Page 21 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

“I think Quinton lied to you because he probably assumed that Dash would never want you to know where he came from or how he was conceived. But I think he’s wrong. Tyson is right, and I see the way Dash looks at you. I see the way they all look at you. We’re in this together from here on out, even if you don’t want more than a friendship with any of us.

“Dash’s mother and father were related, first cousins. His grandmother grew up with magic. Her brother and her father had both had magic and when she was born they had hoped and prayed that she would have it as well. Being born without it had disappointed her family greatly. She wasn’t an outcast, but she was treated no better than a servant until she came of age. Then her father offered her something she couldn’t resist.

“You see, Ariel, the eldest member of Dash’s family has always been a member of the Council of Elders. Always the upper crust. She was a stain on her father’s reputation. And since no one really knows why we don’t have many females outside of that potential curse, some people believe that as long as you had one parent with magic then you should be capable of passing the gene on to your child. So he found her a male who was willing to mate with her if she agreed and try for a baby with magic. She agreed because her father had told her she would be welcomed into her family as a real member after all those years spent being on the outside. Well, long story short, they conceived a child and it was a girl. A girl who eventually they realized did not, in fact, have magic. Both mother and daughter were tossed aside like last weeks garbage.

“That was Dash’s grandmother and his mother. Well, needless to say, his grandmother did not take this very well. She hated her father with everything she was worth. She taught her daughter to hate and she turned her into a vile person. Somehow, the eldest female found out she had a nephew, her brother’s son. She met with him in secret and convinced him to visit her cottage and meet his cousin. See, hedidhave magic. Dash’s grandmother had come up with the perfect plan to get back at her father, their entire family and all the Elders who had shunned her for not having been born with magic. She drugged her nephew and her daughter took advantage of him. When he came too, he fled and would not have returned if his father and grandfather hadn’t forced him to when they found out about Dash.

“Dash’s father lived here for a few years with them so he could be a part of Dash’s life. But, it’s said that he was a mere shadow of himself. At least, that’s what Ty’s parents said about him. Things got to be so horrible for him that he eventually took his own life to escape those two awful women. Dash was left alone with them. The Council of Elders tried to take him away from them but for some fucked up reason that I will never understand, he always insisted on staying here with them. Like, he owed them something. I don’t think Quinton wants you to see the ugly side to our lives. But I think Tyson just might have the right of it, even if for the wrong reasons. I think showing you our ugly scars might just be what makes you want to tie yourself to us. You have to remember, I was there when your mother died, I saw your face. You had such a look of horror on your face. Later, you looked shocked and heartbroken. You’re just like Dash. Loyal to the people you think you should be loyal to, even if they deserve nothing of the sort from you. You would have stayed with her forever if that’s what she would have wanted from you, all the while allowing her to abuse you in whatever way she saw fit. I do not understand this, and I am not going to pretend to. But, I do know that my brother is the same way and he’s the most loyal of us all. And you’re just like him.”

I made a noise in the back of my throat, and Julian whipped around to face me at last. He frowned down at me before raising his hands to my face. He swiped both his thumbs across my cheeks, wiping away tears I was unaware of having shed. On my messed-up cheek he had to be extra careful not to touch my wound.

“Why do you cry?” He whispered as he dropped to his knees before me.

My hands came out from under my thighs and I grabbed ahold of his forearms, stopping him from moving any closer to me. This left him with his hands hovering in the air over my face.

I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat. “I cry because my heart breaks for all the pain and hideousness that Dash and his father were forced to endure. I don’t like it when the people I care about hurt. Dash didn’t deserve to go through any of that and it makes me a horrible person to say it and even think it, but I’m glad you poisoned his grandmother. I wished you would have poisoned his mother as well.”

Julian shook off my hold on him and sat back on his heels. He grinned at me, big and mischievous. This was a smile that proclaimed he was up to no good. I had never seen this side to him before.

With his grin in place, he stood in one quick movement. “You make me very happy, honey. I think there’s more to you than any of us could have ever dreamed.”

Julian was one seriously messed up individual.

Chapter Seven

A tall glass of water was pushed into my hands and I immediately opened them, taking hold of the glass.

“What’s this?” I asked in a rough voice. I hadn’t quite gotten my emotions under control yet and I was unable to hide such things.

Why was he giving me a glass of water? I hadn’t said anything about being thirsty. Come to think of it, I could use a drink of water. I lifted the glass to my mouth, but he plucked it out of my hands before I could take a drink.

I gaped at him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked in a high voice. “I was going to drink that. Why ever would you give me a glass of water if you didn’t want me to drink it?”

I was baffled. I guess baffled was a whole lot better than sad and upset. Right? Sure thing.

“I want you to drink the water,” he said bizarrely. “Just not yet. Right now, I simply want you to hold onto it until I tell you otherwise.”

“Ookkaayy,” I told him.

Whatever. I should stop expecting them to be normal instead of weird. They always reverted back to being weird.

“Did you know that water is pure?” He asked me.

I frowned. I had never really thought of water as something outside of drinking, bathing and possibly swimming in. But pure? Perhaps when it came in the form of rain water or in a sealed plastic bottle.

“Magically,” he said, “you can imprint it with whatever you want.”

I had no freaking idea what he was on about with this water nonsense. One minute we were talking about poisoning a scary old broad and the next thing we know we are talking about water like it’s something special. What in the actual fuck? Somehow, I didn’t think he would approve of the commentary going on inside my head. Not that I was willing to share it, mind you.

Julian wrapped his hands around mine on the glass. “I want you to keep your hands cupped around this glass for the next two minutes. Can you do that for me, Ariel?”

I nodded. Sure, I could easily do that. I had been holding on to the sucker for far longer than two minutes, it felt like.

“I’m going to need you to do more than just hold onto it,” he told me in a serious voice.

Goodness. He wanted me to not drink it until he told me it was okay to do so. Then he wanted me to simply hold on to it for the next two minutes. Now, I needed to do something else with it? If he wanted me to dump it over my head, there might be a chance I was going to punch him somewhere he would be feeling it for quite some time to come.

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