Page 1 of Gilded Curses

CHAPTER ONE

As they crept through the town, Sahira’s eyes flitted from one building to another. Every part of her tensed for an attack. Her muscles ached, her heart galloped, and she didn’t realize she’d clenched her teeth until her jaw started hurting.

Her hand remained entwined with Orin’s. His warmth helped bolster her confidence even as she prepared to face down whatever new monster came for them next.

And she didn’t doubt something was coming soon. There were no other options. She’d spent enough time in the Cursed Realm and Barren Lands to know nothing was ever simple or easy.

She glanced at Orin’s profile as his crow-black eyes searched the town. His hair was the same color as his eyes and had grown since she first met him. It now curled against the collar of his black, fae tunic. The tips of his pointed ears, a feature of all fae, dark and light alike, poked through his hair.

His slightly pointed chin jutted out as his anger crackled against her skin. She almost felt bad for whatever awaited them in this strange town… almost. Because, at this point, she’d gladly gut, behead, or choke to death anything or anyone who came at them.

She’d had way more than enough of all this bullshit.

Sitting on Orin’s shoulder, Pip hefted her spear and held it at the ready as what remained of her burnt tail stood in the air. The brownie’s face showed no fear as she glowered at the buildings.

Like all brownies, she wore some form of brown clothes. Instead of a dress like some of the other females in the town they’d left far behind wore, Pip dressed in pants and a baggy shirt.

She was about six inches tall when standing, which was average for her kind. She had the mouselike face of a brownie, with a pointy nose, big front teeth, a tail, and whiskers. But despite their cute appearance, the tiny immortals were ferocious when necessary.

Pip’s friend Fath sat on Sahira’s shoulder. Normally, he was far quieter than his more talkative companions, but Loth and Pip were both taciturn now. This wasn’t the place where one sang songs as Pip loved to do or talked about the scenery as Loth did.

Loth perched on Elsa’s shoulder. They’d started this journey with four of the small creatures but lost Gior on the geyser field. Sahira hoped they could get the three remaining brownies out of here and back home, where they belonged.

She hoped she could get herself out of this too.

Maybe, once free, they could find a way to help all those they’d left behind. But first, they had to survive this awful place and whatever it still had to throw at them.

When the shadowy figures inside the homes slid simultaneously into all the windows again, Sahira jumped a little as her fingers tightened on Orin’s. She knew those things were there, she’d seen them before, but wasn’t prepared to have them all emerge in that same creepy way again.

Whatever they were, they hadn’t attacked yet, but she hated them more than the spiders. At least they’d known what to expect from the spiders; she had no idea what was happening here.

Orin’s thumb stroked her hand as he sought to soothe her. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been trapped in the Cursed Realm anymore; the days had all blurred into one, especially once they entered the Barren Lands. But two or three months ago, if anyone had told her she’d willingly hold hands with Orin, she’d have laughed in their face.

Now, not only was she willingly holding hands with the exasperating man, but she’d also had sex with him and sort of grown to like him… when he wasn’t being a complete, obtuse asshole.

That wasn’t very often.

And he’d only reinforced his complete idiocy when he confessed to her, in a bathroom, that she was the only woman he’d had sex with since she entered the Cursed Realm. All the other women he’d paraded in front of her, after they first had sex, were only another way to mess with her head, upset her, and keep her on her toes while playing his games.

During this confession, she realized how fucked in the head Orin was. Afterward, she vowed to never let him in again, but she couldn’t release his hand despite still being livid with him. No matter how messed up he was—and it was so much—she needed him.

The weird thing was, she believed he needed her too.

They could sort through the convoluted mess of their relationship later—or not, if something ate them first—but for now, they had to concentrate on escaping this place and the horrors it harbored.

They had to be closer to finding answers and getting free. They just had to be.

And if they weren’t, she might finally spiral out of control and lose her mind.

Maybe that’s why they were here. The Cursed Realm was meant to break them and make them die a drawn-out, miserable death full of despair and loneliness.

There you go, always looking at the bright side.

But it was hard to be optimistic about anything when everything was an endless maze of nightmares.

CHAPTER TWO

As soundlessly as they materialized, the shadow figures vanished again.