To Catch a Witch [Spells of Seduction 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

He looked at Merlin. “It’s not Pondora doing this. It’s a spell. The evil sorceress somehow got to her through her dream.”

Merlin didn’t look at him, for he was still too busy pulling futilely at her arms. “So what do we do?”

Jacob uttered the first thing that popped into his head. “Give her back her powers, Merlin! Only then can she fight back.”

“But...” Merlin hesitated.

Jacob could see Pondora’s face start to turn blue. Her eyes seemed to want to pop out of their sockets. “Hurry, Merlin! Hurry!”

Merlin jumped to his feet and darted to his sack near the fire pit. The embers had long ago burnt out as nighttime progressed. He dug into the long sack, rummaging and cursing. “Where is the bloody orb?”

Pondora stopped breathing, Jacob feared, for she became completely still. His heart jumped to his throat, pounding frantically. He leaned in to shake her, but she didn’t move.

“Pondora! Pondora!”

Her motionless body was the telltale sign he could not refute. She was dead. The evil sorceress had taken her in the dead of night.

Tears began to film his eyes. He honestly thought they would have been able to vanquish the sorceress and save Pondora and her cursed victims. And maybe after that they could have had something more. Maybe something wonderful could have grown from their encounter. But now everything was lost. His heart broke, never to mend again.

It dawned on him too late that the spell wasn’t the cause of his growing feelings for her. It may have pulled them together in the beginning, but then something else took over. Something real and, he believed, everlasting. Nothing on heaven or earth could do that except genuine and pure love. It took her death to tell him that.

Gazing at Merlin, who knelt beside her, motionless and holding the orb, he saw the despair and pain etched in his brother’s features. Merlin’s heart had broken, too.

Sniffling, Jacob bent down to first kiss her forehead and then close her dead, wide eyes. The moment his lips touched her skin, a spark ignited and stung his mouth. Then a gasp and a big crying sigh escaped her lips.

“You’re alive!” he said in disbelief and joy.

She kept blinking, gasping for air. Hyperventilating she said, “She came to me through my dream.”

Merlin took her hand as she sat up. Her breathing audibly began to taper down. She cried and wrapped her arms around him. She told him through her sobs, as she buried her face in his chest, what happened in her dream.

“Shh, it’s all right now. I broke her spell when I kissed you.” Jacob soothed her by rubbing her back.

She turned to him, shaking her head. “No, you did not break it. She did.”

“Why? If she wants you dead and she almost did kill you through the dream spell, why did she stop?” Merlin asked.

“She did it on purpose to torment me but also to show you just how powerful she is. She lives on the fear of her victims. She toys with them until they go mad with terror, and then enjoys watching them quiver.”

“Well, it did not work,” Merlin said defiantly.

Who said? Jacob thought.

He saw the fear and despair in Merlin’s features when he thought Pondora was dead. Jacob had felt the same way. No, the evil sorceress had hit her mark. But neither he nor Merlin could let Pondora know this, or the sorceress, if she spied on them now.

Jacob peered into the dark forest, half expecting the shiny yellow eyes of the beast he saw in the spying glass to be looking at them, at their every move. It did feel like eyes, more than one set, observed them as they sat there comforting Pondora.

“She isn’t there now, Jacob.” Pondora stared in the direction he peered.

“How do you know?”

“Because I know her too well. She loves the thrill of surprise. She will attack when we least expect it. Not now.”

“Then when?” Jacob asked.

“Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day. Maybe she’ll taunt us for a few days, making us check on every mysterious movement and noise we witness until we worry ourselves into an unsettled state and become more vulnerable. That has always been her strategy.”

“Her plans will falter, because we will set out early in the morning for Stonehenge before the sorceress can come after us. We’ll make haste in our journey and arrive before the appointed time. We’ll be able to vanquish her there. I promise you that.”

“But how? My powers cannot defeat her. Nor can yours, Merlin.”

Merlin shook his head. “Just trust me. We will fix everything.”

Jacob looked at Merlin, perplexed. His vague reply made Jacob skeptical. Merlin had told him a bit of the spell he had found and what he planned to do when they got to Stonehenge. But it was in simpleton’s terms. Could they really destroy the evil and powerful sorceress? How? It was impossible. There wasn’t a sure way to defeat her, nor a sure spell created. And the fact the sorceress didn’t seem scared or intimidated in the least by them in Pondora’s dream made Jacob really nervous.

Yet, through the bright moonlight, Jacob could see Merlin’s resolve. It was a look of sureness, belief in their success. Deep in his heart, Jacob had no doubt Merlin had a secret trick up his sleeve he didn’t divulge to him. That important factor, or factors, were the key to the evil sorceress’s undoing.

In his mind, Jacob began to pray that they would get to Stonehenge before the sorceress reached them, and that there, Merlin’s parlor of tricks, or spells in this case, would be their salvation.

* * * *

Velona couldn’t sleep. The hooting owl and her shattered nerves kept her awake. She sighed, turning to place her arm around Merlin’s waist. She needed to feel his body’s warmth, his chest moving up and down, know he was breathing, that he was alive and well.

She couldn’t silence the looping phrase that kept chanting in her mind.
I’ll take away your pawns one at a time.

The evil sorceress may have seen Merlin and Jacob as pawns, but Velona saw them as something entirely different. She saw them as her protectors and saviors. They had saved her from getting her head chopped off in the Tower of London. And now they were putting their lives at risk to save her once again. After all the horrible things she had done in her past life, they still wanted to protect her. It was more than she could say for the fine Duke of Kent.

The moment he heard who she really was, he ran to his brother the king and demanded she be hanged for her crimes. He had no remorse for what he did and no hesitation, either. He obviously never loved her.

