Page 30 of Woven Souls

“Ah, well, I’m glad we have tonight so I can clarify the situation we’ve found ourselves in.” He gestures to sit down. “And please, call me Fred. All my friends do.”

Fred the Evil Warlock? I’m a little less scared now.

“Then, call me Willow. This is Viktor. He’s my—”

“Boyfriend,” Viktor says confidently as he pulls out my chair.

I was going to say ‘bodyguard’ but clearly, we’re not on the same page.

“A pleasure to meet you, Viktor.” The warlock bows his head as both men take their seats. Viktor makes a point to sit between us, so I’m forced to sit across from the warlock.

The moment we’re seated, a waiter brings over a bottle of wine, pops it open, and pours something red into my glass, which is already sitting on the table. I hope it’s sweet, but I doubt it. If it doesn’t have sugar in it, I’m not a fan of alcohol. Another waiter brings over a basket of bread and disappears.

“I hope you don’t mind. I took the liberty of picking out the best wine they have available,” Fred says as he takes his glass and brings it to his lips.

“If you’re paying, I suppose I won’t complain.” I give a one shoulder shrug. “Maybe while we drink it, you’ll remove this fun little curse hanging over my head.”

“Straight to the point. I like that.” Fredrick grins at me as he leans back in his seat. “You mentioned in your email that you and a friend were cursed. I suppose Viktor here—”

“Is not the one cursed,” I assure him.

“Anymore,” Viktor corrects.

I nod to confirm this.

Fredrick’s brows raise in surprise. “Really? You managed to break one of my curses? May I ask how? It should have been impossible without my help.”

Both Viktor and I scoff in unison, which causes the warlock to chuckle.

“It doesn’t matter how we did it,” I push. “All you need to know is we can’t replicate it to help my other friend or myself. So please, if you could just do whatever it is you need to do to remove it, we’d be grateful.”

“Ah, well, here’s the thing.” Fredrick looks between Viktor and I with interest. “I am more than happy to remove the curse from you to show my good will. In order to remove the curse over your friend, however, I would like to ask for your help with something.”

I brace myself. The last time I helped someone, I ended up tethering my soul to theirs. I’m really not looking forward to being a good Samaritan quite so soon. Next to me, Viktor reaches for his glass of wine. He doesn’t take a sip but twirls the liquid in the glass.

“What type of help?” he asks.

“Well, before I tell you that, I need to give you a little backstory on me, so you understand how you and I have gotten here.” Fredrick pauses and looks up. I turn as a waiter comes back. “Our meals, please.”

I bristle immediately.

“Honey, are you ordering for us?” I ask. “Because that’s awfully rude.”

Fredrick blinks as Viktor lets out a sound that suspiciously sounds like a chuckle before he quickly clears his throat.

“I’ll have the lamb.” I look up at the waiter who nods.

Viktor spares the waiter a quick glance. “I’ll have the same.”

Fredrick smiles up at the waiter. “The steak for me please, medium rare, and caviar for an appetizer.” When the waiter disappears, the warlock looks back at us. He smiles at me. “Your candor is not only disarming, but I have to admit, quite refreshing. I’m not used to it.”

I say nothing to this. He’s dragging this out and I don’t know why. My mouth feels dry and my heart races. Part of me wants to reach out to take a sip of the wine just so I can wet my tongue, but I resist. Alcohol on an empty stomach in a dangerous situation? Sounds like a bad idea.

Fredrick sighs.

“Alright, I see you’re impatient. Let me begin. Long ago, I wanted to be the strongest warlock in all the world simply for boasting rights. Life held no interest for me, and the rules we were bound to bored me. My coven frowned upon exploring the extent of our reach when it came to magic. I hated that. Being young and rash, I shunned the rules and started researching how I could become the greatest warlock the world had ever seen. After years and years of studying everything that I possibly could, I stumbled upon a set of scrolls within a religious temple out west.

“In these ancient scrolls, I learned that there are other realms, not just ours, out there and within each realm sits a host of power. There are the two main realms: the Realm of the Living and the Realm of the Dead, and they are divided by a powerful Veil. Then, there are sub-realms within the Realm of the Living, like the one we reside in. There is another called the Third Realm, which is the next closest. In these scrolls, it says if you can harness the power from two sub-realms and reach into the Realm of the Dead to use the power there, one could potentially be unstoppable. This information was the answer to achieving my dreams!”

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