24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
“Do your normally make this many house calls, Dr. Murphy?” Ben said as he pulled his Henley over his head.
“Please call me Ian.” He smiled. “When someone comes back from the dead, I make it my priority to visit.”
Ben chuckled. “Yeah. And when that someone can’t remember who he is, it makes it all the more interesting.”
“Exactly. You do seem better since yesterday, and without taking you to a medical facility to run more tests, I can’t determine why you’ve lost your memory.”
“Eric told me about the memory spell,” Ben said, wanting to get Ian’s opinion.
Ian nodded. “Yes. That is probably the reason.”
“He also told me about my necklace. I want to start wearing it to see if it helps get my memory back.”
Ian folded his stethoscope and placed it in his bag. “We aren’t sure what sort of magic is associated with the pendant. It could be risky.”
“True. But according to Eric, my mother gave it to me, and if it helps, then I say it’s worth the risk.” He didn’t want to wait any longer to get his memories back.
A soft knock sounded on the door before Eric opened it and walked inside. “How’s he doing?”
“He’s doing well,” Ian said. “And it sounds like you’ve been filling him in on things. I thought we were going to take things slow?”
Eric held up his hands. “We’ve just been talking. I wasn’t pushing him to do anything.”
“Hello, guys. I’m in the room. I appreciate your concern, but I want to try.” The sooner the better. He had a family and clan to remember.
Eric reached behind his neck, removed the necklace, and then placed it in Ben’s hand.
Ben studied the pendant but didn’t recognize the symbol. “Does it mean anything?”
“It’s the mark of the dragon sentries who died out over a thousand years ago,” Eric said. “It was also a mark that the witch clan who cursed us used as well.”
“What?” How much more convoluted could things get?
“I know. It’s confusing. Megan can give you more background on the dragon sentries. She’s been researching them along with some other historical items to help us try to break the curse.”
He tightened his hand around the pendant. “And this necklace helped you get your memories back?”
“It did. We think it’s been bespelled to protect the wearer.”
Ben nodded and put the necklace on, tucking it under his shirt. Ian and Eric watched him for a moment as if waiting for him to scream, Hallelujah! Instead, nothing. “I don’t feel any different.”
Eric nodded. “It didn’t work for me right away. It came back in bits and pieces.”
Well damn. He needed to do something . “Okay. We can’t just sit around and wait for me to remember when we have things to do, right? Let’s go figure out a curse.”
Eric smiled. “Sounds like a plan. You want to stick around for a while, Doc?”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “In case the necklace has me breaking out in tongues?”
Ian smiled. “I can stay for a bit. But remember I’m a doctor, not an exorcist.”
Ben was well aware of that. He would have to exorcise his own demons.
Tessa had gone into work that morning to help Katrina get ready for a trip to New York. Her boss traveling for the next couple of weeks meant Tessa would have some time to help the clan. She drove back to the clan house and found Megan in the kitchen with Bella and Lily. They were making ice cream sundaes.
Tessa put her hands on her hips and mock-glared at them. “You’re having an ice cream party without me?”
“Yes,” Megan said. “But you made it just in time.”
“How could you let your mommy have a party without me.” Tessa tickled Bella’s tummy, which got her to giggling. Lily giggled too. Megan and Tessa looked at each other. That was the second time she’d giggled. They needed to mention that to Ian the next time he was here.
“Where’s Evelyn?”
“She’s resting.”
Tessa didn’t blame her. She had been taking care of Lily for over a year now, worrying about who might be out there trying to get her and not knowing what happened to Mia.
“What else has been going on without me?” Tessa asked as she reached for a bowl and scooped some ice cream into it.
“Ben and Eric are in the office. They’re working.”
Tessa frowned. “I thought Ian said Ben needed to take it easy.”
“He did. He checked him this morning and said that he was doing better, so Ben and Eric took that to mean moving forward with getting his memory back.”
Tessa’s stomach dropped. “So he gave him the pendant to wear?”
