Witchling (Curse of Kin) (2 page)

***

I woke up early the next morning as usual. Sleeping late was out of the question now that I’d decided how to tackle the problem. Curling up on the window seat in my room overlooking the front garden, I watched the neighborhood come to life. Dogs barked, and doors opened as the sun rose in the sky.

The dirty, white paper delivery van chugged slowly down the street, papers flying out of its window to land on manicured lawns. It slowed down when it came to our house. A stranger glanced up at my window, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I couldn’t look away from the guy at the wheel. My heart missed a beat, and my breath caught in my throat while our gazes locked. Then he turned away and continued down the street, throwing papers as he went. I tried to breathe normally and watched at the window until he was out of sight.

What the frigging hell was that all about?

My skin was chilled, and when I looked down, I could see the goose bumps on my arms. I clutched at a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. The certainty that of someone had been in my head niggled at me. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that things were going so much faster than I could deal with. An irrational fear that Jasper wouldn’t be able to fix this problem sprang to my mind. A dark and insidious form flashed before my eyes, and I jolted back in the seat.

Was that real, or had I imagined it?

All of my emotions were shot to hell. I blamed it on the guy in the newspaper van. The feeling had started the moment he had slowed the van and met my gaze. I looked down the road but he was gone. I shivered, my teeth chattering with each minute shake. I needed to get into the shower to get the chill out of my bones. I threw off the blanket and headed for the bathroom.

I told my parents of our plans over breakfast. “Brie, Sully, and I are going over to Jasper’s to study for the day. We want to use his library for a bit, and he’s cool with that. I called him last night to make sure. We’ll be there most of the day, I guess,” I mumbled, eating my toast and talking all at once.

“Sure thing, kiddo.” Mom sipped her tea. “Give him my love and tell him it’s time he came over. I haven’t seen him all week.”

“Will do.” I rinsed my plate and leaned it in the dish rack before kissing my folks good-bye. I grabbed my backpack just as Brie and Sully ran up the back steps, and we left, Hugo at our heels.

“You are so lucky to have someone like Jasper, Nera,” Brie said, a moony look on her face. “I wish I had a handsome uncle like him living close by.”

“Hey, what’s with that creepy guy that’s delivering the newspapers?” I asked, interrupting Brie’s romanticizing.

“Don’t you remember? Mr. Jakes fell and broke his leg two weeks ago. This guy just happened to arrive in town at the right time looking for work. Why do you ask?” Brie kicked at the leaves from last fall that still littered the lane, which sent up small batches of brown and gold to flutter around her feet.

“Nothing really,” I replied putting my arm through Sully’s. “I just noticed someone different driving the van, that’s all.”

We walked through the park that boarded the River Laigin and crossed the centuries old stone foot bridge to get to the land that Jasper owned. His property went all the way up the coast past his house to the bluff and across the wooded hills on the western side. Jasper is my favorite uncle. Or I should say he is my only uncle. He lives in a beautiful old stone house—more like a castle really—on the outskirts of town, sitting on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the ocean. Surrounding it on the other side is forest. He is rather isolated, but that’s how he likes it.

It’s a fantastic place. Old buildings draw me in, and this one is like my second home. Two very ugly stone gargoyles guard the front door—creepy little buggers. They sit high on the parapet that runs around the roof of the house. That’s probably why I always go through the back way; much more my style.

Brie has a huge crush on him, always has. Tall, dark, and handsome she tells me, with loads of sex appeal thrown in. I’ve never looked at him in that way, and it would be weird if I did, but he is tall, and yes, he is very handsome in a rugged sort of way, with his long, black hair tied back carelessly with a leather strip. His big, blue piercing eyes make Brie weak at the knees. She made the point of telling me that one day. Big mistake.

Maybe it’s that square chin or the dimples when he smiles. Or even the way his eyes light up when he speaks to you, making you feel that there is no other person in his world at that moment.

