Blood Curse (Branded Trilogy Book 2) by Kat Flannery Read Free Book Online Page B

brown crushed leaves inside.
    The boy crawled under the table, pulled out another jar and gave it to him.
    He opened it, and inhaled the bee’s wax.
    “Do I mix them together?” He loosened his hold on Pril, still shaking, and dropped the jar.
    The boy picked it up and opened it. He placed his fingers inside, scooped some out, placing it in the palm of his pudgy hand, and pointed at the jar of herbs beside Kade.
    “Here.” He watched as the boy dumped the herbs into the wax and worked it between his hands.
    “What’s your name, boy?”
    The child ignored him, still molding the wax within his hands. He motioned for Kade to remove the wet blouse covering his mother. Then very carefully he smothered the open blisters with the concoction.
    Pril moaned and tossed her head. Her petite body had slowed its restless shaking. Kade reached for the blanket on the bed to cover her legs and torso.
    The child crossed his legs and grabbed his mother’s hand, holding it within his own.
    Kade could see the bond between them. He cleared his throat as memories of the past, and the reasons he was here, slammed into him. He stole a peek at the kid and wondered again if the child he searched for was among these gypsies.
    Loud angry steps came through the doorway, and he wasn’t shocked to see Galius standing before them.
    “Release my sister,” he growled and wiped at the cut on his lip, missing the other one above his right eye.
    Kade smirked. His opponent had gotten in a few good ones.
    “I could’ve escaped without you or the others knowing, but instead I am here tending to your very sick sister,” he said with an air to his voice that told the other man he wasn’t going anywhere.
    “Boy, go.”
    The child gazed at his mother and back to his uncle.
    “She’ll be fine. I’ll see to it,” Galius said.
    “Actually, I’ve seen to it. With the help of the child of course.”
    The man growled low in his throat, and Kade never moved.
    The boy stood. His green eyes locked with Kade’s, and he couldn’t pull his gaze away. What was it about the boy that had him in some sort of trance? His head snapped to the side, when Galius struck his cheek.
    “What the hell?” he mumbled before he fell over unconscious.
     
    Pril woke with Tsura curled up next to her like a cat. Without turning her head she knew Galius was in the room. His loud breathing sounded like the ox outside.
    “You have no need of your own vardo, Brother?” she asked.
    He was at the table, reading their mother’s spell book. She sat up, pausing halfway because her ribs hurt. She slowed her movements to ease the pain. She placed her hand to her chest. The burn? There was no pain. Where had it gone? She inspected her chest covered in a white night shirt and lifted the fabric. There was nothing. The skin appeared the same. Had she imagined it? Had it been a terrible dream?
    “The child healed you,” Galius said quietly.
    She shifted Tsura from her and covered the girl with the thick blanket before she crawled out of the bed.
    “How?”
    Galius held the book up.
    “A spell? She used a spell on me?”
    “Her hands.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “The child can heal with her hands.”
    Pril peeked back at her daughter curled into the blanket and snoring softly.
    “Were you here? Did you see?”
    “I did.”
    Shocked at the news, she moved about the vardo in a daze. Tea she needed tea. She filled the pot with water and placed it on the burner to heat while Galius stoked the fire. Once the tea was made she sat down across from him.
    “Tell me all of it.”
    “I found the healing spell and read it to her while she placed her hands over your wounds. The flesh healed right before my eyes.” He shook his head. “I still cannot believe what I saw.”
    “Which spell was it?”
    Galius flipped through the book and showed her the healing spell. This was the same spell she used when applying herbs to a wound. It was to keep infection and pain away. It was not for