Page 11 of Cursed (Wicked Heirs #2)

The knife sliced through the air, a whisper of intent that ended with a satisfying THWACK as it embedded itself deep into the target’s heart.

I felt the pulse of my magic in the chamber, crackling around me, and the swell of my own violent satisfaction. With every throw, I unleashed fragments of my rage and sought solace in the precision of the blade’s flight.

I hurled another knife and relished the coiling of my muscles and the controlled fury of each strike. The stone walls of the chamber seemed to absorb my aggression, and the damp chill wrapped around me like an all too familiar embrace. Shadows danced within the flickering light and twisted into grotesque shapes on the uneven walls.

THUNK.

Another perfect strike.

“Thought you’d miss that time.”

Bastian.

My fingers curled around the hilt of a third blade and I lifted it high, ready to throw.

“Shut up,” I snarled.

“What happens when you throw those knives at something that can fight back?” he taunted.

Without hesitation, I spun toward the sound of his voice and loosed the knife.

The blade flew across the room quicker than a striking viper, but Bastian was ready.

The black smoke of his magic caught the blade mid-air. It hung there, quivering, an inch from his smug face.

Slowly, Bastian twisted his hand, and the knife turned back toward me. Bastian’s lip twitched, and the blade streaked toward me, propelled by Basian’s magic. I didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. But the sound of the blade cutting the air whooshed past my ear—almost too close—and spun in a graceful arc toward the target.

It struck the target with a resounding THUNK.

I didn’t have to turn around to know that it was embedded next to its brethren.

“That’s cheating,” I said flatly.

Bastian shrugged.

He sauntered into the room, blond hair wild and mischievous, an innocent mask that barely hid the predator that lurked beneath the surface. His pale eyes sparkled with mischief.

Irritation simmering beneath my skin as I watched Valen enter the room behind him. Nothing good happened when those two were working together.

“What do you want?” I spat. Their casual presence was an unwelcome intrusion, and I didn’t like the look on Valen’s face. “Did you come here to applaud my skills or ruin my solitude?”

Valen shook his head. “We have news that demands your attention more than those blades do.”

“What news? There’s nothing happening— Lucian would have sent for me.”

“It’s about Avril,” Valen said.

“What about her?”

I’d done my best not to think about her—but it was a battle that I’d lost far too many times.

“She— She’s been—” Valen’s voice faltered.

“Spit it out!”

“Lucian gave her the grimoire,” Bastian said.

A laugh tore from my throat before I could stop myself. But my brothers’ expressions didn’t change.

“Impossible!”

Bastian crossed his arms over his chest. “Not impossible. I’ve seen it.”

Valen looked at Bastian in surprise— It seemed they were still keeping secrets from each other.

Good.

I couldn’t have them allied.

“And why , brothers, would our father bestow such a gift on someone like Avril?” I asked. My tone was dangerous, and Valen’s shoulders straightened by a subtle measure. Both of them were on edge, and I could feel the pulse of their magic just below the surface. “Why would he put such a weapon in the hands of a traitor’s daughter?”

“Believe what you will,” Bastian replied, his tone light. “But she has the grimoire—”

“We have to help her,” Valen said. “This changes everything—”

“Does it?” I roared, the air around me was alive with crackling energy, and dark threads of magic spiraled into existence like a storm unleashed. I thrust my hand out and relished the raw power surge that surged through me, a living entity that demanded release. In one swift motion, I directed it toward my brothers and my fury manifested into a violent blast of pale green light.

The spell slammed into Valen and Bastian and sent them crashing against the stone walls with bone-rattling force. The sound echoed like thunder in the small chamber, and for a moment, satisfaction bloomed within me as they crumpled to the ground.

“Cowards,” I growled. The remnants of my magic still crackled in the air and pale green smoke rose around my hands and twined around my wrists like living things.

Stone dust clung to the air, and the acrid scent of magic hung heavy around us.

Valen struggled to his feet and shook off the remnants of my fury, while Bastian groaned and propped himself up against the jagged wall.

“Get up,” I commanded, and my voice echoed through the silence.

Valen straightened and brushed dust from his clothes, the brooding intensity in his eyes igniting once again. “Titus,” he began, his voice steady despite the tremor of pain beneath the words. “We can’t let Avril slip through our fingers. If she possesses the Grimoire—we must win back her trust.”

Win her back?

“And why would we do something like that?”

Memories of our betrayal flashed before me—the glimmer of her trusting gaze and her full lips parted in lust while we took her.

“She came to us for protection before,” Valen countered, meeting my icy glare with a flicker of defiance. “I think we can—“ He paused for a moment to haul Bastian to his feet, but my youngest brother slapped his hand away. Valen frowned and then turned his attention back to me. “She doesn’t want to marry Lucian,” he finished.

“And what makes you think he’s going through with it?” I countered.

But I already knew the answer.

If he’d given her the grimoire, he’d already made up his mind.

“And why is that our problem, Valen?” I sneered, my gaze darting between my two brothers.

