AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He chuckled in response.
“That works for me, I’m starving.” Soren’s voice sounded from the rear.
“I could eat the crotch of a dead cow,” Harper proclaimed as her chestnut-colored mare trotted up beside us. Lyra rode with Harper, her arms wrapped tightly around Harper’s gold-chained waist.
“I don’t doubt that,” Ryker quipped from the helm as he led us off the beaten trail and into the overgrown thicket of the woods painted in browns and oranges and yellows—the palette of autumn.
When the willows’ dangling branches grew too thick, we dismounted our horses and led them the rest of the way. I was thankful to be walking, sensation slowly returning to my tingling legs.
I heard the sound of rushing water long before I saw it.
Choosing a flat spot beside the rocky, winding bank, we set up our temporary camp. I inspected the width of the river, pegging it around forty feet wide. Farther up, where the elevation was higher, the river channel steepened and the water fell over the edge, tumbling towards the river below. The turbulent flow caused by the waterfall created a light mist, illuminated by the moonlight.
While Ryker tended the horses, Harper and Lyra worked on gathering wood and building a fire, although judging by their giggles and constant touching, they weren’t taking their jobs too seriously. Soren took to the woods to hunt, while Von just up and left without any explanation.
And I?
I was a useless sack.
Plopped on a stump, I massaged my back, willing the white-hot spear of pain to go away. I was thankful none of them seemed to mind. They simply let me be while they worked on their tasks. Besides Ryker and Harper’s frequent spats, the group worked incredibly well together—an attribute brought on by years of comradery.
What would Kaleb think of it all?
A lump, unpalatable in size, welled in my throat. I shoved my feelings to the side and watched as Harper stacked the wood, creating a teepee shape. She waved her hand over it, the dry kindling catching instantly, the flickering of orange and yellow illuminating Lyra’s soft features and wide, doe-like eyes as she sat down.
“When did you find out you were Cursed?” I asked Harper, reaching my hands out towards the warmth.
“When I was a young child,” Harper replied as she sat beside Lyra, her arm draping over Lyra’s petite shoulders.
“She lit our aunt’s house on fire. Burned it right to the ground,” Ryker cut in as he joined us, a wide grin spread across his handsome face.
“I was four. It’s not like I knew what I was doing,” Harper defended with a one-shoulder shrug. “Besides, I wasn’t the dumbass who nearly killed himself because he wanted to get rid of his gods-given Curse.” She pointed her gaze accusingly at him.
Ryker’s jaw ticked, his twin’s words skillfully plucking a nerve.
“Is that even possible? Getting rid of one’s Curse?” I asked, curious.
“It is,” Ryker answered, heavy muscles flexing as he reached over the fire. The flames turned a white-hot blue and the crackling increased as it mowed down the wood.
“How?” The question slipped out.
The twins exchanged a worried look with one another, and I was reminded how little they knew me. Kaleb would know that pure curiosity was my motive for asking—not because I wanted to get rid of my Curse, something I was proud of, more than anything.
“I’m just curious,” I offered.
Harper’s gaze shifted from Ryker to me. “There is a nightmarish device, a crown made of thorn-covered vines. When it is worn, it can unstitch the Curse from our cells. But it’s a horrific process, and very few have been known to survive it—if any. It was rumored to be crafted by the God of Death as a gift for his bride.”
I had heard of the God of Death before, but what I knew about him was limited, mostly because his stories belonged to the Old Religion, which had been banned many years ago.
“There are no words to explain what it’s like.” Ryker paused. “I’ve tried, but I can’t even come close.”
I swallowed—my mouth suddenly dry. “Like glass in your veins.” I breathed out.
They stared at me, blinking.
“Yeah,” Ryker drew the word out, one thick brow raising. “How did you know that?”
“I have no idea.” I glanced down at my hand, but it held no answers. I looked to Ryker. “Where did you find it?”
