Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (38 page)

Which was such a dumb-ass move on her part. It ranked right up there with leaving home to become a ballerina. And thinking that a girl who’d been raised to become the priestess of an ancient goddess could ever have what the
eteri
considered a normal life.

A light tap on her shoulder made her turn with a start. Serena stood behind her, her smile gone now, her eyes deadly serious.

For some inane reason, the “Jeopardy” theme music started to run through her head. Funny, she’d never found it ominous before.

Serena led her through the maze of hallways to a sitting room on the other side of the house, far enough away that they couldn’t hear the men and, more importantly, Shea thought, the men couldn’t hear them.

“Is Leo asleep?” Serena asked as she sank into a deep, comfortable-looking leather chair, curling her legs under her and waving Shea into the matching one across from her.

“Yeah, he’s wiped out.”

“He looks very much like your father, but then you know that. And you look so much like your mother, it’s almost startling. But that’s not what you want to hear, is it?”

Shea took a deep breath. “I’m not really sure what I want to hear.”

Serena smiled. “What is it you don’t want to hear first?”

“How old are you?”

Serena lifted her delicately pointed chin. “I was born in 1457 in a small village in the hills of Toscana. I was thirty-three when Fabrizio Paganelli cursed my
boschetta
for failing to save his son. If we had known the bastard was
Mal
, we never would have agreed to help.

 “Your mother argued against it from the beginning. She said later she knew there was something wrong with Paganelli but never realized just how evil he was. After the curse, after—” Serena shook her head, as if to get rid of a bad image. Then she glanced down at the leather thong visible around Shea’s neck and pointed to it. “Did your mother… Do you have the nail?”

Shea’s hand automatically lifted to touch the key. “Yes. She hid it with Leo.”

“And you know what it is?”

Shea nodded. “I was trained to take my place among the Priestesses of Menrva. I know the history and the rituals. I know we wait for Menrva to recall us to our duty, and when She does, I know that we will once again use the nails for their true purpose—to sever fate by hammering the nails into the wall of Menrva’s temple, letting our people begin a new year unencumbered by the problems of the past.”

Serena nodded as if she were a star pupil. “Your mother taught you well. But she never mentioned anything about the curse?”

Shea shook her head.

The other woman’s smile softened. “And you don’t understand why she never told you, do you?”

“Not a clue.”

“Did you know that in all the long years of her life, your mother never had another child? Not with her first mate, Antonio. Or with Franco, Antonio’s first reincarnation.”

Shock made her mouth open then close. Well, damn. She’d never even considered that there were other men before her father, much less other children. She barely forced herself to shake her head again. Much more of that and she was going to be dizzy. Screw that, she already was.

“For so many years, your mom prayed for a child. And I know she cherished you with all her heart.”

Shea’s heart pounded with the force of how much she wanted to believe Serena. Pitiful, really, how much she yearned for something that no longer mattered. Her mom was gone.

“Your name is beautiful,” Serena continued. “Did your mother tell you where it came from?”

The question took her off guard. “I looked it up in a baby book once. It means ‘from the fairy fort.’” She shrugged. “I guess that’s self-explanatory. Except, it’s Celtic.”

“Yes, it is. But Celeste didn’t give you the name because of its meaning. Have you ever read ‘The Sword of Shannara’ by Terry Brooks?”

Shea felt her eyebrows lift. “I’m named after a character in a book?” She couldn’t believe it. Her mother had never been frivolous. She’d rarely smiled. And when she had, it had usually been directed at her dad.

“Actually, it was a series of books. Your mother loved them. She particularly liked the character of Shea.”

“Why?”

“Because he had a quest to undertake and when he completed it, all was right in the world. She knew you would have a hard road. One you would have to travel alone.” Serena sighed, her expression sobering. “I wish I could tell you all you had to do was perform a spell and this would all be over.

“But this is a blood curse and blood demands blood.”

A vicious chill cut through Shea’s body. Oh God. Serena knew. She had to know about her father’s visions. What should she say? Should she confess—

Serena grimaced and turned away. “I’m sorry. I’ve been locked away in this house for so many years, I forget myself.” After taking a deep breath, Serena returned her gaze. “Though we know how Fabrizio performed the curse, we’ve never been able to break it. Our seer, Dafne, foretold the end but died before she could tell us more.”

“Burned at the stake.” Shea forced the words through the knot in her throat.

