my left palm. “Do you think the curse could have bound us all together? Like, connected our life forces? The mark was meant for me, but the rest of them ended up marked, too. Poe thought maybe that’s why the counter-curse didn’t work.”

  She presses her lips together. “It’s possible. Although, if that’s what happened, why are Calder and Taj the only ones in the healing ward? Why not Poe and Silas?”

  I bite the inside of my lip. Are the two of us really close enough for me to share my sex life with her? Back before Mona moved me into solitary, I would overhear some of the girls whispering with the others about their exploits with some of the guards, but they were always selective with who they told and who they kept things from. For my part, I only told a couple of girls about the kisses Calder and I exchanged—and even then, I kept the language vague.

  But keeping things secret may well have led to the mess we’re in now. If telling the whole truth will help Calder and Taj, propriety be damned.

  “I’m closer to Taj and Calder than I am with the others,” I say, raising my eyebrows in what I hope is a meaningful way.

  But Kari’s face scrunches. “Like, you’re better friends with them?”

  I shake my head. “No. Physically closer.”

  Her brow remains knit for another few seconds before her mouth pops open as my meaning dawns on her. She leans across the table and drops her voice, despite the fact that no one else is in the vicinity. “Like sex? With both of them?”

  A bubble rises in my throat at the eagerness in her tone. “Yes.”

  I expect her to look at me differently, or at the very least launch into some speech about how that’s not the way things are done. But instead, she leans back, tapping a finger on her lips thoughtfully. “That could explain it. Sexual bonds are incredibly strong and can have a magic of their own. If the curse was meant for you, your body could have drawn strength from your lovers to protect itself when the high priests started the counter-curse. They didn’t know all the details of the original curse, and when your body sensed danger, it fought back the only way it could.” She squints, tilting her head. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re so exhausted. I’ve seen Poe and Silas today, and they seem fine. If the counter-curse is having after-effects, it should be affecting all of you.”

  I consider her logic, but something doesn’t fit. “Could Taj and Calder’s bodies be tapping into their abilities to try to heal themselves?”

  She nods. “Absolutely. It’s why supernaturals heal faster than humans. Whatever kind of magic we have inside us speeds the healing process. Why?”

  “Because since the night of the curse, when any of the guys are using a lot of magic, I get weak like this.”

  Kari holds up a finger and leaps to her feet. I follow her with my eyes as she zips down an aisle of shelves, only to return a minute later with a large leather-bound book. She settles it on the book with a dull thud and opens the cover. “Does it happen in reverse? Like, if you’re using a lot of magic, do they all get weak? Or even just one of the
m?” she asks as she leafs through the pages.

  I go back through every time I’ve used my magic in the last week. Even when I drew on it the most—when I was trying to escape from Aldridge in Elowen’s forest—the guys all seemed fine. “I don’t think so.”

  She zig-zags her finger down a page toward the end of the book. “And you’re an earth affinity?”

  I nod. “What does this…”

  Kari silences me with a quick shake of her head. “What do you know about the guys and their abilities?”

  “Um.” I wrack my brain for any useful information, but I come up short. “Taj is a witch with a fire affinity. Calder is telekinetic. Poe is a shifter. And Silas is—”

  She waves my words away. “I know all that. But what can you tell me specifically? Are they particularly strong or proficient with their abilities?”

  “I don’t know.” I think through every experience with the guys since I’ve known them. “I knew Calder when we were younger, and he never had much control over his telekinesis. But since we reconnected, he seems to be much stronger. And Taj’s mastery over fire can’t be too great because…” I stop short of explaining that Mona favored guards who weren’t strong enough to use their abilities against her. So far, we’ve managed to keep my past to ourselves, and that’s a bit of information I’d like to stay under wraps. I clear my throat and continue. “Silas did some pretty impressive weather-manipulation when I met him, but that’s when he was bound to his last master. And Poe… He’s got great hearing and smell, and he’s really fast.”

  “And his animal form? How often does he change? What are his strengths when his animal comes out?” Kari asks.

  I lift a shoulder. “I’ve never seen him shift.”

  Kari nods like none of this information comes as a surprise to her. “I don’t think this is happening because of the curse.” She slides the book across the table to me, and it takes far more effort than it should for me to turn the heavy tome. “This entry is about magical anchors. The curse might have solidified the bond faster than it would have formed under normal circumstances, but this kind of magic is dependent on the people involved. If it’s not the right mix of individuals, it won’t happen.”