Page 73 of Cursed Evermore

The blood in my veins turned to ice, then fire, then ice again.

My skin crawled with a thousand needles of shock as bile rose in my throat.

This couldn't be real.

My father, the man with a kind face and heart who'd nursed injured animals back to health and worked for peace and unity across the realms. My father, who’d taught me to always choose kindness. Amurderer?

Shivers racked my body as my mind tried to reject the horrific accusation.

It couldn’t be true. There had to be some mistake.

“No.” I shook my head and it felt like it was going to snap from the pressure rising through my body.

“Yes, he did.” Wolfe's gaze never wavered from mine.

I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. “How? My father is human. How could he possibly kill a powerful Fae king?”

“There is no mistake. Your father’s essence places him in Galaythia in the Royal Palace.”

“He could have been there on business.”

“On the same night my father was killed?”

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“That would be very convenient.” He gave me a mirthless grin. “The fact that your father wears the ring speaks for itself. He shouldn't have even been able to take it, yet he did. He shouldn’t have been able to wear it, yet he was. The magic in the ring would have destroyed any other being who tried.”

“Then how did he do it?”

Wolfe’s eyes darkened with cold purpose. “He must have used some dark forbidden magic. Something powerful enough to not only kill an immortal being like my father, but to also bind the ring's power so he could wear it. It’s the kind of dark magic that hasn't been seen in centuries.”

My father, practicing dark magic? The very thought made my world flip.

Father was the Ambassador of Realms, trusted by King Varis, respected byall. He'd spent his life building bridges between our worlds, not destroying them. Or killing. But what if Wolfe was right...

What if Father had some reason to kill the Fae king?

What if he somehow accessed that kind of power?

Dark, forbidden power. That’s how that vortex had felt—evil.

“The darkness that took my father…” My voice trailed off mindlessly as I paused, hoping to make everything make sense. “He was riding away from it.”

“I’m not sure what that was. It seems to be the thing the ring was trying to escape.”

“But the vortex swallowed my father.”

“It did, but the ring took your father somewhere else. Somewhere different to wherever that vortex intended to take them.” He paused for a beat. “More than likely, it was sent by someone trying to collect on whatever dark bargain your father made. There’s no way he was working alone.” Wolfe's words sliced through me. “And that kind of magic always comes with a price.”

“None of this sounds like my father. I don’t believe it.”

“You can believe what you want. The evidence speaks for itself.” The truth of his words settled into my bones like frost, and I couldn't shake the image of that ring on my father's finger in the vision Arielle had shown me. It was evidence I couldn't deny.

Wolfe leaned forward, those otherworldly eyes boring into mine. “You're going to help me get my ring back, whether you want to or not.”

My chest tightened once more. “How? I don’t understand how I’m supposed to help.”

“That's the beauty of it, Ziyka.” The humor returned to his eyes. “Your blood will lead me to the ring.”