Chapter One
The sunrise turned the vineyard landscape into a beautiful spectacle. Dante Arturo drove along the main path between the fields in an open jeep. He loved mornings at Artri, but today felt different. He worried in the face of the beautiful sunrise.
Driving faster, Dante brought the jeep to a stop near a sizeable olive grove on the edge of the property. Getting out of the jeep, he grabbed the bag filled with sample containers and walked fast, hurrying down a wide path between olive trees.
“Dante.”
Dante turned left when he heard his name and raised his hand in greeting when he saw the vineyard manager, Hasim Kaan, waving at him.
“Over here,” Hasim said.
Dante hurried to where Hasim stood behind the thickest olive tree in the grove. Dante slowed down when he saw his mother crouched by the roots of the olive tree, her hand digging in the soil. When she heard Dante, she took a bunch and held it out to him on her palm.
“What do you think is causing the soil to turn this black?” Nora Arturo asked.
Dante crouched next to her and took her palm. The soil on her palm was indeed as black as night. Dante bent his head over her palm and took a deep whiff. The soil smelled of decay and death.
“The soil is corrupted,” Dante said with a sigh.
“Corrupted soil does not come out of the blue,” Nora said, narrowing her gaze on the black soil.
Dante got a glass container from his bag and placed the soil on his mother’s palm into the container. He wiped his palm over his mother’s cleaning the dirt out of his mother’s skin, and smiled at her.
“Don’t worry so much,” Dante said. “We’ll find out the source of the problem.”
“I hope we find it soon,” Nora said, getting up from her crouch to touch the oldest olive tree in their home. “I don’t want to lose any olive tree, Dante.”
“One of my colleagues gave me a contact working in the Elderwood Conservancy. He says the conservancy is on the west side of our island, and it has researchers who can tell us what’s wrong with the soil. I’ll take these samples to them today,” Dante said. “They may help us.”
“I’ll leave it to you,” Nora said, with a sigh, tracing the bark of the olive tree one last time.
Dante got to work collecting soil samples around the olive tree.
“I’ll have the workers help me keep watch over the grapevines,” Hasim said, helping Dante with digging deeper for soil samples. “It wouldn’t do to have this black soil invade the vines.”
“It will be hard work,” Dante said. “Let me know if you need extra help. I’ll also come during the weekends.”
“We can manage, Dante,” Hasim assured him. “You focus on discovering what is infecting our soil. We have never had this kind of trouble before.”
“Could it from the beach?” Nora asked, her gaze shifting to the bushes beyond the olive grove and leading to the beach beyond. “An oil spill or something worse.”
“Perhaps,” Hasim said. “I have three men checking the beach. We haven’t found anything yet that would sink into the soil enough to rot it. We’ll keep looking though.”
Once Dante and Hasim finished collecting the soil samples, Nora asked Hasim to walk the grove and report on the extent of the black corrupted soil. Dante led Nora back to the jeep, and he drove back to the main house.
“When are you returning to Istanbul?” Nora asked, when Dante pulled up at the back of the house. She got out of the jeep and Dante reached for the bag with the soil samples, following suit.
The jeep was used to work around the vineyard, so he left the keys in it. Dante followed his mother to the kitchen entrance.
“I have a lecture at Koc University this morning,” Dante said. “After, I’ll fly to the U.S.—”
“You’re responding to that woman’s summons,” Nora said, her expression one of disapproval when she looked at him.
Nora did not like his ex-girlfriend. She thought Viola was not good enough for him. After all these years, Viola’s relationship with Nora remained strained. However, Viola was the mother of his two children. A result of his past stupid decisions. He could not change what he did to, and with Viola. So, he tried to take responsibility, even though Nora did not like it.
“Mom, Zach, and April are my children,” Dante said, as they entered the kitchen. His mother went to the sink to wash her hands and Dante reached for his own car keys in a holder on the kitchen counter. “At some point, we might need to take them both in, or one of them. You know what happens when our gifts come in.”
“They are free of the bloodline,” Nora said, making Dante stop to stare at her in surprise. “I checked them, Dante when I visited you in New York. Zach was two, April a baby. It was my duty as their grandmother, as it was your grandfather’s to support you. I found no energy on your children with Viola. They are normal, unremarkable.”
Dante gave an internal scoff at the way she said the word normal, as though it were a crime. Dante sighed at the familiar tirade. His mother found his relationship with Viola the greatest failure of his life.
“Viola was never the right match for you,” Nora continued. “Dante, you know our family marries for love. You like men more than women. We have both known it since Grandmaster Landi started training you. If you wanted someone to make children with, I would have found a suitable girl. I have no idea how you fell in with Viola. Your time in New York with the Grandmaster failed you. You and Viola, it was the worst union I ever saw. I will never approve of her.”
“Zach and April remain your blood,” Dante said, his right brow rising in question.
“Of course,” Nora said. “I will always be their grandmother. They are welcome to visit our home. However, they do not have the power to own this house. When their descendants gain the gifts of our bloodline, this house will take them in.”
“What about Viola?” Dante asked.
“She is not welcome. She would not understand our way of life,” Nora stated. “I don’t need to educate you on why.”
Dante stared at her for a full minute and then nodded in understanding.
“When will you get the samples to the conservancy?” Nora asked, moving to the double tea maker to pour herself a glass of tea.
“I’ll stop by before leaving the island,” Dante said. “Mom.”
Nora looked up from checking the tea.
“Don’t always blame Viola,” Dante said, giving her a small smile. “I was also at fault with her. I failed her.”
“You failed each other,” Nora corrected. “It was not easy to watch from my end. The saddest story here belongs to Zach and April. They will miss getting to know the real you. Perhaps, your story is sad too.”
“Why for me?” Dante asked with a frown.
Nora let out a soft sigh.
“Because, you never learned how to fall in love,” Nora said. “Viola will love again, and so will Zach, and April. You on the other hand…”
Nora shook her head and returned her attention to the tea maker.
Dante watched her pour herself a glass of tea and wished he could refute her conclusions.
Dante turned to enter the corridor to head to the front hall. He took a step, and the house started shaking. Walls vibrating, windows opening and closing. The house came alive, vibrating, shaking items on shelves, chairs, and tables.
Dante stepped back into the kitchen to make sure his mother was safe. He found all the ingredient containers from the cabinets, cups, spoons, plates, and even his mother’s favorite tea maker suspended in the air. His mother stood in the middle of it all having a cup of tea. Gold sparks decorating the tips of her fingers on her left hand. She smiled at Dante.
“Looks like your ancestors have something to say,” Nora said. “The grimoire must have opened downstairs.”
Dante nodded and with a wave of his hand, his magic restored his mother’s kitchen to rights. He hurried into the corridor, opened the door that would lead him to the basement halls, running to see what would make their family’s grimoire come alive.
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