I didn’t stop walking until I reached the front of the house, which was blissfully void of guests. Without Duely watching me closely, I could sit and digest the issue of my caring that Rathe was having a quaint chat with Leanne. Because he made me care should be reason enough for me to just let him sink into her dark pit. If only I were evil, life would be so much easier.

That thought made my sour mood intensify. “You’re a Kamlock,” I said aloud. The disgust in my tone was evident, as I admitted something I normally tried to forget. Evil was there hidden deep inside me. It was in my blood. The darkness had always lurked there; yet, I had never wanted to give into it. I abhorred it, feared it. I could feel it at times, but I was always quick to fight it off. The memory of my father and his goodness was all I had ever needed to keep the evil buried.

“Damn cursed lot to be from too.” An abnormally deep raspy voice came from the darkness. My attention snapped to the shadows behind the gazebo. I didn’t recognize the voice, but it did sound as if someone had smoked one too many unfiltered cigarettes in his lifetime. A strange man hiding in the night didn’t scare me, but his words said he wasn’t just a man. He knew the name Kamlock and I would guess from that one statement he knew what we were. That was enough for me to have my guard up.

“I apologize, I thought I was alone,” I said, as I took steps around the ornate wooden structure standing between us.

“A Kamlock female who apologizes. Curious.” There was a light teasing in the thick roughness of his voice. I halted a moment then and thought through the situation. A man hiding in the shadows, very likely knows who we are, and isn’t moving into the moonlight which would be the polite thing to do

“Luceat lux illa minantur in obumbratio.” My cast was whispered, and when no light glowed in the shadows on his face, I relaxed.

“Nice choice. Smart and subtle.” His voice expressed approval.

“Who are you?” I asked, stepping closer. If he was a threat, the light would have illuminated the darkness. However, he knew the spell I cast, which meant he was, in fact, charmed or cursed himself. He was also still in the shadows. Why wasn’t he stepping out into the light? None of this felt right to me.