“It helped Eric.”
Tessa tapped her fingers on the table. “Yes, but Eric hadn’t lost all of his memory. What if the pendant is too much for Ben?”
Megan nodded. “They already thought of that, so Ian is staying close by today to check on him.”
Tessa poured chocolate sauce onto her ice cream. “Okay.” But was it really? She knew she didn’t have a right to worry about him. He’d found his family, and once his memory returned, he would go back to being Adam, who had a clan and a multimillion-dollar company to run.
Megan gave her a long look before putting a small scoop of vanilla into the baby dish and handing Bella a spoon.
Tessa helped Lily build her sundae before adding candies, sprinkles, nuts, and then squirting her own bowl with whipped cream. They sat with the girls and enjoyed the treat. Bella ended up wearing more than she ate, which had them all giggling at her.
Megan wiped off Bella’s face and hands, and Tessa did the same for Lily, who had only managed a bit of chocolate on her chin. Tessa’s chest warmed. She would do anything for this little girl. Fight off dragons, Templars, witches. Anyone or anything that tried to hurt her.
Evelyn walked into the room and smiled. “Did you have a yummy snack while I was taking a nap?”
“Would you like something?” Megan asked.
“I’m good. Marilyn is feeding us so well, I’m not going to fit into my clothes soon. I was going to take Lily and read to her for a bit in the living room. Would you like me to watch Bella for you?”
“Even with the ice cream, I think she’s going to be ready for a nap soon. I’m going to settle her down.”
“I’ll go see Ben and Eric,” Tessa said. Check on them more like, but she wasn’t going to say that. Of course, Megan’s expression told her she already knew what Tessa was thinking.
They all left the kitchen, and Tessa headed to the office. She knocked and walked inside. Eric, Marcus, and Ben were bent over the desk, studying something. “What are you three doing?”
“I told Ben about the scroll and how the wearer of the necklace can cause the words to change to something we can read,” Eric said. “We’re going to see what happens when Ben touches it.”
“Okay.” Why did she keep saying okay when she felt the opposite? “Have you remembered anything?”
Ben frowned. “Not yet.”
Eric removed the scroll from the protective sleeve and laid it on the desk. The two paragraphs were still on the paper and weren’t in any language they had been able to decipher. Ben hesitated for a moment before resting his fingers on the edge of the paper.
They all seemed to hold their breath for a moment before the letters in the first paragraph changed into words that made sense.
A call to nature
Free us from the flying demons
Fire, air, water, earth
Take their wings
Take their fire
Take their powers
Free the sky
Ben took a moment to read it before removing his fingers and having the wording change again. “You would think after the last twenty-four hours I wouldn’t be shocked anymore.”
The door opened and Sienna and Megan walked inside. Before they could ask what was going on, Eric let them know about the scroll changing for Ben as well.
“But not the second paragraph?” Sienna said.
“No.”
Eric picked up a piece of paper that had both paragraphs transcribed and handed it to Ben to read, which he did out loud.
An oracle born
Templars united
Blood will be shed
Forgiveness and Sacrifice
Magic restored
“And we think this is what has to happen before it can be broken?” Ben said as they all sat to continue the conversation.
Eric nodded. “Yes. John Baker agrees.”
“The guy whose grandmother cast the spell using his blood and he’s been alive for over four hundred years?” Ben asked with eyes the size of saucers.
“That’s him. We thought Bella being born might have started the process to save our magic, but now Lily is here and she has to be five by now, right?” Megan said.
Tessa nodded. “Or possibly six. About that. I think that Lily’s birth might have jump-started all of this again. In the past few years, what used to be considered a myth has now been proven as real, and we’ve had to fight against those who want to stop us from breaking the curse. We don’t know when Lily’s parents died or when Lily’s powers started. They might not have known she was an oracle and what that meant. But someone figured it out, and if we can believe what Mia told Evelyn, maybe they were trying to force her to use her powers.”
