Once cast, TRUE LOVE’S CURSE cannot wear off. Only the blood of the victim’s true love, spilled in a sacrificial act, can break it.
What kind of sacrificial act?
Rune scanned down the page and found spellmarks for the counterspell at the bottom. There were three in total. She stared at them.
Those three spellmarks were all it would take to break the curse?
And the blood spilled in a sacrificial act.
The sound of a creaking door made Rune freeze.
“Make haste.” Cressida’s voice floated through the archway. “In order to sail at dawn tomorrow, we must arrive in Caelistonight.”
The witch queen’s footsteps grew louder. Rune’s pulse thumped wildly as she shut the spell book and quickly rose to her feet, heading for the windows.Ghost Walkerconcealed her, but the last time she’d used her invisibility spell to hide from Cressida, she was sure the witch queen had still sensed her in the room.
Not wanting to chance it, Rune stepped behind the curtains, clutching the book of spells.
The footsteps stopped.
“What’s—”
“Hush,” Cressida hissed, silencing whoever was in the room with her. Probably eyeing the open satchel and the spell books scattered across the sofa. There hadn’t been enough time to put them away.
Rune held her breath.
A slight breeze at her back told her the window behind her was open. She could turn and climb out. Cressida would never know it was Rune who’d been in here, only that someone had been rifling through her things.
But her mind was onTrue Love’s Curse.
On the instructions for breaking it.
Namely:the blood spilled in a sacrificial act.
Cressida’s shoes clicked on the tiles as she drew closer to the curtains.
If Rune wanted to escape, she had to gonow.
But she suddenly knew what was required to break the curse. The terrifying thought of it made her stomach clench.
What if I’m wrong? What if it doesn’t work?
Cressida stood directly before her now, on the other side of the curtain. Rune heard the breaths she took. Felt the chill of her presence.
Was Gideon worth the risk?
Rune touched the coin hanging around her neck.
Yes.
Gideon had endured unimaginable things under the Reign of Witches. And yet, somehow, he’d emerged with his soul intact. The proof: he’d forfeited his life so Rune—awitch—could go free.
Cressida yanked aside the curtain. Clutching the stolen spell book to her chest, Rune looked up, meeting her queen’s furious gaze.
“You.”
Rune had never been more terrified.
As Cressida’s eyes dropped to the book of love spells, her mouth twisted in a mocking smile. “Oh, Rune. Unlucky in love?”
