Page 58 of The Curse of Indy Moore (The Cursed Duology #1)

Where Indy Takes His Place

Slate morphed into a monster of shadows, wings spreading far into the trees and erupting into the sky.

Those great green eyes of his flourished into waves of fire that melted the snow.

The soil drank the carnage, becoming swamp-like and reeking of scorched earth.

Below, the shade fell over Rooke’s eager expression.

His eyes had the same fire in them, a fierce hunger that disappeared in the darkness as he and the beast became a singular entity.

Carline held me in a protective embrace.

Her trembling spoke of a fear I couldn’t fathom one of her abilities to have.

It was a strange sensation to cower in the arms of one who put a fear into me for weeks.

We gazed in horror as a monster took form.

The wolves readied themselves to defend their master, but they were nothing in the face of shadowy wraith.

That shadow became a crow with too many eyes, each of them that fearful green.

Shrieking, the creature descended upon us.

The darkness carried physical weight, crashing with the force of a violent gale.

The pressure sent me into the cottage. My shoulder hit the door frame, stinging in pain.

I fell at the edge of the stairs, cowering beneath the umber and clinging to the blanket that offered no protection.

What was happening?

When light fell upon me, bringing about a hint of warmth, I opened my eyes to discover an empty doorway. I crawled to the threshold, maintaining a firm hold on the blanket struggling to shelter me from the chill.

Carline had been dragged out of the cottage into the meadow.

She sank in the mud to the ankles. The wolves snarled, coated in grime and saliva dripping from their bared fangs.

They clawed at a domed shield constructed of misshapen shadows separating Rooke and Carline from the rest of the world.

The shadows bled from Rooke, the vortex of the madness.

“I promise this will be better for both of us.” His voice twisted too deeply to belong to him. “You can move on, and I will move forward.”

The festering darkness at his back knew not what form to take, twitching and unfurling around him. He loomed over Carline, his hand pulsing with a corrupted magic the same fierce green as his eyes.

“Rooke, wait!” I called. My feet met the snow, feeling its bite against my skin. “Whatever you’re doing, stop, please!”

Rooke’s hand paused above Carline’s throat. He looked at me, a moment of recognition ceasing the attack, where Carline crawled toward the edge of the shield.

“You need not worry about her, Indy. This will hurt for only a moment, then it will all be over. Wait for me a moment longer, my dear, please,” he said in a warped voice.

“Don’t hurt her at all. The deed is done. Let’s go, please.” I chanced stepping closer, flinching at the cold ripping through my bare feet.

Frowning, Rooke stepped toward me. “Go back inside. You’ll catch a cold like this.”

“Come inside with me, then.” I held out a hand, closing in more and more .

Rooke glanced at that hand, his eyes dimming. The vortex screamed a horrible noise, like an animal’s final, rageful breath. Rooke’s eyes flashed. He cracked his neck to the side. “After this. I have waited long enough.”

He cut the space between him and Carline in a blink. Leaning down, he grabbed her by the throat to lift her high. His movements were effortless. His mouth unhinged like a snake, a green glow emanating from within.

“Wait!” I ran toward them, mortified, clutching the pendant.

“Stop, you’ll take them from me! You can’t!” Carline kicked against Rooke’s chest. He didn’t flinch. She clawed at his wrist, tearing through skin. He didn’t stop. Tears built in her eyes as she stretched a hand toward her wolves, whispering silent pleas.

Around Carline, a gray mist fell, draping over her.

Her gold eyes flickered with power she couldn’t call upon.

At her back, a wolf came into being, one of smoke dancing around her, but could do nothing more as Rooke’s light grew stronger and stronger.

Carline fell limp. Her eyes took on the same green hue, her mouth gaping wide.

Light fell from her mouth into Rooke’s, an endless stream of energy that warped the world.

The forest bent. My stomach churned. I struggled to breathe. The wolves howled. They scratched and scratched at the shield, even as their limbs gave out. One by one, they fell to the snow, their forms flickering in and out of existence, before they burst with light and ascended to the stars.

Their freedom should have brought me joy, but when Rooke released Carline, she fell into a slump and wailed.

I had never heard a sound so visceral, so unbearably sad, tears streaming down her face as her fingers tore into her hair.

