Free The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) by Jeremy Croston

prepared for the consequences.”
    “I know very well what a witch can do and this is no trick, I promise you that.”

Part 2
     

Victor – Pan’s Arrival
Liz – The O’Byrne Clan

Chapter 11
     
    This wasn’t the most ideal spot on the island, but for the time being it’d have to do.  It put some distance between us and Pan, but not too much.  We were close enough to potentially keep an eye on them.  The cave we found kinda sucked though, to be honest.  Cold, dark, smelly, and wet, this place just plain sucked.  “Why’re we hiding from them?  Surely the two of us could put the three of them down.”
    “I appreciate your faith in our abilities Victor, but there are two Alpha werewolves and a vampire whose true strength is greater than you think.”  Was there awe in her voice?  “No offense to you, but without your modern weaponry, I do not think you would be much help.”
    Ouch.  Apparently the general thought here was without my gun, I was useless.  “Gee thanks Sphinxy.  Nothing like having your ego kicked around and torn up.”
    “I do not mean to be disrespectful.”  I could tell she was trying to think of the right words as to not hurt my pathetic feelings.  “If you continue to allow me to train you, we will unlock so much untapped potential.”
    “Untapped potential?  You mean those nasty curses I got saddled with unwillingly?”
    “The very same.  Whether you wish to believe it or not, the power within you is yours for the taking.”  With a quick hand, she snapped up a lizard and swallowed it in one bite.  “Would you like me to catch one for you?”
    The cave was probably home to a lot of creepy crawlies, but I was okay.  “Nah, I’ll let you enjoy the abundance of food options here.”
    “Beggars should not be choosers.  You will need sustenance and soon.”  Another swift hand motion and a poor frog became a chicken nugget.  “But if you wish to act like a child…”
    I was irritated because hiding was never my first option.  “Where do we go from here?  All I’ve done is talked to things that are apparently inside of me, and let me tell you how freaky a thought that is.”
    It was hard to keep looking at her while she continued to eat amphibians.  Getting the clue to stop, “That is just the first step, making contact.  I too at an early age had to seek the approval of the magic inside me.”
    “How’d you do that?”
    “Much the same way you did.  I ventured into my mind and confronted them.”
    Her body language said a lot.  “I bet those weren’t pleasant conversations.”
    She sat down beside me.  “Some of us are more assertive than others.  I went in full of confidence and demanded obedience.  After a few tense moments, both the light and dark bent to my will.”
    “So you bullied them to do your bidding?  Wouldn’t it be easier to make friends with them?”
    For some reason she looked at me with pity.  “Oh Victor, they are not your friends.  For all we currently understand, one could be a daemon actually trapped inside of you, as dreadful as that sounds…”
    Wait, curses or daemons?  Hell, I was plum confused over all this jibber jabber.  “I’ll take your word for it.  So, how do we get them to give me cool powers like you got?”
    “That’s the first sensible question you have asked in a long time.”  She walked over to the cave wall and with her nail; she carved a symbol into the wall.  It looked like a marijuana leaf.  “This is Oberon’s mark.  Using your mind’s eye, focus on that shape until you can feel his power pull towards you.”
    Well I nailed the last exercise pretty good, so I had high hopes.  Unfortunately, nothing happened.  I sat there for a good while, first trying to force it to come to me, other times I just sat there peacefully hoping it would do so on its own.  When the Sphinx kicked my foot, I knew I’d failed miserably.
    When I opened my eyes, she looked down like a teacher looking at a kid