✔Kin of the Curse (Book 1: Bloodbound Chronicles)

14. Into the Night

After Castor had bandaged Lucien's neck, he kept a close eye on his friend while he closed the shop for the night. With embers of magic, he danced two brooms across the floor as he counted the last bit of change at the counter. All that was left was to lock up.

Lucien sat on the counter, staring off into space at a section of potions. Every so often, he'd reach up and touch his bandaged neck like it bothered him. Castor had offered him a pain elixir earlier, but he'd insisted he didn't need it.

"Do you want to stay at my house again?" Castor asked as he summoned his cleaning brooms away. "You know your folks won't be too pleased to see those bandages around your neck."

"I don't know. They probably heard about what happened with Sebastian already. You know how people talk around here." Lucien crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know how long it takes for fang marks to heal?"

"Usually two or three days, but I still don't think it's a good idea to let your folks know. Rumors are one thing, but them seeing it is another." Castor didn't have the heart to say he was worried whether or not he'd see him again if he let him go. The Cromwells' were strict and had the means to lock him in a dark cell until he changed his ways if they wanted. As their only living heir left, and their reputation on the line, Castor didn't put much past them.

"You're right. It would just make matters worse than they are." Lucien scooted off the counter and straightened up a display rack of herbs. "I can hear father now. Our ancestors used to hunt those bloodsuckers for sport like real men but here you are screwing around with them like a whore in heat."

"You weren't doing that though," Castor pointed out, struggling to push away his jealous thoughts of Lucien screwing around with Sebastian. Blood drinking could lead to that. "I can't fault you for being curious about being bitten either because I once was too. I just learned the hard way what can happen if a vampire does lose control, and I don't want you to ever experience that."

"That wicked leech deserves to rot for what she did to you." Lucien's shift in demeanor took Castor by surprise, especially by his choice of curse word. When Lucien stepped closer and reached down for his hand, Castor arched a brow but he didn't question his closeness. Lucien swirled one finger in the palm of his hand and it tingled with his magic as a small black rose sprouted from the viridescent embers.

Warmth crept into Castor's face. "I appreciate the rose, Lucien, but what's it for?"

"A defense tool." Lucien snapped his fingers and the stem morphed into an ordinary quill with some puffy rose petals on the end. "It's filled with a toxic powder called Demon's Breath that'll knock the other person out for a solid fifteen minutes or so. It also temporarily blinds them when they first wake. All you have to do is channel your magic into it and aim the flower part at the person you want to render unconscious."

"Pretty intense." Castor admired the flower pen in awe. "Where'd you learn to wield something like that?"

"Charlotte taught me." His lips curved upward, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "She worried a lot, like you do, and wanted to make sure I could defend myself."

"Have you ever had to use it before?" Castor twirled the rose pen between his fingers, willing himself not to snap it in half when he considered what warranted it to be created in the first place.

Lucien opened his mouth to speak, but the clip-clop of what sounded like hooves on stone overshadowed him. Both he and Castor leaned over to the window to catch sight of a shadow as it flew by, panting in exertion with a shrill whine as it passed. Atop the horse, a dark cloak billowed in the night, but the rider disappeared down the street out of town as fast as he had appeared.