Of Blood and Bone (The Minaldi Legacy #1)(46)
Author: Courtney Cole

Melina picks back up her roll and takes a delicate bite.  After she has chewed and swallowed, she answers, “From the time he was small.”

“How small?” I choke out.  I’m finding this situation a little overwhelming.

“Very small,” she levels a gaze at me.  “Why are you asking me these questions?”

“Because I’m trying to help him with his sleepwalking problem,” I answer, still playing by her rules.  If she wants to call it sleepwalking, so be it.

“You can’t,” she answers calmly. “There’s nothing to be done.”

But we’re interrupted by Sophia now, as she enters with a tray.

“It’s time for your tea, ma’am,” she says to Melina.  Melina smiles at her.

“Thank you, dear.”  She takes the delicate china cup and pulls the bag from the steaming liquid, placing it on a fragile saucer.  She takes a sip, closing her eyes.  “It’s perfect.  Thank you.”

Sophia nods, then backs quietly away.

Melina is a perfect lady now, with exquisite manners and I know that I’m getting a glimpse of the dignified person that she used to be.  

“Did you really used to tie him to his bed?” I ask, unable to stop myself.  The images of Luca as a little boy, scared and alone, have tormented me since I first heard of it.  Melina’s gaze practically stabs me now, impaling me through the heart.

“Of course,” she answers simply.  “How else could I keep him from hurting himself?…or someone else?”

I suck in my breath because her voice has changed now.  It’s not the pleasant, normal voice from a bit ago.  It’s now the icy, strange voice that I have grown accustomed to from her.   I look up quickly to find her slightly unfocused gaze upon me, inky black.

“Don’t poke around where you shouldn’t,” she tells me eerily.  “You can’t help my son.  No one can.  And you can’t help me, either.”

She pauses, one bony finger pointed at me.  “Unless you want to help me,” she adds.  “Do you?”

I am frozen, my eyes on hers as I nod.  “Of course I want to help you,” I tell her.  My heart is pounding hard now.

“Then help me end it,” she says.  “Just help me end it.”

She slumps against the back of her chair and I am appalled at the sudden change in her demeanor, of her mental state.  How can she go from completely and utterly lucid to completely and utterly out of it in one moment?   It defies logic and medical explanation.  Does the curse somehow affect her, as well?

I am somewhat sheepish that I am referring to it as a curse. I know that there is no such thing.  But I am unsure what to call it.  The affliction, I guess.  That’s what I should call it.

“Are you afflicted too?” I ask her.  She looks at me as if I’m foolish.

“Of course not,” she answers croakily.  “Am I a Minaldi man?  I am afflicted only in that I’ve had to watch these goings-on for years.  And I’m weary of it.  End it for me, Dr. Talbot.  You can end it for me.  Just give me a triple dose of my evening medication.  That should do it. End. It. For. Me.”

She is lucid, yet insane now as she spits the words at me.  I have chills running down my back as I push away from the table.

“I can’t do that,” I whisper, shaking my head.  Her eyes are glued to mine.

“This won’t end unless it ends with us,” she tells me.  “Luca and his brothers and me.  We’re the only ones left.  It must end with us.  The Minaldi line must end. It has to.”

Her words are chilling, the meaning of them even more so.

She wants to die.  She wants her sons to die.  She believes so strongly in a curse that she wants to die to end it.  And she is willing to sacrifice her children.  It is unfathomable.

Her eyes are burning into mine and I find that I have to turn away.  I can’t take it anymore.  As I leave the suite, she is still calling from behind me.

“It has to end!”

I’ll never get the sound of her voice out of my head.  It is embedded there forever.

I head out to the English Maze, to the heart of it where the entrance to the cave lies.  I knock against the statue of Hades, knowing that the hidden cameras around it will reveal my presence to Adrian, who I am sure is keeping Luca company below.

I am correct, because it isn’t long before the statue slides backward and Adrian steps out.

“Is Luca alright?” I ask him.

Adrian’s face is filled with sympathy as he nods.

“He’s fine.  He’s calmer now.”

I nod.  “I’d like to see him.”

Adrian shakes his head, regret pooling in his blue eyes.

“I’m sorry.  He doesn’t want to see you yet.  He doesn’t trust himself.  I have to agree with him, Eva.  He’s fine right now, but as you saw for yourself last night, that can change in one instant.  The frequency of the episodes is increasing.  The onset is coming more quickly.  Luca is a danger to himself and to everyone around him until we get this under control.  He understands this.  You need to understand it, as well.”

Adrian is stern now, watching me for signs of agreement.

“I can help him,” I tell him limply.  “I just need a chance to try.”

Adrian shakes his head again, his big body filling up the entrance of the passageway.

“You can’t,” he tells me softly. “I know you want to.  But you don’t understand what you’re dealing with.  It’s not anything that medical books have seen before.  It’s unexplainable.  What you can do right now to help him is to do what he asks.  Give him some space.  Allow him to calm himself down and hopefully bring himself back under control.  That’s what you can do.”

I’m numb as I slowly nod.

“Alright,” my traitorous lips say.  I want to scream and shout and demand to see Luca, but I know that Adrian will never let me pass.  He is loyal to Luca.  He will never go against Luca’s orders.  “I’ll give him space.  When does he think he will return to the house?”

Adrian softens now, staring at my face.  “I don’t know, Eva.  Hopefully soon.  We don’t have cable out here.”