Page 54 of Once Upon a Curse for True Love
Graves’s demeanor shifted, his posture relaxing as he turned his attention to Andromeda.“A fascinating read.We have both the mundane records and the magical observations kept secret by the coven.”
“Is it true the Puritans miscategorized elemental magic as weather manipulation?”Andromeda pressed, her expression alight with faked scholarly interest.
As Graves launched into a detailed explanation about the misinterpretations of magical manifestations during the colonial era, Donatello’s frustration mounted.
He tried to steer the conversation back several times, but Andromeda kept interrupting with increasingly obscure questions about historical magical practices.Graves seemed delighted by her interest, pulling books from the shelves to illustrate various points and becoming engrossed in animated discussions of purist philosophy.
After an eternity of useless historical trivia, Andromeda thanked Graves for his time and dragged Donatello out of the office before he could ask a single meaningful question about the case.
The moment the door closed behind them, Donatello turned on her, ready to demand an explanation, but she placed a finger on his lips and shook her head.Her eyes darted to the office, then down the hallway, before she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward an emergency exit.
The stairwell was dimly lit and smelled of dust.Andromeda dragged him down the concrete steps until they were out of earshot of the third floor, then spun to face him, her expression tense.
“What was that?”Donatello hissed, keeping his voice low despite his irritation.“We’re investigating a murder, not seeking a history lesson on colonial magic practices.”
“Did you smell it?”Andromeda ignored his complaint.“In his office.”
Donatello paused, recalling the strange, sickly sweet odor that had permeated the room.“Yeah.What about it?”
“That’s decay,” she whispered.“Graves’s the lich.”
It all clicked into place—the smell.The cold, stiff hand.The waxy complexion.
But not waxy enough for someone dead.
“How?”he asked.
Andromeda’s eyes were wide and serious.“He must be keeping his appearance normal with a spell, but the smell of it rotting was too strong to mask.”
Before Donatello could respond, a voice echoed down the stairwell from above.
“Miss Swan, did you think you had me fooled?”
They both looked up to see Graves standing at the landing above them, his form silhouetted in the dim light.His next words clawed across Donatello’s eardrums.“You know what I am, don’t you?”
Without warning, the stairwell plunged into total darkness—not the absence of light, but an active, swirling cloud of black energy that engulfed them.Flashes of dark lightning crackled through the swarming fog, illuminating brief glimpses of Graves, his skin pulling tight across his skull.
Donatello’s training kicked in.Keeping one hand on the railing to orient himself, he reached out with the other, finding Andromeda’s arm and gripping it tightly.He pulled her close.
“Down,” he commanded in her ear, already moving, dragging her with him along the stairs as rapidly as he dared in the blinding darkness.
A bolt of that strange black lightning struck the wall inches from them, leaving a smoking, crumbling hole in the concrete.The acrid smell of burned stone filled the air, mingling with the fetid odor of decay that now permeated the entire stairwell.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Graves’s distorted voice boomed.“What a delightful surprise—two more minds to add to my collection.”
Donatello yanked his gun free, hands clumsy from adrenaline.Useless against a lich, but it might buy them time.He fired blindly upward, using the sound of Graves’s voice to guide his aim.
The unmistakable sizzle of a stunner connecting with its target was followed by a shriek of rage.The darkness faltered, thinning enough for Donatello to make out the emergency exit door on the landing below them.
“Keep moving,” he urged Andromeda.
Another bolt of black energy crackled past them, nearly singeing Donatello’s cheek.He fired again, two more shots in rapid succession.One must have hit its mark, because the darkness receded farther, giving them time to reach the emergency exit.
Donatello slammed his hip at the crash bar, the panel flying open under his weight.He threw Andromeda through before following, then kicked the door shut behind them.His hands moved in a familiar pattern, tracing a complex ward in the air before pressing his palm to the metal surface.The frame glowed with blue energy as the magical seal took effect, temporarily trapping the darkness—and hopefully the lich—on the other side.
They had emerged on a corridor on the second floor of the archives, surrounded by startled patrons and staff who were staring at them with wide eyes.Donatello was still clutching his stunner gun and holstered it.
“Are you okay?”He scanned Andromeda for any signs of injury.
