Her words caused mass chaos around the table. Gavriel pulled Beth into his arms, Meryn began to shake, Beth's fathers moved closer to their child and Sebastian hurried over to stand behind Beth as if to ward off any harm. Micah stood and walked down the table to take the seat on her other side. Without saying a word he wrapped an arm around her.
She took a moment to appreciate his support. She had faced the world alone for so long that his small gesture meant everything.
Meryn looked at her, her lower lip trembling. "But, she's not dead right?"
Serenity smiled gently. "No Meryn, she's not dead." She looked at Beth again. "But not for lack of trying. I've never seen a more fragmented spell. It must have been trying to kill you for decades."
Beth stared at her stunned. "I think it has. I have the world's worst luck. I can't even begin to list the injuries I've sustained over the years."
"How in the devil do you know this?" Kendrick sputtered.
She raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten my heritage?"
Kendrick slumped back in his chair, eyes wide. "Of course!"
"What? What about her heritage. Can she fix Beth?" Gavriel demanded his worry making his tone harsh.
"Gavriel," Micah said simply. He stared at the prince a hard look on his face.
Beth placed both hands on her mate's chest. "Calm down my love. Kendrick already said this has been with me for a while, I'm not going anywhere."
Gavriel took a long shuddering breath. "My apologies Serenity, I did not mean to put you on the spot." He inclined his head to Micah. "Thank you for calling me out on it."
Serenity frowned. "That was shockingly humble of you, for being a prince."
Everyone around the table smiled at her observance. Micah turned to her. "He was a unit warrior first, we're a humble lot."
The women mostly shook their heads at that statement.
"Back to my mate...please," Gavriel insisted gently.
Serenity turned back to Beth. "I'm half fae, so I am extremely sensitive to black or dark magic. My magic is greatly affected by my fae blood. It's why I see things in colors, the way fae tend to see colorful auras. It's probably why I saw it right away and Kendrick didn't." She took a deep breath and reached deep into her magic. Suddenly the shadow around Beth became clearer and she was able to differentiate shades of grey and traces of bright colors. She let out a low whistle. "If I'm reading this correctly, it wasn't meant for you. It was meant for someone tied to you by blood." She winced. "Whoever cast this spell had a sick sense of humor."
"What do you mean?" Kendrick asked his brows knitted together.
She pointed to the darker grey color, even though she knew she was the only one who could see what she could. "The spell caster was simply that, the one that cast the spell. Another person wanted it done and the hatred they had for whoever this was intended for, is down-right frightening. What the spell caster didn't tell the person who requested the spell was that this particular piece of black magic required a human sacrifice." She glanced at Kendrick. "They killed the requester to cast the spell."
Kendrick blinked. "I see what you mean. Very tricky."
Serenity turned back to study Beth. When she saw threads of amethyst running through the spell she began to piece together what may have happened. She looked at Broderick. "Were you and Beth's mother mates?"
He shook his head. "No, she wanted a child and I volunteered. We were both bunny shifters so it made sense." He inhaled sharply turning white as a sheet. "It was meant for me, wasn't it?"
She nodded. "I think so. The different shades of red are usually indicators of anger, hatred and jealousy. There's so much rage in this spell." She looked Beth in the eye. "But there's also a fierce thread of love, it's amethyst and beautiful." She smiled gently. "A mother's love and protection."
Beth's hands flew to her mouth. "My mother?"
"The carriage accident," Broderick said his voice trembling. "We were the ones who were supposed to go to town that day, but you weren't feeling well so I stayed behind to tend to you."
Serenity nodded absently as the story came together. "If the spell was affixed to the carriage to kill you Broderick, then when Beth's mother died instead, it followed the bloodline from her toward you because you shared a child together. But it reached Beth first since she was tied to both her mother and to you by blood."
"Oh gods, it's my fault," Broderick whispered.
"No, Papa it's not. It's whoever wanted this wickedness done who is at fault," Beth said hugging her father close.
"Who would want to kill Broderick and Beth that badly?" Caspian asked. "She was just a baby."
Serenity took another deep breath and refocused her magic. "Whoever it was had an extremely strong tie to Beth's mother."