Jules slowed as she approached the Colosseum, waiting for the barrage of visions to take her over, but nothing happened.
Clodia. It had all been Clodia’s doing using Violetta’s magic. How had none of them realised?
There had been little things that should have told her something was wrong with Violetta – little comments that stabbed at her confidence, a look she’d misinterpreted. Easy to not think it was something more nefarious given they were all under such stress – none of them had been behaving normally.
Clodia was so clever. So practiced with using magics. How could Jules ever think to beat her?
“No. No time for second guessing yourself now. I did that and look where it led me!”
She swallowed hard. “You’re right.” Stopping now wasn’t an option even though she still didn’t have a clue how to save her loved ones.
Her footsteps echoed against the ancient stone as she walked across the concourse and into the Forum. She’d never seen it like this, her mind too full of visions of the past. The ruins shone pale in the moonlight, the shadows shimmering with darkness. It should have been eerie, but it wasn’t. It was just crumbling and sad – proof that even the strongest could falter and fall.
She straightened her shoulders as she picked her way across the ruins of the Temple of Vesta, to what had once been a lush private garden, and was now dirt and ruins and weeds. She came to a stop.
Clodia stood at the head of the pentacle Jules had unearthed two nights ago. Tomaso – Tamuel – stood at the point he’d been placed in as a babe all those centuries ago, eyes and mouth open in horror, his body unmoving.
Where was Bastien?
There, on the ground, naked and glistening with sweat, body twitching from the magics of the change that had obviously just taken place.
“Bastien,” she cried, racing towards him. His breath was shallow and his ribs showed clearly through his skin. He moaned as she touched him. “Shh, shh, I’m here.”
His eyes flickered open, glowing in the night, the white giving way to stunning peridot – another sign the curse was weakening. But not gone. It still needed to be broken.
“Julianna.” He reached up, hand trembling, to touch her face. “So beautiful.”
“You can see me?”
“Yes.”
She cupped his face, thumbs stroking across too sharp cheekbones.
He swallowed hard, eyes closing. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop her then and I can’t stop her now. The gem is too strong.”
“It’s not your fault.” She kissed his brow. “None of us could have known it was her. Here, I’ve brought you something to eat.” She leaned back and pulled a chocolate bar from her jacket that she’d taken from the kitchen before she left. He reached for it, but his hands shook so badly, so she unwrapped it and held it to his lips, encouraging him to bite. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was all she’d had time to get, hoping she would find him transformed by the time she got here.
He swallowed the first bite. “Thank you,” he said on a grateful sigh.
“Enough.” Clodia’s voice snapped through the air. “It is almost time. Take your position.”
“No,” Bastien said, grabbing at her arm as she went to get to her feet. His grip was pathetically weak, but she stilled anyway as he whispered harshly, “Don’t let her take your power. Save yourself.”
She bent down and kissed him, lips lingering. “I will never leave you. Not again. Besides, I have to save Grandmama – and our son.”
“Our son?”
“Tamuel.”
He gasped, gaze flickering to where Tamuel stood, trapped just like he was. “Of course – I should have seen it. There was something so familiar about him. I thought it was because he was a cupid, but it is because he looks a bit like his mother.” His gaze returned to her. “If only I had some of my power. He and I could open a tear into the Heavenly plane and shove her where she should have gone long ag—” He jerked and cried out, face screwing up in pain, chocolate squishing in his fist.
“Bastien!”
“Leave him or I will increase his pain.”
“Please, stop. I’ll do as you ask.” She scrambled to her feet.
Clodia smiled slowly, then lowered her hand. Bastien stopped writhing, but even though his muscles still twitched and he was covered in sweat, he looked up at her and whispered, “Don’t do it.”
“I love you,” she whispered, then moved away to stand where Clodia told her to, where she remembered Lianna had given birth to their son. She looked across the pentacle at Tamuel. “I love you too,” she said.
“I know, mother. I remember. I remember it all now. Do you?”
His voice – a youthful voice, not Tomaso’s older one – rang in her head, his question capturing her mind.
