Chapter 20
The following morning, Victoria took inventory of the spell’s ingredients.
“We have Nepenthes Temax, from northern Queensland; Welwitschia, also known as Fossil Plant, from Africa; Dragon’s Blood Tree, from Socotra; and finally, Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid, which you brought from Borneo.
” She looked up from her notes for a moment.
“Thank you for that again. Bringing it with you was very thoughtful.”
He smiled. “It was nothing.”
“Not to me,” she said. They spent a moment just looking into each other’s eyes. Eventually, she cleared her throat and continued. “We just need the Ghost Orchid, found in Cuba or Florida, and to come back for the Corpse plant.”
“I’m glad we’re leaving the Corpse plant until last in case we have to hold our noses all the way back to Tennessee,” he teased.
She laughed at his jokes but didn't have to fake it. He was genuinely funny.
“Okay, so we’re off to Cuba or Florida, then back to the mansion!” she said.
Everything went sideways the moment they landed in Cuba. Duke had tucked the library deep inside the jungle, hidden beneath layers of vines and thick canopy. Usually, that worked beautifully. The remote terrain avoided tourists and questions.
Unfortunately, jungles hid more than ancient plants and inconvenient reptiles, bugs, and animals. They also hid drug operations.
Duke realized his mistake approximately three seconds after he and Victoria stepped outside and found half a dozen armed men pointing rifles directly at them.
“Well,” Victoria muttered slowly, lifting her hands, “this seems unfriendly.”
The men barked orders in rapid Spanish.
Duke raised his hands too. “I may have overlooked something.”
“You think?”
A rifle jabbed Duke between the shoulder blades and shoved him forward.
They marched through dense foliage toward a clearing carved out of the jungle. A cluster of rough buildings sat beneath the trees. Armed guards lounged nearby with the relaxed posture of men entirely too comfortable holding automatic weapons.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Victoria kept her hands laced behind her head and leaned closer to Duke as they walked. “Please tell me you have a spell for this.”
“Usually, yes.”
“And now?”
“I’m trying not to get us shot before I finish one.”
“That feels like an important step.”
Duke’s stomach twisted harder with every yard they walked. He’d chosen Cuba over Florida because Victoria had never been there, and Canadians were welcome. Also, he thought the jungle would offer better cover for the library.
Instead, he’d parked a magical occult library in the middle of someone’s criminal empire. Brilliant work, Masterson.
The guards shoved them into a large wooden hut where a broad-shouldered man sat behind a scarred table, lazily smoking a cigar. He looked annoyed more than surprised, as if random trespassers interrupted his afternoon schedule regularly.
The leader spoke sharply in Spanish. Duke caught maybe every fourth word. None of them sounded encouraging.
The man’s gaze slid toward Victoria and lingered. Duke straightened instinctively.
Victoria noticed too. Her expression cooled several degrees. Even trapped in another woman’s body, she still radiated the kind of confidence that made people look twice. Unfortunately, armed criminals apparently counted as people.
The leader snapped another order. The guards shoved Duke and Victoria farther inside.
An interior door cracked open. A lone figure leaned out partway. Behind him lay a table stacked with weapons.
Hope flickered.
The leader kept talking, clearly irritated now. Duke strained to follow the Spanish. Then one word landed clearly.
“Muerto.” Dead.
Victoria must have understood it too, because her eyes widened slightly before narrowing again.
Duke’s heart slammed against his ribs. No more waiting. No more hoping this turned reasonable. He shifted his weight subtly, calculating distance. Three steps to the weapons room. Maybe four. If he moved fast enough...
The leader barked another sentence.
Duke lunged. He sprinted toward the open doorway just as shouting erupted behind him. He grabbed the nearest rifle, spun around, and prepared for gunfire.
None came. The room’s action had frozen. The guards stood motionless.
The leader remained half out of his chair, mouth open mid-yell. Even the cigar smoke hung motionless in the air.
Duke blinked. Slowly, he lowered the weapon and looked at Victoria.
She stared back at him, equally stunned.
“How did you...” he started. “I thought you couldn’t...”
“I didn’t,” she said immediately. “Did you?”
“No.”
A calm female voice drifted across the room.
“That was me.”
Both of them watched as a woman in a flowing, printed silk robe stepped through the doorway like she had all the time in the world.
“I knew you two were in trouble.”
“Mom?” Duke exclaimed.
Victoria extended her hand. “Uh, I guess I should introduce myself and thank you. I’m Victoria De La Fontaine.”
“And I guess we should all get the hell out of here,” Duke said. “We can save introductions for later.”
As they raced past the motionless armed men toward the library, Duke kept glancing at his mother.
“What?” she asked.
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
She gave him a sly smile and winked. “You don’t know everything.”
“I guess not.”
As soon as they reached the sanctuary of the library, Duke spun his magical globe and touched a spot in the Florida interior.
A window opened, displaying a 3D image of the area, like a real-time Google Maps view.
Duke’s finger glided over the area until he found a safe and private spot, and then he took his finger off the screen.
