His avid swearing bounced around my head, and I couldn’t even react now that the curse had taken hold of me. I was stuck standing here like a statue, barely able to breathe with the force of its restraints.
‘I think we could use his help, Ozzie,’I cut through his tirade.
‘How? He can’t find out, Junie. We don’t know what will happen.’
‘But what if he figures it out on his own? What if he puts the pieces together without any help?’I argued.
‘That’s…’he hesitated, thinking through my words. ‘That might actually work.’
‘I know,’I agreed. ‘No one’s ever tried to dig deeper before, so we don’t know how the curse will react. What wedoknow is that we can’t tell anyone ourselves. This could be the break we need, Ozzie.’
I felt more than heard his sigh through our bond. ‘Okay. I trust you. If you trust him…’
‘I do, Oz. I trust him. I don’t know how to explain it, but he’s a part of this somehow. We’re meant to be.’
I giggled at the sound of his gagging, my eyes widening when every eye turned toward me.
At a nod from Evander, Arden stepped from the crowd and stalked toward us, his cold eyes intent on Elvina. She stumbled back a step, and Phenex moved to block his path. He leaned around the larger Daemon to spit a nasty-sounding question at Elvina, but she merely shook her head.
‘What did he say?’ Phenex asked her.
‘He wants to know about the curse.’
‘Well, tell him he can fuck off. It doesn’t concern him.’
She choked on her breath. ‘I-I… I can’t s-say that,’ she stammered.
He softened his tone so as not to spook her further, recognising the power dynamics at play. ‘Please relay the message, Elvina. It doesn’t have to be word-for-word.’
She suddenly seemed to find some semblance of a backbone, though she didn’t relay the message straight away. Instead, she pinned us with her attention.
‘He has a point. What curse do you speak of?’
‘Do not ask her about it,’ Phenex cut in. ‘Now drop it and tell them to as well, or you can go right back to them. I will not have you putting my mate at risk to sate your curiosity,’ he said firmly, though not harshly.
She pursed her lips and studied me for a moment, noting my clenched jaw and bloody nose, before making her decision. I relaxed infinitesimally when she chose us. Each time she did it seemed to chip away at a piece of her, however, and I wondered how much it cost her to keep turning her back on her people. I didn’t think she was. Not really. If anything, I thought she was doing this to help her people, not abandon them.
They hadn’t seemed to figure that out, though, and my heart went out to her.
‘The topic of curses is closed and has nothing to do with us. You will get nothing more from them,’ she told him. He sneered at her, obviously not liking her answer, but he took it for what it was and stomped back to his group.
One by one, the Fae dismissed us, giving us their backs as they continued down the tunnel. However, one stayed back for a moment longer, his gaze penetrating as it studied me and Phenex. Evander narrowed his eyes at me, deciding I was the most likely source of the trouble, and sniffed haughtily before spinning on his heel and rejoining his friends.
‘Well,’ I said, eager to use my mouth as soon as I felt the curse drop its shackles. ‘That was fun.’
‘I will figure it out, my soul flame. Now that I know for certain that you are being blocked from speaking of it, I will work tirelessly to help you,’ he vowed.
I believed him, and if anyone could help me and Oz break free, I knew it would be him, and I was more thankful than ever that I had found him.
Because I couldn’t respond in any way that acknowledged the curse, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him to me. He was on the right track to figuring it out for himself, which was more than I could have ever hoped for, and this was the only way I knew to thank him without activating it once again.
‘We’ll figure this out, my soul flame. I promise.’
The moment was tender and meaningful, soof coursethe Trials decided that was the moment to shake things up. The rumbling happened slowly at first, almost imperceptible, but when even the Fae took notice and their ears twitched, apprehension flattening their lips, we knew we were out of time. I shared a knowing look with Phenex, then with Elvina, and we picked up the pace. These Trials weren’t going to wait for us any longer, and had decided now was the time to kick it up a notch.
Chapter 19
Hawthorne
