Page 36 of The Fate of Black Hearts

Ian spun into a nearby wall, cradling his jaw and nose.

She drummed up every inch of the hardcore bitch she’d learned to be. “Whatever the hell you are, you’re not welcome near my family. If you bring some parchment with a curse, you better find a powerful witch to back you up. I have the two mostpowerful witches in the world related to me now. I will have them incinerate you. Or maybe they’ll bounce that curse right back at you.”

As she left, he called out, “You’ll be mine soon. All of it will be mine. You shouldn’t have escaped being blood-cursed into servitude to the Crown along with your kids that day in the desert. The curse was meant for you.”

How did he know she’d been there the day the curse was cast?

Chapter Eleven

1976,The Blood Curse

They managed to avoid Willem’s presence in their lives for decades. Yet, he convinced all five of her sons to appear in Afghanistan by lying about her being in danger. When she caught up to them, she’d scold them about the importance of confirming details before running off half-cocked toward someone as toxic as Willem.

Roman’s telegram had been sent not to her but to Efrem right as they departed from Egypt, where they’d been clearing a demon for the Lycan Council. It read:Headed for Shahr-e Zuhak. Someone conjured members of Genghis Khan’s army. Willem says E in trouble.

She assumed “E” meant her, Evie. They should’ve contacted her first. When did she ever do anything dangerous without Efrem? Nothing about this made sense.

But a threat to her would effectively lure her sons anywhere.

This reeked of something terrible about to happen. They shouldn’t have taken Jonas. He rarely got involved in fighting nonhumans or anything scary. Jonas was her artist, with his kind and gentlesoul that saw the world in colors no one else could visualize. He’d gone with them to Egypt not to demon hunt, but to take in ancient Egyptian art.

Roman, Ky, Shane, and Flynn had taken over where Willem left off in defending humans against evil otherworldly threats. In the beginning, it had been a way to earn a little extra money, but it evolved into more. It turned out the boys had a gift. The Lycan Council came to rely on them to step in when something was beyond their capability. Honor and morality seemed branded into her sons’ souls. Probably it was in part instilled from Efrem. They sure as shit didn’t get it from Willem. Maybe a bit from her.

Her trust of Willem’s motives registered somewhere lower than the embers of hell. She would make sure she was there when everything went to shit and he did his usual cut-and-run.

What infuriated her was knowing this may not be the first time the boys had worked with Willem. How else would they have a direct line of communication with him?

The betrayal cut deep. She’d dedicated her life to keeping all of them safe. To support herself—and them—she’d accumulated wealth through the lucrative career of assassinating the lowest of human refuse—terrorists, thieves, rapists, and extortionists. She left the hunting of non-humans to the boys.

Efrem had flown them into Pakistan. From there, he and Evie drove across the border into war-torn Afghanistan. Humans were on high alert and skeptical of everything in this desolate country. When they got close to Zuhak, a group of locals armed with assaultrifles blocked the road.

“You go ahead,” Efrem said. “I’ll distract them while you pass on foot. Head northwest, and you should hit the sacred ruins.”

“I’ll see you there.” She put up her glamour to the point no one would notice her and slipped out when the soldiers opened the car doors.

Running six miles winded her only because of the speed she demanded of herself. She wiped sweat off her forehead. Dressing in all black, including a head covering, didn’t help on this sweltering day. The red-dirt ruins of a city long ago attacked by Genghis Khan’s army lay in neglect after years of warring. She jogged the sandy path toward the crumbling tower and through a sketchy rock tunnel.

Once she was in the ruined city, British soldiers occupied every space, which was odd since they didn’t have a major part in the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The tingle of evil magic tickled her neck. She peeked over a crumbling wall to see Roman, Ky, Jonas, Flynn, and Shane in various states of sedation. No evil creature lurked about beyond Willem, who seemedcompos mentisand fully cooperating with the British.

Willem paced over to the boys and slapped Ky in the face. “Wake up.”

“Whatsss up, Daaddioo?” Ky slurred as he wobbled to sit. “Did we get ’em?”

Roman caught Ky when he topped to his side. He whispered, “He drugged us.”

“We’re going to pledge our lives to a greater good.” Willem grinned in a way that communicated he’d made a deal that fully benefitted him.

“Greater good for who?” Roman asked. “For you? I’m not pledging jack shit to a bunch of humans aiming AK-47s at me.”

A girl who couldn’t have been older than her early twenties, with red hair and awkward glasses, was pushed out in front of the soldiers. An ancient parchment was thrust at her.

Willem grabbed Roman’s palm. Her eldest elbowed his father in the face. Willem punched him hard enough to knock him back in the dirt.

Come on, Roman. Fight.

Willem made a small cut in Roman’s hand, and then did so to each of his sons with barely any effort since none of the others could mount much resistance. He knelt next to them, then sliced his own palm and signaled for the woman—no, she was a witch—to start whatever awfulness was coming.

The quickest solution was to kill everyone. Evie fingered the trigger on her silenced Glock.