Something clicked inside her. A rush of power surged, bringing with it knowledge, Lianna’s and hers – learned but never used. She and Lianna might be the same, but they were also very different. And they’d learned different things about how to use magic. Where her knowledge faltered, Lianna’s filled the gap. Just as where Lianna didn’t know how to use what had not been practiced, Jules wasn’t so constrained. She’d always known the strength of knowledge and how to use it.
And she knew exactly what to do with her powers to save those she loved.
That love, aided by the HeartsBlood Gem, had partially protected her in the past, stopping Clodia from reaching her goals. Love had chipped away at the bonds of the curse all these years; enough so that she was able to build a friendship with Bastien – loving him; enough that she loved and was loved by her grandmama and her parents; enough that she felt the connection with Tamuel even though she’d not understood it. It was enough to make her different from all those who’d come before.
Enough to give her the ability to use her unused power now because she finally understood its true strength.
And that love was even stronger now. It would be the thing that sent Clodia to hell.
She took her place in the pentacle. Clodia lifted her hands, the HeartsBlood Gem glowing on her chest. Jules almost laughed – Clodia had no idea what she was wearing. It was a part of Vesta. The essence of her power still lived inside it as it still lived inside Jules – that of home and hearth and fecundity and love – and it could never be used by someone who did not understand. It was a power that would never properly bend to Clodia’s will.
It would destroy her.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Hell yeah. If Clodia wants our power, she can have it. All of it.”
“Jules, no!”
Bastien pushed himself to his knees, arm stretched out towards her, the light of life in him horribly dimmed. The darkness of Clodia’s power twined around him already – she would never keep her word. She was going to sap him and Tamuel and Violetta of power to do this thing.
Jules wouldn’t let her. “Trust me?”
“You can’t give her your power. Not to save me.”
“Or me,” Tamuel said in her head.
“Trust me,” she said to both of them.
They both nodded wildly. “I do. Always.”
“As do I.” The words echoed doubly in her mind, Tamuel’s voice combined with Lianna’s.
It was all she needed. She turned back to Clodia. The ancient witch had finished her spell, ready to release it. She sucked power from Bastien and Tamuel and from the fifth, empty point – a link to the Eternal Well? Even better. The Gods and Goddesses would not like what Clodia was doing. “I’m ready,” she said, her voice calm.
“Open yourself to me, girl, so I can break the curse and begin the transfer,” Clodia shouted. “Let me have what should have been mine. Now.”
Clodia’s dark power darted towards her. An intense pressure then a breaking pop in her head as the curse broke. She had no time to breathe in relief as more dark power was sent her way, this time intent on draining Jules’s power slowly, painfully.
Jules had other ideas. She lifted her hands. Power shot through her, sparking out of her fingers, lighting the night, arrowing to Clodia in an almighty burst.
The night lit up with the brightness of the sun as the power hit the HeartsBlood Gem then shot into Clodia, amplified.
The witch screamed. “No, no, it’s too much. Slow down. I can’t take it all at once.”
“You wanted it all,” Jules said, grinning. “You can have it.” She concentrated harder, sending more power through the conduit Clodia had unwisely opened, allowing Jules access to the naked, dark heart of her. That heart was strong. Weakened, but not destroyed yet.
She’d have to use all her power.
She shoved power and more power at the bitch-witch. Clodia screamed, the sound a shrieking echo of rage and terror.
“Jules, not all of it.” Tamuel’s shout reached her – she’d freed him and Bastien with her action – and they had raced across the pentacle to her side.
“It has to be nearly all,” she whispered, then pushed every last ounce of what was inside her out and into Clodia. “It is the only way to be truly rid of her.”
The blast of power had the effect she wanted – it shoved the spirit out of Violetta. Her grandmama collapsed onto the earth, unconscious – but it wasn’t quite enough. Clodia was diminished but still there, her ghostly figure hanging above Violetta’s body, trying desperately to reach her again – the only way she could now survive was in a living body.
“A tear. We need to shove her where she’ll never bother us again,” Jules gasped. She had used nearly all her power and didn’t have enough to finish the job herself.
