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

16. Don't Let the Zombies Bite

The storm only worsened as morning dawned. Thunder rumbled off in the distance and dark clouds loomed overhead, cloaking the outside in eerie darkness. No sunlight penetrated through the curtains of the spare bedroom as Castor watched the raindrops race down the glass. Lucien had fallen asleep, leaving Castor alone with his thoughts.

Earlier, he had asked Lucien about Darcy's comment regarding Charlotte revealing everything, but Lucien had merely shrugged and feigned ignorance. Despite Castor having a good sense of the abuse that went on behind closed doors, he now fretted over what Lucien might be hiding from him.

Castor moved away from the window, quietly passing Lucien as he dozed in bed snuggled with the covers. He figured he might as well hear it from Darcy herself, and wandered down the hallway to knock on her bedroom door. When nobody answered, he tried the living room next, only to find Grayson perched in the recliner near the fireplace with a newspaper in one hand and a black caldron-shaped mug in the other.

Grayson flipped the page of his paper where Caverott's Courier was embellished in bold letters across the front. Dark Magic Sparks Panic followed as the next headline, but Castor wasn't close enough to read the rest of the fine print. "Darcy's out on the porch."

"How did you know-"

"Heard you knocking on her door." Grayson took a leisure sip from his mug.

Vampires with their super-hearing abilities. "Ah, gotcha. Thanks." Castor slid his boots on before he stepped out onto the porch, the creaking door alerting Darcy right away from where she was perched on the rocking chair.

It had been a long time since he'd been alone with a woman vampire before, and things had ended pretty badly for him last time. Darcy was nothing like that other vampire, but he still tread toward her with caution as he plopped down in the rocker beside her.

"What do you want?" Darcy asked.

Castor folded his arms across his chest as a strong gust of wind swept over the farmland. "What did you mean when you said Charlotte told you everything?"

"Lucien's never said anything?"

"No." Castor shook his head with a sigh. "I always suspected there was abuse going on when we were kids since he'd show up covered in bruises sometimes, but he always claimed they were from magic training. You know more though, don't you?"

"The basement was probably the worst thing they endured." Darcy clenched the arms of her chair with a grimace. "Especially when she locked them down there in the middle of the winter. Your wizard bodies aren't meant for those extreme temperatures. But that wasn't the worst part. She used portal magic to ensure they couldn't escape. Even when they tried to pick the door's lock or climb out the window, it brought them right back to their basement. They'd keep them down there for days and were lucky if their mother even brought them supper."

"Gods, that's horrible." Castor had always imagined the Cromwells' were wicked enough to chain their kids to their beds to keep them in line or lock them down in some underground dungeon. He never realized how close to the truth he was.

"Did Lucien ever mention who their parents had arranged for them to marry?"

Castor frowned. "Most wizard families don't bother with arranged marriages anymore."

"Apparently, the Cromwells were desperate for heirs." Darcy shrugged. "Charlotte told me she'd rather make a deal with the devil than marry a man like Rishon Hawthorn."

"I remember his brother Damien because he graduated with us. Rishon's like two years older, I think. Never really saw the guy much. I believe most of their family works among the Supernatural Council too."