A moment later, the library touched down so gently that the books on the shelves didn’t even move.
“Now, before you leave to get your ghost orchid, tell me why you went to Cuba instead of Florida?” Duke’s mother demanded.
“Mother…”
“I can answer that,” Victoria said. “I had such a good time visiting exotic places and experiencing other cultures that I wanted to see Cuba. I’ve been to Florida many times.
Since I’m Canadian, I thought any locals would be open to our visit.
Even though I don’t have my passport, I could sing Oh, Canada, albeit off-key, until they let me in. ”
One side of Duke’s mother’s mouth twitched up, as if she were trying to stifle a grin. She extended her hand toward Victoria and said, “Now that the crisis is over, let me introduce myself properly. I’m Amelia Masterson. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Victoria.”
Victoria shook her hand, then pulled her in for a hug. “I cannot thank you enough for coming at the exact moment we needed you. How did you know?”
Duke folded his arms. “Yes, Mother. How did you know?”
“A mother knows when her son is in trouble—especially a magical mother. How did you get in that predicament?”
“It’s my fault,” Duke said. “I was distracted when we landed. I didn’t check the surrounding area.”
“What could have possibly distracted you so?” his mother asked.
He glanced at Victoria, and they shared a shy smile.
“Oh! It’s like that?”
“It’s like none of your business, Mom.”
“Well, I guess my purpose has been served. I’ll just go home and read a book. Oh wait…” She gestured to the many shelves filled with books.
Duke rolled his eyes. “Would you like to join us in our search for the ghost orchid, mother?”
“How nice of you to ask, but no. I don’t feel like tromping around in the heat and humidity, waving away bugs.”
“My mother is a bit of a princess,” Duke fake-whispered to Victoria behind his hand.
“That’s all right. I’m a bit of a princess too”, she said. “At least, I was before this crazy week.”
“And you will be again, after you get your body back.” Duke sighed.
“I don’t know… I think this experience has changed me. I don’t think I will ever be the same rude, spoiled brat.”
Amelia sashayed over to the shelves and scanned a few titles. She disappeared behind one of the stacks and eventually brought an old, weathered volume to her son. “Have you read this one?”
He took it, glanced at the title, Goddesses’ Wisdom, and thumbed through some of the pages. “No, I don’t think I have. Hmmm… I thought I knew every book here.”
“This is from the secret shelves. Don’t tell me your father didn’t tell you about those.”
“Uh, no. He didn’t. What secret shelves?”
Amelia took Duke by the hand and led him to the furthest stack against the wall. She pulled one of the books like a lever, and a secret door opened, revealing one more bookcase, recessed into the wall.
Amelia reached out and ran her fingers along the spines of the books, her eyes scanning the titles.
“Your father used to call this the Forbidden Collection,” she said.
“He believed that these books were dangerous and should never be read by anyone who didn’t hold the library’s best interests at heart. ”
“I—I thought there was a lost storage container somewhere. Are you telling me the forbidden books were here all along? I wonder why he kept that from me.” Duke had always known that his father was a serious man, but why would he hide books from his own son?
“Why did he think they were dangerous?” he asked.
Amelia's expression turned grave as she pulled out a thick leather-bound book from the shelf.
“These books contain knowledge that could change the world,” she said, her voice filled with reverence.
“They hold secrets that have been kept hidden for centuries - secrets that could give someone immense power. Do you know how many men would kill for these?”
Duke's eyes widened. “But why would Father hide them from me?”
Amelia's face softened as she placed a hand on Duke's shoulder. “Your father was a wise man, Duke,” she said. “He knew that some people would do anything to get their hands on those books. He didn't want to put you, or anyone else, in danger. Please understand, it wasn’t because he didn’t trust you. He just wanted to protect you, as do I. Promise me you won’t even look for those books unless the world is ending—or needs to end.”
Victoria gasped. “Needs to?”
Duke nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.
He looked around the library, taking in the hundreds of shelves of books that held so much knowledge and power already.
And yet, he couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment that he would never be able to read all the occult books in the world.
“But why were you able to open the forbidden shelf, and I wasn’t? I’ve handled every book in here.”
Amelia smiled reassuringly. “Fear not, Duke,” she said. “Your father left behind clues on how to access these books. He only wanted you to know about their existence if it became an absolute necessity and knew you’d protect them.”
“Clues? What kind of clues?”
“Well, me, for one. Let me show you how to pull the lever without taking the book off the shelf.”
He watched closely, knowing he had to become familiar with the hidden books. Whether he should ever need them or not, he had been given a dangerous task. He was determined to follow in his father's footsteps and protect the knowledge within those books.
“Is there anything in there for me?” Victoria spoke from behind them, and they jumped.
“I already gave the volume that might help you to Duke,” Amelia said. “Please never mention the existence of this bookcase.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Victoria said, and she crisscrossed her index finger over her heart. “But… But why would the world need to end?”
“If it became an uninhabitable wasteland. There are horrible possibilities now. Some power-mad idiot could decide to play the ultimate Dr. Doom.”
“Mon Dieu!”