Old Magic(34)

His acknowledgment takes me so much by surprise I instantly forget about Ryan’s party. I bring my knees up to my chin, wrapping my arms around them. ‘Are you saying you actually believe it now?’

He heaves, pushing out a long deep breath. ‘I don’t know what to believe. This is hard for me, Kate. I haven’t had your upbringing – magic, enchantment, sorcery, they’ve never been topics of conversation at the dinner table.’

I nod, understanding. ‘But you accept there might be some truth in the curse.’

‘At least it’s an explanation. It gives a reason for all the things that have gone wrong over the years. And the strangest thing happened last night when I held Casey in my arms.’ He throws his head back, his eyes examining the sharply angled ceiling for a timeless few seconds. I’ve seen him do this before when he’s trying to work something difficult out, or is deeply worried. It makes him appear vulnerable.

Finally his head lowers and he looks at me. ‘God, Kate, I feel responsible for what happened to Casey. Everything that’s happened to my family could be my fault.’

I consider this for a moment. ‘You feeling responsible could be a kind of acceptance, an inner awareness of the truth. But don’t be so hard on yourself. You didn’t put this curse on your family.’

‘But if all this curse stuff is true, Kate, what can be done about it?’

‘I’ve been talking to Jillian. She says the ancient texts reveal there are two ways to end a sorcerer’s curse.’

He leans forward, his attention thoroughly focused, waiting.

‘Death,’ I explain.

‘What? Whose? Mine?’

‘No. Apparently this type of curse will end when the instigator is put to death by the bearer.’

He stares at me, incredulously. ‘I have to kill the sorcerer?’

I nod.

We’re quiet for a few moments, but Jarrod’s thoughts are spinning. ‘You believe the purported sorcerer is an illegitimate Thornton who lived about eight hundred years ago,’ he says in all seriousness. ‘Which means he’s already dead. Maybe the curse will end if I die.’

I don’t like where this conversation has detoured. I try explaining more. From Jillian’s ancient witchcraft manual I start reading, ‘“To end the curse the bearer, or one of the descendants”,’ here I glance at Jarrod, ‘“would have to destroy the sorcerer, if not by his own hands, by contrived means”.’

His frown increases. ‘That’s impossible, Kate. This man’s already dead.’

I sigh, this is getting us nowhere. ‘Yeah, I know.’

‘Besides, I couldn’t do it anyway. You know … kill someone. Sorry, it’s just not in me. Murder.’ And then he adds very softly, ‘It’d be easier to kill myself.’

I look into his face to make sure he’s joking. But he’s so serious I can’t be sure. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ I try to joke. ‘Your death wouldn’t stop the curse appearing again in your descendants.’

‘But if I die before I leave descendants …’

I jump in quickly, ‘The curse would find a way.’

He nods and grunts a kind of sarcastic agreement. ‘Like it did with me. My parents would never have had seven babies if they’d all survived. Only by their deaths did they continue to have more.’

He has a point. His parents would have stopped making babies after the third or fourth and probably decided to adopt. But seventh and eighth? No way. So the curse found a way to be reignited. It actually caused all those babies’ deaths. My skin tingles all over. Whoever created this curse has to have been one hell of a powerful magician. A wizard, no less, and evil at that. My mind ticks over. There has to be something we can do. I soon forget my decision not to help. ‘We could try a spell.’

This has Jarrod’s full attention, and I’m pleased. At least he isn’t thinking dark thoughts now. ‘Yeah? You reckon?’

‘It was magic that put you in this situation, maybe all we need is a little magic to get you out. Besides, you’ve got nothing to lose.’

‘What sort of spell?’

I have to think. Something effective enough to override powerful alchemy. Not an easy task centuries after the initial curse. ‘We’d have to go to the creek at midnight on a full moon. Luckily that’s tonight. Oh, yeah, we’ll need some goat’s blood. Can you manage that? I’ll get the fish heart. I think Jillian’s still got some fresh toads.’

He has a funny look on his face that spells disbelief in big bold letters.

‘Humour me,’ I plead softly with a smile. ‘All you have to do is meet me by the creek in the forest, you know the place. I took you there once. A little before midnight. Oh yeah, and wear black.’