Page 41 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Her hand flew to her chest, clutching a locket I hadn’t noticed until now. The locket cracked, purple mist escaping in wisps until it revealed a tiny, shriveled black heart no larger than a walnut.

“Is that our ancestor’s heart?” Adrien asked, his voice thick with revulsion.

Stryker unsheathed his sword, his movements slow and deliberate. “She dies now.”

I was about to agree when a sharp, piercing pain exploded in my chest. It felt as though something vital was being ripped from me.

I staggered, my breath hitching as grief and despair settled like a weight in my chest.

I turned to my brothers and found the same haunted expressions mirrored on their faces.

We all felt it.

Zane.

He was gone. I wanted to deny it to myself, to push the feeling aside, but I couldn’t. It was pulsing through me somehow, the loss of my brother.

I’d always shared a connection with my brothers that felt almost physical. Stryker’s energy was heavy and unyielding, Adrien’s vibrant and resilient, and Zane’s—Zane’s was pure and brimming with life. That bond had been with me for as long as I could remember, a constant thread tying us together.

When we were twelve, we even tested if we could read each other’s minds. We couldn’t. But we could always feel each other’s presence—until now. Now, there was only a void where Zane’s presence had always been.

“He could just be unconscious,” Adrien said softly beside me, his voice thick with hope.

“No!” Stryker roared, throwing his head back as anguish tore through his voice, raw and primal.

Zane.

I clenched my fists, my heart heavy with the weight of his absence. Zane was the best of us, full of light and purpose, and he had so much left to live for. How could this have happened? Why did it have to be him?

“They did it,” Queen Liliana said, her voice filled with disbelief. “They ended the curse.”

“Mother!” someone yelled, and we all glanced up. Dawn was at a window. Looking exhausted and horrified. “If the curse has ended, then it’s over. We are all safe. The fae of both lands can live happily side by side in safety. Mother, we are all free.”

But Queen Liliana’s face twisted with rage as her gaze turned from Dawn and locked on me.

“No,” she shouted. “We must rid all lands of the Ethereum lords and their black hearts.”

“If you mean that, then you will die,” Dawn called down, sadness as well as resignation in her voice.

“They can’t be allowed to live,” Queen Liliana all but growled. And the look in her eyes made it clear she wouldn’t stop until I was dead.

Any lingering guilt I might’ve had about killing her vanished. She was a monster. A mother that was willing to kill fae who she knew were innocent. And one that her daughter loved and married.

With a flick of Queen Liliana’s wrist, three beams of sunlight shot toward me. I dodged, but pain seared across my ear as one of the beams grazed me. Warm blood dripped down my neck as I hit the ground.

Stryker and Adrien roared in unison, their shadow whips and ropes pounding against her shield as her beams of light retaliated with deadly precision.

She was a force of destruction, relentless and merciless.

I pushed to my feet, creating a black shard the length and sharpness of a sword as adrenaline surged through me.

“Stryker, cover me,” I shouted.

Adrien continued his relentless attack, hammering at her shield, while Stryker conjured shadow fog to obscure my movements.

And then, just as I was approaching her and she had her eyes on me, Dawn screamed at me. I looked her way, and then she nodded. “It has to be done,” she cried, her face the picture of determination even as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

Adrien and Stryker had not let up their attack.

Using the distraction Dawn had provided by her scream, I maneuvered behind the queen, my shard gripped tightly in both hands.

My heart pounded as I watched the glow of her shield flicker.

When it faltered for a split second, I lunged, plunging my blade through her back and straight into her heart.

A guttural scream ripped from her throat as the shield shattered. The faestone dagger clattered to the ground as she collapsed—my shard sword still lodged in her chest.

Her wide, shocked eyes locked on mine as she gasped for breath, her blood pooling around her. She raised a trembling hand—

“Look away, Dawn,” Stryker cried.

I turned away, too, unable to watch what came next.

A clean, decisive stroke from Stryker’s sword severed her head from her body.

“An enemy is never truly dead until they’re headless,” Stryker said grimly, his voice like steel.

I nodded, understanding his pragmatism, but her resemblance to Dawn made it impossible for me to strike the final blow myself. At least not head-on, like he’d done.

Adrien approached, his expression somber. “Stryker and I will handle the body. Go to Dawn and the babies.”

I glanced back to the window, but Dawn was no longer there.

My hands shook as I nodded. “Do you think Zane could just be injured? I’ve felt your energy dim before, only to find you gravely hurt.”

Stryker and Adrien exchanged a look, their silence heavy with unspoken truth.

