Page 6 of Cursed Beasts

“We will need the witching hour for this spell. We will leave at two am sharp.” He said, eating his dessert.

“I think we need to discuss Katarina going on these outings,” Caston spoke up, making me look at him quickly, almost giving myself whiplash. He was feeling ballsy today.

“Excuse me?” My father looked up at Caston.

All of his bravado looked like it was fading fast. “I would like to discuss Katarina going on these outings… sir.”

My father stared at Caston while everyone was staring at my father, waiting for his reaction.

“I don’t think there is anything to discuss,” he said, eating his last bite of cheesecake.

“I would disagree, I didn’t think my wife would—”

“Your wife?” My father cut him off. “So now she is your wife. What was she this afternoon, while you were fucking another woman in your bedroom?”

I had to glance back at Caston to see him looking at my father with a hint of fear on his face.

“I don’t see how th-th-th… that’s relevant,” he said, and I loved seeing him stutter.

“If you can’t see that relevancy, then I can’t see why we would need to discussmydaughter’s work schedule.” He stood up from the table. The room was so quiet that the noise from the chair sliding back sounded like a gunshot. “I expect to see Katarina waiting for me by the car at two. And Katarina, please look presentable.”

Apparently, my lack of dressing up didn’t go unnoticed. I stood up, thinking now was the best time to leave, especially with Caston looking like he might have an aneurysm.

I was almost out of the room before my niece came up to me. I knelt down as she threw her arms around me, then I felt another set of arms and then another until I had a few kids around me.

“Guys, what’s going on?” I said, feeling overwhelmed.

“We just wanna say we love you.” My oldest nephew wrapped his arms around us.

When we all pulled back, my niece looked on the verge of tears.

She mumbled something before she started to cry, making my sister pick her up.

“She’s just been emotional.” My sister picked her up, giving me a tight smile.

“It’s ok, I get it.” My intuition tugged at me like I was missing something again. “I love ya, baby girl. I love all of you.” I smiled, feeling better, but everyone in the room just stared at me. I also forgot Caston was in the room, and I regretted saying I love you to the room.

“Ok, well, I gotta go get ready. See you guys later,” I said, walking out of the room. Once I got into my room, I drew a bath, putting in the herbs Karl had given me. I stepped into the hot water, groaning at the temperature, but I knew once I submerged myself, it would feel amazing.

I leaned back on the pillow I had at the edge of the tub, instantly feeling calm from the lavender. Taking a few deep breaths, I let myself visually let go of all my baggage, my hang-ups and everything that was weighing me down.

The nagging intuition that had been tugging at me all day finally felt a little settled. I stayed in the water until it was cool. After draining the water, I hopped in the shower to wash my hair. I still had a few hours before I had to be ready, so I pulled out the mafia romance from Whitney West and got lost in the story of a man who I could only dream of doing the things I wanted to be done to me.

3

KATARINA

Iusually had a hard time staying up, but that bath really energized me. I was ready thirty minutes before I had to be, dressed in a leather pencil skirt with a white ruffled blouse and blazer with leather trimmings. My outfit was complete with sexy pumps that weren’t too tall but enough to make my ass look great in my leather skirt.

I packed an extra set of clothes just in case because I had no idea what spell we were working with and just in case we stayed somewhere because it was too late to come back. When I checked the time, I had just enough to go to the library and pack some supplies we might need. We needed to be prepared just in case it wasn’t something easy we could fix right away.

The sound of my heels echoed in the library as I walked to the supply shelves. Grabbing a leather tote, I began to fill it with basic crystals, herbs, salt, chalk and candles. I saw the box of the grimoires that were sent to me, and felt like I needed to bring them with me. I stuffed both of them in the bag too.

“All ready?”

I turned around to see Serena.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m just trying to bring some supplies we can use in different situations,” I said, zipping up the bag.

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