Adversity (20 page)

“
My son will find his soul mate,” she said. “They won’t have
eyes for anyone but each other, and they will do anything to
protect each other. And his son will find a soul mate, and his
grandson. Every single one through the generations will find true
love, and when a daughter is born to take over my power, your words
will be meaningless. Lost forever.”

He
laughed, a laugh full of madness, and he ran for her. His fingers
found her throat and squeezed hard. Choking, she stuck her fingers
in his eyes and pushed. He fell away, burned by the black magic in
her blood, the very magic he had ensured she was gifted with, and
the look of fear on his face only compelled her to go
further.

“
You cast me out? You cannot take what’s mine, but your people
will regret this day for eternity. They will see the dead at every
turn, and there will never again be guardians for your clan to
use,” Kali intoned. “My children will grow stronger while your
people wither and die. You will be persecuted and turned away at
every village. The blame for everything will rest on your
shoulders. You will all suffer for this. Mark my words.”

“
You play with the darkness, but you know nothing of the
consequences. You know not what the payment will be. But know this,
as much as mine are persecuted, so will yours be. Hunted always
because you didn’t know your place. Haunted by madness from loss.
You foolish girl.”

She
didn’t see the flick of his wrist until it was too late. She felt
the burn of the stab wound only when the blood ran down her skirts.
His gaze flickered toward her son, and she forgot about the pain.
She would never let that man hurt her child.

She
slapped her father’s face, but the force of the shadows was behind
her. She felt the malevolence in her veins, and then she felt its
glee as she decided she would outlive her father. They struggled
for the knife, but her strength soon overpowered him. He managed to
pin down her arms as he aimed for her throat again, but she could
have sworn she saw Drina behind him, pulling him away.

His hands
released her, and a harsh breath filled her lungs, but blood
spurted from her lips as she exhaled. Shadows edged her sight, but
she heard struggling, grunting, and a whimper across the
room.

A death
rattle.

Andriy
knelt by her side, his eyes wet with tears.

“
Is he dead?” she managed to whisper.

He
nodded. “Kali… what can I do?”

“
Take our baby. Take Dog. Run from here, and keep him safe.
Promise me, Andriy. He’ll need guidance. When he’s sixteen, he will
change for the first time. He’ll need help to tame the wolf. And my
father managed to curse him.”

“
I don’t believe in curses. I believe in
us
, and I won’t leave
you.”

“
You have to,” she hissed at him, mildly horrified by the way
her blood sprayed across his face. He didn’t even blink. “My father
cursed our son, Andriy. Said he wouldn’t find love. That he would
suffer with loss and madness. I made it so he’ll find his soul
mate, but others might come for him. You have to protect
him.”

Her heart
slowed. Hazy darkness surrounded her, and when she delved into her
own future, it didn’t exist.

“
I can’t do this without you.” Andriy’s tears fell on her,
mixing with her blood.

“
They might come for you, as well. When he’s old enough, you
must warn him of the curse. You have to help him understand. I
tried to change it, but…”

The last
sounds she heard were the screams of a baby and the sobs of a
broken-hearted man.

***

Amelia

I felt my
heart start again and looked for the safety of my bedroom. But I
was still there, in that tiny room, still seeing blood all over the
floor. Except I was looking right at Kali’s body and at Andriy
holding her in his arms, weeping silently.

“
It all went so wrong,” said Kali, an apparition before me.
Though taller than me, she had dark eyes and long, wavy hair that
closely resembled mine. Her doe-eyes and overly large features made
her more interesting looking than pretty.

“
What is this?” I asked.

“
This is a glimpse at my life. The memories belong to your
blood. You interpreted them in your own way, but ultimately, this
is my life.” She laughed. “The highlights.”

“
Am I dreaming still?”

“
Do you see what I did?” she asked dreamily, completely
ignoring me. “I should never have used the darkness to help me. To
hurt him. My soul has been bound between worlds ever since. I’ve
been waiting for so long.”

She gazed
at her baby, a mixture of love and sadness in her eyes.

“
What happened to them?” I couldn’t help asking. I knew it made
no sense, but I had to know what happened next.

“
Andriy took our son to his
wife
,” she spat. “He gave her my son.
He told her everything, even the warnings I had given him. Then he
walked into the lake and drowned himself. He moved on to the next
life without me.”

Wow, she
sounded bitter. “So Marusya raised him?”

“
Yes. She emigrated with him and made up a fairy tale about the
curse. Pretended Andriy had become a werewolf and killed me
himself. She claimed my clan cursed Andriy’s bloodline to become
werewolves—as if becoming a werewolf was a curse. It was a gift, a
great honour. But she made my son feel as if he was a monster.
Anything to avoid telling him the truth which was that
I
mothered the first,
that
I
protected
him, and that
I
loved him. She stole
everything
from me, to punish
me.”

“
Why am I seeing all of this?
How
am I seeing it?”

“
You’re my blood. My kin.” She sounded surprised. “You’re the
key to ending my father’s words. I wish now that I hadn’t spoken in
anger. I made many people suffer with my mistakes. I spoke in a
mindless rage. I swear I didn’t intend what was to follow. A wave
of hysteria hit Europe, and my people were blamed. They suffered so
needlessly, and all because of careless words spoken in
anger.”

“
Blamed for what?”