I guess I can understand her logic. Most of the ladies in town think so too. He’s always got some female batting her eyelashes at him. Sickening really.

Dad said his wife died young, and he’s never gotten over her. He doesn’t talk about her very much, so we don’t either, but that has never stopped me from being curious. Her portrait hangs in the gallery upstairs. I often see Jasper gazing at it when he passes.

To me, he has always been Jasper, the one person I can turn to for help. Don’t get me wrong; I can talk to Mom and Dad—open family conversations and all that—but if it’s something I don’t want them to know about, that’s when Jasper comes in. It’s kind of like my very own living Dear Diary. Besides that, Sully, Brie and I love to hang out with him because he treats us like young adults, not kids. Well, that, and there is always something interesting happening over there.

Hugo raced ahead of us as usual to get to Jasper first. Brie wasn’t far behind him. She stopped long enough to smooth her hair down and add a layer of lip gloss before she walked in the door.

“Hi, Jasper,” she whispered in a breathless voice. “How are you?”

“Just dandy, Brie. How about you? Still fighting all those handsome young men off at school?” he replied, glancing at me over Brie’s head, his beautiful blue eyes twinkling.

Brie was the consummate vamp. She couldn’t help herself. It was just what she was. You could tell when she was interested in someone—her voice turned into a breathy whisper, and she batted her eyes. Not that too many guys complained. She really was a looker. Petite little curvy body, rich dark-brown hair that settled perfectly around her heart-shaped face. Her baby-blue eyes with their dark lashes and cupid mouth had many a heart melting. But she kept the best for Jasper.

“Let me put the kettle on, and you can tell me what you’ve been up to.”

I took a seat at the table while Jasper filled the kettle. Sully jumped up on the bench by the window, and grinned at me as Brie hovered around Jasper. I often wondered how we ended up with Sully in our little group. I mean, Brie and I have been together since we were born—both on the same day in the same hospital, but I won the race by six minutes. It gives me the physiological edge which I use to my advantage when it suits me. Sully, on the other hand, comes from Dublin. His folks moved to our little town of Kilmuckridge a few years back, and being rich and cultured, the kids were all over him on the first day of school. Somehow he ended up with Brie and me, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

Jasper collected the loaded tea tray and headed out of the kitchen, Brie by his side. “Let’s take this to the library, fellow sleuths, and you can fill me in on the reason for your visit today. I can show you my new project while we are there if you like.” He grinned at us before making his way down the passage.

“Oh, always, Jasper,” Brie whispered, hanging onto his arm. “Everything you do is so fascinating.”

“Down, Brie,” Sully mumbled under his breath.

I giggled behind my hand and followed Jasper to the library. The huge room was warm and cozy with high ceilings and a massive fireplace on one wall. Books lined the rest of the walls, and antiques he had collected over the years were on every available surface. Several tables were arranged around the large room, handy to the overstuffed couches and chairs that randomly filled the space. Most of them were covered with Jasper’s ‘”projects,”’ as he called them: antique telescopes in various stages of being restored and remodeled. He pointed with his chin to the table by the fireplace.

“Look at this, kids, my latest project. It’s a genuine Ramsden refracting telescope. I bought it last month through Sotheby’s. Just look at the condition it’s in. Hardly needs much more than a good clean. I probably paid too much for it, but they are so hard to come by.” A huge smile lit up his face. “It’s the first one I have heard of for sale for ages.”

He put the tea tray down and picked up a long brass tube. “Look through here, Sully. And here, this signature proves it’s authentic.” Making sure we all gave it the attention it deserved, Jasper put it back on the soft white cloth on his work table among the collection of repair tools.

Sully and Brie walked over to the sofa, but I stood with my hands tucked into my back pockets. Now that I had made the decision to come clean I was unable to sit still.

“Okay, I’ll play mother,” he said as he started to pour the tea. “Here you are, Nera.” He passed me a mug and stared at me, his gaze pinned on my face. “Let’s have it, girl dear. What is bothering you?”

