Fated | The Heir of the She-Wolf

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

|VALERIO|

“What the hell are you talking about?”, I asked in a numb voice as I stared at Eleanor.

I was on my feet now too, my eyes locked with hers. None of us moved or said anything for a few long seconds.

“You heard me.”, she whispered and turned around. I made a step towards her, circling the dinner table.

“Explain.”, I said in a strict voice. I needed this information and I could not afford to go soft on her. “Who are your parents?”

“Richard and Janet Grace. They were both Magi. One night nine years ago I heard them arguing. Dad wanted them to go visit the King but mom was against it. She was scared of the King but dad convinced her somehow. I didn’t want them to go, but I was just a child then, they didn’t listen to me. They left and never came back.”

She turned to face me and I could see the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. All I wanted to do in that moment was reach out, make the one step and close the distance between us. But my feet were glued to the ground.

“I have never met them in my life.”, was all I could say. The look on her face said clearly she didn’t believe me.

“What is the most powerful truth spell you know?”, I asked her.

“Vi Veritatis.”, she replied confused.

“Do it.”, I ordered.

“But you can die.”, she said even more confused after the initial shock.

“Only if I lie. Do the f*****g spell.”

 |ELEANOR|

I could not believe what he was asking of me. The Vi Veritatis spell would literally kill anyone who answered with a lie instead of the whole truth. It was a rare spell, one that I had never performed before. But if Valerio was so goddamn set on signing his death wish, be my guest.

I wiped the tears that had spilled on my cheek. I looked around the table and took a clean knife.

“Give me your palm.”, I said and he obeyed.

“I think the spell will be much stronger if you channel on the natural elements. Do it on the balcony.”, Valerio said and gestured for the wide terrace.

The view of Carlton city was enormous and vast, just looking at it was making my head spin. I hesitated but I guess he noticed me staring outside the window, because he took my hand.

“What, are you afraid of heights?”, he asked and opened the door leading to the terrace.

Fuck it, Eleanor, you are about to perform a powerful truth spell and probably kill the King of Clans. Get your s**t together.

I made one step through the glass door and the dizziness hit me. My legs were like jelly and the endless view of the city lights and the darkness of the ocean paralyzed me. Valerio grabbed my arm and held me up so I don’t fall down. He stretched out his other hand and turned his palm around so I can draw blood for the spell.

To stop the dizziness and panic which were overwhelming my body, I focused on him and tried to ignore the emptiness around us. His blue eyes were fixated on me and his dark messy hair was trembling with the slight waves of wind that were hitting us. His lips were pressed together and his sharp jaw was tensed. He was not scared though.

I slid the blade of the knife over his palm, drawing blood that started gushing immediately, red and warm. My eyes widened in shock as the smell hit me. It was the most beautiful smell I had ever sensed – ocean, forest and fire all mixed together in an insatiable purity that hit me and filled me up. In that second, all I could think about was pressing my body against his and never letting go.

The sound of his blood dropping on the balcony floor pushed me away from my moment of bliss and my senses returned back to the present.

“Vi Veritatis. Obscurent eum tenebrae et inveniam te, si loquuntur mendacium.”

The words of the spell lined beautifully on my tongue and even though I had never performed it before, I could feel my connection to it from the first breath with which it rolled out of my mouth. A knot of energy started forming around me and Valerio as the spell started circling in the air. His eyes were still fixated on my face and I could not make out what impression I was making but a smile curved just barely noticeably on the corner of his lips.

“Do you know who Richard and Janet Grace are?”, I asked.

“No.”, he responded. The spell was twisting around him, searching for a lie.

“Did you kill Richard and Janet Grace, or order someone to kill them?”, I continued.

“No.”, he said softly while the mystic essence around him kept twisting and twirling.

“Do you know anything of their disappearance?”

“No.”

“Did a couple seek an audience with you nine years ago on the night of fifth of March?”, I wanted to be sure. He was not lying he didn’t know my parents, but maybe he just didn’t recognize their names.

“No.”

“Non efficitur.”, I whispered and ended the spell.

Valerio Aberra had nothing to do with my parents’ disappearance.