Chapter 25
Cosette yawned so wide that her jaw popped. She sat up and stretched her aching muscles, and then walked over to the curtains. She pulled one of the heavy drapes aside to see that the sun was just starting to break through the veil of night. Considering the time, she hadn’t slept but a couple hours, but at least that terrible weariness had vanished. With the dawning of a new day, she couldn’t help but allow a trickle of hope to take root.
If Davien and Charlotte were successful with their visit to the seer, then today their curses might finally be lifted. It was almost strange to imagine a life free from the chains of their past, but how wonderful it would be to live a simple life. She touched the chain of her locket, before she even realized what she was doing. She dropped her hand to her side. Some habits were just too difficult to break.
Still dressed in her undergarments, Cosette walked over to the edge of the bed and removed everything but her shift. Afterward, she picked up Davien’s banyan where it had been neatly folded on the edge of the bed. She slipped the garment over her shoulders and breathed deeply. She had come to relish the scent of his fragrance around her body. It made her feel safe, secure, as if no matter what occurred they would never be apart.
She knew it was likely too much to hope that Charlotte was right and Davien wouldn’t want her to leave, but as much as Cosette enjoyed being his mistress, she wasn’t sure she could live the rest of her life with such dark uncertainty looming ahead should he grow tired of her.
And honestly, she wasn’t sure her heart could withstand it if he did.
Either way, she realized that it was time she stopped fighting her emotions and admit that she was hopelessly in love with Blackburn. She had denied it as long as she could, but some things were inevitable. But the question that remained was - did she lay her feelings bare, place her heart on display between them? The fear that he wouldn’t return her love was almost more upsetting than living the rest of her days with this curse.
She shook her head to chase away the sudden melancholy that threatened to take hold, and went downstairs to the dining room. Her stomach was rumbling, and no matter what might lie ahead, she knew she had to keep up her strength—if not for herself then for Davien.
If he struck another dead end she didn’t know how he might react.
A steaming tray of food was waiting for her on the table, but before she could even remove the covering, there was a firm knock at the front door. Cosette instantly froze, fearing that Dashwood had returned. She closed her eyes briefly, forced herself to calm. He wouldn’t be back this soon. Davien had told her that it would take some time to build a case, to try and coerce more witnesses to testify—if he could manage that.
Cosette blew out a deep breath and walked back into the foyer. She glanced around, surprised that Quinn hadn’t yet appeared, but she thought perhaps he was still sleeping. She faced the heavy oak, and then dared to pull it open—to find Mrs. Woodard on the other side. Relief flooded Cosette almost instantly.
She put a hand to her galloping heart. “Marianne. Thank God it’s you.”
The widow lifted a brow. “Were you expecting someone else?” she teased.
“No.” Cosette shook her head and then opened the door for her to enter. “Please, come in.”
~ ~ ~
The moment Davien and Mrs. Clay’s hands touched, her eyes turned black, although they had the distinctive glow of the beast around the edges. She began to murmur to herself as she used the stylus to carve a symbol onto the wax of the tablet.
When she finally spoke loud enough for Davien to hear, it was with an unearthly echo. “Two paths are intertwined. There is a great evil from the past that threatens the present. You must stop this Whore of Babylon before she causes further destruction. Send her back to the Underworld.”
A blast of air pushed Davien back, severing his contact with Mrs. Clay. She blinked, her brown eyes turning back to normal, although a touch of madness, mixed with pure fear touched her gaze when she looked at Davien. She made the sign of the cross over her chest before she handed the tablet back to him with a shaking hand. Davien looked down to see a strange symbol, a combination of lines, crosses, and circles.
“That sigil is th’ sign o’ th’ Duke Dantalion,” Mrs. Clay said. “Th’ one who has cursed ye is a descendant o’ this demon. She is very dangerous. She has th’ power t’ change her image at will an’ use visions t’ control her victims.”
Davien could clearly see the dark haired woman in the red dress. Her image was as defined now as it had been all those years ago. It was as if time had melted away.
He clenched his jaw, vengeance for twenty years of hell on earth rolling through his blood. “Is there a way to defeat her, and break the curse?”
The older woman nodded. “Yes, but she will try t’ manipulate ye, bend ye t’ her will. It will not be an easy task. Th’ only way ye can stop her is t’ repeat th’ incantation that she used t’ entrap th’ beast in ye by saying it backwards.”
“Do you know it?” he asked. If not, then it didn’t matter if he knew how to defeat her, if he still didn’t have the complete means to do so.
She slowly nodded. “It’s an ancient Sumerian spell.” She held her hand back out for the tablet. She carved several words into the wax, and then gave it back to him. “Repeat it just as I have laid it out for ye.” She paused, as if trying to consider how to put her next sentence into words. “It may not be so easy t’ free Cosette.”
Davien stilled. “Why not?”
“She is cursed by th’ blood of th’ demon,” she whispered. Davien heard Charlotte gasp beside him, but he kept his focus on Mrs. Clay. “It flows through her veins,” the seer added. “If ye say a prayer of deliverance, th’ locket will weaken, giving ye enough time t’ remove it an’ break the power, but it still may not be enough.”
“So you’re telling me that, after all this, I may be free, but she could still be cursed?”
The gray head slowly nodded. “You will have t’ make a choice: live in darkness, or th’ light. Ye can not choose both.”
Davien already knew the answer to that. “I choose Cosette, no matter the cost.”
“Ye may change your mind when faced with th’ obstacle at hand.” She returned. Suddenly, her gaze turned distant, her face contorted. “Ye must hurry! Th’ evil has returned t’ Shadowlawn. She does not understand th’ peril. If ye do not make it in time, all may be lost.”
