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PARTI
CURSES
“You give me fever. Drive me insane.
You keep me going in circles with potions and battles, and I can't escape…”
You Put A Spell On Me-Austin Giorgio
PROLOGUE
Cyn
Ilied.
Or perhaps it was just an omission of truth.
Either way by now Arden, Lorcan and Carrick would have uncovered my secret and I have to hope that they care about me enough not to punish me for it. But more importantly, not punish the people I love.
My friends, The Masks, have been enemies with the Deana-dhe their whole lives, pitted against each other by the decisions their fathers made.
Malik Brov, who ruled over The Masks with an iron fist, was a cruel and soulless man who sought out and murdered nearly the entire Dálaigh bloodline, including Arden’s father, Michael. Years after I left Silver Oaks Institute, I found out that Malik was also responsible for the murder of Nessa Dálaigh, my mother’s best friend and Arden’s aunt, fuelling the hatred between both families for decades. My own father, Niall O’Farrell, deliberately pitted me against the Deana-dhe by siding with Malik Brov.
Their actions drew a line in the sand between the two families and made me and the Deana-dhe enemies before we’d even met.
No matter how I look at it, my father was just as responsible for Michael’s death as Malik Brov was. Just like he was responsible for stoking the flames of hatred between his family and my mother’s. His decision to steal my mother and force her to marry him, eventually cost her her life. He may not have pulled the trigger, but he set in motion every single event that led to the moment of her death.
My heart had known this truth all along.
Deep down I’vealwaysknown, even when I’d convinced myself otherwise.
Nevertheless, I sought the help from the Deana-dhe who’d given me the name of the man who actually pulled the trigger, allowing them to later call in a debt. A path that Nessa Dálaigh believed would finally bring peace to all the warring families.
The hatred, the pain, and the endless years of bloodshed have haunted us all like an oppressive fog, binding us together in a bloody cycle of murder and revenge. Families have been shattered, loved ones brutally taken, and deep-seeded resentments remain festering like an open wound.
It’s time for it to end.
It’s time for us all to heal.
It’s time for us to find peace.
Maybe even love.
Or die trying…
1
Arden
Cool air rushes over my skin as I step out of the car, carrying with it the pollution of the city, stinging my eyes and throat as I stride towards Grim’s club, Tales. I hate city life. The grime, the smell, the litter, the noise, the fucking people.
Speaking of which.
The steel door creaks open and Beast stands in the doorway, a statement more than a question on his lips. “You’re late.”
“Traffic,” Lorcan replies, stepping around the car and standing next to me.
Lorcan’s jaw is tight, his eyes are guarded and alert, and his body is a coiled spring ready to act at the slightest provocation. Despite relaxing his features and forcing his shoulders to drop, he doesn’t fool me. He’s a master at masking the tension in his face with an expression of utter neutrality but I know better, he’s on edge.
