Chapter 23: Bianca - Blood - Change

Bianca
Blood

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The taste of salt was heavy in my mouth, and my whole body thrummed as a velvet darkness shuttered over my sight and my awareness was pinpointed to one instant.

Gloria—and I knew it was her because it could be no one else—young and terrified, curled into a ball against a brick house. Her light pink dress was torn and dirty, and shoulder-length red hair tangled around her shoulders.

“Gloria,” I knelt in front of her. “You need to shift.”

She startled, hugging her knees as she stared at me. “Who are you?”

“I’m…” My name was on the tip of my tongue, but I paused. My skin was humming with something both unfamiliar and familiar, and no other response seemed adequate. “I’m Mu.”

Because Bianca, right now, was a nobody.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “You’re a girl.”

A ripple of indigitation passed over me. “So are you.” I could have argued further, but the importance of this situation—and my mission—was not lost. “Never mind that, you need to shift now, okay?”

“But…” She frowned down at her hands. “I can’t. Mr. Cole did something to me. He said I’ll never be a wolf again.”

A chill passed through the air, followed by the heady presence of tainted magic. It wasn’t even the most powerful spell in the grand scheme of things. Yet, it was binding—in this realm, I could even see the thin black threads wrapping around Gloria’s small figure.

But there was also a weakness.

Not all curses worked this way, of course, but that’s what witches got when they worked with blood.

Especially someone else’s.

“You can.” I knelt in front of her, waiting for her to look at me. “You hold the power with this magic, not Edward Cole. Most curses rely on the victim’s belief that they are cursed.” The keyword being most curses, and this one fell into that category. “That’s what gives this magic power. If you don’t think you can shift, you won’t be able to.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” She wiped at her eyes, the action smearing dirt over her face. “I’ve been trying to change. It doesn’t work. I can’t break a witch’s curse.”

Internally, I groaned. I was terrible with perfectly happy children on an average day, and this was not an average day. The two of us were in a memory, another realm, somewhere… I wasn’t sure what was going on, or whose power this was right now. But whatever, there was no time to linger.

I had no experience in calming hysterical children or offering pep talks. This was so not my expertise.

This left me no choice—I had to rely on hero-worship. Kids would believe anything.

“Just who do you think I am?” My smile felt feeble and lopsided. “Of course, I can take care of the witchcraft. That’s nothing to me.” After all, it would be easier with those threads broken, but I couldn’t force anything. The main component of breaking this curse was, “I need you to believe in me—and yourself—and shift.”

“You’re Mu,” she said, tears drying.

“Yes, that’s right.” I felt like such an idiot.

“You’re right. You can do anything.” She sat up on her knees and clapped her hands in front of her. The overcast sky brightened.

My smile wavered, but hopefully she didn’t notice. “Sure.”

She didn’t believe in herself, but believed in me, which led her to believing in herself.

Whatever worked. It’d only take her shifting one time for it to be broken permanently.

“Wanna try?” I asked, but I was already reaching for the thickest thread. It was wrapped around her head, like a braided crown, but not very tightly. I was able to slip my fingers behind it easily.

Younger Gloria took in a deep breath, her tiny fists clenching at her sides.

I didn’t even wait for her to say, ‘Okay’, before I pulled as hard as I could.