I blinked. How did he know Nyla worked for Zelda? How did he know her name? I didn’t remember ever telling him.
Arawn lowered his head, his forehead brushing mine. “I’m the one who should apologize. I made you wait too long.”
I pressed my hand to my chest. He had come for me. And he wasn’t even angry. Not the cold, cutting Arawn I knew. No. He seemed… different. Less distant. Less unreachable. His breath was uneven, his brows drawn. Something inside him was faltering.
Without another word, he turned, coat snapping behind him. He placed himself before me, a wall between me and the sorcerer with his Cursed.
“You dare profane my lands? Look at what you’ve become,” he growled, voice cracking like thunder. “What illusions has Zelda promised you to reduce you to this?”
The sorcerer sneered. “We are her apprentices. We want what she gave you.”
Arawn let out a humorless laugh. “My curse? She lied to you. Zelda wants to replace me with pale copies. You have no control over your magic. Those around you have already lost their will, and soon, so will you.”
“Show me your true form,” the sorcerer taunted, a twisted smile curling his lips. “Let’s see if you’re strong enough to defeat my Category Eight Cursed and me. I always wondered if the legend of the bloodthirsty beast with monstrous horns was nothing but a lie. Especially now that you’re a vegetarian.”
Grotesque laughter echoed through the forest. Arawn ignored it, his blazing gaze turning back to me. “Run to the magic barrier. They can’t cross it, so you’ll be safe.”
The wind rose suddenly, a storm growling in the sky.
“But…” I hesitated. Crossing Arawn’s barrier would drain his strength. He was stubborn, and he hadn’t eaten since the market. His magic would fade fast.
“Do as I say!” he roared, his voice cracking like a whip, laced with barely contained fury.
Ink-black streaks seeped from his hair, dark violet veins crawling across his skin. I spun on my heel, heart hammering, and sprinted toward the manor. My skirt tangled in my legs, and I forced myself forward. But I had only gone a few steps when arrows hissed through the night. Arawn moved with inhuman speed, swatting several aside with a flick of his hand.
But not all were aimed at him. One sliced through the air, straight toward my chest.
Before I could scream, the arrow buried itself in Arawn’s arm. He had moved too fast for me to react, too fast to shield himself. His coat, torn, revealed flesh beneath, bleeding with a dark liquid. The venom seeped into the fibers. A foul stench saturated the air. Acid. Poison.
His jaw clenched, his head still lowered. “Lempicka. Go. You distract me.”
“Zelda’s precious puppet, brought down by a mere poisoned arrow,” the sorcerer mocked. “So this is the worth of your so-called greatness, Arawn? When she sees how I’ve humiliated you, I will become her new favorite. I will reign at her side.”
My fists clenched. Rain began to fall. “Don’t die.”
A fleeting smile crossed his pained features. “And you still haven’t learned to phrase your commands properly.”
I turned and plunged into the mist. The magic barrier shimmered ahead, where the lake began. As I crossed it, I dared one last glance back. Through the curtain of rain painting the leaves in a dark melody, Arawn stood tall. Calm. Unyielding.
In a heartbeat, the man vanished, replaced by the stag dragon. His antlers surged, sharp as lances. His vast wings of mist spread wide, tearing through the air. His face became that of a skeletal deer skull, eyes blazing yellow. His body, that of a dragon, clothed in thorns and fog.
The Cursed lunged at him like starving beasts, claws and fangs bared. One was swept aside by a single wing. Then the mist closed over the battlefield.
I could see no more. But I heard it. The roar of a dragon split the sky. The sinister crunch of shattered bones. And?—
“Lempicka! Are you hurt?!” Aignan, Chouquette, and Éclair burst to my side.
“It’s my fault,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I thought I saw Nyla. And now, Arawn…”
My eyes widened. The Spirits were rising from the lake, advancing one by one into the clearing, silent as an army of shadows. They encircled me. Chouquette growled, but their spectral arms stretched toward me, pushing me back toward the magical border. And suddenly, I understood.
They were protecting Arawn.
To them, I was a weakness, the reason he was fighting. If they pushed me away from the barrier, the weight of his curse would lessen.
The smaller Cursed, freed from their leashes, darted across the clearing, their tails tucked between their legs. They were fleeing. Which could mean only one thing… Someone had won.
“Master forbade you to approach Lady Lempicka!” Yeun’s voice crackled as he cut through the air, shrinking back into his tiny fairy form and seeking refuge in my palm, safe from the rain. “Mademoiselle Lempicka, you are injured!”
