Page 18 of Cursed (Court of Isles #1)

Chapter 18

“You did it.” A hand stroked my forehead. “The ancient wards have collapsed.”

I blinked my eyes open. My lungs felt soggy. My skin felt like poisoned claws had dragged down my arms and legs and stomach and back. My mouth was dry and tasted like I’d gargled with pennies.

“The portals?” I gasped.

“They’re open.” Silas never once removed his hand from my forehead. “They’re bringing people through now. Your theory worked. The minute the wards collapsed, we were able to cross the perimeter again.”

I struggled to sit up.

“Breathe,” he said. “Take a few breaths, or you’ll pass out again.”

I tried to get my lungs to inflate, but it felt like trying to blow up a balloon with someone sitting on it. After the dizzy spell drifted away, I hauled myself to my feet. I could see my face reflected in the deep shade of Silas’s eyes, like the shadows in a forest .

“The curse?”

Silas’s gaze darted behind me. I turned, gathering my bearings. To my surprise, we were no longer on the rowboat. We were back on the island, high, high up in a familiar nook. We’d been to this space before. The little cave on the side of the volcano.

As I glanced at the land before me, a new wave of dizziness shook me to my core. This time it had nothing to do with a fear of heights. This time, it was all to do with the pit in my stomach.

The land before us lay in tatters. Not all of it, but the edges of it. The exterior perimeter of the island lay in blackened ruins, like someone had set a poisoned fire to it. The darkness was crawling inward, slowly but surely. Silas had set up a few last-minute wards that seemed to be slowing the curse’s progression, but it wasn’t enough to stop it completely.

I sucked in a breath, so sharp it felt like needles were poking my lungs. No creature—human or otherwise—could survive this wreckage.

“What have we done?” I murmured. “The island will be destroyed.”

Silas’s huge hand rested on my shoulder. “You’ve already saved many. The portals have brought over a hundred islanders to safety on the mainland already—with more passing through by the second. ”

“How quickly is the curse spreading?” I asked. “Is it showing signs of slowing?”

“It’s losing steam. But it was a strong curse, and it’s still moving. We’re moving people through the portal as fast as possible, but I don’t know if it will be fast enough.”

“What can we do to help? Should we set up more wards closer to the portal as a last resort?”

“There’s no time.” Silas squinted at the skies, listening acutely, watching for something I couldn’t see. “They’re coming for us.”

I had never seen Silas so tense. His face was steel armor, his body a weapon. His voice hard as rock. There was nothing soft about this man.

“They’ve realized we have no defenses,” Silas said. “Our wards are down, so we are completely vulnerable.”

“Who’s they?” I asked.

Silas didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. His stony eyes locked on the sky.

Three creatures carried three women through the sky.

“ What are they?” I whispered.

The creatures cutting through the sky had bodies a shade of black so deep it was as if they were not a color at all, but an absence of color. Like these monsters represented the absence of life and hope and good. Their thick, ugly bodies were scaled like fish, and they flew through the sky like cursed eels on massive wings. Darkness trailed after them like a poison .

Each of the monsters had two slender horns atop their heads, and holding onto those horns were wild women. They looked like witches dragged from the depths of the sea. Terrors with hair like stringy seaweed and fingers with nails like brittle screws. They whipped through the air with a malicious glee, their yellowed teeth visible even from our perch.

“The Furies and their Sky Serpents,” Silas said to me, his teeth gritted. “Sent from the Underworld. It is as I suspected. The Darkest King has sent them.”

“You talking about…” I paused. “Hades?”

“The King of the Underworld.”

A beat later, a huge, glowing dome appeared below us at the center of the island.

“That’s Atlas,” Silas said. “He’s put up shields over the islanders gathered around the portal.”

“I thought he was going to Phase out of here the second we broke the crystals?”

“Maybe his heart isn’t as black as he’d like us to think.”

“Didn’t you say your brother has ties to Greek gods?” I asked. “Can’t we call for help now that the portals are open?”

Silas barely looked at me. “Nobody’s coming from Olympus.”

“But innocent lives are at stake!”

“Olympus won’t interfere. To do so would risk a full out war with the King of the Underworld,” Silas said. “The gods have witnessed lots of death over the centuries. A few hundred lives on a small island is but a miniscule sacrifice in their eyes. They prefer greater world peace.”

As we spoke, my eyes were drawn to the attack of the Furies. The women were sending streak after streak of magic at the dome Atlas was holding up. I could picture Atlas’s bronzed body quivering beneath the shield, holding up such a huge defense at great cost to himself.

“They’ve been alerted to the fact that the crystals have broken,” Silas said, “and the curse has been set free. The curse will die before the moon rises tonight.”

“So they’re here to finish us off?”

“If they must.” Silas sighed. “They’re really only after one thing, Alessia.”

I gulped.

“You.” His gaze met mine. “By destroying the crystals, you’ve made it apparent to the Darkest King that a full-blooded Fae remains.”

“I don’t want anything to do with the underworld.”

“I know that. You know that. He does not.” Silas paused. “The Darkest King will be concerned that you’re out for vengeance.”

“Because he killed all my ancestors?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want vengeance. I just want to live in peace. ”

“That, Alessia, is a sentiment the Darkest King cannot understand. All he knows is that a Fae has returned, and he can’t let that happen—your mere existence is a threat to his reign.”

