Chapter 26

You never really notice how quiet a place can be until you've had a day of chaos in it. The afternoon and evening had been spent pulling together every item and person that the coven thought could assist in the cleansing ritual. In what I was informed by a scandalized Tilda was a highly unusual event, the coven didn't limit itself to witches. After the numerous times the account of the cleansing ritual was read, it was determined that other species of paranormals could be brought in to up the power quotient. In that one afternoon I got more of an education in paranormal magic levels than I ever thought possible. The one thing that shone through was that Flora wasn't just important to the coven, she was a pillar of the Walker Bay community, and they were terrified at the thought of a future without her.

"Take care of her and remember to contact us if you see any change." Despite the urgency of the situation, Maude seemed to be reluctant to leave.

"I won't move from her side," I promised.

Maude nodded sharply and glanced over at Flora before hurrying out of the house.

I closed the door behind her and took up my place by Flora's bed, my hand grasping hers. I had never felt more useless in my entire life. For two hours I sat like that, desperately trying to see some change in her condition, but there was nothing. I bent my head over our clasped hands and closed my eyes. I was surprised when I felt a swirling dizziness and then the familiar cold bathing my skin.

"Flora," I breathed. I didn't understand this. Every other time I had come into this cell, I had been asleep. I was as positive as I could be that I hadn't even been close to sleeping this time. I looked around the room, finding Flora with her back against the wall and her head resting against her bent knees. As I stepped closer to her my attention was caught by something which hadn't been there the last time I visited. "What is that doing here?"

Built into the wall of the dungeon was an exact copy of the curse tablet, but this one had thick black tendrils wrapped around it, more dense than the ones on the blackthorn box.

Flora lifted her head and I could see that the effort cost her. "It just appeared, maybe a day ago, maybe more, maybe less. I can't tell anymore."

The same time that we found the tablet in the cave. That could not be a coincidence.

I knelt down beside Flora as she slumped to the ground, and pushed the hair back from her face. "What's going on?"

She licked her lips which had cracked so much they were bleeding. "Ever since that thing appeared, it's like my strength is being sucked out of me. The last hour it has been getting worse."

I paled as I worked out the timing. "The coven is trying to break the curse."

"Curses can't be broken, not even by the whole coven."

"They think they can," I insisted. "We found a spell in some old book that was used by a coven about a hundred years ago to successfully break a curse."

"The Raynard curse," Flora croaked.

"Yes, the coven thinks that now that we've found the curse tablet, if they use that spell as the basis, they can break this curse."

Flora shook her head. "It won't work."

"Why not?"

"It was a hoax. The Raynard curse was never broken."

"How can you say that? The baby was saved from the curse. His father was the last Raynard to die."

"Michel Raynard was not the father of his wife's child. Michel Raynard was the last Raynard to die from that curse because he was the last Raynard. That curse wasn't broken, it died out because there were no more men of the Raynard line."

"Are you sure?" I whispered.

"The coven leader knew because he was the father of Antonia Raynard's child. They'd been having an affair. By claiming the curse was broken by his coven, he gained power and prestige in the eyes of other covens. By never claiming his child, the baby was assumed to be a Raynard and was able to inherit the Raynard fortune." Flora broke off as a fit of coughing overtook her. "Very few people know the truth. That is why the legend still stands."

I slumped to the ground next to Flora. "It won't work."

I could see the defeat in Flora's eyes. It was like all the light had been extinguished. She put her hand over mine. "There isn't anything you can do. My fate was sealed the moment the curse was unleashed."

No, it couldn't end like this. I stood up quickly and strode over to the tablet on the wall. Maybe in here there was something that could be done about it. I glanced back at Flora and felt my resolve grow, there wasn't much I could do that would make this worse. I studied the tablet, all the time fighting the growing nausea I felt being so close to an object of evil. The black tendrils that were wrapped around it seemed to be holding it in place. Without giving much thought to a plan of action, I started pulling at the tendrils. I shuddered at the first contact, it wasn't just the slimy feeling that they had against my skin, it was more that they were leaving bands of darkness up my hands and my arm. I grasped a handful of tendrils and yanked, surprised to see them pull away from the wall in my hand. With a flick of my wrist I tossed it to the opposite corner of the room. Then I pulled on the next one and repeated until the tablet was free of the darkness that was now writhing in a dark mass in the corner, some of the tendrils still trying to reach out to us. Ignoring the darkness, I studied the tablet. It seemed to be wedged into the wall, rather than a part of it. Using the tips of my fingers I tried prying it out and was surprised when it fell into my hands.

I glanced over and found Flora watching me with wide eyes. I sat next to her on the cold ground and placed it at her feet. "What do we do next?" I asked urgently.

"There is nothing that can be done."

I wanted to scream in the face of Flora's resignation. I didn't believe her. There had to be something. Despite knowing the futility of the action, I grabbed the tablet and hurled it at the opposite wall, expecting to hear that dull thud that I'd heard when Maude did the same. Instead, a flash of light filled the room. I ducked my head and covered Flora's, terrified that despite my earlier thoughts, I'd been able to make things worse.

I lifted my head to find myself back in Flora's bedroom. I quickly looked up, terrified at the thought that my reckless anger may have killed her. Instead, I saw her eyes fluttering as if she was waking from a peaceful night's sleep.

"It worked," I breathed as Flora's eyes focused on me. "I'll call the others."

Flora's arm shot out and gripped my hand with a surprising strength. "You can't tell the others what you did," she croaked.

"Why not?"

"Only a cursebreaker could have done what you just did. Cursebreakers are not allowed to live. That edict still stands, even after hundreds of years. If anyone confirms what you are, they'll kill you. Let them believe that the whole coven was needed to break this curse. If we don't, you will never know peace again in your life."

That just seemed really unfair. "I'm not a cursebreaker," I said desperately. "It was just because the tablet appeared within your mind, it must have been a weaker version." I was grasping at straws, I had no idea what had just happened.

Flora gave me a grim smile. "What do you think I was trying to do all day before you showed up. You don't think that I tried to destroy that tablet from the moment it appeared." She caught my chin and forced me to look into her eyes. "I've been the coven leader of Walker Bay since I was thirteen years old, and I'm the strongest witch you are ever likely to meet. I couldn't get near that thing, but you were able to tear away the dark magic and destroy it. Nobody but a cursebreaker could do that."

"What are we going to do?" I asked, the realization and fear beginning to build in me.

Flora pulled herself up in the bed. "We let the coven believe that they managed to break the curse. That way nobody will even think to look in your direction."

"So, we provide history with another hoax," I murmured.

"It's the only way."

"I better contact them anyway. I was told to call Tilda if anything changed."

"I hate that Tilda brings that phone of hers into the magic circle. There is just something so wrong about that," Flora grumbled.

Despite the circumstances I smiled. It was both surreal and comforting to hear her complain about new-fangled technology taking over the world as she struggled out of the bed. I held out my arm to help give her leverage and she gripped it as she tried to stand.

"Who found the spell breaking the Raynard curse?" she asked.

"Isobel."

Flora stopped still. "That's not possible."

"She found it in one of the old coven books that are stored in the back room of the library. We've been poring over those for days and it was the only thing we found."

"No, I mean it's not possible because Isobel is one of the people who know that it was a hoax."

"Then why would she...?" The answer hit me. "You're not thinking that Isobel did this to you. She's your friend. Why would she put a curse on you?"

A chilling voice came from the doorway. "Because we need new leadership."