Bringing her hand to Merlin’s golden locks, she wondered as she touched the silky strands. Could he and Jacob have started having feelings for her as she now started having for them? She knew the spell they cast couldn’t be the cause of all the effects she was experiencing. Some were genuinely real. She was falling for the handsome sorcerers. And that very revelation scared her in so many ways.

They believed she was Pondora, that she was the only one responsible for all the devastation, the deaths and other horrible things that happened to the country all these years. Yes, she was to blame for some of the horrible things, but not all. There wasn’t a day that passed by where one of the images of her victims and their suffering didn’t waft into her mind and thoughts, wrenching at her heart and emotions. She had shed many tears for all she had made suffer. And no matter how much goodness she now bestowed on the citizens of this country, she could never undo the past or her sins. Nor would they ever forget or forgive her for who she was and what she did.

What if the same could be said for Jacob and Merlin? Would they ever be able to forget and forgive her for who she was in her past life? How could she explain to them the whole truth behind what she did? And how could she explain the long history and secrecy of Pondora? It was an endless and complicated story that only a few knew. And they were sworn to secrecy. If any one of them divulged the secret, they would be hunted down and killed. So would the ones they told, as well.

No, Jacob and Merlin could never know the secret of Pondora or the real truth behind her past.

She surmised Merlin’s spell he had planned to use at Stonehenge tomorrow would reverse all the evil magic Pondora had committed throughout the years on her victims. If her hunch was right that it was his plan, then it was futile, for she had reversed all her spells and curses long ago. As for the other curses of Pondora, they would remain cast. But she could never tell him or Jacob this, for if she did, then she would have to explain the secret of Pondora, and they would be killed.

She wanted to protect them as best she could, and that included saving them from Serona. The only way she could do that was to regain her powers and trick the evil sorceress. She had known Serona all her life. She knew her weaknesses and fears, and she certainly knew what made her tick. She may not have the demon powers she used to have to defeat the sorceress, but using her wits, she still had a chance. She had seen Merlin holding an orb when he and Jacob thought she had died. It must hold her powers of sorcery. She needed to get the orb and figure out a way of breaking her powers free of their constraints.

The problem was, she didn’t know where Merlin placed it. She had checked his sack when he wasn’t looking earlier, but it wasn’t there. He must have hidden it someplace else, fearing the evil sorceress had seen his first hiding place and would be coming for it. Loosening her fingers from Merlin’s lock, she quietly and slowly moved away to get up. While he and Jacob slept, she would look for it.

“Hmm, don’t stop,” she heard Merlin say.

She turned her head to see Merlin rolling onto his back and smiling at her. She whispered, “You’re awake?”

He nodded. “Where were you going?”

“I was thirsty and wanted to drink water,” she lied.

“Here you go,” Jacob said a few feet away from her.

She jumped to see he was sitting up and offering her a mug of water he had resting beside him. “You’re awake, too?”

“Aye, I couldn’t sleep.”

She took the mug and took several sips. “Do you always keep a mug close by when you sleep, Jacob?”

Merlin laughed. “My brother is a veritable camel. He can drink water by the gallon when he travels.”

“I need to keep my strength up and don’t want to risk becoming dehydrated. That’s something you should consider, Merlin.”

Merlin scrunched his nose. “Always nagging.”

She couldn’t help laughing at their brotherly camaraderie. They gazed at her with curious eyes. “What is so funny?” Jacob asked.

“You two.”

Merlin grabbed her in his arms, pulled her to him, and began tickling her. “Are we that amusing?”

“Stop that. I’m extremely ticklish.” She wiggled and thrashed, trying to break free.

He laughed along with her, letting her go. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“I guess none of us can sleep knowing what will happen tomorrow,” Jacob said.

Velona’s smile disappeared with his comments. “As I said before, she may not come then. She could come the next day, or the day after that. She will come when we least expect her. You can count on that. So our worrying won’t help. What you need to do is forget your plan and let me go free. She wants me, not you. If I leave, she won’t come after you two.”

Merlin pulled her hair away from her face and stared at her. “And what will you do all alone when she comes for you?”

She lifted her brow and pleaded, “If you gave me back my powers, then I could protect myself, even though I cannot defeat her.”

“No, Pondora. You know we cannot do that. We must go to Stonehenge tomorrow and execute my spell. All will be fixed then, and the evil sorceress will not be able to harm you or us.”

“You still haven’t told me your plans, Merlin.”

“I cannot.”

“You don’t trust me?”

He frowned. “No, do you blame me after all you did?”

She cast her gaze downward in shame. “No, I do not.”

Jacob got up and walked over to her and, without her noticing, got to his knees and wrapped his arms around her. He lifted her face upward so he could stare into her eyes. He dipped in to give her a slow, gentle kiss. Her heart warmed at his tender affections.

When he released her lips, he caressed her face and, staring into her eyes, replied, “We can see the remorse in your eyes for what you did, Pondora.” He looked at Merlin. “Trust my brother. Once he sets in motion his plans at Stonehenge, all will be fixed and you can move on with your life. Live a guilt-free, happy life with me, with Merlin if you want it.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “After all I did, you would want that with me?”

Merlin responded then, “Yes, if you help us and truly have remorse for all the wrongs you did.”

“I have been trying to fix all the wrongs I did for quite some time, Merlin. But it isn’t as easy as you think.”

He frowned. “Then tell us why, and how we can fix it.”

She turned her head to hide the tears that threatened to escape. Once she had composure again, she took a deep breath and looked at him, then at Jacob. To distract them from asking more questions she didn’t want or couldn’t answer, she asked, “How do you know it isn’t the spell urging you to feel and want me like that?”