Frog Tale (15 page)

Luc opened the heavy oak doors of his office enough to get a view of the hallway. He glanced back to Chloe, her heart raced and she held her breath.

Don’t be scared. You came to kill a witch.

Finally, the slight movement of his hand waved her to come. She crossed the room toward him and he brushed his lips softly against her mouth. “Ramona used to have living quarters below the castle. You might find something there. I need to get back to the guests so no one raises a brow.” He paused and his brows furrowed.  “I beg you to be safe.” His blue gaze scanned her face. “Chloe, if I didn’t know in my heart you were the one, I would never allow you to go down there by yourself.”

The worry in his tone sent her stomach into flutters. “I’ll be fine.” Her voice a mere whisper fell onto the air between them. She inhaled deep then slowly exhaled. “Losing you broke my spirit, not once but twice. I came to kill her, and I will not die until I see her destruction.”

“I’ll come find you. I won’t let you go again and I will fight for you.” He glanced again out into the hall. “Go, I’ll meet you below.”

She slipped out into the hallway and he pointed to the left, toward the right would take her into the throws of the party. After a quick survey of the corridor, she stepped in the course Luc had directed and hurried down the elaborate hallway even though she had no clue as to what she was looking for. Right now the only fear she had other than the witch herself was if there were bugs or spiders below. She wasn’t a fan of either, especially the latter.

Despite how scary wicked witches and d
ragons were the thought of anything with more legs than her bothered her to her core. Especially if they were hairy or worse yet―poisonous. An image of a snake conjured up in her mind and the thought of one or more roaming and slithering in the gallows below sent a shiver down her spine.  She highly doubted housekeeping cleaned below.

When she reached the end of the hall, a long corridor stretched down into the interior of the house. What if there were palace guards? Being so far away from the party might need some explaining and with her body still recovering from the orgasm Luc had given her and fear coursing through her veins, an explanation might be difficult to think up. She figured she could always tell them she needed the powder room.

Servants hurried across the corridor to what she guessed was a kitchen since they carried trays, some empty and others filled with food.  Under normal circumstances she might have been hungry, however right now bile from nerves rolled in her stomach and formed a knot. She glanced in the opposite direction and saw nothing but a heavy oak door. If she thought about what she stared at, the appearance was actually somewhat quirky since it truly looked like an ancient doorway. Her guess was because of the wide width and the way the top wasn’t straight but rounded up into a peek.

With another glance around, she figured there was only one way to find out what laid behind the door. A voice inside her head whispered what lay behind certainly wasn’t a broom closet or a coatroom. Indecision fluttered her stomach, doubt of her sanity still being intact flashed through her mind and fear pumped adrenaline through her heart as she tried the heavy steel handle.

This is a really bad idea, but really my only option.

The lever hesitated under the pressure of her thumb, but soon groaned and lifted, releasing the latch. Inhaling deep, she pulled the door open and peered in. Her heartbeats thudded in her ears and she wasn’t sure what she was expecting but what met her attention came as a surpri
se. A spiral staircase made of the same stone that lined the walls and oil burning lanterns―kerosene most likely―hanging from hooks. She had no clue how far the staircase went below and due to the curve of the stairs, wasn’t sure if there were lights further down.

Lifting a shaking hand, she removed a lantern from the hook on the wall and pretended for a moment that she wasn’t terrified. With a quick look behind her, she then slipped through the door and shut it tight. Her gaze rested on the stairs and she started to descend toward the unknown. She could handle pretty much anything, if sharing her life with Luc was the result. Of course she had to figure out away to kill the witch and hoped to dear God that the woman didn’t turn into a dragon somewhere along the way.

Luc stepped into the crowded ballroom of his family’s castle and immediately spotted Albert and his father. Naturally, Ella remained next to his father though her gaze would roam over the crowd as if in search for something.

She’s looking for Chloe.

If he didn’t miss his guess, he had a strong suspicion Ella sensed Chloe’s presence. Now it was time to test his theory. Strolling up to his father and Albert, the weight on his chest had disappeared and he smiled. “Still talking away I see.”

Albert studied him a minute. “How was your walk? You look to be in a better mood.”

A smile tugged at his lips and reveled in the sensation of holding the woman he loved in his arms. “I feel a great deal better; I think it was exactly what I needed.” He darted a glance to Ella and smiled.

His stepmother’s gaze had rested on him from the moment he’d approached and now her expression held complete displeasure. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of dancing with the birthday boy.”

An interesting comment since the woman rarely danced with his father. Silently, he wondered what her ulterior motive was and forced a smile.

Time to find out what she is up to.

“I would love to have a dance with you.” He didn’t care for the moment, he’d told a lie and he silently feared Ella and Ramona were one in the same, his anger toward the witch burned away any hesitation. Instead, he led her to the ballroom floor and turned to face her. “This is such a surprise,” he whispered as they danced across the floor.

“I thought it was only right considering the circumstances.” Her tone was icy cool and her eyes locked with his.

A small prick of fear pierced his heart and he worried about Chloe’s safety. “How so?”

“A long time ago, a curse was placed on you and you were turned into a frog. I do believe your time is almost up and do believe without true love you will again return to a frog.”

His blood boiled and he struggled not to throw the wicked woman across the room. “Now how would you know that?”

A slow smile curled across her lips as she leaned in. “Your father of course told me…” Her words paused and a thoughtful expression crossed her face. Ella’s nose twitched and she inhaled deep. The look on her face changed to one of rage. “I thought the little slut from America was here, but thought she wouldn’t be so stupid. However, I can smell her on you. Chloe Starling is here, isn’t she?”

