Page 64 of A Curse So Vile

He reached out, brushing his knuckles against her cheek. “But my new bride will.”

As much as she’d love to toy with him, she figured it best to end the ruse.

“Jokes on you, because I’m cursed and carrying your children simply isn’t possible for me at this point.”

He chuckled lightly. “Is that so?”

“In just three short days, on my twenty-third birthday, my curse will come to fruition. I’ll go mad, shifting into my beastly state, unable to come out of it again.”

“You say that like I wouldn’t prefer you that way.”

“We both know that as much as you loathe your human side, it’s necessary for you, and without it, you’d be mindless primal beings with no real drive except to feast.”

“Are you trying to get me excited?”

“I’m trying to enjoy your inevitable frustration when you figure out I’m not who you think I am, and even if I could be your life mate, it’s doubtful I’ll make your numbers swell. I am an only child, and that wasn’t for my parents’ lack of trying.”

“Don’t be so negative. You’ll make a splendid mother to all of my progeny.”

“Excuse me? Did you miss the part where I’m cursed? Destined to go feral.”

“And what if you’d been lied to?”

“I’d say that’s unlikely.”

“But you have been. By Orrick and the blood witch who supposedly cursed you.”

Brenna exhaled and turned away from the Ossorian leader. “It wasn’t a lie. I was a spoiled brat, arrogant as anyone could aspire to be. I pissed off the wrong soothsayer, and for my blunder, I was cursed. It’s been confirmed time and time again, with my own body betraying me, as well as the words of countless witches.”

“The witch that claimed to curse you is the one who was lying, though I can’t guess why. Things were already in play, and it wasn’t a curse you suffered. It was a binding of your power.”

Brenna yawned. “Either kill me or let me sleep. You’re wasting my time.”

“Oh, sweet Brenna, we have a lot to talk about.”

Brenna stepped away from Constantine, “I’d rather you not bore me to tears during my last few days on this earth.”

“But what if I were to tell you that your days are plenty, and your nature, while savage, is not so feral?”

“I’d say you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I’ve known you for a long time. Your blood has called to me throughout my long years here. At first, I didn’t know what was happening. Ossorians are known for going mad from time to time, and that seemed likely given the strength of my line. But the answer I was looking for came to me as I was about to feast on a weary traveler. She laughed in my face, which was bold, and bought her my ear.”

“You believed the words of a desperate woman?”

“She knew me better than I knew myself. The calling I’d felt that was driving me to madness. It was you. All along, it was you.”

“You sound insane.”

Constantine moved to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle, pouring two glasses of what smelt like blood liquor. It was a rare treat for Denithians, as the concoction was most often made with human blood.

The smell of it excited her, making her yearn for things she ought not. All her kin of ancient blood felt it. The unrepentant blood lust that coursed through their veins only to be hampered by the humanity they clung to.

He held out a glass for her. She had to look away, her desire was so strong.

“Take that foul concoction away,” she hissed.

He spiked a brow. “I know full well your people still indulge in the good drink.”