Page 28 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Lorelei

Zane was amazing—funny, strong, patient—and it was killing me to know I had to give up my life to end the curse. I wished I’d never read that stupid letter. It felt like it was burning a hole in my bag, constantly pulling at my attention.

I felt like I was giving Zane whiplash, alternating between engaging in conversation and then falling silent, but I was struggling.

Part of me wanted to shut down, to stop getting to know him, while the other part wanted to throw caution to the wind and make whatever time we had left together matter.

I repeatedly found myself staring at his lips when we spoke, wondering what he kissed like. It was torture—a torture of my own making.

We’d had the best time before dinner last night, laughing and joking, but then he’d asked me to promise I’d find a puppy for him to smell. It had reminded me that I wouldn’t be alive to do so, and I shut down.

After dinner, he’d gone to the bathroom to wash up, and I used the opportunity to take the coward’s way out, pretending to be asleep when he came back. Now, in the early morning light, I lay awake, wondering what to do.

I couldn’t keep going hot and cold—it wasn’t fair to either of us. I had to stick with a plan. Either lock Zane out or let him in.

“You awake?” his gruff voice whispered from the other side of the privacy curtain.

I chewed my bottom lip before answering, “Yes.”

“I’ve been thinking. There’s a very real possibility that one or both of us could die trying to get to this tree.”

My heart rate spiked. “I’ve thought of that, too.”

I heard the bed squeak as he shifted. “There’s one thing I’d like to do before I die, Lorelei.”

My heart was practically in my throat. “What?” I breathed.

“I absolutely must smell a puppy’s breath today before we head out.”

His statement was so unexpected that a full-body laugh shook me. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. It was just so ridiculous—a dark, scary Ethereum lord insisting he wanted to smell a puppy.

It took me a couple of minutes to compose myself. I hadn’t laughed like that since I was a kid. Zane was funny. I loved that about him.

“Well, in that case,” I said, sitting up and swinging my legs off the side of the bed, “we’d better get dressed because I think if we head out now, we might have time to fit puppy-smelling into our itinerary.”

An hour later, after a rushed breakfast of boiled eggs and fruit, Zane and I tracked down a litter of four puppies with help from Adler. Madame Georgette opened her sitting parlor for us early, and when we entered, the cute little balls of fur yipped and yapped at our feet.

“Just born last month,” she told us. “Still on the teat, but they should be ready to take home in a few weeks. You can pick them up and play with them if you want.” With that, she excused herself and retreated somewhere else in her home.

Zane glanced at me, then picked up one of the black-and-white spotted puppies. “Moment of truth, Lorelei. This better be life-changing.”

I grinned, amazed that on a journey to save our dying worlds, Zane had found time to do something I loved.

I reached down and picked up an adorable little female. She wiggled in my grasp, trying to gnaw on my fingers. “Her fur is so soft,” I said, my cheeks starting to ache from all the smiling this morning.

Zane lifted his puppy up to his nose, and it licked him, catching him off guard. He reeled back and looked at me with wide eyes. “Its breath. It’s sweet.”

I nodded, my grin feeling permanent at this point. “Mother’s milk.”

I snuggled my puppy, nuzzling my nose into her neck and feeling, for a moment, like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders.

“Do you have dogs?” he asked.

I shook my head. “My mother doesn’t like them.”

Zane nodded thoughtfully. “But if it were up to you, would you have one?”

I laughed. “I’d probably have five. Some chickens and goats, too.”

Zane rubbed the puppy’s back as it tried to bite his shirt collar. “Me too.”

Madame Georgette returned to the room, and Zane handed the puppy to her. “Can I prepay and pick them up when they’re weaned?”

My mouth popped open in surprise.

“Of course you can, sir. Do you want them both?”

Zane glanced at me and nodded.

I was in shock.

After he paid her, we walked back outside to where we’d left our horses.

I peered over at him, no doubt a look of awe and disbelief on my face. “Zane, did you just buy me a puppy?”

He looked down at me and nodded. “Only if you want her. Otherwise, Nellie won’t mind having two, I’m sure.”

He’d bought the other for Nellie?

I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. It scared me because the heartbreaking truth was that I was falling for Zane—falling hard and fast for a man I would never be able to make mine.

It took the better part of the day to reach the edge of the uninhabited lands that held the Tree of Transformation, but we were almost there.

I could see the black-trunked trees that marked the border of the Savage Lands ahead of us.

