Love Cursed, page 12
“You won’t win. I’m going to break the curse.”
“Goodie.” She clapped her hands, cackling. “Oh, the look on your face. You think I was trying to stop you from breaking the curse? On the contrary, I’ve been waiting here since my death, unable to take my rightful power or place among the Gods.” She leaned closer, the ghostly eyes behind Violetta’s manic. “I will break the curse at midnight on this Valentine Eve so that I can slowly drain you of power as I meant to do 2,000 years ago, and you will be unable to stop it. Finally, I will get my due.”
“Tomaso will stop you.”
Clodia’s shriek of laughter rang around the room, making Jules’ head throb more. “Tamuel has already been bound into the pentacle.”
“What? But he went to get the HeartsBlood Gem.”
“And he never came back.”
“Yes. You were right about where it was. After your power failed to come to me, powering my curse in a way I never intended when it buried itself deep inside you, I couldn’t make the HeartsBlood Gem move from your burial place. I had to leave it there, in its own grave at the heart of the pentacle. Tamuel was so thrilled to find it, he didn’t even question why I was there as he freed it – something he could do only because he is your son despite the fact it is magic only meant for women of power to use. But once he’d freed it, it was easy enough to take it and use it, as I did against Sebastio, binding him to the pentacle as I did the night of his birth and hiding his presence from everyone until I am ready to cast my spell.”
“You’re a monster.”
“No. I’m a Goddess in the making. Now, for your instructions for tonight’s events.”
Jules struggled up from the floor, limbs heavy and uncooperative. “You can’t make me do anything – if you could, you already would have.”
“True. Like that night centuries ago, you had to agree to be there of your own free will. And like that night, I will use your love against you. When I threatened to abort your unborn babe, you agreed so easily.” She flung out her hands. There was a pop of noise and a rush of wind and suddenly Bastien lay in her arms.
‘No!’ Jules took a stumbling step forward.
Clodia gripped his neck, squeezing. “If you do not come, your lover will never be human again. And I will make sure Violetta and Tamuel pay too. I’m very good at curses, as you know. And I have the HeartsBlood Gem to help bind them.”
“No. You can’t.” The ground pitched under her; her head still hazy from her vision.
“I can and I will, if you don’t do as I say.”
“How … how do I know you will free him – free all of them – if I come like you ask? You broke your word last time. You cursed all of us.”
“I was wrong. You aren’t as stupid as Lianna.” Clodia’s slow smile made her shiver. “I vow on the life and power of our Goddess that I will not harm them if you come of your own free will. But if you do not come, all will die.” She glanced at the clock. “You have an hour to decide.” Then with another pop and displacement of air that pushed Jules against the wall, Clodia disappeared.
Jules scrabbled over the bed, grabbed her phone and stared at the date and time.
11:00 pm.
13 February.
Despair flooded her, stealing her breath.
She’d lost the day to her vision of Lianna and Sebastio.
“Why did you show me now?”
“You had to know. To know who Bastien is to us.”
But she had known. Had always known. He was her best friend, her constant companion and the one she loved as she loved no one else.
And he loved her. Her. Not because she was Lianna. He’d shown it in so many ways over the years and she’d never seen it. Never been able to see it because of the curse. And her own self-doubt. But none of that mattered now – she loved him. She had to do anything to save him.
“Hang on. Wait a minute. Why is there no pain?”
“Oh!”
Her power. It hadn’t punished her via the curse when Clodia had used Violetta’s magic just now. Had it all been Clodia? No. She’d felt pain before coming here. Something else had changed – what? Did it even matter if it gave her an edge now?
She prodded at the power that had been locked inside her entire life. It flared under her touch – but not painfully so. Bright and strong, it leaped to life, making itself available for her command as if it had only been waiting for her to welcome it, to make herself open to it.
“Goddess. I can feel our power!”
“Can you use it?”
“Can you?”
“I have no idea. I know the theory but I never got to use any of it myself.”
“Well, you better figure out how, because it’s the only thing we’ve got going for us.”
“Not the only thing. You are so smart. I know you’ll think of something.”
Lianna was right. She might not know how to wrangle her power, but she’d spent most of her life reading about how others used their power. She could … no, she would work something out. And if this was the last time she would ever have to use her power, she was going to make it count. She could feel it now, coursing inside her, a spark quickly turning into a fire, a blaze. One she could not allow Clodia to have control over.
But how could she make certain of that and save Bastien, Tomaso and Violetta?
She had no time to figure it out. She just had to hope it would come to her. Disaster would reign if she didn’t.
Chapter
Fifteen
Jules slowed as she approached the Colosseum, waiting for the barrage of visions to take her over, but nothing happened.
Clodia. It had all been Clodia’s doing using Violetta’s magic. How had none of them realised?
There had been little things that should have told her something was wrong with Violetta – little comments that stabbed at her confidence, a look she’d misinterpreted. Easy to not think it was something more nefarious given they were all under such stress – none of them had been behaving normally.
Clodia was so clever. So practiced with using magics. How could Jules ever think to beat her?
