Chapter 15: Ancient Curses

The smell of cooked eggs, slabs of bacon, and pan-fried potatoes startled Bruce awake.

He thought such amazing food was only a dream, as the time to make such a meal was something he no longer had with all his new responsibilities.

Silvana exited the bedroom bathroom with a pink toothbrush in her mouth and her strawberry-blonde hair in a messy top knot bun. She was in a lacy white nightgown and big fluffy pink slippers, and she looked refreshed and well-rested. Bruce smiled. Any remaining tension in Silvana’s shoulders after his massages seemed to be gone.

Bruce rubbed a knuckle to his eye and stretched widely with his big arms.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said with a massive grin.

Silvana dashed back into the bathroom, rinsed her mouth, clinked her toothbrush to the sink and said, “I’ve got breakfast on the stove for you, handsome.”

She ran some water to her face, listening for Bruce to say something, but he didn’t. She patted her face dry with the towel on the rack and then saw Bruce in the bathroom mirror, his sweatshirt unzipped and displaying his intense abs. He hugged her from behind, kissed her cheek and said, “You know that I’m meant to mate with a werewolf.”

Silvana slipped out from his grasp with tearing eyes. Her breath sharpened but Bruce was still smiling.

“But I vow myself to you,” he said, “no matter how many people we need to fight because of it.”

Silvana exhaled and shook her head. “You scared me for a second!”

Bruce laughed and cuddled her. “I hadn’t meant to.”

Silvana led Bruce downstairs and to the huge breakfast table and said, “I would have killed you if you broke up with me after I made plans for you to meet my best friend and her boyfriend today.”

Bruce gave her a quick pat on her behind and teased, “Don’t you worry. As far as I’m concerned, your best friend is meeting your boyfriend today.”

He popped a piece of toast into his mouth, then began filling a plate. He handed the full plate to Silvana like a true gentleman.

Solaris, hungover, wobbled into the kitchen and made right for the coffee. He filled two other mugs and distributed them to Silvana and Bruce.

The three sat at the kitchen table together, feasting on their big breakfast.

Bruce pointed with his fork to the heart-shaped hole that had been patched. “What happened there?” he asked.

Solaris shook his head and slurped down coffee. “It’s a long story,” he chuckled, giving Silvana a soft smile. “The short version is that my daughter is extremely powerful.”

Silvana beamed with satisfaction, then spread some blueberry jam on a crispy croissant.

After everybody had their fill of food and the three were on their second pot of coffee, Bruce said, “Silvana activated my pack’s Moon Stone and confirmed that the supernatural seal is shattering.”

Solaris rubbed his angled nose and said, “It was only a matter of time. The spirit world is becoming too strong to contain. You must imagine, they’ve been sealed away for 21 years, and the rage and fury in those already malevolent spirits has been festering and boiling.”

“Not to mention,” Silvana chimed, “that Cecilia Duponte is back.”

Solaris tapped his fingers on the table and darted an eye at Bruce.

“The greatest werewolf slayer that ever lived,” Solaris said. “If Ms. Duponte has been released, then surely we will see other powerful spirits and demon hauntings.”

Bruce sipped at his coffee and said, “I’ve read that Duponte was the witch who began the war between witches and werewolves. She hunted our people relentlessly.”

Solaris stiffened in his chair, clearly uncomfortable at such conversation. “She also developed the magic to control werewolves, which is why those Hellhounds follow her with such loyalty.”

Silvana thought about how Bruce was attacked by Duponte and the Hellhounds at the masquerade. Silvana slammed a fist and her fork rattled off her plate.

“We need to seal these spirits away for good this time,” Silvana said defiantly. She didn’t realize it, but purple sparks had spurted around her fist.

Bruce and Solaris both smiled at the development in her strength, and the two thought that she might just have what it takes to restore order back to the world.