Serena’s eyes filled with tears. “Fabrizio’s eldest son, Remo, had her burned at the stake in 1509, when it became obvious we were no longer aging. Then he incited the villagers against those of us who remained. They killed our families and tried to kill us, too. But instead of burning our bodies or our hearts, which we cannot survive, they merely slit our throats. When we dragged ourselves out of the shallow grave they’d buried us in, we realized we could not die by normal methods.”

Horror made Shea’s stomach seize in on itself, multiplied by the stark agony on Serena’s face. Her grandfather’s journal had made no mention of this. How had they survived?

Blessed Goddess, Mom…

“My daughters, Madrona and Furia, both members of the
boschetta
, had been cursed as well, but my beloved Niccolo and your mother’s Antonio were lost that night. After…” Serena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if willing away the images in her brain. “Those of us who remained scattered across Europe.

“What we didn’t realize at the time was that Fabrizio’s curse had returned on his sons. We don’t know what happened to Remo and Parente. But Dario made it his duty to hunt us down and kill us.”

It sounded like some fictional horror story to Shea, better suited to a Stephen King novel. But Shea had seen Dario’s methods up close and personal.

“Dario wants your brother because he has power, power he would force him to use against us. He’s managed to take other children before. I don’t know how he managed to find your brother or your parents but—”

 “It was my fault.” The words tried to stick in her throat but she forced them out, forced herself to say them.

Serena’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Shea dropped her gaze to the floor, not wanting to see the condemnation in the other woman’s eyes. “I left six years ago. Left Wisconsin for Philadelphia and never went back. I didn’t see them before…” She shook her head. “I must have left a trail, something… I don’t know. That must’ve been how he found them.”

Serena shook her head. “Shea, I was your mother’s best friend, and I knew nothing about you. Believe me, Dario doesn’t know you exist. You are not to blame for your parents’ deaths.”

Bullshit. She was responsible. She knew it. But instead of allowing Serena to try and change her mind, Shea moved on.

“Was my dad really my mother’s reincarnated blood-bound mate?”

Serena’s laugh wasn’t faked, though it sounded rusty. “Yes, he was. They were very much in love, no matter what century.”

Shea had never doubted her mom’s love for her dad. It had been evident in every look, every touch. “Were you blood bound?”

Serena’s amusement vanished and, in its place, Shea saw pain. Centuries of it. “Yes.”

She should stop. She knew it was none of her business. Still… “Do you know where he is now?”

“Yes.”

“But he’s not with you?”

“No.” Serena sighed. “It’s been more than two-hundred years since his last reincarnation. You learn not to wish for what you can’t have. And you learn that loving is much worse when you know you’re eventually going to lose it.”

Shea’s breath caught in her throat and her chest closed in on itself with pain. And not just her own. Serena’s pain went so deep, it felt cold against her skin, like a bitter fog.

Shea started to reach for Serena, but stopped, curling her hands into fists. Afraid if she touched her, Serena’s despair might drown her.

All five hundred years of it.

“I’m so sorry.” Sorry she hadn’t broken the curse, sorry she didn’t know how.

Yes, you do. Your father’s vision…

Serena’s mouth twisted but not in anger. “Sweetheart, none of this is your fault. My shortcomings cannot be laid at your feet. Yes, I love him with all my heart but…there are complications.”

“Only in your mind, Serena.”

Quinn spoke from behind her and Shea turned to find both Quinn and Gabriel in the doorway.

Quinn’s angry, anguished expression cleared up any question of who Serena’s mate was.

“Did you find anyone?” Serena directed her question to Gabriel, ignoring Quinn.

Gabriel’s jaw set as he glanced from Quinn back to Serena, but he shook his head. “As far as I can tell, no one followed us. We’re safe.”

Serena nodded. “Good. That’s good.” Serena glanced back at Shea. “I was hoping you and Leo would join me tomorrow for the summer solstice treguenda. It’s been a while since I’ve had guests for a ritual. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some work I need to do.”

Shea watched Quinn stiffen as Serena dismissed them, watched Gabriel glance at his mom and his best friend with sympathy in his eyes. Then Quinn turned and headed down the hallway without another word.

After a look from Gabriel, Shea swallowed the rest of her questions and walked out. Gabriel shut the door behind her, closing him in with his mother.

Shea stared at the door for a second. Guilt, fear, sorrow felt like a boulder tied around her neck. She wanted to sink to the floor and crawl up in a little ball.