Page 123 of Cursed Evermore

Wolfe soared up into the sky, his wings a cape of smoke blocking the moon.

With his sword raised and gleaming a luminescent blue light, he changed course and flew down, using the momentum to drive himself forward.

I remembered what he’d told me about his Aetherflame magic. I was seeing it now for myself.

The Ruskiel screeched back at him, creating sound waves that rippled visibly through the air.

“Go back to the shadows, Lord Nightblade,” she wailed.

Wolfe got caught in the rings of sound that pulsed upward, but still he kept coming. His sword clashed against another invisible barrier, but he broke through again and rammed it into the witch’s body.

I was certain that blow would have ended her. But it didn’t.

All Wolfe managed to do was cleave off her left side. The injury made her scream so loudly I thought the sound would kill me. She thrashed in agony for a moment, then composed herself and blasted him with balls of white fire.

Wolfe blocked each ball with his sword, striking back with all his might as they came at him.

I watched in horror, wanting to do something, but trapped in the Ruskiel’s tentacle, I was helpless. I could hardly breathe to keep myself alive.

Fate was so cruel to me. I’d wanted to escape and forget the day I met Wolfe. But not like this. Not taken by a demonic sea witch who wanted to take my soul.

Wolfe and the Ruskiel traded blow for blow until the witch bellowed another wild, hellish scream and plunged back into the depths of the sea.

I just managed to take a breath before being immersed in water again.

She dove deeper this time. So deep my head spun and I was losing consciousness again. Along with the ability to hold my breath.

We went deeper and deeper, then the witch stopped and floated in the belly of the sea. She seemed to be hiding. But Wolfe found her. Found us.Foundme.

He'd plunged into the sea, blue light shimmering around him, illuminating the murky void of our surroundings. The crushing silence pressed against my ears, broken only by the hollow echo of our heartbeats.

Wolfe’s light brightened, steadying before us. Within the glow, I saw the Fae prince, but he didn’t look like himself. A living skeleton, like death itself walked toward us bathed in blue flames rimmed with darkness.

I recalled the other day after I woke from his spell and saw his powers. It didn’t feel like normal magic. It was something else entirely.

What was it?

What washe?

Though I lacked knowledge, I knew his power was beyond this world.

Seeing him like that again now made my soul shy away in terror. The Ruskiel froze, too, rigid with dread. Still, she attempted her screaming attack.

But it was to no avail.

Wolfe rushed through the water as if it were nothing but mist, his movements unnaturally swift. The sea parted before his blade, then he brought it down with savage precision. With a force that sent shockwaves rippling outward, he cleaved the Ruskiel in half.

There was no mistake this time. He’d obliterated her. I watched her body separate, dark tendrils of what might have been blood unfolding into the cold embrace of the deep.

She was dead, but her damn tentacle was still wrapped around me, squeezing the life from my body. And Gods, I couldn’t hold my breath.

I couldn’t hold it any longer.

I lost the fight to hold the air in my lungs. My mouth opened, releasing the air. Water rushed in.

My lungs filled up fast, then I felt death’s embrace once more. My luck had run out.

Not even a second passed before leeches broke out of the tentacle and sliced into my skin, crawling underneath. Death had truly come for me.