“And I must have found something that made me believe the curse was real,” Ben said. “What about the next line, ‘Templars unite’?”
Megan brought him up to speed about the Templars.
Something she said made Tessa’s spidey senses tingle. “Megs, when did you say the dragon sentries disappeared?”
“A thousand years ago.”
The supernatural puzzle pieces started to fit together. “Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence that the dragon sentries disappeared around the same time as the Templars were in power? If the Templars were bent on destroying dragons, wouldn’t the sentries have been the ones to stand up to them?”
Megan sat up straighter. “Right! If the sentries were the guardians or soldiers of the magical world, they would have been the first line of defense against them.”
“And once they were destroyed, the peace between the witches and dragons dissolved, culminating in the curse centuries later,” Tessa said.
“That makes sense, but that means we’re in trouble. If you take the second paragraph literally, the oracle birth triggers the Templars to unite. So a thousand-year-old mysterious group bent on destroying us might be back in business,” Sienna said.
“And what does Mia White have to do with any of this?” Tessa said, frustration bubbling under her skin. “She obviously knows that dragons exist, as do oracles. She told Evelyn that Lily was special and to listen to her.”
“Everyone thought she disappeared years ago because she was in mourning for her husband. What if she was on the run?” Ben said.
“From dragons or Templars?” Eric said.
Megan piped up. “Don’t forget about witches.”
“For all we know, it could be all of them.” Tessa’s heart sped up. “And the same could be said of Lily.”
Ben frowned. “No one is touching that girl.”
“Agreed,” Eric said. “Which is why we’re trying to ask around about her parents without telling the other clans about Lily for the time being. No one outside this house, besides Ian, knows about her.” He nodded at Ben. “Or you. We aren’t letting anyone know about you being alive either.”
“So what do we do next?” Marcus said. “Mia’s trail is cold. There are obviously other people involved in this that want Mia and Lily. And we don’t know why. Do they want to break the curse or not?”
Ben clenched his fists. “I wish I could remember what happened before I was attacked. What convinced me to believe the curse was real?”
Megan stood up and walked over to the bookshelf next to the desk. She pulled out a leather-bound book and flipped through it. “We found this in your room. It’s a story your mom used to tell you kids.”
Ben shook his head. “How does a children’s story play into this?”
Megan sat next to him. “The story was written down over a hundred years ago, but it’s about three children, two boys and a girl, who go on a pilgrimage to save their dragon village. And much of the story matches what you, Eric, and Sienna have been through.” She held the book out to Ben. “This is a drawing of a shield that Samuel, the oldest in the story, carries with him. It matches the symbol on the necklace your mom gave you. It’s the symbol of the dragon sentries. But John also remembers it as a symbol that was in the witch village as well.”
“Do you think the story is some sort of prophesy?” Ben asked.
Megan nodded. “We think it might have been written by an oracle, your great-great-grandmother on your mother’s side. After the witches cursed dragons, the oracles in the clans seemed to have died off.”
“Except this book makes us think that isn’t true,” Tessa said. “It’s more likely some of the oracle powers continued, which is why this book exists. It was written in a way to let you know what was going to happen without outing the oracles at that time.”
Ben closed the book and clenched it so hard his knuckles turned white. “So how does the book end? Does it tell us how to break the curse?”
Megan shook her head. “I’ve read it. It appears to be the first volume of the story. It doesn’t tell us how the story should end. Maybe if you read it, something will trigger your memories?”
Ben ran his hand over the book. “I can do that.”
Marcus crossed his arms. “Jonas is trying to find anything he can online about Mia that we might have missed. He’s also trying to quietly dig into Lily’s background to see if he can find anything regarding her parents, which would hopefully lead us to her clan.”
Hopefully was right. Although overwhelming was the word that kept coming to mind. She couldn’t imagine what it was doing to Ben. Especially when she saw how much pain Ben had already suffered. How much blood he had already shed.