Masquerade: An Urban Fantasy (The Carolina Files Book 3) by Blackmore Willa

Author:Blackmore, Willa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

18

Chapter 18

I reached out and touched my fingers to the cold hard brass under the portrait, halfway expecting the word to sear itself into my skin.

Soul Eater.

It must have some other meaning.

Or…maybe It means exactly what it sounds like it means.

If taken literally, it meant that Ruby had stolen souls. Kept them somehow. Soul Eaters were exclusively practitioners of the darkest arts. They were said to steal the spirits of living victims in order to power their magic. Or that was the lore. The idea that my aunt Ruby could take part in something so profane was unthinkable.

But then again… When I forced myself to look at it from a more objective standpoint, I couldn’t deny that it also made a certain amount of sense.

If this were true it would maybe explain some of the mystery surrounding Ruby. All the things none of us knew about her. The way Granny Whitlow had refused to speak of Ruby’s past, never really explaining what she was to our family. How she fit into the fabric of our lives.

If she had something like this in her background…

Soul Eaters were an abomination.

The Whitlows, my own family, might be harboring an abomination.

I looked at Ruby staring out from the canvas. I’d felt pride only moments before. Her image seemed so brave, so determined. But now… I felt something inside me beginning to waver.

No! There must be more to this. Something I don’t understand.

I vowed to keep that foremost in my mind. The Ruby I knew was no monster. Was she good? Maybe, maybe not. But she was just. And in the end, wasn’t that the most important thing? I felt reasonably sure that she was no eater of souls. Or if she had been, there must have been a damn good reason.

From somewhere down below I could hear the strains of music. Heavy bass guitar, then a riff of drums. The party downstairs was amping up. I was suddenly overcome with a wave of envy. How nice it must be to have the freedom to just… party. To let down your hair and not have to worry about things like missing cousins, or a sister with a perilous connection to the world of the dead. Not to mention an aunt who may or may not be a Soul Eater. And that was just for starters. The list of things I was currently worried about was long, and at least in that moment, felt crushing.

I gave the portrait one last look before covering it with the drapery and turning to leave the room. That’s when my eyes fell on the mirror.

It was pushed into the shadows of the far corner, well beyond the glow coming from the chandelier, which was probably why I hadn’t noticed it when I first came in.

Even in the poor light, I noticed that at the crest of its pedestal frame, there was a carving of the sigil with the outstretched palm and the small sphere.

Intrigued, I crossed to the room and stood in front of it.

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