Page 50 of Castle of the Cursed
By Felipe’s face-splitting grin, I know I’m on the right path.
The second part of the sentence reads: será limitado por la magia de sangre que lo transportó. I think limitado must mean limited, magia is magic, and sangre is… blood.
I stare at the Spanish term for blood magic for so long that I don’t react until I hear Felipe’s voice: “If a vampire crosses into Earth’s reality, they will be bound by the blood magic that transported them.”
I turn the page for more, but there’s a new heading: Venenos.
“Venoms,” Felipe translates.
That’s it for the vampire section. I shut the book in frustration. Bound by blood magic. If Beatríz is behind the spell, it follows that Sebastián would be anchored to the castle.
I inhale sharply as Felipe’s finger brushes a stray curl away from my face. “Your hair was by your eye,” he says, dropping his hand quickly.
I snap to my feet. “Why, though?” I ask, pacing the attic, looking everywhere but at Felipe. “Why does a Brálaga have to live at la Sombra? Why hasn’t anyone sold the castle yet?”
I wait for him to speak and provide an answer, or at least point to a new book, but he stays quiet. So I meet his gaze.
Only he’s not watching me. He’s staring at the closed white book on the table.
“What is it?” I ask.
Felipe stands, too. “You’re looking for facts when all this town has are stories.”
“Okay, then,” I say, crossing my arms. “Tell me a story.”
He turns to the bookshelf, and I wait for him to pick a text. “We don’t have religion here. We have la Sombra.” He surveys the spines as he speaks. “The Oscurianos, those of us who choose to stay, we believe we are here for a purpose. But you won’t find that purpose in any of these books. It’s old knowledge, the kind that gets passed down not in ink, but blood.”
He seems different as he says this. Older. “It’s not just the Brálaga line that remains unbroken,” he goes on. “I showed you the property records. Every bloodline is loyal to this town. To la Sombra.”
“But why?” I insist.
“Some of us believe… I believe… the original Brálaga hailed from another realm,” he says, picking up on what he was telling me in his room. “We call it Otro. Other. We think by opening a gateway, he’s made us vulnerable to that dimension, and he had to seal the opening with blood magic. As long as Oscuro’s founders’ bloodlines remain planted in this soil, the gateway to Otro stays sealed.”
“What happens if it opens?”
The light in Felipe’s eyes dulls. “La Sombra would swallow our world.”
CHAPTER 13
THE SUN SETS EARLIER AS winter nears, so it’s night out when I get back to the castle. My heart thunders the whole way because I’m about to see Sebastián.
I left the bookstore a little before closing so Felipe wouldn’t try walking me home. The emotions that surfaced when we argued in his room won’t sink back down, and a new energy has wedged itself between us that feels prickly against my skin.
More and more, I feel like in coming to Oscuro, I’ve stepped onto a game board without knowing I am one of the pieces. This town runs on an ancient superstition about my bloodline, and those who stay are the ones who believe it to be true.
I head straight to the kitchen to check for signs that Beatríz is back, and I see movement by the dining hall.
“Beatríz?” I call out.
“No,” says Sebastián as I approach, and I have to blink a few times to be sure of what I’m seeing.
The wooden table is weighted down with a feast of godly proportions, and the shadow beast is standing behind a chair. He slides it out for me, and I’m beyond speechless—I’m stunned.
“As your aunt is not here to do it, I thought I would present your dinner.”
It’s the melody of his voice that motivates my legs to move, and I somehow make it to the chair. Before me is a sprawling three-dimensional mural of food that extends the full table, featuring everything I brought back from Felipe’s.
Everything.
