The Grave Shadows

48. Family History

In contrast to the Watts Clan history, as per David, Colt was a foundling brought up by the Foerstners, a wealthy family in an old town called Anchor Brook, an extraordinary isolation in the forest of Maine. He became a stable boy. Sadly, being free labor wasn't the most inferior status in this community, but being ordinary was. Colt was a human, but everyone else in town was magic. Women in Anchor Brook were huldrekes, the creatures with the power of longevity and enchantment, and their men were Rykers.

With a pair of eager eyes, Colt obsessed with Rosalind Foerstner. She was the only heiress of the household, and he was nothing. Although Rosalind was a proud noble, Colt's persistence won her heart.

David sighted Angelica, the charismatic redhead who was pouring some white liquid around the cabin.

"The huldreke glamor attracts wealth and power," David said.

Angelica drifted from the dark and reposed on a log next to the fire. Everett peeped at her youthful face in the flames of her hair. Cyan bore no resemblance to her supposed grandmother. He wondered if it was all an elaborate scam. The redhead got to David somehow, brainwashed him, gave him a new personality, infiltrated Bill Watts's guard, and orchestrated all the tricks to con them—Everett wished everything was a lie.

"You will learn about the huldreke world when you make it out of Colt," Angelica said. "But understand one thing: huldrekes and humans didn't have a wonderful history. There was a big war before this one, driving male huldrekes into extinction. Our blood is impure. Women with huldreke blood are huldrekes, but men aren't anymore. They're Rykers."

Angelica explained that the Foerstners and their loyal followers strictly kept their true identities hidden. But while Anchor Brook was shy about its powers, Rosalind wanted no limits. She envisioned the world without fear, the realm where huldrekes were liberated. With Colt's encouragement, she lavished the powers beyond her father's laws. As Colt's influence on Rosalind worried the community, Rykers were planning to execute him. But to prove her loyalty to Colt, Rosalind killed everyone in cold blood and set out to ravage the world with her poisonous lover by her side.

In the library, Everett used to find comfort in the virtuous portrait of his great-grandparents. They weren't angels but demons like the progeny they created.

"Rosalind's power gave Colt everything," David said, the bonfire glow twinkling in his eyes. "But it was never enough."

Colt craved the huldreke power so severely, helplessly envying Rosalind, who was forever young and powerful. And for what she thought was love, she satisfied his needs blindly. A huldreke, however, couldn't will its power to outsiders. Most importantly, huldreke power is only useful for women. Men of the huldreke bloodline—Rykers—are stunning and live long, but their other supernatural powers are dormant. Colt was neither. He was human, and that was his curse.

Colt needed the magic, the only thing in the world he couldn't have. The money, kingdom, and superiority were nothing compared to the huldreke power in his wife's veins. Rosalind's steel devotion to Colt eventually found a way to bypass the unyielding supernatural law. Colt, at last, could feel the great caliber in his bones, although the gift came with a price. For an insatiable man, such power was worth more than life.

Angelica inserted a spine-chilling chronicle where Rosalind hunted down a huldreke for Colt's first shadowing ritual. The couple killed their firstborn, so he could absorb the power. The magic was addictive. Hunger progressively grew whenever he consumed the power. Rosalind sacrificed huldrekes, her kind, one by one, death after death. With every huldreke Colt killed, the couple lost one of their own. The powers, fortunes, and everything the Watts Clan owned came from blood. Without the killings, the Watts Clan would be ordinary.