Page 102 of Cursed Evermore

“Fine. I get it.” Although I didn’t like any part of it. The more I knew, the harder everything felt. The only good thing about this whole ordeal was it would lead me to my father and break the curse. I had to think about that part to stay positive.

“You’d do well to work on regaining your magic.”

I blinked at him, wondering how he knew I’d lost my magic. Since he knew so much about me already, I decided against asking. “I don’t know how.”

“Arielle will help you. You need to listen to her.”

Arielle, whom I’d told to leave me alone? After the way I spoke to her earlier, I doubted she wanted to see me again. “Is there a better way? Something I can work on by myself?”

“No. You will do whatever Arielle tells you. Things will progress faster and smoother that way. We can’t afford to take unnecessary risks. Neither do we have the luxury of time.”

He was right, so I couldn’t argue.

“You’ll be staying with me at my home in Vyrenth Hollow. It’s an island on the coast of Galaythia. While you are there, you will not breathe a word of our plans to anyone outside those you have met on board this vessel. Neither must you tell them about your curse. Do you understand?” He gave me a long piercing stare.

“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes, finding his request strange. “Is there some other danger I should know about?”

“All you need to know for now is to be wary ofeveryone. There is more to the mystery of my father’s murder than what either of us know. It is better that no one knows anything about you.” His gaze grew sharper. “People will assume you’re from the Ravenwood Realm because of your hair color, so allow them the assumption.”

I glanced down at the loose strands of my hair resting in the crook of my elbow. My hair color had always given me trouble in the mortal lands. Now it seemed it would become an asset.

All mages from the Ravenwood Realm had hair this color. The only other hair color was silver like grandmother’s, which they got when they were substantially older.

“Is there a chance of someone knowing I’m tied to my father or my family?”

“No. I will create a new persona for you that aligns with our story. That way if anyone decides to dig around they won’t find anything that links you to your family.”

“What is my story? It can’t just tell people I’m from the Ravenwood Realm. I know nothing about the place. And won’t they be able to tell I’m half human?”

“You will say you are an apprentice in training for the Royal Court,” he answered and I could see he’d thought through this plan in great detail. “That you lived in the human realm and have now decided to live in the magical realm now that you’ve come of age. Mages from the Ravenwood are highly favored by House Nightblade so no one will question my reasons for wanting you to be part of my court.”

My pulse quickened despite myself. Everything Mother had forbidden me was now being handed to me on a silver platter by my captor. The twisted justice of it made my stomach clench.

Mother would have locked me away before letting me anywhere near the magical realm, yet here I was—captive and under a guise, yes, but also being offered a position in the royal courts because of my lineage. The irony of this opportunity tasted bitter and sweet.

“What about my name?”

“You can keep Elariya. It’s quite common in the magical realm and amongst Ravenwood mages. I’ll find another surname for you.”

This felt surreal. As if I was stepping into someone else’s life. “That’s it?”

“For your safety, yes. Of course if you speak to the wrong person you’d obviously risk exposure. The laws of Galaythia would demand that I hand you over to the citadel for imprisonment. Execution would follow once we use your blood to track the ring. So I’m sure you’ll want to be cautious.”

My skin crawled beneath my clothes and acid burned my throat. I was right when I feared the worst—imprisonment and execution. I truly had to be careful.

“Why aren’t you handing me over to them?” There had to be a good reason.

“I like to do things my way with less interference from certain people.”

That could explain why he’d taken so few with him to get me. I supposed the fewer people who knew about me, the better. Or rather the fewer people who knew abouthis plans,the better.

Wolfe crooked his finger toward the shelves, and a little notebook floated over to him. He guided it so it rested on the space on the table before me. It was beautiful with a pink satin cover that had embroidered lilies in the center and on the edges.

The feminine design looked out of place in here amongst the strong, dark, masculine colors. I didn’t remember seeing it on the shelf, but then again I didn’t get much of a look before Wolfe arrived.

“It was my mother's,” Wolfe explained, an undertone of sentiment softening his voice, the first genuine tenderness I'd heard from him. He reached across and brushed the embroidered lilies with unexpected gentleness. “Use it to record your memories.”

I looked up at him, grateful for the gift. Now I had some way ofremembering.