Page 76 of The Guardian's Curse

“I do,” he said.

“Good,” she said with a nod. “Then let’s get to work.”

18

Weeks into her unplanned stay at Chateau Vampire, Shoshanna York was elbows-deep in a practical exam unlike any she’d faced in her tisserand training. She’d transformed Lucia’s neat little alcove into a lab, with drawings laid across the floor and into the hallway. Bags of spell reagents were strewn all around. Her housekeeping left something to be desired, but her witchcraft was on point.

Crawling on her hands and knees, she carefully measured a grounding circle around Lucia. At five points of the circle, she placed chunks of hematite, then carefully lined the outer perimeter with black salt. The coarse sea salt was mixed with iron shavings and a handful of graveyard dirt to absorb the negative energy from the curse, like rubber grips to prevent an electric shock.

“This should be no different than deconstructing a sigil,” she told herself. She wasn’t sure if she was reassuring herself or the phantom voices of her instructors, who would likely shit a refined French brick if they knew she was toying with curses.

With a deep breath, she settled onto a cushioned stool and closed her eyes, breathing deeply to a slow, measured count. “Sweet mother of the earth, bless me with the strength of your ground. Good spirits of the sky, fill my lungs with the energy and resolve of the air,” she murmured. As she went through the calming ritual, she visualized glowing gold roots that stretched from her spine down into the earth. Warmth surrounded her. “Spirits, search my heart and know that my intentions are pure. I seek to undo harm, not to cause it. I seek to end the suffering of a living creature. Please guide my words and my will.”

Without opening her eyes, she opened her arcane sight and let Lucia’s essence flood into her mind. It felt like she dove into icy water. She gasped in surprise, then reached for the first thread, as she’d planned in her days of analyzing. When she grasped the thread, a shock ran up her arm, like she’d grabbed an electrical wire. She tried to pluck the thread free, but it was far stronger than she expected. Where her magic was constructed of thin spider-web silk, this was a fat steel cable under such tension that she could barely budge it. Gritting her teeth, she pushed her power into it, using the same explosive energy that she’d used to burn Alistair a week earlier.

It snapped back on her, vibrating through her whole body. She frowned and moved to the next thread she’d chosen. It was just as tense as the first. As she tested the threads, the burning red thread flamed brighter. It was entangled around Lucia, casting a lurid, purple glow on the blue threads of the curse.

Overcome by curiosity, she grabbed the red thread and pulled gently. Energy like she’d never felt surged over her like a boiling wave. A woman’s scream echoed in her head. A powerful force pressed all around her, crushing her. As her vision faded, she saw a handsome man with red eyes bellowing in rage at her feet.

Then it was cold and dark.

Shoshanna gasped and pulled away. The spiraling whorls and tangles of the curse flashed in her vision. As she sat upright, excruciating pain squeezed her temples like a vise. “Shit,” she muttered. She’d been so fixated on untangling the threads in the correct order and how to diffuse the negative energy that she hadn’t even considered that she wouldn’t be able to break them.

Black pressed in around her blurry vision. She eased to her feet and gently squeezed Lucia’s shoulder. “I’m gonna get this,” she told her. “And I’m really sorry if I hurt you just now. Just give me more time.”

She headed to the kitchen for a snack. Carbs helped her think. As she crunched on buttery crackers, she paced around the island and fretted over her experiment. It should have worked. Maybe she just hadn’t put enough muscle behind it. She helped herself to some orange juice straight from the carton, then stormed back to Lucia.

“One more time,” she said. She was about to open up, but she paused. Eduardo’s words echoed in her mind. Well done was better than quickly done. She took the time to breathe evenly, then invoke the protection of nature. When she was settled, she opened her arcane sight and braced herself. This time, she coiled up her energy, like stretching a rubber band to its breaking point. When she caught the first thread, she unleashed the gathered power.

Gravity inverted. Her head thumped against the floor. She opened her eyes to see the blurry outline of Lucia’s outstretched hand overhead. With a groan, she hauled herself upright using the statue’s arm for balance.

If all that power wasn’t enough to snap the thread, then she was missing something. Either she needed to juice herself up, or she had to weaken the threads. But for now, she needed a break. The mother of all headaches was blooming like blood in water. After retrieving some aspirin, she laid on the couch in the living room and called Ruby.

Deafening music burst from the phone. She heard Ruby cursing, then the music went quiet. “Hey babe, what’s up?” Ruby said.

“Sorry to bug you,” Shoshanna said. “Can you tell me how to make that headache tea, or maybe have Miles deliver some out here? I’ll pay him cash. Tell him to name his price.” When he wasn’t trying to make it big as a professional gamer, Miles also worked as an Uber driver.

“Do you need it now? I’ll bring it to you,” Ruby said.

“No, it’s not that bad,” Shoshanna said, immediately feeling guilty.

Ruby scoffed. “You wouldn’t have called me for help if it wasn’t really bad. You have to be careful with your vampire boyfriend drinking your blood while you bang.”

“Ruby,” Shoshanna said drily. “For your information, it has nothing to do with that. He only did it once. Bit me, I mean.”

“But he banged you more than once?”

“Way more than once,” she said with a laugh. Then she groaned as the quick muscle contraction sent a stabbing pain between her temples. “I’m supposed to be keeping this place a secret.”

“Who am I gonna tell?” Ruby asked. “Send me the address.”

“Good point,” she said. “Do you think you can bring it tonight?”

“I had a really important date tonight with a kinky book and a battery-operated device, but for you I can postpone.”

“That’s how I know you love me,” she said. “You’re the best.”

While she waited, Shoshanna gathered her sketches and spread out in the library to analyze her work. Her vision swam as she stared at the drawings. The lines seemed to slither together, making it impossible to see where she’d gone wrong. Out of sheer stubbornness, she continued to glare at the drawings as if she could intimidate them into spilling their secrets.

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