Page 76 of Cursed Evermore

I knew they were all eager to get more information from me. Especially Arielle, who desperately needed to rest.

I’d purposely distanced myself because I needed time away from everyone.

Time to think and plan. And time to calm down from the wild sexual charge that raced through my blood.Because of her.My mage.

Elariya Grayson was a flame under pressure, forged by grief and fear and something mystical that hadn’t yet fully awakened.

Despite what little hope she clung to, those eyes of hers had peered straight through the mask I wore, down to the monster that lurked beneath my carefully constructed façade. It terrified her.

Good. She needed to see who I truly was and be afraid of me. She needed to see past my gentle Fae features and see the darkness that lived in my soul.

I’d showed her a touch of my death powers for that very reason.

Iwasa monster. Not some fairytale prince. I was a fucked up monster shaped by centuries of violence and vengeance, wearing the skin of something civilized. The sooner she realized that, the better.

Her fear would keep us both in line and act as a leash around the beast that paced beneath my ribs, hungering for things I had no right to take.

Deep down I hoped her fear quelled whatever this thing was between us that sparked with a kiss that should never have happened.

Wanting her was wrong, but some dangerous part of me didn’t care.

When I remembered how soft her lips had been and the sweetness of her orgasm, I still wanted to fuck her. Maybe that’s why I never told her I was cursed, too.

It should have been easy to tell her but that part of me withheld it for the same nonsense reasons that made me want her.

For now, she knew everything she needed to know. There was no need for her to know anything more. Especially about me.

I may have acted no different from Hades, but she couldn’t be my Persephone.

The only thing that should marginally concern me was that I’d taken her illegally and claimed her under a law my actions had rendered meaningless.

Vaelthorne law allowed for heirs to be punished for their father’s blood crimes. But Ihadn’tclaimed her through the proper channels. That was the part I needed to keep quiet.

I knocked back the rest of the wine in one long, burning swallow, then poured another goblet full. The crystal decanter clinked against the rim of my glass, a lonely, hollow sound in the silence.

I was at the stage where decisive action was essential. Thoughts of fucking and pleasure would have to wait. Every move that came next depended on precision.

Come tomorrow, Elariya would have twenty-two days until her next memory reset. I’d like to find the ring before that happened.

I didn’t want the task of going over all that we’d been through if the new moon came and she forgot everything. Who knew what I’d be dealing with if that happened?

This present version of her knew she’d tried to perform the blood spell, knew about the wraith, knew about the ring, what her father had done, and she knew about me.

The future version of her would undoubtedly be more hostile and difficult to reason with than she already was. Not that I expected her to be willing to help me.

Her behavior and reaction were understandable, and though her spark had burned out today, I knew that wild fight I’d witnessed in her was only gone for the moment.

She’d looked like the desolate who’d accepted their fate and knew there was no point fighting anymore. But she hadn’t given up. Surrender wasn’t in my little Ziyka’s bones. Accepting defeat wasn’t the same as abandoning your goals. You were simply playing it smart so you could live to fight another day.

The old me might have pitied her, but I had to keep the truth at the forefront of my mind.

My father was dead. Killed by hers.

Of course, Elariya didn’t want to believe it was true. But it had to be.

I had no reason nor desire to believe otherwise. Nothing would ever erase the memory of the night my father died.

The commotion of the guards rushing to my father’s study still played in my head like it had never ended. The worst thing was prior to that night, I hadn’t seen my father for almost a year. I’d been in the Northern Isles training dragons. All we had together was a few hours before I went to the courtyard.