Bastien and Tamuel put their hands on her shoulders and opened themselves to her. Such love. Such trust.
She took their power and bound it with the remaining remnants of her power and her own love and trust for them. “I forgive you, Clodia,” she said. “But I don’t think the Gods will. They don’t like it when people have the hubris to steal their power. Tamuel, now.”
He shoved power into her – such incredible power – and she tore open a fissure into the realms of the Gods, and with more of her power, bolstered by Bastien’s, Jules shoved Clodia through the tear.
Clodia’s scream disappeared into the shimmering grey beyond the tear, but it didn’t close. It pulsed then she felt something tug at her. Gods! The void wanted more – it wanted all the power that had torn a hole in it. It tugged at her again, pulling her across the pentacle. “Fight it!” Bastien, Tamuel and Lianna all yelled.
But she couldn’t. She saw the fingers of darkness from within – the remnants of Clodia’s dark powers or something else? – reaching out, seeking, heading towards her love and her son. “No!” she cried, shoving what remained of her power at the tear so that it caught at the darkness then flew into the Void. The tear shimmered, warped then closed with a whoosh.
Wind whipped up, wiping away the last embers of the pentacle.
Silence fell.
Her knees buckled.
Her lover and her son caught her and carried her over to sit on a flat stone. Despite the chill in the air, the stone was warmed from the magic that had burned the air only moments ago.
Magic powered by a love that had lasted through the ages.
Bastien came down before her, clothing himself as he did, his gaze full of love and yet tinged by sadness. “Jules. Your power. You sent all your power into the void with her. Why did you do that?”
“It was the only way,” she said, wishing he’d stop talking and just kiss her. “Didn’t you feel it? There was something coming out of the Void – Clodia or something. I had to close the tear before she/it could take a hold. It wanted my power so I gave all of it. It was the only way to save us all.”
“My love.” He stroked her face, his eyes full of loss. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“How did you know to do that?”
She looked up at Tamuel. “I read about it.”
He gaped at her. Bastien chuckled. “Of course you did.”
“And Bastien – do I call you Bastien? Or would you prefer Sebastio?”
“I’m Bastien for you.”
Her smile felt like it took up her entire face. “Bastien gave me the idea about sending her through to a place only the Gods have access to.” She smiled at Bastien, staring into his peridot eyes. “So beautiful. I’m so glad I finally get to see these and not just dream about them.”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I would give up my sight if it meant you could have your magic back.”
“I wouldn’t.” She cupped his cheek, making him meet her gaze. “Why do I need it? I have my work. I have you. And now I also have a son.” She reached out her free hand to Tamuel. He took her hand in his, holding it to his chest. She smiled up at him then back at Bastien. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted. All I’ve ever wished for.” She looked back at her hand wrapped in Tamuel’s. “And I can touch you without worrying how it will affect me. That is magic enough.”
“So wise,” Tamuel said, then shimmered, his suave older man form changing into that of a young man, with twinkling eyes that flashed to peridot for a moment before settling to a beautiful indigo, and hair as darkly auburn and curling as hers. He squeezed her hand, his smile blazing brightly enough to light the night. “You may not be the mother that birthed me, but you’re the mother of my heart.”
“My son. Tell him I love him.”
She did just that, brushing away the tears that leaked from the corners of his eyes.
Bastien put his hand on Tamuel’s shoulder. “Son. Why did you never tell me who you were?”
“It was forbidden. To keep me from being swept into Clodia’s curse, Eros took me from the pentacle in the confusion after Clodia’s spell went awry. He wanted to take you too, but you were bound in ways I wasn’t. So, he hid me and gave me to Persephone until it was time for me to become one of his cupids. She told me of you and what had happened and helped me look for ways to break the curse’s hold on you both. She followed Esta, thinking she was a key and rescued her journal from the house fire all those years ago, but she didn’t give it to me until just recently when it became clear that now was the time to use it. That you,” he turned his gaze to Jules, “were the one who could break the spell.”
“So in a way, my father did help me.”
“I suppose he did given he gave me to the one Goddess who might help. I’m so sorry though.”
“For what?”