Oh God, where do I start without making an ass of myself?
My face must have reflected more than I thought. So much for bringing this up casual-like. He knew me so well.

“Come on, kiddo, you know I’ll listen without judging you. Have I ever let you down in the past? No. And I won’t tell your folks unless I feel that your life is in danger, or you are being bloody stupid. So, let’s have it.”

I tried to buy myself some time while I sorted through my thoughts. I dropped down onto another couch and put my mug on the side table. I dragged my fingers through my hair and struggled to work out where to start.

“Okay, Dad knows what happened yesterday at school, but that’s all he knows. Sully and Brie don’t really know all of this either, apart from what I told them yesterday, so I’m relying on you all to keep this quiet and don’t laugh at me till I’m finished.” I hesitated, raising my eyebrow as I gazed at them all for a moment to make sure they understood that I was serious.

“A few years ago, I started having these really weird dreams. Actually, I’d probably call them bloody nightmares. Two of the dreams reoccur more than the others. In one of them, I go all clammy, and get chills down my spine that freaks me out. I can smell smoke and hear flames crackling around, but I can’t breathe because the smoke gets so thick it chokes me. I know someone is there with me, but as much as I try, I can’t find them. And the scariest part”— I paused and took a deep breath while twisting my hands in my lap—”I know who it is, but I just can’t place them. I know there is someone there waiting, just out of reach, but why and for what? I can’t see who they are, and it’s really frustrating me. With each dream, more strange things happen and it gets scarier. When I wake up now, I can smell the smoke in my hair. It’s like it really happened.”

Jasper leaned forward, his gaze intent. He opened his mouth as if to speak when I took a sip of my tea, holding the cup tight between my tense hands.

“No, don’t say anything yet. Let me finish.” I got up and placed my mug on the table. I tucked my hands into my back pockets again as I stood there and tried not to fidget or show my nervousness. “It happened at school yesterday. It’s the first time it has happened during the day. I felt like a fool. I made a real idiot of myself.”

“No, Nera, you didn’t,” Brie said as she rushed to my defense. “No one really knew what was happening to you. I thought you were having a panic attack or something.”

“I
did
, Brie! I made a complete ass of myself. That old biddy Mrs.White told Dad I had a hysteria attack because of exams, but we all know I can slam math anytime. Now he wants to know what’s going on, and I was lucky he never saw my hands…” I trailed off, looking at them now again. The burn marks were still visible even though the angry red blisters had gone down.

“What happened to your hands, girl dear?” Jasper reached for my hands.

I held them out to him. He touched them gently as he studied the slowly fading blisters on my palms. “Oh my,” he whispered.

“I burned them on the door handle when I tried to get out of the room,” I told him. “If Mom finds out, she’ll have a fit, Jasper. How do we explain this?”

Jasper gently ran his fingers over the marks. “Oh my, it is true. I thought it could be you. I hoped against hope it would be so, but, oh my…”

“What?” I snatched my hands back, looking at his troubled face. “What are you talking about?” I started to shake, and a cold chill ran down my back. “No, not now, not again,” I moaned, a loud thud started to pound in my ears.

“Nera, calm down,” Jasper whispered in my ear. He pulled me close and cradled my head against his chest. “Just listen to my voice and relax. Go with the dream, try not to fight it.”

My head felt tight, and I fought for control of my emotions, the panic rising in my throat. Still, I struggled through the fog. Jasper’s quiet voice encouraged me to relax, until finally I slipped into the dark hole where it could no longer touch me.

When I woke, I was lying down on one of the overstuffed couches in the library with Brie hovered over me. Jasper was sitting opposite, Sully beside him, both watching me intently. I glanced around the room and took in all the things I had grown up with while my mind tried to settle. Huge stuffed animal heads gazed down at me with glassy eyes, looking more threatening than before. Everything seemed to have changed for me. I no longer felt innocent and carefree. Something sinister had encroached into my life and changed everything forever.