Clarissa

W e’re too late. We’re too late. We’re too late.

There was no way we’d get to Katrine in time. Galen’s curse was too fast, too deadly.

Thorne and I dashed to the campfires, him only pausing long enough to yell back at Devora to stay at the house with Marigold and Mia.

Thankfully, many of the islanders had already gone home, given the late hour, and only a handful were crowded around the firepit Galen had been sitting at.

The Zelorias, my brother and Rose, and Nox were among them.

I pushed my way through and stopped in my tracks.

We were too late.

Katrine’s body lay crumpled on the ground. Her dark skin was dried and flaking, the flesh almost peeling from her like thin paper.

“ No ,” I breathed out, falling to my knees. The memory of the woman who’d died in my arms at the Drakin’s Lair mere weeks ago flashed through my mind. I’d been too late to save her too. Both of these women had trusted me, put their faith in me, and I’d failed.

When I glanced up, I saw Galen’s shaking form leaning against a tree in the shadows, eyes bloodshot and mouth open in silent terror .

Whispers of confusion swirled around me from the islanders.

“How did this happen?”

“Did anyone see her fall?”

“What’s wrong with her?”

Perhaps nobody saw Galen kiss her—or didn’t connect the dots.

Nox knelt at my side. “Did you know her?”

I didn’t realize I was crying until a tear landed on my arm. “She was my maid. She was a sweet girl.” Trying to hold back a sob, I reached out an arm to cup her cracked cheek, and her skin felt like sandpaper rubbing against mine.

And then…

I felt my magic.

I sucked in a breath. It was like when I touched the rotted land or Galen’s skin. The same sensation stormed through me, lighting me with warmth and power and home . Golden magic filled my veins, and my fox half purred deep in my chest.

Distantly, I heard Nox call my name.

But all I could see was Katrine.

Inch by inch, painstakingly slowly, the color returned to her skin. Cracks filled in on her flesh, no longer flaking but smooth and vibrant once more. I watched as it spread from where I touched her face, all the way down to her exposed leg.

She opened her eyes with a shuddering gasp. “Your Majesty?” she croaked, her gaze unfocused and brow furrowed.

“Emperor’s tits,” I murmured. Without thinking, I leaned down to pull her into a hug. “You scared me, Katrine.”

“Wh—What happened?” she asked.

“Yes, I’d like to know the answer to that as well,” Nox said.

“You fainted, that’s all,” I assured her as I helped her sit against the log. Nox glanced at me but didn’t argue.

“What in the ever-loving Fates just happened?” Daelan Zeloria hissed. He and his brother approached as Nox and I stood, their once friendly stares now suspicious .

“Was anyone else around to witness it?” I asked urgently.

Daelan hesitated, then shook his head. “Most people had already gone home at that point. I saw him talking with the girl by the fire, but the flames were dwindling. It was too dark to make out much.”

Good , I thought to myself. “She fainted,” I repeated, more firmly this time. “My maid has a tendency to get woozy when she hasn’t had enough to eat.”

“What?” Katrine croaked. “Your Majesty, I?—”

I shot her a look, and thank the Fates, she shut her mouth and swallowed. “Perhaps I—I was feeling a little lightheaded,” she confessed.

Daelan narrowed his eyes. “But your skin. I saw it?—”

“You heard the empress,” Thorne said as he appeared next to me. His towering frame shadowed the brothers. “She fainted. Clarissa revived her, and now she needs to rest.”

The few islanders remaining dispersed once they saw that Katrine was alert, brushing off the incident and going back to their night. Daelan looked over my shoulder to where I knew Galen still slumped against the tree, barely visible to onlookers.

“Thorne, what’s going on?” Daelan tried again.

“Not right now, Daelan. Please,” Thorne said in a low voice. “Just get your people home. The girl will be fine.”

A beat passed. Finally, Daelan nodded, and the tension in Thorne’s shoulders released. Daelan and Hector backed away to help the rest of the islanders pack up their things.

“Are you going to try and convince me she just fainted as well?” Nox asked at my side, his head turned away from Katrine so she wouldn’t hear.

Rose and Leo joined us, the former crouching to the forest floor to check on Katrine. I licked my lips and faced Nox. “In the week you’ve been here, have you noticed anything strange? Areas of the forest rotted and blackened, fish in the water or birds in the sky dropping dead out of nowhere? ”

He scratched the back of his neck. “You mean the blight? Yes, I’ve heard whispers. People have been talking about how it’s getting worse.”

