Page 74

Clarissa

M y forced composure threatened to snap. Alarm swept through me like a tidal wave, terror breaking the surface and gripping my heart.

“Nobody knows where she or my mother went,” he said. “I—I have to find them. I can’t?—”

“Thorne! What is it?” Galen asked from my left.

I swallowed hard. “He can’t find Marigold or Azura.”

Galen staggered backward with wide eyes, as if the words hit him like a blow to the chest. I knew he loved that little girl, and the guilt of it—of all of it—was probably crushing him. It was only a matter of time until he broke.

Blood drained from his face, but he sucked in a breath and straightened his spine. “We’ll find her. I’ll help.” His gloved hands gripped Thorne’s shoulders tight. “We will get her back, Thorne. I promise you.”

“Where were they seen last?” I asked.

Thorne ran a shaking hand through his hair. “In a forest a little northeast of the Base.”

Another spike of panic shot down my heart. That was close to the hill near the eastern jungle, and Nox said the curse had already spread halfway across the island .

“Get on your horses and follow me.” Without another warning, I shifted and took off.

I tore through the island, faintly aware of two sets of horse hooves pounding on the ground behind me.

It was difficult to track Marigold since I hadn’t been around her in my fox half and didn’t have a great idea of her specific scent, but I recalled her as best I could, searching for any sign along the terrain.

When we passed the Base, my magic began to fade. That golden light dimmed to a flickering candle, leaving a chill in its wake that spread from my chest and out into my limbs.

Come on , I thought to myself. Just a little farther .

I pushed my legs as fast as they would carry me, whipping through trees and jumping over logs. Holding on to my magic was like trying to cup a stream of water in the palm of my hand—it kept slipping between my fingers, draining inch by inch.

For a split second, my body involuntarily shifted to human, then back to a fox once more, like a stuttering heartbeat. I tripped over my tangle of limbs and barely managed to stay on my feet.

But then…

There .

The faintest scent of dirt mixed with florals, like the perfume I’d smelled on Azura over the weeks.

And blood. So much blood.

I put on a final burst of speed and lunged through a copse of bushes and into a nearby clearing, shifting to my human form with my last ounce of magic.

I followed the trail of dark blood and crushed grass until I found Azura leaning against a tree trunk.

“Please!” she cried out when she saw me. “You have to find her!” Her voice shook, her face streaked with tears and dark kohl. I glanced down to see her ankle caught in some sort of animal trap.

“What happened ?”

“The others—they ran when it…when the blight came, and she—” Azura cut herself off and gritted her teeth. I knelt down and tr ied to wrench the jaws of the trap open, but it was shut tight, its teeth digging into the muscles of her ankle and calf.

“She ran. I think she was—was afraid,” Azura continued, breath labored. “I tried to chase her and—got caught.” Hooves sounded at my back as Galen and Thorne entered the clearing. Thorne didn’t even wait until his horse stopped before he leaped to the ground and sprinted over to us.

“Mother! Mother, are you alright?” He immediately reached for her ankle, wrenching the jaws apart just enough for her to slip her foot out. “Where is Marigold?”

With a quaking finger, Azura craned her neck and pointed to the jungle behind her.

Darkness crawled from the trees in the back, the edge of the curse making its way toward us.

“Thorne, get your mother out of here,” I said on an exhale, my eyes fixed on the approaching black line. It was maybe a quarter of a mile out, and Nox was right—it had picked up speed.

“Clarissa, you?—”

“Go!” I shouted, whipping back to face him. My eyes pleaded with his, a desperation I’d hardly felt before pushing inside my chest. “It can’t hurt me. But it can hurt you . I need you to leave, Thorne.”

It was bad enough that Marigold was in danger, and I couldn’t focus with him here, knowing at any second he could get sucked into the curse. Knowing I may not be there to save him.

He stood. “That’s my daughter, Clarissa. I can’t leave her.” His head shook as he clenched his fists at his sides. “That’s my little girl,” he whispered, his voice breaking at the end. Those blue eyes bore into mine as his entire body trembled.

I gripped each side of his head, forcing him to meet my stare. “I know, Thorne. I know . And I will bring her back .” I pushed my forehead to his. “Do you trust me?” I’d asked him that once before, but this…this was different.

His hand lifted to cup the back of my neck. “With her life. ”

“Then go.” I released him. “Get your mother to the docks. We’ll meet you there.”

“I’m going with you.” To my surprise, Galen stepped forward, quickly averting his gaze from mine and Thorne’s display of affection. “It can’t hurt me either. Not when I created it.”

Azura grabbed my hand. Her eyes, identical to Thorne’s, held mine, and for once I didn’t see the coldness that so often lingered there.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

I nodded. With one last look at the two of them, Galen and I turned on our heels and ran for the jungle.

“This is hunting land,” Galen said, breaths uneven. “There are traps and snares everywhere. Watch your step.”

“I’m more concerned about Marigold,” I huffed out, but made sure to keep an eye out for any potential traps.

We rounded the nearest tree, and that was when I heard it.

A scream.

Horrible visions flew across my mind. A snare cutting into her little leg, rot seeping into her skin, animals snatching her in their jaws.

“Daddy! Daddy, help!” her scared voice rang out.

Galen and I picked up speed, leaping over logs and knocking branches and vines from our path. We careened around another corner, and?—

There she was.

“Marigold!” I shrieked.

She was suspended midair inside a net that swayed from a large tree branch. Her hands clawed at the material as she sobbed, her brown hair filled with twigs and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Galen inhaled sharply. “Clarissa, look .” He pointed a finger, and I followed it until I saw the line of black several trees away.

