AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wasn’t surprised when Clay beat them all to it and held the glass for her while she sat up straighter to take a sip.
“Deliah was in love with your grandfather. I could see their relationship play back like a movie when I tapped into her spell. They were together but he refused to mate with her believing that it wouldn’t be possible for them to have as strong of a bond as he could have with another lycan.” Jade shut her eyes trying to recall more images and impressions she’d been bombarded with when the energy of the spell had blown through her physically knocking her out. The pain that Deliah felt had been unspeakable and the anguish had echoed through the spell even though it was many years later.
“He left her for another shifter even though they weren’t fated blood mates, and it made my Great Aunt angry. She cast the spell hoping that he’d realize he’d made a mistake and come back to her. He was happy though and when they became pregnant Deliah’s resentment grew and twisted into something unnatural. What started as a spell to make your Grandfather return to her became something dark. It spread like poison infecting your family and then others around you. Now that Deliah is older it seems like she doesn’t have control of the spell anymore so it’s affecting more people than she first intended and the spell is getting stronger as it feeds on her growing hatred.”
CLAY TRIED TO keep an open mind but he couldn’t imagine Jace and Ryan’s Grandfather with anyone but their Grandmother. He hadn’t even been aware that they weren’t fated blood mates. They had always seemed so intuned to each other and very much in love with each other when he was growing up that he’d never thought to ask. Not all shifters waited for their fated mates though since it was rare that the two would find the other and while he was willing to admit that magic was real he still didn’t understand the mechanics of what she was describing.
“You make the spell sound like a living being.”
“Well, in a way it is similar. It’s energy that gains momentum and strength from what you put into it. Deliah has spent a lifetime being miserable and blaming that on your family.”
There was a light tap on the door and Sara came in with a plate of food for Jade, though there was enough to feed the both of them again.
“I thought you might be hungry. I know you need to keep your strength up to try the ritual again.”
“Sara, how do you feel about the spell?”
“I mean I feel like a shifter. I can remember running with the pack. I find it confusing and scary to think that the memories I have of that time aren’t real.”
“I don’t want to take that away from you.” Clay could hear the guilt in Jade’s voice and he came to sit on the other side of her so that he could take her hand.
“It would be selfish of me to want to keep this illusion at the cost of the rest of the lycan population though, and Caleb, Ryan, and I want more children. If you’re able to put things right again then maybe that will happen or at least maybe it will happen more easily.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
By the time night had fallen and they were ready to try the spell again Jade was feeling stable and much stronger. It helped that Christine was there and willing to help with the spell. While she still wished for the power of a full coven two powerful witches would be better than one.
Jade had also decided that they would use not only their blood in the ritual but she would use Jace’s and Ryan’s as well. It made sense that since their family had been targeted in the original spell their blood would help neutralize it.
Jade didn’t want to think of what would happen to Deliah if they were successful in breaking her spell. It was so ingrained in her that the spell might return to her like a boomerang bringing with it unintended consequences.
She couldn’t dwell on that though she had to focus on protecting herself so that the spell didn’t nearly kill her again. They had to be successful because she wanted that murky future she could almost see with Clay more than anything she’d ever wanted and to get that they had to ensure there would be future generations of lycans and they had to get the hell away from her coven so that they didn’t siphon her magic and leave her an empty husk of herself.
“Are you ready?” Christine’s voice was soft but Jade had been so lost in her thoughts that it made her jump. She pressed a hand to her chest waiting for her heart to stop pounding.
“Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go get this done before Clay goes all primal on me and drags me away kicking and screaming.”
“You know that’s not a bad idea,” Clay said appearing as if from out of nowhere.
“You aren’t here to try to talk me out of this, are you?” She didn’t know if she had the strength to battle with him again.
“No, I know your mind is made up. I just came to say that I love you, and I believe in you.” The kiss he gave her was sweet, lingering, and left her breathless. “Now go do your witchy thing before I take you up on that primal suggestion.”
She laughed and gave him a playful shove “My witchy thing? You’ve better be careful of my witchy thing if you know what’s good for you.”
She prepared the same way that she had the night before and when they were ready Jade laid the knife blade in her palm she made a fresh shallow cut before cleaning the knife and passing it to her cousin so that she could cut herself as well. Once that was done she and Christine walked the circle together. Only this time they left an opening and invited the brothers in.
She inflicted similar shallow wounds on each of their palms collecting a small amount of their blood in the silver chalice she’d taken from the altar.
She thanked them for their sacrifice and placed a kiss over each wound the way their mother might have kissed their boo-boos when they were young boys. Even knowing that they were shifters with extraordinary abilities she was still shocked to witness how quickly they were healing in less than a minute the cuts she’d made had vanished leaving behind perfect unblemished skin.
Once they left the circle Jade used a few more droplets of her blood to seal the circle. The difference was immediately noticeable. There had been power the previous night but now she would have sworn that her hair was standing on end.
It took all of her concentration not to rub at her arms to disperse the electric feeling that seemed to be crawling along her skin.
She centered herself and refocused on Christine in the circle. This time when they both chanted and the energy of their Great Aunt came at them the focus was split as if it didn’t know where the threat was coming from.
They used the distraction to push past where Jade had been incapacitated. When they completed the chant it took a few minutes for anything to happen. Jade started to worry that they’d been unsuccessful again when the weaving of the spell started to shrink and wither. Its once bright glow dimmed and then faded as the weaves unraveled from each other. Jade looked over at the candle on the altar. It had burned down and was now level with the dirt. There was a shriek and then utter silence filled the night before a breeze swept through and cleaned away the negative, oppressive energy that Jade hadn’t realized was weighing down the area.