“Maybe,” Stryker said, though his tone held little conviction. “Once we’ve stabilized things here, we’ll search for him. Maybe there’s someone who can help us reach him in Faerie like we did with Isolde. But first, tend to your ear and hand and see your wife.”

I glanced down at my blood-soaked shirt and mangled hand, grimacing at the mess.

As I turned to leave, I hesitated. “She said they ended the curse.”

“Don’t trust a word from that witch’s mouth,” Stryker growled.

He was right. I wouldn’t believe it until I saw the proof myself.

I staggered toward the castle, exhaustion and pain threatening to overwhelm me. Inside, I collided with a housemaid who screamed loud enough to wake the entire household. Guards rushed from every direction, their weapons drawn.

Isolde and Aribella appeared at the top of the staircase, their faces pale with alarm. They hurried down, their gazes filled with concern as they took in my battered state.

“Aribella and I were in the library, researching potential ways to locate Queen Liliana. What happened?” Isolde demanded, forming a sharp icicle in one hand. “Did she attack?”

“Oh, Zander, are you okay?” Aribella asked, pressing a cotton apron to the side of my head as blood trickled down.

I apologized to the maid for scaring her, and she hurried off to fetch the healer. Turning to the guards, I ordered them to assist my brothers outside. Then I met the gazes of both Isolde and Aribella.

“Queen Liliana is dead,” I said, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. “And she claimed the curse has been destroyed.”

I wanted to add that Zane might be dead, too, but the words refused to form. Saying it aloud felt like accepting it, and I wasn’t ready for that.

Behind me, a sharp intake of breath sent a chill down my spine. Even without turning, I knew it was Dawn.

Spinning around, I found her gripping the babies’ table for support, using it like a walker as she rolled closer to me.

Her eyes roamed over me, taking in the blood dripping from my finger and the cloth pressed to my head by Aribella.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice weak, her expression a mix of worry and heartbreak. Her eyes were red from the tears she’d already shed. I could see the pain of overhearing what had happened to her mother reflected in her gaze.

“Yes,” I assured her quickly. “Dawn, I’m sorry. I tried not to kill her, but she—”

She nodded before I could finish, relief washing over her features.

Her eyes fell to the bassinets where our children slept peacefully.

“They’re safe now. You did good,” she said.

There was an unmistakable sadness in her tone, and it sent a crack through my own heart.

She had just lost her mother, and she was affirming my decision.

How was I worthy of such an amazing princess?

I hesitated, then asked, “Dawn, she said they ended the curse. You know your mother better than anyone. Do you think she was telling the truth?”

She frowned, uncertainty clouding her expression. “I wish I could tell you she was, but I’m not sure. I’m not sure of anything about my mother anymore.”

I nodded, though the lack of clarity did little to ease my mind. “She was wearing the necklace you told me about, but it cracked, and purple mist came out of it.”

All three women gasped in unison—Dawn, Isolde, and Aribella.

“What?” I asked, glancing between them.

Dawn stepped out from behind the table, her green eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

But this time, they were tears of joy. “That’s never happened before.

What else could it mean but that the curse was destroyed?

Can you help me get to the city hospital?

I want to check on Nysa. If the curse is gone, maybe she’ll finally be healed. ”

I frowned, my gaze darting to the babies. Dawn was far too weak to walk that distance, and there was no way I could allow her to roll our newborns through town. It wasn’t safe.

“How about I check on Nysa and the others?” I offered. “If she’s awake, I’ll bring her here.”

Dawn’s lips pressed into a thin line, her stubbornness flaring briefly before she glanced down at the babies and sighed. “Only if you promise to get those injuries looked at while you’re there.”

I’d nearly forgotten the state I was in—bloodied and bruised.

Leaning down, I kissed her forehead, careful not to get any blood on her. “I promise.”

Her lips curved into a small smile. Although her eyes still glistened with tears, there was a flicker of hope in her expression that made my chest tighten.

I turned to leave, but Isolde’s voice stopped me. “Aribella, will you stay with Dawn and help her back to her room? I’ll go with Zander.”

“Of course,” Aribella replied, stepping to Dawn’s side and slipping her arm around her shoulders for support.

Isolde and I stepped outside, and the moment we did, she grabbed my arm, forcing me to face her. Her blue eyes glistened with unshed tears, and her grip on my arm was firm but trembling.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

She bit her lip, hesitating before speaking. “I just wonder … if Lorelei and Zane really did break the curse … at what cost?”

Her words struck like a blade, slicing through the fragile wall I’d built to contain my grief. A wave of anguish crashed over me, and Isolde gasped, her sharp eyes catching the truth—or at least some of it—in my expression.

“I don’t know,” I said, my voice tight with emotion. “But I fear to find out.”