A deliberate and vengeful smile crossed his lips. The woman sharing the dance floor with him appeared not only mad, but slightly―well―scared. “What would it matter to you?”

Ella stopped and stepped out of his arms. “It matters a great deal.” She spun on her heel and walked away through the people leaving Luciano alone. He crossed back over to where his father and Albert stood and had no clue how he was going to say what he believed to be true.

“
Where did Ella go?”

Resting his gaze on his father, he hesitated a moment then darted a quick look around the room before again focusing on his dad. “I need to tell you something about your wife.”

“What?”

Luciano didn’t think there was anyway to put what he needed to say delicately and since Ella had left, he now fea
red for Chloe’s well being even more. Part of him longed to go to her the other part of him knew he had to inform his father of quite possibly the nasty truth. “I beg you, Dad, to believe me.”

“Tell me.” His father’s expression revealed worry and concern coated his words.

“
I think Ella is Ramona and since you both know Chloe is here, I have little time to explain things because I have no clue what will happen if they cross paths.”

Albert’s hand rested on his shoulder. “Chloe told me the story and about her dreams. Find my daughter. I’ll explain everything to your father.” He glanced around the room. “Someplace a little more private of course.”

His heart started to beat faster and with every passing second his terror for Chloe increased. “Forgive me dad, but the woman I plan to spend my life with, might be in a bit of a pinch.”

His father nodded. “I trust you, go to Chloe. If what you say is true, you have no idea how much danger the young lady is in.” The sadness in his voice wasn’t hard to miss. “She turned you to a frog and killed your mother, I wonder sometimes if she put a spell on me.” Grief blinked back at him. “Lately things have been different, she’s different. Don’t waste your time here, Albert can explain. Luciano, protect my future daughter-in-law at all costs. I'll get a message to the guards.”

He didn’t need his father to say the words twice and quickly worked his way through the crowd of people. A beautiful redhead stepped in his path and smiled. “Hello your highness I would love to dance with you.”

Not having time for the lady, he simply smiled. “I would love to dance with you, right after I take care of some business.” The gesture he hoped came across as gracious as he stepped past the woman. Though lovely, she couldn’t hold a candle to the woman who held his heart. Fear gripped him and he hurried toward the hallway that with a little luck would bring him to Chloe in time. He didn’t want to be a frog again and wanted a life with Chloe more than anything else in the world. Luciano prayed he wasn’t too late.

This is really kind of frightening being in the bowels of a palace.

Suddenly Chloe wondered if there was a prison or a dungeon long ago in the area she now traipsed. The thought was an unpleasant one, though after suffering nightmares for so long, she became certain seeing a skeleton would be minor. Her eyes darted to the cement floor and she actually was quite relieved nothing crawled. She blew out a sigh and glanced around. A low glow of illumination came from somewhere off to the right and she held her breath. The soles of her high heels scuffed the floor beneath as she made her way close to the light.

What the hell am I thinking? I trade oil products and sugar. I have no business going on a witch-hunt. Literally.

Though for a fleeting moment she questioned her sanity the closer she drew to the light, the more she noticed that for the basement supposedly abandoned, clean and tidy were the best words to describe the place. A nervous shiver ran down her spine as she drew closer to the light. Instead of a door, the cement wall curved into an archway. The room basked in a soft glow from candles and strange symbols marked the walls and floor. She placed the lantern down on a table and studied the space around her. Some of the markings she recognized from the books she’d read. The strange part was they were from books regarding not just plain old witchcraft but dark magic and sorcery thought lost centuries ago.

“Oh hell.” She breathed then swallowed the lump in her throat back.

Glancing toward the entrance, she had no clue what it was she was looking for, almost afraid to touch anything. The more her eyes took in the room, the nervous fear, flipping and turning in her stomach increased. This was very bad, going head to head with an ancient sorceress couldn’t be a good thing. She spotted a large spell book on a thick wooden pedestal and slowly crossed the floor toward the antique pages. When she ran a hand over the parchment she shivered from how cool the surface compared to the rest of the room. The book resembled ice beneath her touch.

Hesitation forced her to glance to the threshold of the room to discover, she remained alone. There was something frightening about the notion of running into Ella on her own turf, especially since the room she stood in screamed “evil” décor and possibly decorated by Satan himself. If there were only a way to null her powers, even a bit. The woman turned Luc into a frog; she was obviously more than a lover of nature, but instead very powerful and ran a little high in the wicked department.

Some things should remain in children stories. Evil witches a good place to start, especially if the demonic bitch has the power to turn into a fire breathing nightmare.

With shaking hands she started to leaf through the large book. What she looked for, she wasn’t sure, but there had to be something useful in the massive bound tome. Her hand paused and she flipped back a page and discovered a hand drawn frog and writing below. She scanned the words and detested the fact most of it was in Latin. She breathed out a small breath of relief she had taken a bit of Latin in University, but she could only make out part of the spell. Sure, she could pronounce the words, but had to think hard what some of them meant. Her heart stopped beating and she discovered that the reprieve from the spell was only temporary. Luc would turn back into a frog. Those words she understood clearly.

No! Not now.

A loud voice screamed in her head and her heart started beating again as she continued to scan the book. What were the odds that there would be a
way to null her power in a book she used to harm others. Her gaze darted to the door and nerves started to run high. She was running out of time and needed to leave before the wicked stepmother decided to return and object to the uninvited guest in her chamber. Her hand paused as she read the blurb on the page then darted a quick look around the room. In the corner was an altar looking affair with a gold shallow bowl and a low burning heat beneath. Hanging above the bowl was a pouch looking necklace.