Page 123 of Cursebreaker

My vision focuses as Morana presses a goblet to my cheek, the cool metal stinging my face. She collects my blood just as I saw Calantha do with Titus that night in the dungeon.

“I think you’re going to enjoy being a Shifter,” she croons, sickly sweet. “Your brother certainly did.”

The next cut is more painful than the last. She slices my shoulder, ripping through the fabric of my shirt with ease.

“You’re lucky Azeron made his claim on you,” she whispers as she presses the goblet to my wound once more, letting my blood spill out, filling the cup. “Many of my generals are not as well-mannered as your sweet Changeling.”

The blade cuts across my stomach, and I lurch forward, my hand coming up to press against the gash.

“Now, that won’t do,” Morana says, prying my hand away. The press of the goblet against my skin makes me cry out. “Azeron?”

I feel the moment Will’s magic takes hold of me, rendering my body immobile, and I’m almost grateful. If he hadn’t, I might have tried to run.

When Morana slices my thigh, a scream rips from my throat, but it’s cut short by Will’s invisible grasp on my vocal cords. His magic clamps my jaw shut.

Lifts my chin.

Straightens my spine.

Another cut. Another slice. Another press of the goblet.

Suddenly, warmth floods my veins, soothing the pain, easing the ache in my chest.

My vision fades. I feel the power of the Lightbringer leeched from my blood, my bones, my very soul.

Teeth sink into my neck and I sag with relief.

One moment, I am kneeling on an altar of obsidian, and the next, I am standing beneath the stars on the main deck of the Lightbringer.

A boy no older than Albert stands in front of me, his brow furrowed with determination, and I recognize him instantly.

Titus.

“I don’t want you to go,” I tell him, and at the sound of my own childlike voice, I realize this isn’t a dream, but a memory. “Please, don’t leave me!”

“I have to,” Titus says, his bottom lip wobbling even as he sets his jaw. He climbs into the jolly boat, tears streaming down his young face.

“Promise me?” I ask, my voice a whisper lost to the crash of the waves as they lap at the hull of the ship. “Promise me we’ll find our way back to each other.”

The jolly boat drops a few feet, but he looks up at me, his eyes glistening in the starlight—as blue as my beloved ocean. “Nothing could stop me from finding my way back to you.”

He holds out his hand to me, and I reach for him, but the instant my fingers brush his, the world bursts, silver light exploding like a shattered mirror.

And then everything is golden. Gilded starlight envelops me, the dust swirling, warm and bright, tender and sweet.

But I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave him.

“Titus!” I scream, but my voice is not my own. It is the song of waves lapping at the shore for an eternity, meeting only where two worlds collide.

Let go, the Stars whisper. You’re safe now.

But I can’t forget him. Can’t forget his touch. His laughter. His voice, telling me I have to live. I won’t let go. Not again. Not ever again.

I reach out, fighting against the cool, inviting grasp of Death, and take hold of Titus’s hand.

The hand that pulls me from eternity shimmers with starlight.

I gasp for breath, but my lungs are insatiable. The air is crisp and clear and tastes like cool, crystal waters.