The vortex dissipated into a trail of smoke that slid beneath Rooke’s skin.

He stood, arms outstretched, basking in the moonlight.

When his eyes opened, he smiled with fearful elation.

He ran his fingers through his hair, releasing a pent-up laugh that grew stronger until his eyes watered.

It wasn’t like his normal laughs, wasn’t his crooked smile, but something cruel and dark.

Rooke’s attention fell on me, shivering in the snow, clinging to the blanket tighter when he dared a step forward.

“You’ve done it.” He brushed by Carline like she meant nothing.

The poor woman wailed so painfully, she could hardly catch her breath.

She crawled across the snow as if she knew the very spots her wolves had vanished.

Rooke wouldn’t give her so much as a passing glance.

He focused entirely on me, his head cocked unnaturally to the side and hands outstretched, the same hands that so callously tossed Carline aside.

I never thought I’d pity her, but I did in that moment.

“This is all thanks to you,” he said, frowning when I stumbled toward the cottage’s porch. He stopped, his hands held midair. “I understand you’re confused, but don’t be frightened. That was a lot, I know. I can explain.”

“What have you done?” I retreated into the cottage when he came closer. “You… Her wolves, that light, Slate, what’s going on?”

The fire from the hearth did nothing to quell my shivers, as they had become more from fear than the cold. Rooke entered, seeming nothing more than a horror standing upon the threshold, his lips torn into a wild smile.

“I must apologize, for I have not always been entirely honest with you. I was always going to tell you afterward, I swear,” he said, sounding apologetic, but he was off, warped in a way I couldn’t explain. “Slate is much more than my bird, as you have seen. He is a demon, but he works for me.”

“Works for you?” I laughed, the sound a broken, hollow thing. “Demons work for themselves. Rooke, whatever he has done, it is a deceit.”

He cracked his neck to the side. My knees hit the edge of the couch.

The way Carline had thrown it caused the couch to block the way to the kitchen, leaving me no exit.

As a wolf, I easily leapt over the furniture.

Now, I found myself trapped between it and Rooke.

I never imagined I would want to run from him even more than Carline.

She had a warmth about her, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, where he was nothing but cold and desolate, a void waiting to be filled.

“You don’t understand, and that is also my fault.

I never explained because, well, I feared you wouldn’t understand, and I worried it would put needless stress on you.

However, you must believe me that this is for the best. Look what we have accomplished.

” He threw his arms around us in an enthusiastic gesture.

“You broke your curse, and I’ve ended Carline’s reign of terror for good. ”

“In exchange for what?” I challenged.

“Power.” His eyes glistened the same way Carline’s had when she realized she caught me. A demon realizing they won. Then he chuckled. “And you, of course. We have what we wanted—more than that because we have each other now, too.” He presented his hand, an offering. “Come with me to the capital.”

“What is in the capital?”

“I have work to do there,” he said, laughing cruelly, before he settled closer. I couldn’t retreat. His hand fell on my cheek, lacking all the warmth he gave earlier. He was not the same man, perhaps not much of a man at all anymore.

All I wanted was to run, but he held me close and spoke against my cheek, “Now, I have more than enough power to give you everything you deserve and more. Every want you’ve ever had will be met, and every want you could never imagine will be yours.

I will write your name in the stars, if you ask it of me. ”

“You’re sick, Rooke. Slate has you in his claws. I can help, if you let me. The others, too.” I whimpered when he abruptly scowled and shoved me aside.

The fire flickered in response to his annoyance. He paced, one hand raised and lips opened for a lecture that he silenced in a breath. His once dark eyes were too brilliant to be real, like Carline’s, too fluorescent under the shadows, too inhuman.

“I understand your shock,” he said while adjusting his coat. “Your experience with demons thus far was poor, but I assure you that I have everything under control. You will see reason soon enough, but I cannot stay as I have a debt to repay.”

Rooke went for the door, where he lingered in the threshold.

I dared to believe that he was questioning himself, that he would change his mind.

But then he threw that cruel smile over his shoulder.

“I will find you once the deed is done, and we’ll talk more.

Once you’ve calmed down, you will understand. Until then. ”