Chapter l333

Chapter 0333

“What do you mean, ‘dark magic?”” Nicholas demanded. I was glad he still had his voice, because mine was totally gone, I had a suspicion that I knew exactly what Veronica meant, but I wanted to hear her say the words.

“I mean a curse,” Veronica said,

I inhaled a shuttering breath,

“It’s possible that Elva has been cursed for a long time, even since she was a baby,” Veronica said.

“So… all this time…?” That was the most I could manage,

“The curse, if dormant, would slowly wear down Elva’s immune system over time. From the duration she’s already experienced, she will have a weakened immune system for the rest of

her life.”

“That’s if we stop it now,” Nicholas said,

Veronica nodded.

“What happens if we don’t stop it?” he asked,

Veronica looked down. “The curse would eventually kill her,”

“Eventually, you said,” Nicholas said. “This seems faster than eventually,”

“Yes.” Veronica looked at Elva again. I followed the length of her gaze, trying to see what she saw. All I saw was my little girl, asleep with labored breathing. “The curse is being amplified, It’s much stronger than it had been previously. Before, it had been so latent that I hadn’t even noticed it.”

As fear clawed away at my insides, desperation took root. “Is there anything you can do?” I

asked.

“I can attempted to ebb the flow of the curse.” Veronica came around to Elva’s side of the bed, a

I stood up to give her room. Nicholas kept his hand at the small of my back. I was grateful, Without it, I might have fallen/over.

Veronica stretched her arms, hands hovering over Elva’s small b*dy.

At the end of the bed, Julian watched with an unusually grim expression.

Sparks flickered in Veronica’s palms, snapping my attention back to her. She closed her eyes, and muttered some words that I had no hope of hearing.

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Chapter 0333

“What do you mean, ‘dark magic?”” Nicholas demanded. I was glad he still had his voice,

because mine was totally gone. I had a suspicion that I knew exactly what Veronica meant, but I wanted to hear her say the words.

“I mean a curse,” Veronica said.

I inhaled a shuttering breath.

“It’s possible that Elva has been cursed for a long time, even since she was a baby,” Veronica

said.

“So… all this time…?” That was the most I could manage.

“The curse, if dormant, would slowly wear down Elva’s immune system over time. From the duration she’s already experienced, she will have a weakened immune system for the rest of

her life.”

“That’s if we stop it now,” Nicholas said.

Veronica nodded.

“What happens if we don’t stop it?” he asked.

Veronica looked down. “The curse would eventually kill her.”

“Eventually, you said,” Nicholas said. “This seems faster than eventually.”

“Yes.” Veronica looked at Elva again. I followed the length of her gaze, trying to see what she saw. All I saw was my little girl, asleep with labored breathing. “The curse is being amplified. It’s much stronger than it had been previously. Before, it had been so latent that I hadn’t even

noticed it.”

As fear clawed away at my insides, desperation took root. “Is there anything you can do?” I

asked.

“I can attempted to ebb the flow of the curse.” Veronica came around to Elva’s side of the bed.

I stood up to give her room. Nicholas kept his hand at the small of my back. I was grateful. Without it, I might have fallen over.

Veronica stretched her arms, hands hovering over Elva’s small b*dy.

At the end of the bed, Julian watched with an unusually grim expression.

Sparks flickered in Veronica’s palms, snapping my attention back to her. She closed her eyes,

and muttered some words that I had no hope of hearing.

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Then, as if she had been burned, she gasped and snapped her hands back. A sizzling sound filled the air. I looked down at her hands, they were scorched with black.

“Veronica!” I stepped closer. “Charlotte, get some ice!”

“At once!” Charlotte said and disappeared into the hallway.

“It’s fine,” Veronica said. I shook my head. It had to be painful. Beneath the black, her skin was red and inflamed. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“How?”

She gave me a small, sad smile. “I burned off the nerves in my hands years ago, at my previous instructor’s command.”

