Cursed (25 page)

“You have nothing to worry about, Elea. I have healed many women.”

“I see.” That thought gave me more to worry about, though. How many women has he touched in this way? And why would I care if he had?

“I can't heal you like this.”

“Oh, right.” I parted my legs and he leaned in closer. This was now the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me, even worse then when I fell in the pigsty before Tristan came to visit.

Rowan shook his head. “As I suspected. You've a bad infection.” He chanted over his cup of herbs until they flared into a paste. After scooping some onto his fingers, Rowan began to paint long lines down my inner thigh.

I hissed in a pained breath as the paste burned into my skin. Rowan continued his incantation and the hurt dissolved into a much nicer sensation. For the first time since I left the Cloister, my leg didn't hurt anymore. Rowan looked up to meet my gaze. I thought I saw a flash of heat in his eyes, but it was gone too quickly for me to be certain.

“Better?” he asked.

“Much. Thank you.”

“I'll send over Laurel to take you to the bathing tent. Meet back here in an hour?”

“Agreed.”

As Rowan left, I wished I had more romantic experience with men. Or even with one man, really. If I were fortunate enough to live past this, then I planned to return to Braddock Farm and live as a Commoner. There would be no room in my life for anything to do with magick, and that certainly included a mage like Rowan.

Chapter Twenty-Four

An hour later, I had bathed, changed into a set of Caster leathers, and found that they were the most comfortable clothes imaginable. Once I got back to Braddock Farm, I'd never wear anything but leathers again.

If I survived past Sunday, that is.

Tomorrow at sunset, my curse would officially start. I shivered as images of my afterlife appeared. Flesh melting away from bone. Smoke, pain, and death… Only to be restored and burned once again. An endless cycle through eternity.

Rowan stepped into the tent, interrupting my dismal thoughts. He paused. “What's troubling you?”

There was no point in pretending. “My curse.”

Rowan sat down beside me. “We'll fight that, Elea. With this new magick against Viktor, I'm sure we'll win.”

Perhaps he was right
. After all, the leveling spell came from none other than the Sire of Souls and the Lady of Creation. I set down the spell-box onto the rug before me. “This holds what they called a leveling spell.”

Rowan frowned. “You still haven't opened it?”

“There's something you should know before we do that. I'm not really sure what Oni and Yuri gave us. It could be anything.”

“What do you mean? I've seen spell-boxes like these before. Usually, mages place herbs inside them.”

“Oni and Yuri aren't typical mages.” I couldn't believe I was saying this to another person without the benefit of heavy drink in my body. “They are deities, Rowan. Oni and Yuri are really the Lady of Creation and the Sire of Souls.” I was pleased with how sane I sounded when I said that.

Rowan stared at me, his green eyes turning intense and dark. It felt like a life age passed before he spoke again. “I'd say you were teasing, but Necromancers aren't known for their practical jokes.”

Here it comes.
Rowan was certain to think that I'd snapped and gone insane. Not that I blame him. Some small part of me was hoping that I had. It would certainly be easier than capturing the Tsar.

“Are you sure it wasn't an illusion spell?” asked Rowan.

“Positive. There's no doubt in my mind that I met the god and goddess.”

“I see.” Rowan's rugged face stayed maddeningly unreadable.

“And I saw their powers even before the Sanctuary Fair. Oni and Yuri—I mean, the Lady and Sire—have been intervening in my life for some time now.” As if on cue, my little scarab beetle flittered into view. I couldn't help but smile. “There you are, little thing. I haven't seen you since the Midnight Cloister.” My scarab began crawling around the spell-box. “This is the beetle that I told you about. It should never have gotten past Viktor's wards and into the storehouse.”

Rowan leaned in for a closer look. “This creature has magick, no doubt about it.” His features still didn't give me a clue what he was thinking. Would Rowan back out of our partnership?

“Plus, consider how your spell brought me to the desert in the first place. You said that you thought that the Sire had a hand in it.”

