My One and Only (Bewitched and Bewildered #10)(9)

"Leave the healthy, filling meals to me," Sebastian promised.

"And leave finding a cure to me," Vivi said. She tapped her lips. "If you looked at a patient can you tell me if anything stands out as abnormal. For example higher white blood cell count or maybe inflammation?"

Laelia nodded slowly. "I would be able to point to a place on their body and tell you that they have an imbalance, but Serenity is better at the nitty gritty, like types of cells and chemicals released."

"She sounds amazing," Micah said his eyes still locked on her.

She blushed and ducked her head. "After helping out the unit warriors so much I found that I had a knack for body magic. I tend to see a lot of illness and pain in the form of colors."

Her eyes strayed back to the pretty blonde sitting next to Prince Gavriel. She was torn. Did she know? Should she say something?

"Serenity, never play poker," Kendrick teased.

She looked up. "Huh?"

"Law and I saw it too. But I have to say I am very impressed with you. You saw it right away," Kendrick said pointing to Beth. "Do you know what it is?" he asked.

"Yes," she said nodding. She had noticed it immediately.

His mouth dropped. "What?"

Law burst into laughter. "Oh how the mighty have fallen! You've done nothing but scour your books and haven't got a clue!"

Gavriel leaned forward. "You know what the shadow is?"

Serenity hesitated. Kendrick frowned. "How bad?"

She winced. "Pretty bad." She took a deep breath. "It's a death curse."

Her words caused mass chaos around the table. Gavriel pulled Beth into his arms, Meryn began to shake, Beth's fathers moved closer to their child and Sebastian hurried over to stand behind Beth as if to ward off any harm. Micah stood and walked down the table to take the seat on her other side. Without saying a word he wrapped an arm around her.

She took a moment to appreciate his support. She had faced the world alone for so long that his small gesture meant everything.

Meryn looked at her, her lower lip trembling. "But, she's not dead right?"

Serenity smiled gently. "No Meryn, she's not dead." She looked at Beth again. "But not for lack of trying. I've never seen a more fragmented spell. It must have been trying to kill you for decades."

Beth stared at her stunned. "I think it has. I have the world's worst luck. I can't even begin to list the injuries I've sustained over the years."

"How in the devil do you know this?" Kendrick sputtered.

She raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten my heritage?"

Kendrick slumped back in his chair, eyes wide. "Of course!"

"What? What about her heritage. Can she fix Beth?" Gavriel demanded his worry making his tone harsh.

"Gavriel," Micah said simply. He stared at the prince a hard look on his face.

Beth placed both hands on her mate's chest. "Calm down my love. Kendrick already said this has been with me for a while, I'm not going anywhere."

Gavriel took a long shuddering breath. "My apologies Serenity, I did not mean to put you on the spot." He inclined his head to Micah. "Thank you for calling me out on it."

Serenity frowned. "That was shockingly humble of you, for being a prince."

Everyone around the table smiled at her observance. Micah turned to her. "He was a unit warrior first, we're a humble lot."

The women mostly shook their heads at that statement.

"Back to my mate...please," Gavriel insisted gently.

Serenity turned back to Beth. "I'm half fae, so I am extremely sensitive to black or dark magic. My magic is greatly affected by my fae blood. It's why I see things in colors, the way fae tend to see colorful auras. It's probably why I saw it right away and Kendrick didn't." She took a deep breath and reached deep into her magic. Suddenly the shadow around Beth became clearer and she was able to differentiate shades of grey and traces of bright colors. She let out a low whistle. "If I'm reading this correctly, it wasn't meant for you. It was meant for someone tied to you by blood." She winced. "Whoever cast this spell had a sick sense of humor."

"What do you mean?" Kendrick asked his brows knitted together.

She pointed to the darker grey color, even though she knew she was the only one who could see what she could. "The spell caster was simply that, the one that cast the spell. Another person wanted it done and the hatred they had for whoever this was intended for, is down-right frightening. What the spell caster didn't tell the person who requested the spell was that this particular piece of black magic required a human sacrifice." She glanced at Kendrick. "They killed the requester to cast the spell."

Kendrick blinked. "I see what you mean. Very tricky."

Serenity turned back to study Beth. When she saw threads of amethyst running through the spell she began to piece together what may have happened. She looked at Broderick. "Were you and Beth's mother mates?"

He shook his head. "No, she wanted a child and I volunteered. We were both bunny shifters so it made sense." He inhaled sharply turning white as a sheet. "It was meant for me, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "I think so. The different shades of red are usually indicators of anger, hatred and jealousy. There's so much rage in this spell." She looked Beth in the eye. "But there's also a fierce thread of love, it's amethyst and beautiful." She smiled gently. "A mother's love and protection."