Heading straight for Marigold.

“Come on!” I shouted to him. We clambered to her, but she was hanging too high up for us to reach. I ran to the trunk and dug my fingers into the bark, searching for any foothold to grab on to. Slowly, too slowly, I scaled my way up the tree and hauled myself over the limb holding the net.

I wasn’t fast enough. The curse was so close, I could throw a rock and hit it. Birds fell like dead weight from the sky mere feet away, the canopy of trees caving in on themselves as they succumbed to the rot.

“Hold on, Marigold!” I yelled, climbing on all fours across the wide limb. When I reached the net, I pulled one of my daggers from the sheath on my thigh and started sawing through the material.

The curse crept closer.

My breaths were sharp in my chest. Sweat beaded and fell from my forehead onto my outstretched hands.

“Clarissa, hurry!” Galen shouted below.

There wasn’t enough time. We weren’t going to be able to escape it.

“Marigold, as soon as I get this loose, I need you to grab my hand,” I instructed her. Her wide eyes stared up at me in horror, but she nodded, already reaching out her arm to grasp mine.

The jungle floor below her turned black.

“Are you ready?” I asked, making one final swipe at the net.

The skin on her right arm began to flake.

She nodded.

A crack appeared on her cheek, and her body swayed.

Snap . “Now, Marigold!”

The net fell open to release her to the ground. I lunged for her outstretched hand.

I let out a cry as her weight hung limp in my grasp, but still, I held on. The curse siphoned from her and barreled into me, igniting my magic. In the next second, she sucked in a strangled breath, kicking her legs as she realized where she was.

“Marigold, hold still!” I shouted. With a burst of my Shifter strength, I lugged her onto the branch with me and cradled her to my chest. A sob tore from my throat as I weaved my fingers through her hair.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you, sweet girl. You’re safe,” I kept murmuring into the top of her head, soothing her tears and the cries that racked her body.

“Where’s my daddy?” she finally said with a hiccup as she pulled back to look at me.

“He’s waiting for you. He and your grandmother. Uncle Galen is there down the tree—do you think you can be brave and climb down with me?”

She swallowed and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. I made sure to keep a steady grip on her other arm. With a sniff, she nodded.

“Marigold, I need you to listen to me.” I tapped her chin to look up at me.

“No matter what happens, you have to keep touching me, okay? I know it sounds strange, but do you see this scary darkness that’s spreading?

” I gestured over the branch to the curse that had now passed us.

To my relief, Galen was right—it didn’t seem to affect him, for he stood below us, looking up with a deep crease on his features.

“You know how I come from the Veridian Empire across the sea? Well, that gives me special powers. And the scary darkness doesn’t hurt me.

As long as you’re touching me, it can’t hurt you either. Do you understand?”

She nodded again as she leaned forward and clung to my neck.

Thank goodness I had my Shifter strength and agility back, or I might not have been able to climb down the tree with her in my arms. We made it to the bottom, and I switched her to my back, making sure she held on to my neck tight before Galen and I sprinted back the way we came.

We quickly passed the edge of the dead, rotted land and kept going into uncursed territory, and I thanked the Fates we were still faster than it. For now.

Although, I supposed it was their fault we were in this mess in the first place.

When we reached the back entrance of the Base, I let out a growl as Thorne scrambled out of the circle of huts.

“I told you to go to the docks!” I shouted, glancing behind my shoulder to see if the curse was gaining on us yet. I couldn’t see it, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t appear soon. Marigold slid down my back and grabbed my hand when she saw Thorne nearing.

“Turns out I’m just as stubborn as you, Empress.” A tear tracked down his cheek as he collided with us.

His arms wrapped around me and Marigold at my side, pulling her in between us in a hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of me.

“Your family is safe at the docks, ready to go. And they have Mia,” he reassured me.

“But I couldn’t wait with them. I had to know you were alright.

” He bent to kiss the top of Marigold’s head, all while keeping a hand on me.

Marigold jumped up to embrace his neck, and he scooped her into his arms. Still, she clutched my thumb in her small hand.

“ Thank you ,” Thorne mouthed to me over her head.

All I could do was nod. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I took in a shaky breath.

We could have lost her. If we’d been only a couple minutes later, the curse would have gotten her.

I couldn’t imagine life without this little girl.

Without both of them. They were so deeply embedded inside me, so twisted in the fabric of my being, I couldn’t untangle them even if I wanted to.

Was this what Leo and Rose had? The kind of love that made it hard to breathe, that made every heartbeat call out for them. That had you throwing caution to the wind and leaping heart first when your head had always been the one to take the lead.

The words bubbled on the tip of my tongue.

The words I ached to say, even if they wouldn’t change anything.

“Thorne, I?—”

“Clarissa,” Galen’s voice rumbled behind us.

I quickly released my hold on Thorne and Marigold and spun to face him, wiping the tears from my dirt-covered cheeks. His lips were set into a thin line.

“Clarissa, this—this is all because of me. Everything that’s happened to these people, that could have happened to Marigold…

it’s my fault.” He choked on his words as he swallowed hard.

“There’s only one way to stop it.” His eyes flitted between Thorne and me.

“You know what we have to do. And we have to do it as soon as possible.”

A dead weight settled in my stomach.

He was right. I always knew it was coming, but a part of me never let myself dwell on it. Never let myself peel back the curtains that separated dreams from reality.

Galen let out a breath. “We have to get married. Tomorrow.”