Almost Cursed || Completed

Chapter Ten: Bound

"Well, yeah.. for whatever reason, your dad combined the summoning spell with a binding spell. He must have been a very powerful warlock." Evander gazed off, lost in thought.

I felt like I had no control over my world. For years, my father had hid the truth from me. Now, after death, he had me bind myself to a supernatural being. And for what? He must have had a reason for all of this. Right?

"How many witches know about your world?" I asked.

"Oh, most of them. They do trades with our people. It's not a surprise to me that he knew how to summon my kind, but he also specified me in the spell, and then bound us."

So my father had also known about this mysterious other world, and he had hidden from it me as well? Anger started to swell inside of me.Why did my father keep this secret? How much did my mother know?

"I want you to come to my house with me and meet my mother. If she knew about your kind, would she be able to recognize you for what you are?" I asked.

He stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"Probably." He finally answered. "She would see it in my eyes. But will she be upset with you bringing a boy home?" He asked.

I laughed out loud. My mother would probably be overly joyed when she met Evander. She had been asking me why I didn't have a boyfriend for about two years. Well, she would be in for a big surprise tonight.

I didn't mention any of this to Evander. I just grabbed his hand and pulled him up with me. "Trust me, she won't mind."

We both slid into my car and I fiddled with the radio, suddenly nervous. This would be the first time we were truly alone. I cleared my throat.

"Um, so, this apathy thing. Can you ever turn it off?" I asked.

He looked over at me with a sly smile. My heart throbbed in my chest.

"I can tune it out, yes. When I want to." He added the last part with a wink. I cleared my throat again, trying to change the subject. No way was I going to let him feel whatever nervous attraction was seeping from my emotions.

"So, this blood thing.. How often do you have to drink it? And can you eat real food?" I asked, returning to my earlier thoughts about his strangely disturbing diet.

"About a glass a day, and I can also eat normal food, although I prefer rare steaks." He gave me a toothy grin, and I shuddered.

"There are a few people of my kind that maintain a permanent presence in this world. I contacted one of those people and bought enough to last a while, so you don't need to worry about being on the menu. If I do manage to run out, I'll just have to go buy a few rabbits."

"Rabbits?" I asked.

"I can feed from them without draining them, they would last me longer."

He looked out the window, and didn't say anything else the rest of the ride.

As we approached my house, I began feeling uneasy. What if my mother knew what he was? And what if she didn't? If she did know, at least maybe then we could get a few more answers. If she didn't, we would be in the same spot we had been before. We got out of the car and headed up the steps. Right as I was reaching for the door, Evander grabbed my hand. He wore a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What if she doesn't like me?"

I gaped at him in disbelief. He was worried about what my mother thought now? Did this mean he had feelings for me? I wasn't sure exactly, but I assured him regardless.

"Don't be nervous. My mother is a marvellous woman. But maybe watch out for my brother."

"Brother?!"

Oops, must have forgotten to mention that to him. Before he could stop me again, I opened my front door and ushered him inside.

"Mom! I brought someone over, is that alright?" I called through the house.

She poked her head out from the kitchen foyer and her eyes widened.

She quickly regained her composure, and a smile bloomed across her face. A truly genuine smile. I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding and glanced back at Evander, and he nodded in agreement.

She didn't know what he was. My father had hidden his real life from all of us, including my mother, his wife. I felt a stab deep inside my heart, but remained my composure. I felt Evander's hand on the center of my back, steadying and grounding me. I found the strength to talk to my mother.

"Mom, I would like you to meet Evander."

Evander took a step forward to grasp my mother's hand. She smiled a little too widely and gave him warm welcomes.

If she was oblivious to his kind, that meant was was probably unaware of the other secrets my father had hidden from her, from all of us. She didn't know me and my brother had true magick running through our blood. She just knew the same man I had, not the truth behind the man.

I felt my heart sinking, but as I looked at Evander his gaze pulled me back up. He was staring at me with determination behind his eyes, and I pulled some of his strength into myself. Suck it up, Buttercup.

As she led us into the kitchen for "warm tea and cookies", I heard my father's study door open and my brother's heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.