“What are you saying?” Jude asks.
“I’m saying if we donothing, the curse will run its course, you’ll all turn to stone, your souls will never find peace, and I’m going to outlive you all.”
“Damn straight you are,” he says. “Doesn’t matter if you’re the key to ending this thing or the key to ending the whole damn world. We’re not going to endyoujust so we can—”
“That’s the thing, though. We don’thaveto end me.” I release Jude’s hands and turn to Draegan, my heart thudding with this new realization. “We’ve been so focused on what Verrick said about the immortal bloodline part, because we assumed he meant I’d have to die in order to break the curse. But do you remember what heactuallysaid, before we got lost in the details?”
Draegan nods, that faint flicker of hope glimmering again as he recalls the words Verrick taunted us with in Wintermoon. “The only way to break the curse is to break the tether, and the only way to break the tether is to break the bloodline it’s tied to.”
“Exactly!” I nod, my smile widening. “Then he told us it was tethered tohisbloodline, which meant it would pass to me the moment he died, and we never moved beyond that. Especially when his death proved he wasn’t lying. The tetherdidpass to me.”
After the pain of the initial transfer, I got used to the constant drain on my power, but I can still feel it, even now. Like some otherworldly presence sucking away a little more of my magic every day. A little more of my soul.
“I’m… still not following,” Auggie says. “What does this all mean?”
“The only way to break the curse is to break the tether,” I repeat. “And the only way to break the tether is to break thebloodline it’s tied to. So guys, all we need to do is—”
“Tether the curse to a different bloodline,” Drae says excitedly, the dots finally connecting for him too. “Amortalbloodline that can then be broken by killing the mortal, thereby cutting off the power source and destroying the curse.”
Auggie’s eyes widen. “Can that be done?”
“Only one way to find out,” I say.
Jude cradles my face in his claw-tipped hands, his gaze sweeping up from my lips to my eyes. When he speaks again, his voice holds a note of wonder.
“Your serious,” he says softly. “You want to murder a mortal in order to set us free.”
I close my eyes, thinking back to the conversation Auggie and I had about what makes a person good or bad.
From the moment I learned I had dark-fae blood, I was terrified of becoming evil.
When I discovered that my dark-fae blood came from Verrick of Wintermoon, I was terrified of becominghim.
Now, after everything we’ve been through, after everything we’ve fought for, I know I’m not my bloodline. Not my father. Not the so-called legacy he tried to pin on me.
But I willnothesitate to trade the life of a cold-blooded asshole to save the men I love. So if that’s the thing that ultimately makes me evil? Well.
Welcome to the fucking dark side.
Because I willnotstand by and let them fade into oblivion if I’ve still got a chance to do something about it.
“Find me someone who’s spent his life getting off on hurting those weaker than him,” I say, “and I will gladly get the job done.”
“I’m not sure it’s quite that simple,” Auggie says. “I mean, yeah, we have dossiers on lots of people in this city that fit the bill. But choosing one to execute is—”
“Actually, I may be able to offer a solution.” Draegan tosses back the last of his drink and rises from the chair. “We’ve a suitable guest down in the workshop. Unconscious, for now. I’ve been pondering various methods of… disposal.”
“You sly dog.” Jude laughs. “Does our unannounced guest have anything to do with your trip to JFK?”
Drae nods. “Imported the bastard all the way from Argentina. You wouldn’tbelievethe paperwork.”
By “paperwork,” I’m pretty sure he means the cash required to bribe the customs agent to alert him the moment Detective Reedsy got off the plane, but I’m not going to press for details.
Smirking at him, I say, “I thought we didn’t keep secrets in this house.”
“It’s not a secret, love. Just a bit of rubbish that needs taking out. No need for you to soil your precious hands touching that sack of utter filth.”
“Draegan Caldwell,” I scold. “After everything yourguestput us through, I’d be more than happy to soil my hands turning him into a bloody pulp they won’t even be able to identify with dental records.”