Rowan examined the spell-box carefully, but didn't reply. He wasn't leaving, at least. I took that as a good sign.

“In any case,” I continued. “This is why I wanted you to understand who they really were before opening their spell-box. I don't think there's anything dangerous inside, but who knows what's possible with deities? Everyone's heard the story of Pandora. And your King is nearby, too. I wouldn't want to risk his safety without your consent.”

Rowan set the spell-box down and glared at it as if it would evaporate under the strength of his gaze. I worried my lower lip with my teeth. Here is where everything could fall apart. And in all honesty, that might be best for Rowan. I'm the one who's running out of time, after all. Another, better chance may come up for him.

“I realize how this all sounds,” I said. “If you want to back out of our partnership, I understand.”

“Listen to me carefully, Elea.” Rowan lifted his gaze until it locked with mine. An intensity shone there that I'd never seen before. “We've been after the Tsar for years. Nothing worked until you joined our circle. If you say it's the Sire and Lady, then that's who it was. If you tell me that this spell-box is safe, then it's safe.” His deep voice reverberated through me. “Open that container whenever you wish, Elea. I'm staying right here.”

My heart swelled. Rowan trusted my judgment. Together, maybe we
could
handle whatever this mission threw at us.

With steady hands, I pried the wooden lid off the container. What I saw left me speechless.

Two rings sat inside. Both had flat surfaces with prongs for holding a stone. A second beetle crawled about between them. This scarab was the perfect match to one that I'd found in the Midnight Cloister. I had trouble pulling in my next breath.

This couldn't be possible.

Those look like mating rings.

The new scarab fluttered over to rest on Rowan's shoulder. The man's features were back to being unreadable again. Damn.

I worked hard to keep my face calm as well. When I was at the oasis, Laurel had told me all about mating rings and bonding animals. She wore a ladybug band because she was bonded to Orion. The Sire and Lady said this spell was for both Rowan and me. What exactly did that mean? Did the Sire and Lady expect me to marry Rowan? Sleep with him?

Suddenly, I found it impossible to meet Rowan's gaze. “I don't know what to say. The Sire and Lady said this was some kind of magick that they made up called a leveling spell. But it looks like something your people do, not mine.”

More awkward silence followed. The air inside the tent felt thick with tension. At last, Rowan spoke again. “Did they give you a time limit on this spell?”

Excellent question.
Being married might not be so bad, so long as it was temporary. “They said the magick would last from sunrise to sunset on a single day. For that time, our weapons and spells will be equal to the Tsar's.” I shifted uncomfortably on my rug. “Is that how these rings are supposed to work? Laurel said that hers didn't have any magick at all.”

“Laurel and Orion are warriors, not mages, so their rings are more symbolic. It's different with those who have magick.”

“Laurel and Orion aren't mages? But you call them Casters.”

“To my people, everyone is a Caster and carries their own kind of magick.” Rowan set his scarab on his palm. “This is definitely a bonding animal.”

I wasn't sure I liked that name. “How does that part work?”

Rowan lifted his brows. “You really don't know?”

My insides squirmed at the look of disbelief on his face. What I don't know about relationships is a lot. “I've studied your battle spells, Rowan. Mating rituals never really came up at the Cloister.”

“Fair enough.” The edges of Rowan's mouth curled up into a gentle smile. The knots of worry in my shoulders loosened a little. “When two Casters are ready to be mated, their bonding animals simply find them.”

“Let me guess. Those animals then turn into stones for the rings.”

“Correct. It's all part of the ceremony.”

“And this bonding can happen with a Caster and Necromancer, too?”

“Oh, yes. It's the magick of the Caster people as a whole that makes the ritual work. We've never had a Caster-Necromancer mating that resulted in hybrid magick, though.” He picked up one of the bands and examined it. “There are many layers of spells on these rings. That must be how the leveling spell works.”

“So, we go through a ceremony to get married for a day. That's it.”
I can do that. I think.