Bruce shrugged with frustration, “Thankfully the spirits are weak to my Silverclaw abilities. I’ve been fighting them, and keeping them at bay, but without magic, I don’t know how we can--”

Silvana ran out from her seat and to the library, then returned with an ancient tome. She flipped to a page on curses.

“Maybe we don’t need magic,” Silvana said excitedly. “I mean, not in the traditional sense. People have been haunted for thousands of years, and well before witchcraft was discovered, people were ridding the world of evil spirits.”

Silvana prodded her finger to the paragraph on the grainy page about curses. She read aloud, “For if the spirits of those who died haunt the living who peacefully reside, the spirits’ strength may be denied after their remains are purified.”

Wide-eyed, Bruce said, “Then even if we can’t seal all the spirits away this moment, according to this book we can at least dispel the spirits by burning their bones.”

“It’s all an old-time ritual,” Silvana said. “Bruce, this is something even you could do. We can find the remains of Cecilia Duponte and any other ghostly bitch who comes around our city and banish them away!”

At that, Solaris cleared his throat. He was, after all, still the Guardian, and while Silvana and Bruce were not privy to his current efforts in containing the spirits, he didn’t appreciate the enthusiasm in Silvana’s voice of him being replaced by Bruce.

Bruce, who could not even cast magic.

Bruce, who would need to stoop to the lowest forms of spirit destruction.

The thoughts sickened Solaris. “Perhaps,” he thought, “It will be more difficult to act cordial with this hairball than I had imagined.”

But Solaris calmed himself by considering how Bruce’s life would be the key to him not only regaining his old power, but becoming more powerful than he had ever been before.

If his daughter and her boy toy needed to run around the city stopping the occasional spirit so they could feel as though they were actually making some sort of difference, so be it.

“I must rest after such a delicious meal from my amazing daughter,” Solaris said, using his cane to stand.

He rested a hand on Bruce’s shoulder and said, “I appreciate you being here, and hope we may talk more in the future.”

Bruce was taken aback. He had plenty of complications lined up if Silvana was to be his mate, and if her father believed in their relationship, that was one huge weight off his back.

“Me too, sir,” Bruce said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Oh no, Mr. Winters,” Solaris said, walking away to his quarters. “Don’t thank me for my hospitality until we’ve opened the good bottle of scotch together.”

“Babe,” Silvana said, “happy as I am that you two are on good terms, we’ve got to get going so we can meet Amelia and her boyfriend!”

Bruce gave Silvana a kiss on the cheek and told her, “I’ll warm up the truck for you.”

And Silvana sprinted upstairs, changed into a pair of skintight black jeans and the baggy flannel shirt Bruce had given her after he saved her life.

The two jetted off to the cafe where Amelia was outside, dressed to the nines in an elegant, long-sleeved black dress. She was nibbling on cheese from the charcuterie board and sipping on wine when she waved Silvana and Bruce over to her table.

Silvana and Amelia ran up towards one another holding back screams of excitement and hugged each other dearly.

Silana held Amelia’s arm and said, “This is my boyfriend, Bruce.”

Bruce shook Amelia’s dainty hand and Amelia’s jaw dropped as she stared up Bruce and all his muscle.

“Well, Bruce,” Amelia said, fanning her face with a hand, “If there is one thing you have in common with my boyfriend that I absolutely adore, it’s that you both seem to be against wearing shirts.”

“Oh, love, our friends are here,” Amelia declared.

A puff of cigarette smoke emitted from around the side of the cafe, and the first thing Silvana noticed were the amber eyes, and then the cider-colored hair tucked behind a grey knit hat.

Amelia’s boyfriend approached the group and Amelia said, “Sylvie, dear, I know he’s good looking, but you don’t need to stare like that!”

Kurt took a few more puffs off his cigarette, then flicked it to the curb. He was wearing khaki work pants and a denim vest with no shirt.

Silvana and Bruce couldn’t believe it.

Kurt smiled his untrustworthy grin, put his arm around Amelia, and said to Bruce, “Hey there, big brother.”