Chapter 36 #2
“Another date, but don’t underestimate the power Eloise was born with. She didn’t become the leader of elementals after receiving a god’s power; it was before,” I warned.
The silence stretched around the room as each of us turned over plans and rejected them one by one without words.
“We have to do something,” Robert said. “I can’t conceive of a future run by that evil woman.”
The future is not written.
I lifted my head. “I need the room,” I uttered. I was met with blinks and frowns. “Apart from my blood.”
Hudson’s hand landed on my shoulder. I rubbed my cheek against it, taking strength and comfort from it. “Everyone who doesn’t have Roberts in their name, get out,” he growled.
They left, one by one. “You too,” I said with a wince.
He paused, then he too left with a soft click of the door behind him, leaving me with three generations of Roberts women in the room.
I stared at Dayna. She lifted her hands, and the wards flared to life. We would be safe from prying ears.
“Share what you just worked out, Niece,” Liz demanded.
I held the gaze of each of the women who had shaped my life. “I want to change the Roberts curse.”
Stella chuckled. “You wouldn’t be the first to try. There is no squashing that magic, as it was born from scorn and wrath. You can’t eradicate it.”
“How would that help us now?” Sophia asked, giving my abdomen a hard look. “Unless you have some news?”
“No, I am not about to bring a new life into this world.”
“Then I’m failing to see your point.”
I pulled out the scroll from my bottom drawer, the one with the family tree which I’ve added to, making sure the paternal DNA has been included. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t do away with the need for men.
I pointed at Helen’s name. “This is where it started,” I said, not that they needed to be reminded where the start of the plague on our bloodline began.
But it was important for them to understand what I was proposing, along with the consequences.
I’d done some reading around timelines and the implications of altering them.
My finger traced the line to Helen’s daughter.
“Louise fell for Eric, who drained her dry during her pregnancy, making their daughter powerless.”
“Eunice,” Sophia said with a nod. “She didn’t accept her lot in life and worked tirelessly to change it.”
“Right, and that meant she twisted the curse so that the firstborn in each generation drained their father. Then she seduced the most powerful man she could, and that’s when the bane of our existence was born.”
“Our mother,” Liz agreed. “And now, that burden is on myself and you.”
I nodded. “What if we changed that?”
“I’m not following,” Stella said with a twist of her head and a squint at me. She was trying to read the future.
“What if we make it so Eunice never changed the curse?”
“Then you would likely never be born,” Liz said. “And neither would I.”
“The ramifications for the timeline are too great,” Stella said. “It wouldn’t work. Only alterations that impact the future can be tolerated.”
“Right, so we change the past by altering the present.” I pointed at Liz’s name. “What if, starting with you, we bent the rules and gave the firstborn the power to drain their mothers?”
Liz blinked.
Stella huffed. “Even if you could, that would again alter the past.”
“I said choice, not definitive,” I clarified, catching Sophia’s eyes. She paused in her crochet as I reminded her about the power of choice I’d been burdened with. “We work back in the curse using Liz’s blood, so that she now has the choice to take her mother’s power.”
“You’re proposing I don’t demand that right until this moment,” Liz whispered. “Meaning I can reduce her to nothing more than human?”
“Once Donn’s power is gone, she will be vulnerable.”
“And killable,” Dayna added.
“I won’t hesitate,” I said. I couldn’t ask them to deliver the final blow. That would come down to me.
“I can’t decide if you are a genius, diabolical, or an idiot,” Sophia said.
I shrug. “All three, depending on the outcome. We took a calculated risk in cutting her off, and while she can’t draw power from us anymore, it doesn’t matter because she has so much already.”
“So how could Liz drain her then?” Sophia asked.
“Because the bonds of motherhood can’t be broken unless she has cut that tie. You should all still have a line to it.”
“She’s right. I still feel her,” Liz grumbled, rubbing the heel of her hand against her chest.
“It’s risky,” Dayna said. “So much could go wrong. If we fuck up, we could lose everything and undo our entire line.”
I grimaced at the possibility. “Then we would know no different, but the world wouldn’t be on the brink of war.”
“Wrong,” Stella snapped. “If you fuck this up and destroy our line, the fabric of the universe will unravel faster than a runaway toilet paper roll down a hill.”
“Then we don’t fuck it up. Because unless you have any other ideas, this is all I’ve got—the ability to alter the future by changing the past.”
The Roberts women straightened their spines and silently agreed the risk was worth it.
Sorry, Grandmother, you forged us in fire, so you only have yourself to blame.
After agreeing to take one last night to rest, sleep, and prepare, I climbed the stairs to the top floor. My legs were stiff, and my heart heavy. How had it come to this? Power and greed. That was how.
I stood on the balcony and stared out at the night, breathing in the air. The wards hummed with power. Dayna had done an amazing job of securing Summer Grove house.
The air shifted behind me, and tendrils of shadows curled around my legs.
“Why are you here? I have no time for dates and romance.”
“I hear you had a little family disagreement in town.”
I snorted and lifted my glass of apple juice and chugged it down before swiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I turned to face the god of death. “Like I said—no time.”
Donn tilted his head. “You have a plan to take her down.”
Not a question, but a statement. I shrugged. “There’s always a plan; they just keep failing.”
He smiled. “Not this time, though. It is make or break as the saying goes.”
“Indeed.”
“I’ve made a decision about our final date.”
“That you’ll take the rest of her power and accept an IOU?”
“No, I want to watch.”
“Watch what?”
I was too exhausted and drained for word games with an ancient being. A growl came from downstairs. Oh, great. My mate had sniffed death and was now on his way here to save me. Yippee.
“You become the woman you were always meant to be.”
“This isn’t a makeover montage. This is war, blood, and pain.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Perfect. Just send word of where and when, and I’ll consider our deal complete.”
This was too easy. It was never easy. What was I missing?
The door flew open and cracked against the wall. Ugh.
“You—get out,” Hudson roared.
I squeezed my eyes closed and massaged my temple.
“Gladly. See you on the battlefield, Cora. And be sure to wear black, since it’s the color of war and victory.”
Fashion advice from death? The world was ending, and I was happy to see it go.
I opened my eyes just in time to witness Hudson lunging for Donn, who disappeared. Hudson landed on the sofa in a crouch.
“I’m taking a shower.” Hudson turned to stare at me. “Alone,” I snapped as I swept into the bathroom and slammed the door closed behind me. I blew out a breath while staring at my reflection.
Cora Roberts—Daughter of death, mate, granddaughter, niece, choice maker...
None of them fit what I had to become.
Executioner.