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“And that was your mother?” Kael asks.

“Mhmm. Her name is Ashara Deverell,” I nod. I proceed to go through everything that she told me, word for word. I tell them about the prophecy and how we are supposed to figure it out together. They seem to accept my reasoning for running away in the middle of the night. I make sure to leave out her bringing up me being assaulted. I’m not sure how that will go over.

Kael looks up at my ball of light and looks back at me. “What the fuck is that?”

“Of everything I just said, that is what you are latching onto?” I ask. “It’s just a ball of light. It’s dark as fuck out here.”

“What is this book?” Daemon asks.

“It is my family Book of Shadows, I think. It has my last name on the front of it,” I say as I point to a page. “This is a protection spell. It’s the same spell that I used to hide my magia belongings.”

“So, you are connected to our families somehow?” Callum asks.

“I think I’m the answer to this curse,” I state. “Mom said something about how I was running out of time. She also called me a high witch. I don’t know what that is, though. She said that it was something about being the most powerful witch in 300 years or something but, then again, I was sleeping, and she’s not here. I could just be insane.”

“From what Dad told me before he died, about the curse, the last High Witch was alive when the group of dark witches cursed our families,” Daemon says.

“If I was getting headaches and… well, basically everything that was happening to those other girls, does that mean I was cursed and didn’t know it?”

“Our curse didn’t hit us until we took the throne. We knew about it, but we were safe until then,” Kael says.

“300 years. That’s what… twelve generations?” I ask. “That’s a long time to hold a grudge.”

“That’s how family curses work,” Kael says as he pulls me closer to hug me.

“I’m sorry. I know you told me not to come out here alone,” I whisper.

“It’s okay,” he says. “I was just worried when I woke up and you weren’t there.”

“Who’s Cassie?” I ask. He pulls away, and they all give me an odd look.

“How do you know that name?” Kael asks.

“You were saying sorry to her,” I say. “Before Mom appeared, you were having a nightmare and said her name.”

“She was one of our maidens,” he says softly, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “The symptoms of the curse hit her while we were having sex, and I didn’t notice right away. We had a habit of making sure we weren’t around when the girls died because we felt guilty, and we were being selfish. When Cassie died in my arms, it changed everything for us. We started focusing on their pleasure and making sure we were taking care of them after. We would stay by their side just in case something happened. When the symptoms would hit, we would take care of them the best we could and try to make sure they knew they weren’t alone.”

“That’s why you guys did all that,” I say. “You were taking care of me in case I died.”

“Yeah,” he says softly.

“How do we know for sure that the curse is broken?” I ask.

“We could see how long we can go without sex,” Callum says with a shrug.

“I don’t like that idea,” I frown, and they all grin at me.

“Why’s that?” Kael asks with a smirk.

“You know what… That’s a great idea. No sex for anyone,” I say with a smile. “Good idea, Callum. How long does it take for symptoms toreallyset in for you all? A week? Two weeks?”

“My sweet witch,” Kael says with a smile and cups my cheek. “You’ve gotten used to being fucked multiple times a day. We regularly push the limit in avoidance. You’ll break far before we will.”

“Fine,” I smile. “If I win, you have to let me practice magic on you all.”

“And if we win, we get to fuck you shifted,” he says with a conniving grin.

“You think I’m scared of a little kitty cat, Kael?” I ask. When he growls, I giggle in response.