“No. No time for second guessing yourself now. I did that and look where it led me!”
She swallowed hard. “You’re right.” Stopping now wasn’t an option even though she still didn’t have a clue how to save her loved ones.
Her footsteps echoed against the ancient stone as she walked across the concourse and into the Forum. She’d never seen it like this, her mind too full of visions of the past. The ruins shone pale in the moonlight, the shadows shimmering with darkness. It should have been eerie, but it wasn’t. It was just crumbling and sad – proof that even the strongest could falter and fall.
She straightened her shoulders as she picked her way across the ruins of the Temple of Vesta, to what had once been a lush private garden, and was now dirt and ruins and weeds. She came to a stop.
Clodia stood at the head of the pentacle Jules had unearthed two nights ago. Tomaso – Tamuel – stood at the point he’d been placed in as a babe all those centuries ago, eyes and mouth open in horror, his body unmoving.
Where was Bastien?
There, on the ground, naked and glistening with sweat, body twitching from the magics of the change that had obviously just taken place.
“Bastien,” she cried, racing towards him. His breath was shallow and his ribs showed clearly through his skin. He moaned as she touched him. “Shh, shh, I’m here.”
His eyes flickered open, glowing in the night, the white giving way to stunning peridot – another sign the curse was weakening. But not gone. It still needed to be broken.
“Julianna.” He reached up, hand trembling, to touch her face. “So beautiful.”
“You can see me?”
“Yes.”
She cupped his face, thumbs stroking across too sharp cheekbones.
He swallowed hard, eyes closing. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop her then and I can’t stop her now. The gem is too strong.”
“It’s not your fault.” She kissed his brow. “None of us could have known it was her. Here, I’ve brought you something to eat.” She leaned back and pulled a chocolate bar from her jacket that she’d taken from the kitchen before she left. He reached for it, but his hands shook so badly, so she unwrapped it and held it to his lips, encouraging him to bite. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was all she’d had time to get, hoping she would find him transformed by the time she got here.
He swallowed the first bite. “Thank you,” he said on a grateful sigh.
“Enough.” Clodia’s voice snapped through the air. “It is almost time. Take your position.”
“No,” Bastien said, grabbing at her arm as she went to get to her feet. His grip was pathetically weak, but she stilled anyway as he whispered harshly, “Don’t let her take your power. Save yourself.”
She bent down and kissed him, lips lingering. “I will never leave you. Not again. Besides, I have to save Grandmama – and our son.”
“Our son?”
“Tamuel.”
He gasped, gaze flickering to where Tamuel stood, trapped just like he was. “Of course – I should have seen it. There was something so familiar about him. I thought it was because he was a cupid, but it is because he looks a bit like his mother.” His gaze returned to her. “If only I had some of my power. He and I could open a tear into the Heavenly plane and shove her where she should have gone long ag—” He jerked and cried out, face screwing up in pain, chocolate squishing in his fist.
“Bastien!”
“Leave him or I will increase his pain.”
“Please, stop. I’ll do as you ask.” She scrambled to her feet.
Clodia smiled slowly, then lowered her hand. Bastien stopped writhing, but even though his muscles still twitched and he was covered in sweat, he looked up at her and whispered, “Don’t do it.”
“I love you,” she whispered, then moved away to stand where Clodia told her to, where she remembered Lianna had given birth to their son. She looked across the pentacle at Tamuel. “I love you too,” she said.
“I know, mother. I remember. I remember it all now. Do you?”
His voice – a youthful voice, not Tomaso’s older one – rang in her head, his question capturing her mind.
Something clicked inside her. A rush of power surged, bringing with it knowledge, Lianna’s and hers – learned but never used. She and Lianna might be the same, but they were also very different. And they’d learned different things about how to use magic. Where her knowledge faltered, Lianna’s filled the gap. Just as where Lianna didn’t know how to use what had not been practiced, Jules wasn’t so constrained. She’d always known the strength of knowledge and how to use it.
And she knew exactly what to do with her powers to save those she loved.
That love, aided by the HeartsBlood Gem, had partially protected her in the past, stopping Clodia from reaching her goals. Love had chipped away at the bonds of the curse all these years; enough so that she was able to build a friendship with Bastien – loving him; enough that she loved and was loved by her grandmama and her parents; enough that she felt the connection with Tamuel even though she’d not understood it. It was enough to make her different from all those who’d come before.
Enough to give her the ability to use her unused power now because she finally understood its true strength.
And that love was even stronger now. It would be the thing that sent Clodia to hell.
She took her place in the pentacle. Clodia lifted her hands, the HeartsBlood Gem glowing on her chest. Jules almost laughed – Clodia had no idea what she was wearing. It was a part of Vesta. The essence of her power still lived inside it as it still lived inside Jules – that of home and hearth and fecundity and love – and it could never be used by someone who did not understand. It was a power that would never properly bend to Clodia’s will.
It would destroy her.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Hell yeah. If Clodia wants our power, she can have it. All of it.”