No one knew why the bark of those trees was the color of charcoal, but it was.

“Have you ever been where we are going?” Zane asked as we eased our horses down the thick, overgrown path.

I shook my head. “No, but my mother has. That’s how she was able to pen the map for us.

When I was very little, she told me a story about how someone broke the law and ran to hide out in the Savage Lands.

She was a young queen at the time and wanted to send a clear message that fleeing justice would not be tolerated. ”

Zane nodded. “I’d do the same.”

“So she went with her guards and ferreted out the criminal herself.”

Zane looked impressed. “Has she seen the Tree of Transformation? Does she know what makes it special?”

I nodded. “The tree gets its name because, over the course of a single day, it cycles through all four seasons. Each morning, it’s reborn with new leaves.”

Awe shone on Zane’s face. “That sounds magical.”

“I agree.” As we approached the first black tree trunk, I glanced at Zane. “Now you tell me something.”

He stopped his horse and looked over at me. “Ask me anything.”

I squirmed in my saddle. “Isolde said we’d been lied to all our lives, but she didn’t give any details. What’s your side of the story? How were you told the curse started?”

Zane dipped his chin in understanding. “Balazar Warrick, the Winter king, was offered the hand of the Summer princess in marriage, but he refused. He wanted to marry an unseelie—a nymph—instead.”

My eyes widened in alarm. A seelie and an unseelie? Together?

“The Summer queen at the time couldn’t handle the rejection and was disgusted by his choice. She started a rebellion against him. They took his throne, killed his unseelie fiancée, and banished him and his brothers, along with all of the unseelie, to Ethereum as punishment.”

“No,” I gasped. “That’s so cruel.”

Zane looked at me with compassion. “In retribution for his fallen love, Balazar pulled the magic of Faerie into himself and his brothers, becoming its keepers. The power was so immense that it turned their blood black. In response, the Faerie royals cursed him, but the curse backfired. That’s all my father told me. ”

I was silent for a full minute, trying to process everything.

“Are you okay? What are you thinking?” Zane asked, his voice gentle.

I sighed. “Why is it always the Summer queen who goes evil?”

He chuckled softly at that. “Doesn’t matter. We’re going to end all that. Right now.” He gestured toward the blackened woods we were about to enter.

I knew from past champions’ journals that the unseelie were populous in Ethereum, but I had never really stopped to consider why we had none here. I’d been taught they were monsters—evil, like the Ethereum lords who ruled them. But as I looked at Zane riding beside me, I knew I’d been told lies.

There wasn’t an evil bone in Zane’s body. He was good. Kind, thoughtful, and selfless. And I couldn’t help but wonder what other lies I’d been told.

“It’s a lot to absorb,” Zane said, his gaze fixed on the black trees. “Are you ready for this?”

I forced myself to push aside thoughts of the past. Dwelling on it wouldn’t help anyone right now. Ending the curse had to be my only focus. It didn’t matter how it started.

“Yes,” I answered him firmly.

With that, Zane nudged Biscuit forward, and she cantered into the forest. Suddenly, the sky split open, and a bolt of black lightning struck the ground right in front of Zane’s horse.

Zane grunted, leaning forward as Biscuit reared up. He clung to her neck, barely managing to stay on.

“Zane!” I cried, riding up beside him as Biscuit steadied herself. My heart raced as I scanned him for injuries.

Zane sat in his saddle, staring at his hands with a mixture of awe and shock. When he glanced up at me, his eyes flashed yellow for a fleeting moment.

“What just happened?” I asked, my voice trembling.

His chest rose and fell heavily, and wonder filled his expression. “Do you feel that?”

I shook my head, glancing at my hands as if they might give me a clue.

“My magic,” he said, his voice almost reverent. “It came back so suddenly, I couldn’t contain it. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

That was his power? He had mentioned being able to control lightning, but seeing it in action was an entirely different experience.

“But you’re okay?” I asked, my voice still laced with concern.

Zane straightened in his saddle, his grin spreading wide. “Better than okay. I have my power back—I can protect you properly now.” Relief radiated from his tone.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re all right,” I said, exhaling a shaky breath. “But why do you think your magic returned now?”

A furrow appeared between his eyebrows, and he shook his head. “I’m not sure. But things feel … familiar here.”

“Familiar?” I asked, confused.

He nodded. “Like home.”

Casting my gaze over the dark forest in front of us, I didn’t know how to make sense of that.

“Let’s keep going,” Zane urged, and I nodded.