“Lizzie,” Devon cries as he climbs on the bed and elbows Lincoln out of the way. “What the Hell?”
I fill him in, and I am sad to see Lincoln back out of the room, taking Chrissy with him.
“A curse?” he asks.
“Xanthe thinks so,” I say.
“Humph, how do you know she wasn’t the one who cursed you?” he asks nastily.
“It wasn’t Xanthe,” I say. Only someone with balls of steel would dare curse me and then come to my aid as if they didn’t know what was going on. Not that I wouldn’t put it past her to try, but she wouldn’t have shown her face afterwards.
“Who then?” he asks, curling himself around me and I feel comforted and loved. The gods only know where CK is at this moment. I know I went AWOL for a while, but surely, he must be wondering where I am by now. Unless he doesn’t really
care. I brush that thought aside and turn into Devon’s arms.
“Someone powerful enough to do this to me, and to her,” I say, chewing my lip. There is a short list of one so far, unless you include Tiamat or Remiel. Although, Remiel seems unlikely after what we just shared.
“Your mother?” Devon asks, but before I can respond, Xanthe and Xane appear and Xanthe is quite anxious.
“That was quick,” I remark.
“It’s black magick,” she says.
“What?” I ask, as I have no idea what she is talking about.
“Black magick,” she says again. “Whoever did this to you is extremely powerful. I also think it may have been a targeted curse.”
“Wait, explain the black magick part. Isn’t that what we have?” I ask and indicate to us.
“No, we have dark magick,” Xane says. “As part of the Underworld, we are dark. The Realm of Minerva are light magick users, the only light magick users. Even the Light Fae fall into the dark magick category. This here,” he says and indicates the small vial in Xanthe’s hand, “is pure evil.”
I gasp at his words. If he, as Demon Overlord, thinks that something is pure evil, then it has got to be seriously bad. And there is only one person I can think of right now that fits into that category. “Tiamat,” I say and end up on the receiving end of an icy stare from Xanthe.
“No,” she says. “Your mother could not have done this. I would know from the trace.”
“Then who?” I ask. “If we are all dark, who falls into the black category?”
“No one specifically,” Xane says, sitting on the bed and resting his hand on my feet. “Anyone powerful enough can use it, but the consequences are dire.”
“How powerful?” I ask. “You powerful? Or me powerful?”
“You powerful,” he says. “But that could mean any ruler of a Realm.”
“Like a King?” I ask with dread as a horrible thought pops into my head.
“Yes,” Xanthe says. “Who are you thinking of?”
“My father,” I choke out to shocked gasps. “We all know how much he wants the Faerie baby.”
“No, Lizzie, he wouldn’t do that,” Devon says, but it is only to try and reassure me. He has never even met Drake, so he doesn’t know what he might be capable of.
Xane and Xanthe remain silent.
“Is there a way to trace Fae magick?” I ask.
“Not that I know of,” Xanthe says. “I would only be able to trace Demon or Dragon magick and it is neither of those.”
“So, it has to be then,” I say wretchedly.