“That it took so long to be able to help you. Until a century ago, I was forbidden to contact you.”
Bastien cupped Tamuel’s cheek. “That is not your fault, son. The Gods and Goddesses do things for their own purposes. You were bound as much as Jules and I.”
“But I almost blew it tonight. Persephone mentioned that Clodia’s spirit might still be hanging around the place of her greatest defeat, but I didn’t remember the warning until it was too late. I let her take the HeartsBlood Gem from me because I was too prideful, too stupid.”
“No. You trusted,” Jules said. “Don’t ever feel sorry for that.”
“Mother,” he said, tears in his eyes. “I am sorry. So sorry the ultimate sacrifice was your magic.”
Jules touched his cheek. “I’m just glad the sacrifice wasn’t this.” She cupped his cheek with one hand, Bastien’s with the other. “Clodia thought my magic the most valuable thing, but it wasn’t. This is. So don’t be sad. Not when we’ve finally found each other.”
A moan from the other side of the cleared area had her pushing to her feet. “Oh Goddess! Grandmama,” Jules cried, rushing over to where Violetta had fallen. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten her grandmama was still there.
Violetta looked up at her, her eyes shadowed as Jules reached her. “You did it, my girl.”
“I did.”
“Your magic?”
“Gone. I had to use it all to defeat Clodia and close the rip into the Void.”
Violetta sighed and nodded. “I am sorry.”
“I’m not.”
Violetta nodded, her gaze skating over Jules’s smile. “Bastien and Tomaso – I mean, Tamuel?”
“Here,” they both said, then helped her up.
She trembled, her form thinner than it had been before – Clodia had pulled a lot out of her in the possession and final spell. She pulled the HeartsBlood Gem from around her neck. “Here, this is yours.” She held it out to Jules.
“No, I—”
“As a reminder of the strength you showed tonight and of what truly matters.”
Jules took the gem and hung it around her neck. It pulsed warmly there, feeling like it belonged. “Let’s go home.”
“Let me,” Bastien said. “I haven’t been able to use my powers for 2000 years.” He waved his hand. The air shimmered around them and then they were in the villa’s kitchen.
Jules held still, waiting for the nausea and pain, but it didn’t come.
She was finally free.
She hugged Bastien to her as Tamuel helped Violetta to a seat, put the kettle on and began to raid the fridge.
Bastien hugged her back, his smile warming her like the sun. “Jules. You know I will never leave you. You have no need to doubt that.”
“I know. I understand now. You’re my love. Forever.”
“Forever together, my love.” His lips met hers and everything faded as she lost herself in Bastien’s touch, in his kiss, and it was better than anything she could ever have wished. Love cursed no more. She was love blessed.
In the distance, church bells tolled one am. Tamuel glanced over at his mother and father, then, mouth quirking in happiness, put a plate of meat, cheese and bread in front of Violetta. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” he said.
“Yes.” She glanced over at Jules and Bastien, lost to everything else in the joy of their kiss. “It seems fitting.”
“I’m going to find some way to get her power back to her.”
Violetta’s smile grew wide as she picked up a piece of cheese. “That would be nice. Although, I don’t think she needs it to make her happy. Not now she finally knows the man of her dreams.”
“The man of her reality,” Tamuel countered.
Violetta winked at him. “May we all be blessed with such a reality.”
Tamuel nodded but didn’t say anything further.
Nobody could know he planned to bargain anything – even his greatest power – for his mother’s magic. The power of a cupid. It was one of the most sought-after powers among the Gods because what was stronger than love? Look at what it had done here tonight.
Jules deserved to be the witch she was born to be. Not just to have magic, but to have true immortality. His mother and father deserved to be together forever.
And he was the cupid who was going to make it happen. He vowed it.
A rumble in the distance signalled the Eternal Well had accepted his vow.
He smiled.
THE END … OR IS IT?
* * *
If you enjoyed Jules and Bastien’s story, then continue the adventure with Tamuel and Korinna’s story in Soul Cursed: Gods Cursed Series Book 2.
Read on for a sneak peek at Chapter 1 of Soul Cursed: