Page 17 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"It’ll take time, but we can deal with a boomerang spell." Cora knelt next to her and took her hands in hers. "The curse isn't your purpose, love. It's the dragons."
"The ones I can speak with?" The words from Shane's demon about being a dragon healer echoed in her head as they had been for months. She had "helped" a few dragons over the years. They would find her with some small health problem wherever she was in the world. She'd repair their problem and then they gave her a stone. Her backpack held over thirty of them. "I fixed a few of them when sick or hurt."
"You are the only witch that can speak with dragons."
"They are elegant creatures. What's the purpose in communicating with, possibly healing a few dragons? That doesn't help the world in any way. Humans don't even know they still exist."
"Our purpose isn't supposed to benefit humans. Dragons are one of the most magical of all non-human creatures to exist. Stands to reason they would need their own being to help them."
Maybe she should spend more time with the dragons. She did find it peaceful to talk to them about their lives. If humans came after her when she was with them, they'd eat her enemies. For the first time in ages, the tightness in her chest loosened.
Cora took her hand between both of hers. "If you weren't being chased, you could spend more time figuring out the dragon healing aspect of your life. Give me permission to annihilate the entirety of MI6. There'll be no one left to hunt you. Or I could cast a nasty curse to affect anyone who thinks of hurting you." She tapped her lip. "Or I could eliminate the lycan brothers, which will resolve your guilt. If they're dead you don't have to spend your life running or worrying about their stupid curse."
"No!" The image of Shane dead twisted her gut. "It's my problem. Not yours. It's not their fault they got cursed."
Cora rolled her eyes. "Fine. The lycans are your problem. Although, I think you've mishandled it for long enough. Will you please let me erase that MI6 unit?"
Madeline stared at her hands. "They're just people doing their jobs. I don't want them killed for that." The queen wanted the lycans to be her legacy to her successors. Like the king, newly crowned six months ago after the queen’s death. Which is why the late monarch commissioned a special unit in MI6 to hunt Madeline down.
"How about I cast a spell so they can'tseeyou anymore?" She grinned.
"I'd like that. Why haven't you done it before?"Why didn't I think of it? An invisibility spell.
"First, I've never thought of it. Second, I need your participation to cast that type of spell, which means you have to stick around long enough for me to make it happen." She pulled another card from the deck but didn't show it to Madeline. Cora's face blanched.
"What is it?"
Cora lifted Madeline’s burner phone off the table and typed. The whooshing sound of a sent text echoed in the quiet room.
"What’d you do?" She ripped the phone out of Cora’s hand.
"You need to get your magic back and get rid of this boomerang spell. The card suggests Shane is the key."
She read the text:I need you, Shane.
Oh, no.
"How do you know his cell phone number? Even I don't know that."
"Sometimes things like numbers come to me. Witchy skills, honey." She winked. Cora took the phone back and typed once more. Another whoosh indicated a sent message. She reached out and squeezed Madeline’s hand. Her eyes turned ancient. "That ought to get him to you. Go find your magic again. Only he can help you get rid of the boomerang spell. The curse, though? I'd leave that one alone."
She buried her burning face in her hands. "You shouldn’t have sent those."
"Be careful when you face him. Those brothers are so bloody honorable that they won't kill you outright, but if they find out you might be able to lift their curse by dying, that honor will disappear. They'll tie your ass onto a golden altar and sacrifice you to be free. I strongly suggest you keep that part a secret." She opened a small case that contained various smudges. "If you can give me another twenty minutes, we'll do the spell to give you a reprieve from MI6. But…" She leaned in to make eye contact, her gaze ferocious. "I refuse to lose you over a curse. If you die for them to be free, I will hunt them down. I guarantee their fledgling magic can't contend with mine."
Chapter Six
Shane shiftedon his stomach to improve his view of the reading room below him at the British Library in London. He’d been resting on the second level in the silent after-hours darkness for almost a half hour. A few lights came on, blinding him. He worried his cover behind a low bookshelf wasn’t good enough, but most people rarely looked up.
His brothers didn’t know he was here tonight. He'd revealed to them he hadn't died a mere few weeks ago. They were relieved, but a simmering resentment that he’d left in the first place remained. They'd known about the demon possession and witnessed him become unstable, but they disagreed he needed to ditch them to find control.
In his defense, he’d never actually left them. He spent time organizing the Alliance over the past year but had used the group to ensure his brothers' safety on numerous occasions, not that they'd known. He'd remained in the shadows, protecting them, and doing things like helping Nova escape her prison and pushing her toward Roman. Which had unexpectedly led his brother to find his mate.
He could've told his brothers he'd be here but remaining hidden from the monarch and their handler had become habit. Their last handler tried to kill them mere weeks ago with a missile, and in the aftermath of the ambush his brothers had learned he lived. Who knew what the new handler might try.
The change Madeline wrought to the curse for him, and only him, enabled him to have flexibility to ignore the monarch's direct order to show up for a meeting. He wasn't sure how far he could push snubbing orders.
He touched the stylized solar cross he'd gotten inked onto the top of his right hand a decade ago. The powerful protective symbol invoked the energy and magic of the sun to rid oneself of negative energy and shadows. He whispered, thinking of his patron saint, "May I see the path of right and keep them safe."
