Page 53 of Love Lives
"No. Consider this one a freebie. You could say I'm somewhat invested in seeing your family survive."
"You're the one who let Vlad into our house in the first place," I bit out, even though I still found it difficult to think of Vlad as the villain in all of this. If he was Cyril, if he was the vampire I'd seen in my dreams... I touched my head, my thoughts spinning so fast that it almost made me dizzy. "We have to remind him."
"Vlad?" Puck asked with one eyebrow raised. I had to give him credit for being able to keep up with my rapidly changing train of thought. His expression turned grim, though. "I visited Sage's store a few days ago. There's nothing left but wreckage."
"What?"
"I thought maybe I could convince her to let that memory go, but evidently... someone wanted it destroyed, and they got there before me."
"Who...?"
Puck shook his head. "Any number of people. If Vlad's told any of the vampires about the deal he made to get the prophecy, they might have decided that they like the change in his behavior and want it to be permanent."
I blew out a breath to keep myself from cursing. Somewhere deep inside, I was convinced that Vlad wasn't a bad person. He just didn't know that. Now he never would.
What the hell were we going to do?
"I studied the spell from Atlus's journal," Puck said, making me look up again. "The one on page seven," he continued. "There might be something to our theory after all. It's a powerful anti-vampire spell. He might have used it to protect himself and his mate from those who would defy their union."
And now it would be used against his mate. Was that really what Atlus wanted? I massaged my temples with my fingers, trying to clear my head. "What does the spell do?"
"Have you ever experienced a vampire's bite?" Puck's gaze strayed to my neck. I hoped he wouldn't notice the way that question made me flush.
"I have," I said, as calmly as I could.
"The magic they use to induce that paralysis... this spell turns it against them, rendering them immobile. A powerful vampire like Vlad will be able to fight it off, but not immediately. It'll buy us some time."
"Enough to steal the stone?" I asked.
"It's possible." Puck made no promises, but I wouldn't have trusted him if he had.
I eyed the herbs in his hand again. If it was true what he said about my abilities, I might be able to scope out the area before we went in... "I'll eat your plants," I said. "Under one condition."
"Oh?"
"You'll teach me how to cast that spell."
"I'm afraid you would need to be a witch to--"
"I've always had magic," I cut him off. "I've just never learned to use it for anything other than opening locks."
That gave Puck pause. The look of surprise on his face was genuine--and rare. Under different circumstances, I might have enjoyed pulling the rug out from under him. "Fascinating," he said after a moment. "Fascinating indeed. We'll have to see if you can learn this spell. It's not exactly tailored to beginners."
"But you'll do your best to teach me."
"That I will." There was strange glint in his eyes that I didn't know how to interpret.
I did my best not to let it bother me.
Chapter Twenty
The tea Puckmade from the flowers tasted bitter. So bitter that there was no other flavor shining through. Idly, I wondered if I could think of any dish that could be made using these plants, any way of cooking them that wouldn't taste horrible, but after only a few seconds, my thoughts began to drift.
I leaned back into the chair I was sitting in. Puck and I had moved to the kitchen area. Some members of my family were watching us with wary eyes, but no one had tried to stop us. No one aside from Aldrich anyway, but he didn't count as family quite yet. He'd said he didn't trust these herbs. I'd told him that it wasn't his decisions. He'd huffed and proceeded to threaten Puck, impressing neither of us.
At least he'd shut up after that.
Until now. He waved his hand in front of my face. "You still there?"
