Page 37 of Cursed
“I can rig earbuds that give you a live feed, and you can relay information,” Seth offered. “And I’ll put a drone with a camera in position so you’ve got a bird’s eye view. That gives you intel we won’t have on the ground, and it could be important.”
“Okay,” Evan agreed grudgingly. “I’ll do anything I can to help.” He took a bite of one of the nachos and moaned, enjoying the taste. “Wow, that’s good. Definitely hits the spot.”
“Glad to lend a hand.” Tony beamed at the compliment.
By unspoken agreement, they worked into the evening, digging into lore that might provide an edge in the coming battle. Evan knew that they should sleep before the fight, but he and Seth both felt the need to search for more to help them tip the balance. For now, he was hanging on, although he still felt unwell. If he couldn’t be present at the battle, he resolved not to sleep through the preparations.
He and Seth were surrounded by stacks of old books. Tony sat on the couch, resolutely refusing to rest while they were still up working. He kept them supplied with coffee and made a batch of cookies out of odds and ends from the pantry.
“Here’s something,” Evan said after a few hours. “This might be helpful. It’s a protection spell, but I think it’s musical. Hey, Tony, come have a look.”
Tony joined them at the table, and Evan passed the book to him. He looked a little confused at first, but then he began to nod.
“I don’t know anything about magic, but the melody reminds me of the sort of songs used in rituals and worship. People who believe in that kind of thing say it collects and sends energy.” Tony stared at the book with wonder. “I didn’t think that was real.”
“Very real,” Evan assured him. “Can you figure out what the notes are?”
Tony reached for a piece of paper and a pencil from the pile on the table and focused on the yellowed pages of the book. His brows furrowed in concentration, and the tip of his tongue peeked from between his lips.
Evan needed to stretch, so he got up and walked around to see what Seth was working on.
“That’s a grimoire,” Evan said quietly when he caught sight of the book cover Seth had been studying for the last while.
“Yeah. One of the set we got out of that second-hand shop to pass on to Cassidy,” Seth replied. Trifles and Folly made sure problematic tomes didn’t land in the wrong hands.
“I thought we agreed it was dark stuff,” Evan said, uncomfortable with resorting to questionable magic.
Seth shrugged. “Desperate times, desperate measures. I didn’t want to rule out a resource just because some of the contents were iffy. You used the Dark Web to find out more about Vernon’s secret restaurant.”
“That’s not the same as finding spells there. Please don’t let the curse and your nightmare push you into using gray magic. That sort of thing always comes around to bite us on the ass.” Evan knew how laser-focused Seth could be in a dire situation, and with Evan’s life on the line, he feared Seth’s concentration might veer into obsession and a willingness to risk too much.
“I’m not going to let you die,” Seth replied without looking up. “Or Pax. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop this son of a bitch.”
“We’ve never needed to go that far before.” Evan pressed a kiss to Seth’s temple. “Promise me that you’ll discuss anything you find with Milo or Rowan.”
“Of course.”
It didn’t occur to Evan until later that Seth’s response wasn’t exactly a promise.
Evan went back to skimming another book from his stack, but he kept checking on Tony and Seth since his own search wasn’t proving fruitful.
“I think I’ve got an idea how this works,” Tony said after a couple of hours. “It’s a bit of a musical riddle, which I guessmeant it was coded so it wouldn’t be easy for someone without some training to read. But I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out.”
Evan came to sit next to him on the couch. Seth had taken a break earlier to set up what Evan would need to be in touch during the battle, as well as the camera drone, but otherwise he remained absorbed in his book.
“The old-fashioned wording threw me at first, but I looked up what I needed on my phone.” Tony sounded excited about his discovery. “I’ll save you the tedious geeky stuff. According to what I could make out, it’s a twelve-note sequence and the more you play it with the right instruments, the more power the text says it raises.”
Evan nodded. “That makes sense. Three is a powerful number in magic, and so are multiples of three. Twelve is a number for balance and completion—months, signs of the Zodiac, etc.”
Tony looked at him. “How do you know this stuff?”
Evan shrugged. “It became my life after Seth saved me and we went on the road. When your survival depends on what you know, you get good at learning new things.”
“Makes sense,” Tony replied. “I’ve been into music since before I could read. And I have some goth friends who weren’t exactly witches but really liked supernatural stuff. I know that some musical instruments are said to have extra vibes for that sort of thing.”
“Oh yeah?” Evan couldn’t help being intrigued.
“You know how in every fantasy book the bard has a lute and ends up playing a role against the big bad? I think my guitar is a close substitute,” Tony said. “It would help a lot if we could get help from folks who can play the ocarina, flute, and drum.”