“You should know better than anyone,” Bastian said. He grimaced as he pushed himself to his feet and slapped at the dust on his clothes. “If she masters the grimoire—she’ll be under his power.” He glared at me incredulously. “Lucian will replace us at the first opportunity. All he has to do is put a brat in her belly and we’ll be pushed out! Don’t you get it!?!”

Bastian’s shout echoed through the room, and my eyes narrowed as the black smoke of his magic curled around his arms and torso.

He was angry.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my youngest brother wield any kind of genuine emotion…

“Maybe you’re right,” I conceded. “But how do you think she’ll respond to us after what we did? Would you trust her to forget that?”

“Perhaps she doesn’t have to forget,” Valen said. “She wants to trust us. She definitely wants to fuck us.”

Bastian chuckled knowingly, and I felt a prickle of jealousy rush up my spine.

“I can feel it,” Valen continued. “We can remind her of the good—the moments when we had her, when she was ours . We can control her again, Titus. It’s worth the risk.”

“Control.” The word rolled off my tongue like poison. A part of me craved that power, and the thrill of bending her will to ours once more was tempting—almost too tempting.

Bastian leaned against the wall as the tendrils of his magic writhed around his limbs and regarded me cooly—as if he hadn’t just been flung against the stone like a rag doll. “We all know how good it felt to possess her— That moment when she surrendered, when the contract you forced her to sign bound her to us—it was glorious.”

I nodded.

Would we be able to manipulate her again without losing ourselves in the process?

“To what end?” I said through gritted teeth.

“This isn’t just about us,” Valen said. “It’s about the Grimoire—and what it means. If Avril has it, we have to have her loyalty before she goes too far— If Lucian can control her through it—”

“You want to get there first,” I snapped.

Valen inclined his head.

A fragile alliance began to form amongst us, bound not by trust, but by a shared hunger for control over the grimoire—and Avril. I hadn’t touched the grimoire in almost a decade, but its whispers still echoed in the recesses of my mind. It had awakened my power, and helped me to increase it— If I could wield it again…

“Agreed,” I said. My throat was dry, and I swallowed the bitterness that came with the acknowledgment. “We manipulate her, but we do it carefully. Lucian can’t find out.”

“No,” Bastian agreed. “He can’t. We need to work quickly—she’s too weak to use it properly.”

“Not for long,” Valen said.

I turned my gaze to Bastian. “You’ve seen her with it— What happened?”

Bastian laughed, but there was something in his eyes that made anger rise in my chest. I stretched out my hand and the pale green smoke of my magic shot out and wrapped around his throat. He tried to swat it away, but I tightened my grip and the twisted green smoke dragged Bastian up the wall until his feet dangled in the air.

“Titus—” Valen said warningly.

“I— I showed her how to open it,” Bastian choked out. “The pages— they remembered my blood—”

“Of course they fucking did,” I snarled. “The book takes — that’s its nature.”

“Titus!” Valen shouted. “Drop him!”

I let out a furious grunt and released my grip. Bastian dropped to the floor, and he stumbled, but then caught his balance and braced a hand against the wall as he gasped for air.

“Asshole,” he coughed.

“Did you think you were doing her a favor?” I growled.

“She asked for my help,” Bastian protested. “I thought she could be useful—”

“You know better than anyone the risks of relying on someone so—fragile.”

“Fragile or not, she could hold the key to everything,” Valen interjected. “Lucian wants her for a reason— We all know her magic is weak. There shouldn’t be any reason for him to have any interest in her. But he does—he’s obsessed . You know it, Titus. We all saw it the night we dragged her to his study. He should have thrown her out—”

“Or killed her,” Bastian said.

“But he didn’t,” Valen continued. “He’s killed better, more powerful people for smaller insults—”

That was true. His lenience had shocked me, too.

“We have to take the chance,” Valen said. “We can draw her back in and remind her of her place in this house.”

“Place?” I scoffed.

“Where she belongs,” Bastian echoed. A smirk lingered on his angelic face. “And if we do this right, she’ll remember what it felt like to kneel at our feet.”

“With us in control, and her powerless.” The idea wrapped itself around my thoughts.

“We can make her need us,” Valen said.

For a moment, I recalled the nights when Avril was truly ours.

When she was under our power and our mercy, begging for us.

The memory sent tingles down my spine. She had been such a sweet distraction from the tedium of our dark existence.

“I like this plan,” I said as I turned toward Valen, who smirked triumphantly at my words.

“But let’s not forget,” Bastian said, breaking our contemplative silence. “There’s something about Avril that Lucian craves— That could be dangerous.”

“Dangerous or not,” I replied, “she’s already teetering on the brink— ”

“So we proceed with caution, then?” Valen asked.

“Caution,” I repeated, mirth tugging at the corners of my mouth. A rare thing. “Yes,” I agreed reluctantly. “We can’t afford Lucian’s wrath if he discovers what we’re up to.”

A mutual understanding seemed to settle among us after that revelation—but I still wasn’t sure if I could trust my brothers.

Until Avril was under our control again, I couldn’t let down my guard.

And even then…it was impossible to know what they truly wanted, or what they hoped to achieve with this plan.

But that could wait—for now, there was something to unite us. Something we all wanted.

It would have to be enough.