Cursed by Diamonds (A Dance with Destiny Book 1) by JK Ensley, Jennifer Ensley Page A

as she rubbed her temples, trying to recall her lessons… and erase all the bickering.
    “The water’s ready,” Jezreel whispered.
    Jenevier began adding the ingredients one at a time, continually stirring. “First is the fresh rosemary. Next is the powdered dragon’s blood, from the beautiful thorny red flower of a foreign land.”
    She sent a quick smile toward Alastyn who took it as the peace offering she had meant it to be. He visibly relaxed. Jenevier crinkled up her nose at him then and he blushed. She almost giggled.
    “Next, I add the lovely fresh mountain laurel.” She turned toward Jezreel. “It’s a good thing Aunt Marlise was such a wonderful gardener. Would you mind taking over that part? It seems every plant I touch, dies.”
    Jezreel sort of snorted. “So much for your family’s powers of healing .”
    The girls looked at one another and burst into laughter again. Jenevier knew they were two halves of the same person, and that knowledge gave her great comfort.
    She slowly picked up the knife Jezreel had placed by the steaming pot. Sighing, she tried to steady her nerves.
    “Okay, okay. Now for the hard part—my beautiful hair.”
    Jenevier winced as she held out a curl, frowning at the very thought.
    “Cut it from underneath,” Jezreel said. “That way, maybe no one will notice.”
    As the golden curl fell into the pot, Jenevier continued stirring. She started to hum softly, just before she closed her eyes.
    Plunging her hands into the still swirling potion, she began to wash them as she chanted over and over.
    “From the mark of the beast
    Free my soul,
    Let the water of Wormwood
    Make me whole.
    Vanquish this mark
    From its master’s sight,
    Let it be seen only
    With dawn’s first light.”
    It seemed an eternity she chanted and washed. She wanted it to work so badly, she was undecided on when exactly she should stop.
    “Is it working?” Jezreel whispered. “Can you feel a difference?”
    Jenevier did not answer her, did not break her concentration. Her humming chant stayed constant, filling the entire room… as her friends held their breath and waited.
     
    *****
     
    At first, it sounded like the labored breathing of an injured beast. Fear gripped them as they looked up from the cauldron to one another.
    A blood chilling shriek filled the air around them. A scream so shrill and deafening—it froze their feet to the floor.
    The Shadow Wraiths were truly a haunting sight to behold. They were draped in dingy white rags. Not black, as Jenevier had imagined. Their hair was the color of the morning fog after a summer rain. Their skin, pale as death. And their eyes… their eyes were waxed white, as the blind.
    There was no real contrast in the wraith’s ghostly features, save the gray hollow slashes of their cheek bones and the deep black pits beneath their eyes. Jenevier shivered. These creatures were terrifying beyond all reason.
    “Ah, they’re awake,” one Shadow Wraith said to the other.
    “Yesss. Perhaps they were expecting us,” hissed the second.
    “Good, I like it when they know what’s going on.”
    “Yesss. It makes their fear taste all the sweeter.”
    Jenevier’s heart was racing so fast, she was certain it would explode within her chest. She felt the icy breathing of the wraith upon her neck. Her breath hitched—all but ceased—as the painful chill slowly slid up the side of her face.
    “Let’s have a look at your hands, young maidens.”
    “Yesss, let’s.”
    The first Shadow Wraith took Jezreel’s dainty hands in hers. Tears poured down the terrified girl’s cheeks from the sheer pain caused by the icy touch.
    “No. Not this one, Sister.”
    The wraiths slowly moved to surround Jenevier.
    “This must be the precious little thing our Prince demanded he have this very night.”
    They played with her curls, teasing her, sniffing her hair and laughing. Jenevier could do little more than tremble.
    “Yesss, little one. He is glorious. I remember well my first