Chapter 162

Grace

I tried to get the words out, but I could tell I wasn't making much sense, not until Eason came back with Richard and Cecil. Cecil climbed up into bed and promptly went back to sleep. Richard rumbled a little in my arms, and just having them near, smelling them safe and sound in my arms, was enough to make it easier. Eason was doing something at my dresser. Charles stayed beside me as I told him everything. I shuddered, clinging to Richard as if his warmth would make me not remember.

I looked at Charles, realizing he was dressed in a suit that was hauntingly similar to Devin's favorite.

"Devin... idolizes you," I said blankly.

Charles narrowed his eyes. "Why do you say that?"

"He hates you," I said, blinking at him. "He wants to be you."

"What makes you say that--"

"His favorite suit is practically a replica of the one you're wearing."

He blinked and looked down at his chest. His brow furrowed as he took my hand.

"Eason is going to give you something. It might taste terrible, but you need to drink it. I'll be back, okay?"

He kissed me gently and rumbled something to Richard. Richard let out an answering rumble before turning his little face into the curve of my neck.

Eason came around with a vial as Charles left the room.

"It'll help settle your stomach until we can get you some food."

I took it, and my lips twitched. "Tastes like ginger."

He smiled. "I like to think that I would be a good doctor."

My stomach plummeted as I remembered what he'd been majoring in: medicine. He was on track to become a doctor. Tears burned in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. He took the vial and narrowed his eyes before his gaze softened.

"I didn't say that to make you cry. Easy. Now's not the time for that. Lay back."

"But I... I completely forgot, and we... We talked about it so much..."

What would happen when he got out of Nortfall, and why he'd gone there in the first place. The Academy's doctoral program was strictly non-magical and inferior to Northfall. He would have had an internship in Selene anyway for part of his program.

Would he be done with his program by now if I hadn't been so selfish? How different would Wolfe Medical have been if he'd been able to finish his program?

How different would we be? The thought only made me cry more. I'd forgotten it all. Eason's gaze was softer than I ever expected. I felt the chill of the dream fading.

"We can talk about it later," he said. "For now, just relax and let... Let it kick in, alright?"

With a sniffle, I sigh and lean back against the pillows. I lifted my arm to look at the challenge circles and groaned.

"It says something that I'm... finding some sort of peace in the fact that these are here."

He chuckled. "It says a whole lot... but mostly that you've grown, even if it's just a little."

I smiled, and then I went still as I noticed what he was doing. He was weaving some sort of band of pure light. I couldn't even blink in shock. Maybe seeing Eason do magic so casually was a little too much of a shock.

"Don't throw up," Eason said wryly. "It's not a curse."

I blinked. "You... You could curse me?"

He grinned wickedly. "If I really wanted to. I was thinking about bad breath and bed hair."

I scoffed. The laugh that escaped me caught me off guard.

"Really?"

He hummed. "Ready for the easy news?"

I shook my head.

"Too bad." He lifted the net up. I have to admit that it was beautiful. "This is an anti-curse net."

I blinked as he stood and placed it on my head. It was warm and seemed to lift a weight from me. He hummed as he finished it and stepped away.

"The hard news is that you were cursed."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

He smiled. "The net should keep it off you, so you won't have any more dreams... If it's any consolation, I don't think it was Alpha Shadow."

I frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"The signatures aren't right," he said and shrugged. "Everyone has a signature, so to speak, that is in their magic. Masking it is one thing, but changing it is impossible. The signature I got from you when I came up here isn't anything like the signature from the bombs."

A knock sounded on the door, and Charles came in. I gasped as I realized he'd changed clothes and was carrying a tray of food. He smiled.

"I thought breakfast in bed might be a good move," he said and crossed the room. "She okay to eat?"

Eason bobbed his head. "When you can't see the net anymore, she should be good to go."

He eyed me. "I'll get a talisman from Esme for you... and the kiddos."

"Thank you, Eason."

He nodded and pat Charles on the shoulder.

"All yours now."

He walked out. Charles set the tray on the bed and took Richard from me so I could eat. He rocked Richard for a moment.

"How are you feeling now?"

He greeted his voice with a gentle balm, adding to the increased sense of peace settling on me.

"Physically better and even crappier as a family member."

Charles met my gaze briefly before looking back at Richard. The weight of the dream hung in the air.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Charles asked.

"Honestly? No," I said, putting another piece of meat in my mouth. I hummed at the saltiness. "What is this?"

"Roast."

"You can't have a roast for breakfast...." I said. "That's like... blasphemy or something."

"But you can have steak?" Charles asked.

I scowled at him. "I wouldn't have started eating steak with breakfast if you hadn't served it."

"My fault. Got it," he grinned. "We may eat steak and roast for breakfast, but we don't--"

"Stop," I groaned. "You are never going to let that go?"

"Not until I have something better," he chuckled. "For the record, high-calorie breakfasts, specifically high protein breakfasts, are better for you. It will help your natural magical defenses grow."

He stroked Richard's back as he shifted.

"You feel that instinctively. It's why you ate half the table the first time."

My face heated. "... it was really good."

"I know."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Why does it feel like I'm never going to be free of all of this?"

"Cecil and Richard are going to live long, healthy lives."

I frowned. "And until you have that seat on the Senate, you're going to have doubts."

He pat my leg gently. "From what Eason told me, the curse was low-level, vicious, sure, but it was weakened because someone had to cast it on you long distance. I have a few... thoughts about how, but I don't want you to worry. You keep eating well, and you won't have to worry about it even with the protections Eason is planning."

"Could it happen again?"

He smiled. "If Eason is as powerful as I think he is, they're going to have a damn hard time of it."

I worried my lip, wondering what exactly Charles wasn't telling me. I felt like I should ask, but maybe it would be better not to. After all, I didn't have magic. I didn't know a thing about how curses like that worked.

"What's it like... A witch's version of college? You called it apprenticeship."

He nodded. "You find a mentor, and they teach you everything they know, allow you to explore the field, and at some point, you're deemed to have enough knowledge."

I nodded and finished eating. "And.... for doctors?"

"Healers? Trained healers?" He smiled. "Are you asking about Eason?"

I nodded again.

"I think it would be better for you to ask him how things have changed, better or worse," he said. "Though I can tell you that Eason isn't the type to let blips in a plan stop his plans, and I think you know that."

I chuckled at that. "No... If where there's a will, there's a way was a person, his name would be Eason."

By the time I was done, Eason was back, Cecil was up, and I felt better.

"Is that for me?" Cecil asked, her eyes trained on the necklace in Eason's hand.

"Not this one, munchkin, but I do have a shiny new thing for you."

He handed the necklace to Charles before scooping Richard out of his arms and taking Cecil's hand.

"Let's pick out something that'll match, hm?"

I listened to her chatter with him down the hall before washing up and getting dressed for the day. Charles slipped the necklace around my neck, and I tucked it into my dress.

It was warm and tingly against my skin.

I met Charles' gaze in the mirror.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."