Blood Curse (Branded Trilogy Book 2) (26 page)
Read Blood Curse (Branded Trilogy Book 2) Online
Authors: Kat Flannery
Kade covered Pril’s body with a blanket he’d found inside the cabin. He’d moved Galius into the forest to be eaten by the wolves and bears. He examined the shrouded area for somewhere he could bury Pril. He didn’t want to place her in the middle of the clearing, or even off to the side. She deserved to be laid to rest somewhere peaceful and calm.
He spotted the red leaves. The tree of fire Pril had spoken of when they first arrived here. Her mother was buried there, and it only seemed fitting she be placed there, too.
He stood and picked up the shovel when a small hand touched his arm. He knew it wasn’t Red Wolf. He’d sent the boy into the forest to find some branches he could fashion into a cross.
He turned to see Tsura. When he’d checked on her an hour ago she was sound asleep, and he wondered how she didn’t wake through everything that had happened. When he took a closer look, he realized she’d been drugged and figured Galius had used the Witch’s berry Pril had told him about.
“You came back,” she whispered.
Kade crouched down to her height. The weight of what he had to tell her pushed him lower still until he sat on the ground in front of her.
“There is something I need to tell you,” he said and opened his arms for the child to sit on his lap.
Without hesitating, Tsura went to him.
The words were difficult to speak, the pain fresh and raw within him, but the child needed to know her mother had died.
“I am sorry but…” He swallowed. “But your mother has perished.”
Tsura’s head whipped around, and her black curls smacked his cheeks.
“No.”
Kade nodded and pointed to Pril’s covered body lying on the ground.
The girl went to her mother. She pulled back the blanket. He closed his eyes and waited for the wail—the sobbing—the shriek to bring her back, but the child was silent. He opened his eyes and was met with Tsura’s smile.
“She sleeps,” the child said.
“Yes, a deep sleep,” he said, trying to make it easier for the girl to understand.
She waved him close.
He went to her.
She pointed to the red pendant around Pril’s neck, and he could’ve sworn it glowed, but when he looked again it remained the same.
“See, she sleeps.”
“I do not understand.”
Tsura placed the pendant in the palm of her hand. “It saved her.”
He shook his head unable to fathom what the child said.
“She was poisoned.”
“The talisman protected her.”
“But how?”
“My mother has the gift, as I do, but she cannot see it. The pendant can feel it, and together they saved her life.”
Hope sprung in his chest, and he reached for Pril, placing his hand over her heart.
Tsura laid her hand upon his and closed her eyes.
“Feel mine heart strong and true, rid thy self of toxin undo. Awaken now to see mine soul, and embrace mine love to make thy whole.”
Kade’s palm heated as Tsura said the words, and he didn’t move a muscle, too afraid he’d break the spell. His eyes widened when he saw Pril’s lashes flutter. He could not contain the excitement. He could wait no more. He pulled her up and into his arms.
“Kade?” Pril said.
He squeezed her to him. When her arms wrapped around him, he let the tears fall.
“You came back, Gypsy,” he whispered into her hair.
“As did you.”
He held her from him, and when she smiled, he sighed.
“I shall never leave you again. I will take you wherever you want to go.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Of course.”
“I wish to be with you.”
He eased her lips toward his and pressed them together in a soul-drenching kiss. He poured himself into her, drinking from her the love he’d thought never to find. For the first time in his life, Kade Walker was home.
One year later...
The cabin lay nestled within the forest, secluded at the bottom of a valley and surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. Flowers bloomed in the windowsill. A garden of herbs and vegetables were planted out front.
Inside the log walls they huddled over a low fire.
“What do you see?” Magda asked.
“I need more herbs…and the blood from our mare,” Sorina said.
Emine took the jar from the counter and walked outside. No mirrors hung within the home, and she refused to look at her reflection in the glass she held. Her face was lopsided; the jaw busted a year before never healed right. She was disfigured—a
monster
—and hate stewed inside of her for the woman who had made her that way.
She plucked a few sprigs of thyme from the garden and moved toward the mare. She placed her fingernail against the horse’s neck and slid the nail along the skin. The flesh opened, and blood dribbled from the cut. She held the jar under the wound and watched with narrowed eyes as it filled.
She ran her finger along the cut. “Heal thy wound upon mine touch.”
“Emine, hurry,” Magda called from the doorway.
She rushed inside and handed Sorina the jar.
The other woman dumped the contents into the cauldron and stirred them with a wooden spoon.
“Gather around,” Sorina said.
The women stepped closer as smoke billowed from the pot.
“Find thy child.” She stirred some more. “Tell us where she hides.”
“I see nothing. You must be saying the wrong words,” Magda said.
“She is right,” Emine took the wooden spoon from Sorina. “Cauldron do thy duty, mix thy goods to bind, show the marked girl when she’s near…find, find, find.”
A blue haze wafted from the pot above their heads. When they peered into the cauldron, a young woman with black ringlets and green eyes stepped off of a ship onto the docks.
“She will come back to us a young lady,” Magda said.
“We will wait until she returns.” Emine smiled.
“And ready ourselves to kill her,” Sorina hissed.
~ * ~
If you enjoyed this book, please consider writing a short review and posting it on Amazon, Goodreads and/or Barnes and Noble. Reviews are very helpful to other readers and are greatly appreciated by authors, especially me. When you post a review, drop me an email and let me know, and I may feature part of it on my blog/site. Thank you. ~ Kat
Dear Reader,
After I finished
LAKOTA HONOR
, Book 1 in the Branded Trilogy I knew I needed to give my readers an explanation as to where the gift of healing had come from. It became clear to me early on that this story would have more of the paranormal feel to it than the book before it. I decided to place the book two hundred years before and in doing so needed to do a lot of research, which is why I write historical.
During the process of writing
BLOOD CURSE
, I fell in love with Pril and Kade as I do with all of my characters. However, these two have stolen a piece of my heart. I cried with them, laughed with them, and grew angry with them. I cherished them each for the strong willed, caring and loyal individuals I’d created…and I will miss them.
BLOOD CURSE
was my labor of love and I am pleased to give it to you. I hope you enjoy Pril and Kade’s journey, and within a few pages adore them as I did.
Love,
Kat
Kat Flannery
Kat Flannery's love of history shows in her novels. She is an avid reader of historical, suspense, paranormal, and romance. A member of many writing groups, Kat enjoys promoting other authors on her blog. She's been published in numerous periodicals.
Her debut novel CHASING CLOVERS has been on Amazon's Bestsellers list many times and was #62 over all their titles. LAKOTA HONOR and HAZARDOUS UNIONS are Kat's other two books and both have made bestsellers lists. BLOOD CURSE is Kat’s fourth book and she is currently hard at work on her next.
When not researching for her next book, Kat can be found running her three sons to hockey and lacrosse. She has her Certificate in Freelance and Business Writing.
Website:
www.katflannerybooks.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/katflannery1
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Flannery/131065966999142
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