She
smiled. “The dead walked. At least in the eyes of the gaje. They
saw vampires and monsters in the dark, and all eyes turned to blame
the gypsies. They were hated and persecuted, probably because of
me. Every time I used my power it had consequences I could never
have dreamed of. This time was no different. I tried to counteract
my father’s curse, but I still didn’t manage to protect my son and
his sons. Every single one of them fell to the madness that came
with losing their soul mate. And I fear I made it worse by ensuring
they couldn’t escape from finding their soul mate. My father and I
disrupted the balance, and we all suffered. But you can change it.
You can end this for good.”

“
End the whole werewolf thing? Or the soul mate
thing?”

“
The wolf is in your blood. That can’t be undone. But the
curse. His words. Mine. That can end. That can be
resolved.”

“
What do I have to do?”

“
Take my responsibilities. A chovihani must pass on her
essence. Mine remained on this plane, unable to move on. You can
free me. Take it, so I can leave. Free me, daughter. Set me
free.”

“
What do I do with it? I mean, I haven’t got a clue about
magic.”

“
You’ll know,” she shouted. “Your wolf will know. Accept it, so
I can find my son again. I want my baby. I…”

I jerked
back into my own body, my own bed, still screaming about Kali’s
baby. Perdita stood in front of my bed, horrified, but I knew what
I had to do next.

Amelia

“
Um, are you okay?”

I blinked
rapidly, wishing the thudding of my heart wasn’t so damn
loud.

“
Perdita?” I said, still unsure if I was awake or
asleep.

She ran
over and sat on the bed next to me. “You need to see a doctor,” she
said. “You’re practically delirious.”

“
No. No, I’m not. They’re memories, Perdita. I’m sure of it. I
think I’m dreaming about how it all began for my family. Everything
we know is a lie.”

“
Okay,” she said, and I could tell she was humouring me. “So
how does that change things for us?”

I
frowned. The details weren’t as clear as before. Everything had
gotten a little muddled in my head. “It doesn’t. Not
really.”

“
So why would anyone lie about it?”

I shook
my head. What was I supposed to remember? “I’ve no idea. But it’s
important the lies stop.”

“
Amelia… you need some rest. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”
She made me lie back before draping the covers over me.

Sleep
would be good. But why was Perdita in my room in the first
place?

“
Wait! Why are you here?”

She
fidgeted at the blanket. “It’s time. They’re coming. We’re locked
in with the dogs. Just in case.”

“
It’s now! Oh, no. I wanted to see my family first. In case…
well, you know.”

We
exchanged glances that said we were both on the exact same page. My
family would soon be fighting for their lives outside. Fighting for
our lives, too.

“
I think it’ll be okay this time,” she said. “They have more on
their side, and they know what’s coming. It’ll be over as soon as
it starts. In fact, I’m going to watch out the window while you get
some rest.”

“
Will you tell me if you see anything?”

“
Of course.” She hurried to the window.

I called
one of the dogs onto the bed. She reminded me of Kali’s Dog, and I
wished Andriy had left him at home that day. I wished I knew
exactly what I was supposed to do next. “I wish we could know for
sure,” I muttered aloud.

I tried
to sort through my thoughts and memories. That last dream had been
more than real, and I wondered what was supposed to happen. If I
told anyone the truth, they would think I was crazy, but I felt as
though I had to tell the truth. I had to make sure Kali was
remembered, too.

A
stabbing pain shot through my body, making my body jerk
uncontrollably. A cold sweat dampened my clothes, and I felt sharp
echoes of the first pain sting my insides.

“
Are you okay?” Perdita looked absolutely terrified.

I shook
my head and curled onto my side as another pain clutched my
insides. “I can’t take much more of this,” I said. “It hurts.
Everything hurts. And I can’t sleep without dreaming of pain and
worse things. I feel as though I’m on fire.”

“
It’ll be okay,” she said. “We’ll figure something
out.”

I
groaned. “There’s nothing to figure out. I’m supposed to do
something.” I couldn’t tell her I had to end the curse. I didn’t
want to give her a chance to reject the idea.

“
What do you mean?”

“
Someone’s trying to tell me something, I think. Like this is
a… a punishment, or a warning, or something. I don’t know. I feel
like I’m being haunted or something.”

“
Is it really that bad?”

I nodded,
suddenly feeling as though I needed to outrun the pain.

“
There has to be something we can do to make it better,” she
said. “Doing a reading might help.”

“
Tarot cards? You must really pity me.” I laughed in spite of
myself.

“
I’m still your friend. If that makes you feel better, then I’m
cool with it. We’re sitting around here waiting anyway. What do we
have to lose?”

“
What if we don’t use the cards?” I knew what to do. “What if
we use something else instead?”

“
Like what?”

“
Spirit board?”

Again she
made a face filled with horror. I had to persuade her it would be
okay.

“
We could try to talk to Mémère,” I said in a hurry. “Maybe she
can tell us if we’re safe or not.”

She
looked desperately uncomfortable. “I don’t know…”

“
Come on! What harm could it do? It would make me feel better.”
I hoped she would give in, and sure enough, she did. I gathered the
candles and some crystals. “For protection,” I told her.

“
Protection from what?”

I heard
her obvious fear, but I couldn’t stop now. Ignoring how all of my
limbs burned, I crawled under the bed to fetch the spirit board. “I
found the board hidden in my grandparents’ room.”

“
Well, maybe it was hidden for a reason.”

Disregarding Perdita’s hesitation, I placed the board inside
the ring of crystals and lit candles all around. A draught blew out
the flames. I lit them again, desperately hoping the board would
work for us.

“
Put your hands on the cup beside mine,” I said. Reluctantly,
Perdita’s fingers joined mine, and I felt the jolt of energy. It
would work. It had to.