“We need to do something.” A ball of anxiety grew in my belly until it felt like I was carbonated. “We can’t sit here and watch the Furies attack the island. You need to Phase us down there so we can help Atlas.”

Silas cursed, his eyes trained on something in the distance.

“What is Atlas doing now?” I squinted, seeing the Titan standing on top of his protective sphere.

“He’s going to try to rotate the skies,” Silas said darkly. “Atlas can rotate the heavens, but at a great cost.”

We all watched as Atlas raised his hands. Night descended on us in an instant, darkness creeping around us all like a suffocating blanket. Then Atlas began to rotate his hands—stars twinkled and glowed, spinning at a rapid pace like they were on a Ferris Wheel that had gone off the rails.

The Furies let out angry cries of rage, clinging to their bucking monsters. Whatever Atlas was doing was throwing them off. The spinning stopped as Atlas ducked—one of the sky serpents flicked a long-pronged tail at him. It missed by inches.

“Could it save us?” I asked. “What Atlas is doing? ”

Silas just shook his head. “It’s not about that. It’s a distraction. He’s buying us time, drawing the Furies’ attention away from us and toward him. He’s tempting them so we can act.”

“Then let’s act.” I paused in thought. “Can we somehow repair the wards…that we just broke wide open?”

Silas shook his head again. “Even if we could, it wouldn’t be fast enough.”

“We can’t let Atlas do this alone.” I glanced and saw my hands glowing in defense. Magic leaked out of me, sensing I was in distress and coming to my rescue. I just didn’t know how to use it. “I’m going to help him,” I declared. “I have to try.”

“Phasing down there will only get us killed faster,” Silas said. “It won’t be until— Atlas! ”

Silas bent in half, a cry of pain leaving his lips. I couldn’t hear Atlas’s matching cry, but I watched as the Titan’s body fell from the skies and the orb of protection he’d been holding up began to blink out of existence.

Atlas had gotten clubbed by one of the sky serpents’ tails. I could feel the physical pain radiating off Silas. The bond between brothers was on full display, which could only mean Atlas was seriously injured.

“Take me to him,” I commanded Silas.

Silas looked resistant, but I could see the visceral pain etched on his face. He put his hand out, curled me to his body, and moments later we were on the ground. I sprinted toward the fallen Titan. All around me, Rangers were shooting webs of magic into the sky to form a new barrier against the Furies circling above.

“Atlas.” I collapsed by his body once I reached him.

The sky serpent’s tail had been filled with poison, a poison turning Atlas’s skin an ugly shade of gray. The Titan looked like he was crumbling to ash before my eyes. I had no clue how to stop it.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Tell me how to help you.”

“The Furies will sense my Titan blood more than ever now that I’m hurt.” Atlas gave a hoarse cough. “I’m going to Phase to another part of The Isle. They’ll follow me. It’ll buy you more time.”

“To do what?”

“Only you know the answer to that, Alessia. You’re the one they’re after.”

“You know I’m Fae?” My chest was tight.

“Yes. But sweetheart,” Atlas said dryly. “You’re so much more than that to my brother.”

“But—”

“I need to Phase before I lose too much strength.” Atlas raised his hand, touched my cheek in an amiable gesture. A note of confidence that felt out of place, all things considered. “My brother has waited many lifetimes, for you Alessia. You’re worth it.”

“How can you say that?” I wiped angry tears from my eyes. “The only reason he needed me was to break the curse. I was supposed to protect his island, and I’m failing to protect his people.”

“You aren’t failing,” Atlas said. “Also, that’s not why he looked for you.”

“Why else would he need to find me?”

“You’re his mate.” Atlas smiled. “You didn’t know?”

I mutely shook my head.

“That’s how he found you,” Atlas said. “It’s also the bond that was used to pull Silas back when he was Ripped away from you.”

“That was you who pulled him back. Your brotherly bond.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Atlas said. “We all know it was you who saved him.”

Then the Titan was gone. My hand rested on dirt instead of his warm body. I hadn’t realized I’d been stroking Atlas’s cheek, willing him to heal. If I had any idea how to fix his wounds, I would have, but he’d left before I could really try.

Then Silas was by my side, a hand on my shoulder. The attack from the skies let up. Apparently Atlas was correct in his theory; he’d pulled the Furies away from us. A selfless, deadly decision.

“That stupid Titan,” Silas said, more angrily this time. “He’s going to get himself killed.”

I didn’t bother to tell Silas that his brother was already half-dead. He could feel it .

“I need to go to him,” Silas said. “Stay here.”

But as Silas Phased, I grasped his hand. We locked eyes, and he knew I wasn’t letting go. He took me with him, squeezing my hand with a mixture of dismay and gratitude.

Our feet hit firm ground a second later. I didn’t recognize the location, except that we’d landed somewhere high, high up—well above The Isle. Atlas had Phased right into the skies. He might no longer have the strength to move the heavens, but he’d let them think he could.

The second Silas and I materialized, I saw the look of horror and dismay in Atlas’s eyes. The Titan glanced our way, his skin a shade of lifeless gray as his lips parted.

“No,” Atlas gasped. “Silas, it’s a trap!”