“Jules, no!”
Bastien pushed himself to his knees, arm stretched out towards her, the light of life in him horribly dimmed. The darkness of Clodia’s power twined around him already – she would never keep her word. She was going to sap him and Tamuel and Violetta of power to do this thing.
Jules wouldn’t let her. “Trust me?”
“You can’t give her your power. Not to save me.”
“Or me,” Tamuel said in her head.
“Trust me,” she said to both of them.
They both nodded wildly. “I do. Always.”
“As do I.” The words echoed doubly in her mind, Tamuel’s voice combined with Lianna’s.
It was all she needed. She turned back to Clodia. The ancient witch had finished her spell, ready to release it. She sucked power from Bastien and Tamuel and from the fifth, empty point – a link to the Eternal Well? Even better. The Gods and Goddesses would not like what Clodia was doing. “I’m ready,” she said, her voice calm.
“Open yourself to me, girl, so I can break the curse and begin the transfer,” Clodia shouted. “Let me have what should have been mine. Now.”
Clodia’s dark power darted towards her. An intense pressure then a breaking pop in her head as the curse broke. She had no time to breathe in relief as more dark power was sent her way, this time intent on draining Jules’s power slowly, painfully.
Jules had other ideas. She lifted her hands. Power shot through her, sparking out of her fingers, lighting the night, arrowing to Clodia in an almighty burst.
The night lit up with the brightness of the sun as the power hit the HeartsBlood Gem then shot into Clodia, amplified.
The witch screamed. “No, no, it’s too much. Slow down. I can’t take it all at once.”
“You wanted it all,” Jules said, grinning. “You can have it.” She concentrated harder, sending more power through the conduit Clodia had unwisely opened, allowing Jules access to the naked, dark heart of her. That heart was strong. Weakened, but not destroyed yet.
She’d have to use all her power.
She shoved power and more power at the bitch-witch. Clodia screamed, the sound a shrieking echo of rage and terror.
“Jules, not all of it.” Tamuel’s shout reached her – she’d freed him and Bastien with her action – and they had raced across the pentacle to her side.
“It has to be nearly all,” she whispered, then pushed every last ounce of what was inside her out and into Clodia. “It is the only way to be truly rid of her.”
The blast of power had the effect she wanted – it shoved the spirit out of Violetta. Her grandmama collapsed onto the earth, unconscious – but it wasn’t quite enough. Clodia was diminished but still there, her ghostly figure hanging above Violetta’s body, trying desperately to reach her again – the only way she could now survive was in a living body.
“A tear. We need to shove her where she’ll never bother us again,” Jules gasped. She had used nearly all her power and didn’t have enough to finish the job herself.
Bastien and Tamuel put their hands on her shoulders and opened themselves to her. Such love. Such trust.
She took their power and bound it with the remaining remnants of her power and her own love and trust for them. “I forgive you, Clodia,” she said. “But I don’t think the Gods will. They don’t like it when people have the hubris to steal their power. Tamuel, now.”
He shoved power into her – such incredible power – and she tore open a fissure into the realms of the Gods, and with more of her power, bolstered by Bastien’s, Jules shoved Clodia through the tear.
Clodia’s scream disappeared into the shimmering grey beyond the tear, but it didn’t close. It pulsed then she felt something tug at her. Gods! The void wanted more – it wanted all the power that had torn a hole in it. It tugged at her again, pulling her across the pentacle. “Fight it!” Bastien, Tamuel and Lianna all yelled.
But she couldn’t. She saw the fingers of darkness from within – the remnants of Clodia’s dark powers or something else? – reaching out, seeking, heading towards her love and her son. “No!” she cried, shoving what remained of her power at the tear so that it caught at the darkness then flew into the Void. The tear shimmered, warped then closed with a whoosh.
Wind whipped up, wiping away the last embers of the pentacle.
Silence fell.
Her knees buckled.
Her lover and her son caught her and carried her over to sit on a flat stone. Despite the chill in the air, the stone was warmed from the magic that had burned the air only moments ago.
Magic powered by a love that had lasted through the ages.
Bastien came down before her, clothing himself as he did, his gaze full of love and yet tinged by sadness. “Jules. Your power. You sent all your power into the void with her. Why did you do that?”
“It was the only way,” she said, wishing he’d stop talking and just kiss her. “Didn’t you feel it? There was something coming out of the Void – Clodia or something. I had to close the tear before she/it could take a hold. It wanted my power so I gave all of it. It was the only way to save us all.”
“My love.” He stroked her face, his eyes full of loss. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“How did you know to do that?”
She looked up at Tamuel. “I read about it.”
He gaped at her. Bastien chuckled. “Of course you did.”
“And Bastien – do I call you Bastien? Or would you prefer Sebastio?”
“I’m Bastien for you.”
Her smile felt like it took up her entire face. “Bastien gave me the idea about sending her through to a place only the Gods have access to.” She smiled at Bastien, staring into his peridot eyes. “So beautiful. I’m so glad I finally get to see these and not just dream about them.”