My aching, worried heart broke all over again. What had this girl gone through, to be here with me now, willing to help Elva even at detriment to herself?

“Don’t do that again,” I said.

Charlotte returned with ice and brought it over to us. I handed it to Veronica, who placed it in her palms.

“I will do it again,” Veronica said. “But not until it’s necessary. It would be pointless to continue until we find the talisman amplifying the power of the curse.

Julian sprang to action at once. Nicholas perked too. Perhaps the promise of doing something lit a fire within them. I understood the sentiment. We’d been helpless too long, watching. Now maybe we could finally do something to help Elva.

“What kind of talisman?” Julian asked.

“A member of the organization likely left some type of object nearby that would give strength to the dark magic. It would have had to been by the person who initially place the curse, and it would be an object very special to them. Something that exudes a lot of emotion. for them.”1

After she was done speaking, everyone looked at me.

“No,” I gasped, because I knew what they were inferring. It was the same thing I was

thinking now.

The only person in the underground who had been in this room. The person who wandered the halls. The one who knew all the secret passages in the palace.

Terry was in prison.

That only left Jane.

Time froze around me. I had known for a long time now that Jane hated me. That she envied

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But for her to want to kill her own child? For her to place a deathly curse on Elva? That felt too much, too far.

She could hate me if she wanted, I could bear it. But to hate her own child?

Nicholas placed his hand on my hip and squeezed. I tried to concentrate on the feel of him, to bring me back to the present, but even his touch didn’t feel like enough anymore.

Jane had hurt Nicholas too. She didn’t even know him.

Maybe amplifying this curse was simply the next step in her advancement of evil.

To try to kill her own child….

I shivered. Nicholas dropped the preamble and pulled me straight into his arms. Veronica didn’t bat an eye, Julian, however, looked away,

“We’ll find this talisman,” Nicholas whispered into my hair, a promise. “We won’t rest until Elva is safe,”

I nodded. He made everything sound so certain, so sure. With his confidence, I could almost believe him. It would have been easier to if Elva’s life wasn’t on the line.

Still, when I pulled away from him, I felt stronger than I had just a minute before. I looked at

Veronica.

“How big is the talisman? What is it generally?”

“It can be any size, but usually the curse wielders choose something small and easy to hide,”

Veronica said,

“We should start with searching this room,” Nicholas said. “Mark, Charlotte, check the closet. I’m going to bring in more guards.”

“When you find something that could be suspicious, bring it to me and I will be able to determine,” Veronica said,

“Maybe you should aid in the search,” Julian said to her.

“No,” Veronica said. “I cannot leave Elva’s side. If the worst should happen…” She cast me an apologetic look that stopped my breath. “I’m the only one who might be able to do something.”

“I’ll stay too,” I said. If Veronica thought Elva’s end was so near, I couldn’t chance leaving

either.

Nicholas k*ssed my cheek. Then he approached Elva and touched her cheek with his hand.

“I’ll protect you, Elva,” he said. “We’ll stop this curse, and stop her. And no one will ever be

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I knew that was a promise Nicholas couldn’t truthfully make, but he obviously wanted to. That felt like enough, for now.

Elva had to hold on. For me. For him. Even for Julian, who was mindlessly making a coin disappear in his palm, a trick he had shown Elva not all that long ago.

Nicholas pulled away from Elva then, and headed for the door. “Guards!”

Charlotte and Mark disappeared into the closet.

Julian walked to the far side of the room and searched among Elva’s toys.

I returned to Elva’s side. I sl*pped her hand into mine and held it.

“Is there anything else I can do?” I asked Veronica.

Veronica didn’t say anything for a long moment. She had dark, watchful eyes that made me feel like she didn’t miss a single thing. I’d be unnerved maybe, if I didn’t know who she was and what she suffered.

“Stay by her side,” Veronica said. “When I was alone and hurting, I wanted my family close to me. She might be asleep, but she is frightened. She needs her mother.”

Tears fell from my eyes. “I’ll never leave her.”