“Well, it’s not just a blight. It’s a curse.

The king’s curse.” As quickly as I could, I summarized the story of the Fates cursing the Grimaldi line and how Galen’s rotting power fell onto his shoulders several months ago, as well as how a marriage between our two lands would break the curse once and for all.

“Nobody knows about it except us and a few of those closest to him,” I whispered. “But that’s why Galen insisted on marrying me. It’s the only way to end his curse and stop it from carrying onto his descendants.”

Nox exhaled and ran a hand through his wavy locks, his dark rings glittering in the faint firelight.

I could see him processing the information behind those keen navy eyes.

“If I’d known that’s all it took to marry you, darling, I would have made up some curse long ago,” he quipped, but his tone fell flat.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. “Oh, shut up.” This man would flirt with a brick wall. “That’s not all.”

“Good, it was getting rather boring.”

“Veridians are immune to the curse.”

That got his attention. His forehead creased as his spine straightened.

I continued, “I figured it out by touching one of the rotted fields, and?—”

“Of course you did.”

“—sort of sucked the blight right out of it. And when I did, I got my magic back. Just for a little while, though. It isn’t permanent.”

“That’s how you saved her,” he said slowly, glancing back down at Katrine and Rose. “You took the magic of the curse out of her.”

I was about to bend down to help her back to her room when Galen approached from the tree line.

I’d seen him look worse for wear before, but this…

he was like a ghost of himself. A tortured, devastated ghost. His clothes were covered in dirt and leaves, his arms trembled at his sides, and his hair looked as if he’d been clutching at it and pulling hard.

My fox half writhed with anger beneath my skin at the sight of him.

He did this.

I strode the distance between us before he could reach the group. Extending my arm, I willed my hand to shift into a paw, red hair and sharp claws forming as I grasped his neck and shoved us both back into the shadows, several yards out of sight.

“How dare you?” I snarled, slamming him into a tree.

He struggled to breathe and grabbed at my forearm, but I held firm. His voice was strangled as he forced out, “Clarissa, I?—”

“Not so happy I can touch you now, are you?” I snapped. “What were you thinking? You almost killed her, Galen. In front of all those people. What is wrong with you?”

His hazel eyes pleaded with me, the veins around his irises growing redder. With a growl, I eased my hold on him slightly so he could breathe. One of my claws dug into the side of his neck, and he winced as I drew blood.

Good.

I’d forgotten how much wrath my fox side brought. How it heightened all emotions, making it difficult to control or keep my head clear. And now, all I saw was red.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” he rasped. “Please, let me talk to her?—”

“Absolutely not. You will stay away from her, unless you want me to cut the skin from your lips and see if your curse still works then,” I seethed.

“Everything I’ve been doing is to help you and your people, Galen, and you can’t keep it together for one night .

” I pushed him out of my hold as the small burst of magic faded and my paw went back to a hand once more.

He stumbled to the ground and scrambled farther away from me, rubbing at his neck.

The soft crunching of leaves came from behind me. I turned to see Thorne, who eyed the scene before him, his gaze landing on Galen with a flash of rage.

“Get up,” he said across the forest floor to Galen, his tone icier than I’d ever heard it.

While Galen groaned and rose to his feet, Thorne lowered his voice toward me.

“Rose is with Katrine. She’s going to be alright.

” His fingers grazed my arm, and I moved closer without thinking.

“You saved her. That was amazing, Empress.”

Galen let out a scoff. “I should have known.”

His eyes were locked on Thorne’s hand still brushing mine. I hastily backed away, but it was too late.

“You always did want what was mine, didn’t you, friend ?” Galen said. “Even as boys.”

I winced. “Galen, don’t?—”

“What, was I not good enough for you? You won’t let me touch you, but you’ll lift your skirts for him and let him?—”

Before I knew what was happening, Thorne lunged at Galen and punched him in the jaw, knocking him flat on his back.

“ Thorne !” I cried. His chest heaved as he glared down at Galen, his long hair whipping wildly in the wind, eyes churning like the sea.

And then he blinked.

His lips parted, and he took a step farther away, the tan color of his skin already fading.

A crack like crumbling stone appeared on his cheek.

I rushed across the gap between us and grabbed his neck, my heart pounding in my chest. When the magic spread through me once more, I let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re an idiot,” I said, my voice wavering. “Why would you touch him?”

The crack slowly seamed itself together, and the color returned to his cheeks. “Knew you’d save me,” he grunted with a small laugh.