Rowan rubbed the edge of the ring with his thumb. “We'll say a few words and trade bands. That's all. It won't take long. We should do it right at dawn, though, so the leveling magick stays at full potency.” He gave me a sly look. “Or were you thinking of doing something else?”

The image of Rowan's naked torso suddenly popped into my mind. Damn. I really was going crazy.

“No, not at all.” I said quickly. I scooped up the spell-box and set it aside. “Now that you know what the magick can do, we need to work on our plan.”

And have no more naked thoughts.

“Sounds like you have a strategy or two in your head,” said Rowan.

“Yes. The first thing I need is to cast again without alerting the Midnight Cloister. To do that, I need you to destroy a certain snake ring that they're holding.”

“It has your magic on it?”

“Yes. One of the Sisters made it when I arrived. It has to be destroyed or they'll be able to track me forever.”

“Won't be a problem. What else?”

“Once we activate the leveling spell, we'll both need to cast some invisibility spells so we can get into the Cloister.”

“Makes sense,” said Rowan. “The question is, what will my people be doing during all this?” Rowan leaned over, popped his head out the tent flap, and whistled.

“What is it, Rowan?” asked a woman.

“Can you send Rex over here when he's free? We need to talk things through for tomorrow.”

“I'll bring him straight away.”

Rowan closed the flap, leaned back on his elbows, and kicked his long legs out in front of him. He didn't seem particularly concerned that his King was stopping by. “No one knows the schedules like Rex. He's a master schemer.”

My body felt like it had been dipped in ice. “Your King is coming here. To this tent. Right now.”

Rowan leaned fully back and laced his fingers behind his head. “Is that a problem?”

I couldn't believe he had to ask that question.
“I've never met a King before.”

“Well, you're about to meet a Tsar, and that doesn't seem to bother you in the slightest.”

“Mostly because I plan on sending him into exile versus having an actual conversation with the man.”

Rowan sat right back up. “Exile? When did that plan change?”

I needed a memory spell to keep track of everything, it was happening so quickly. “It was one of the conditions of the Sire and Lady's help. I must transport Viktor to their tent at the Sanctuary Fair.”

“And you believe they can actually do this?”

“I didn't when I thought they were Oni and Yuri. But when they revealed themselves to be divine, I changed my mind. After all, Viktor's just a person. They're two deities. I'm sure they can keep him secured.”
At least, I'm fairly certain.

Rowan drummed his fingers on his knees. “I doesn't matter, I suppose. Either way, it frees my people from the Tsar's control.”

“You've said something like that before. Why wouldn't you want Viktor dead?”

“Whether Viktor's alive or dead, my Changed Ones will stay transformed. The process was physical as well as magickal. Right now, I'm more worried about ending your curse. What happens to you if Viktor's sent away?”

“The Sire and Lady will free me from the curse.”

“And if you kill Viktor instead?”

“It must be exile. If I so much as attempt to kill Viktor, then I'll be sent into the flames.”

Rowan scratched at the scruff on his jawline. “I don't like this, Elea.”

“There was no other way to secure their help.” I didn't add this, but the pair seemed oddly protective of someone as evil as Viktor.

“Don't misunderstand,” said Rowan. “I realize you had no other options. It doesn't mean I have to like it, though. All this places far too much risk on you.” The way he spoke, I sounded like the most precious Necromancer in the realm. I liked that more than I should have.

The tent flap opened and a man in Caster leathers stepped inside. He had the same rough body shape as Rowan.
Genesis Rex.
I'd never seen an actual King before, and my mouth hung open for a few seconds before I caught myself. Rex limped leaned over to embrace Rowan. “Hail and well met, nephew.”

“And also to you, Uncle.”

Rex turned to me. “And you must be Elea.”

“Your majesty.”

“Call me Uncle.” He reached behind his head and began to unbuckle his helm. “I hope you don't mind if I take this damned thing off. It itches like crazy, and my nephew assures me that you're not an assassin.” He gave me a smile that was so dazzling, I thought I might have seen his teeth actually sparkle.

“I don't mind at all,” I said. My voice was far breathier than I meant it to be.