Page 17 of The Curse

Frowning, I asked, “I thought he just disappeared after losing Nico?”

“Yes, but he must be dead, or he would have returned to us. Corbin was destroyed when he lost Nico, destroyed to the point that his powers were nearly dormant while he mourned. I’m not certain Corbin would have ever recovered from losing his love, but I do know that he would not have committed suicide and left his coven defenseless against Morgan’s power. It would have broken his heart to have to keep living, but he would have done it for his coven. No, he disappeared because of something Morgan did to him. That bitch killed him while he was weak and hid the body from us.”

I didn’t know what to say or if I should try to say anything to comfort Stair. I wished I could say that I would, indeed, find a way to avenge Corbin’s death but I damned well knew Morgan would wipe the floor with me. Hell, she was coming for me soon and there wouldn’t be a damned thing I could do to stop her.

“A high witch can live for hundreds and hundreds of years, maybe more. She took all that away from him.” He looked around the cozy resting place for his coven. “After Corbin died, most of our coven opted to leave the area instead of doing battle with Morgan. She didn’t intend for any powerful witches to be left in the Marblehead coven.”

I studied his sad expression and tried to imagine how much hate and damage Morgan had inflicted on the people he loved. A thought dawned on me. “You said you were twenty-two years old,” I remarked. “Why am I getting the feeling that you’ve been dishonest with me about your age?”

He chuckled. “Well, I hardly could have told a complete stranger that I was several hundred years old, now could I?”

Was he being serious right now? He was hundreds of years old? I’d thought he was a high schooler when we’d first met. He’d made me feel like a dirty old man!

“Are you being serious?” I asked. “Because you look twenty-two years old, not hundreds and change.”

“Ha!” He barked out. “I looked that age because that was how old I was when the aging process slowed down to almost nonexistent.” He grinned. “Now, stop looking at me like I’m a creepy old man. I’m still quite young for our coven.”

“Young…rriigghhtt. You keep telling yourself that, old man,” I teased. Finally, I moved toward the graves. I’d put it off as long as I could. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping to find…or feel. All I knew was that my dream lover had gently pushed me in the direction of the graveyard. Now it was time to find out what Corbin has been trying to tell me.

Alastair watched me, a strange expression on his face. “What are you planning on doing?” he asked.

“Don’t know. I just know I’m supposed to be here. There’s something here for me to find,” I answered. Without knowing what else to do, I knelt down next to Nico’s headstone and slowly reached up to touch it. The second my hand made contact, a vision flashed inside my head. I saw the old casket, lined with torn and dirty satin that had long since fallen victim to the assault of time and vermin.

The vision immediately assaulted me. I saw Corbin coming to the cemetery to grieve over the body of his lover and falling down on top of the grave, completely overwhelmed with heartbreak. I heard his sobs. I saw Morgan gliding up behind him in the darkness and making passes over his body, her lips moving and muttering incantations. His body quivered and then simply vanished into thin air. I saw her smile secretly to herself. It was Morgan who had done this to Corbin—whatever it was. She had made him disappear. But to where?

“What is it, Nicholas?” Alastair demanded as he dropped to his knees next to me, helping to keep my body from falling completely to the ground by placing his chest against my back. “What’s wrong?”

Part of me would like to tell him that I saw Morgan make Corbin disappear and that his high witch might still be alive somewhere. The other part, the one that seemed to be controlled or at least influenced by Corbin, told me not to reveal the truth to him yet. I knew what I needed to do, where I needed to go, and I also knew Alastair would never allow me to do it alone.

This was something I needed to do alone.

“It’s just emotional for me. Nothing to worry about.”

“Oh. I thought you saw something about Corbin. His body has never been found, and it would be nice to lay him to rest at last.”

I heard his deep sigh. There was no doubting it in my mind, Alastair hero-worshipped Corbin Hargreaves, but was there more to it than that? Had they known each other… in the biblical sense? Jealousy coursed through my body and I felt a spark on the tip of my finger.

Alastair jerked back. “You made magic!” He cried. “I saw it! Did you see the flame on the tip of your finger? What were you doing? Were you trying to cast? I didn’t think you knew how,” he exclaimed excitedly. “You need to be careful with that shit, Nico. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be dangerous. As teenagers, we all received training on how to control our powers. You haven’t had that.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, we’ve got to get you some training. What were you trying to cast?” he asked as we both stood back up.

“I wasn’t casting anything,” I answered. “I think I was just emotional.” Yeah, make that jealous. “This wasn’t easy, I think I need to go home and get some rest.” I looked at him and asked, “Maybe we could meet up again tomorrow?”

Disappointment flashed over his features. “Oh, okay,” he answered. “Yeah, I guess that did drain your energy. I’ve never known another witch that had that particular power. You’ve really got to meet the rest of the coven. Are you sure you don’t feel like it tonight?”

Oh, I couldn’t tonight. I had someplace to be. Alastair couldn’t know that, though. “Maybe tomorrow?” I offered. “I really am tired.”

He unlocked the gate, and we walked out. I expected my heart to do something weird when I left the graves, but I felt nothing. I was worried about that until I realized it was because I realized neither Corbin nor Nico were really there. Nico was here inside me, and Corbin was at that house, waiting for me to find him. I just knew it.

I watched, with admiration, as Alastair twirled his finger and locked the gate with a magic that would keep intruders out. As we walked back to his Jeep, I asked, “What are your powers, Stair? You said witches have different ones. What do you excel at?” I had no idea how to word that question, so I did the best I could.

“Eh,” he muttered in obvious disgust. “Nothing exciting like levitating objects so I can fly, or making fire fly from my fingertips while I’m casting spells,” he whined playfully. As we climbed into the Jeep, he said, “If I concentrate really hard, I can freeze people for a grand total of about three seconds. I’m actually hit and miss on that one. Sometimes I can make it happen, but most of the times, I fail. I’m fairly good at love spells, although I don’t have a significant other. Oh, and I craft a mean magic wand.”

He acted like his powers were nothing, but they sounded cool as shit to me. “Have you not had any luck getting a love spell to work on somebody you’re interested in, or have you not found the right person to try it on?” I asked as we pulled back out onto the busy road.

He blushed. Oh my. Alastair had a crush. I wanted to know more and intended to pry it out of him…just another time.

“You’re blushing like a schoolgirl,” I quipped. “I’m kinda brain dead right now, but you might as well get ready to tell me who it is tomorrow. You can’t keep a secret like that between friends. Can I meet him? Soon?”

“He doesn’t like me, and I won’t stoop to using a love spell to change his mind. Hell, I don’t even know why I like him. He’s an arrogant ass.” His blush deepened. “Just forget I said anything. You can’t meet him, anyway. He’s one of the witches who had to move away because Morgan felt threatened by his power. Just left without saying he was sorry…or even goodbye.” He pulled back into the parking lot where my Ninja waited for me. “It isn’t ever going to happen, so there’s no point in talking about it.” After he whipped in right next to my ride, he turned and said, “Get some rest, Nico. You’ve got to meet the coven tomorrow. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, but we’ve only got a short time till your birthday to figure out a way to kick Morgan’s ass…before she kicks yours.”

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