Page 32 of The Curse Trilogy

“Very,” he snickers out, and then his hand takes mine to lead me toward the door.

“I need to set my cup down,” I murmur in an effort to make an excuse to drop his hand, and then my eyes catch sight of a picture hanging in the bedroom, drawing me toward it.

The door he had shut behind him has slowly slid back open, and I make my way to his room without permission.

“Araya? You okay?” he calls from the hallway.

I ignore him as I continue on my prying mission, and I gasp when I open the door the rest of the way to see a large frame holding an enlarged picture of me sleeping in our old room we had together.

There’s a rose delicately resting on the pillow beside my cheek. I remember that day so well. He had been gone for over a month, and he bought that rose for me as a way of saying he was sorry for an argument we had before he left. I had woken up to it, and he was sitting on the bed beside me.

The love we made that morning was phenomenal, and we lay in bed all day long just holding our naked bodies against each other. I never knew such a picture existed, and now here it is in his room, hanging above his bed like a piece of artwork.

“That was one of the best days we ever had together,” his gentle voice interjects from behind.

“It was,” I sigh with a reminiscing tone.

“You ready now that you’ve inspected my bedroom?” he teases.

“I just wanted to see the picture,” I say with a touch of embarrassment.

“I’ll gladly give you a tour of the rest of it if you want to get better acquainted. We can start with the bed,” he provocatively jokes, and I nudge his side with my elbow as I head out of the room.

His hand takes mine once more, but I don’t fight it this time. I know this is wrong, and I still love Brazen, but I can’t just deny that Hale means something to me. I have to get the hell out of Seminole before I ruin the best thing for me. Brazen would never forgive me if this went too far, and I wouldn’t blame him.

The light strikes me in a blinding fashion when we walk into the laser show going on in the banquet hall. A girl runs up to Hale, her giggles shrill to blare her excitement.

“Captain Banner, would you dance with me tonight?”

He grins kindly at her before he delivers his cushioned rejection.

“I’m sorry, Penelope. I’ve got a date this evening, and I feel it would be rather rude to dance with someone else.”

“I thought she was engaged to that full blood, Captain… Mordel,” she says with baffled shock.

Oh damn. What am I doing?

“Excuse me,” I say with shame lining my words. “I need to go grab a drink.”

I start guzzling the first thing I smell alcohol in, and Hale’s front is suddenly pressed against my back.

“You have to stop this. It’s brutal,” I whimper.

“It’s not so easy on me either. Dance with me,” he murmurs against the back of my head.

“We shouldn’t.”

“Who gives a damn if two old friends dance? I promise I’ll behave,” he says playfully.

I laugh lightly while wiping away a stray tear. He pulls me to his body, and then I feel us moving to the music before I ever give my consent. I nestle my head into his chest, and his arms tighten around me as if he’s clinging to me for the last time. It needs to be the last time.

“I can’t do this,” I whimper, tears falling more fiercely, and I run out of the room to the hallway of the enormous building.

“Araya,” he calls out, and I feel my body whipping around - almost reflexively - to face him. “I love you, and I’m so sorry for everything I ever did wrong. I swear I’ll be the man you always wanted me to be if you just take me back. I need you,” he pleads.

“No!” I yell. “You keep acting like I just up and left, but I didn’t. You pushed me away for two fucking years. The second they took me, you started disappearing more and more. That’s when I needed you the most. I spent days in a basement chained up and feeling electricity surging through my body so they could provoke my power. They did everything they fucking could to get me to do it, and if I had of, people for miles would have been killed from my overworked state. There’s not telling how bad it would have gotten before you found me.

“I had to deal with all that shit on my own when I finally got rescued because you were never home. I would wake up screaming for hours because of the nightmares that ensued, but you weren’t there to comfort me. I would cry myself to sleep because the shadows felt like people coming to take me away again. I shattered three houses just because my dreams and fears became too overwhelming. If it hadn’t been for Brazen, I would have probably been locked away in some asylum with medicine to numb my wild mind from doing more harm. Do you get that?” I cry out, and I see tears wavering in his eyes now.