Page 42 of The Immortal’s Curse (Bound to the Immortals #2)

DARCIE

Agony swallows everything, every thought, sight, breath.

The dungeon dissolves into a haze. I can’t focus on the bars, the dim flicker of light along the walls, or the Immortal clutching my broken wrist like a vice. Pain sears up my arm, detonating in my skull.

Then, without warning, Adir lets go. My shoulder slams into the cold stone, and I cry out. Gasping, I fight for air, chest heaving.

I’m facing away from the cell, dazed, not fully registering anything… until Des crashes to his knees on the other side of the barrier.

I stare into his horrified green eyes. Green . Not hazel.

Green .

His lips move, but the barrier continues to block sound. He presses a palm against the invisible barrier. White light flows from his fingertips. His mouth parts with a roar when whatever he’s trying to do doesn’t work.

The pain in my wrist lessens with each breath, and my vision clears more and more .

Behind me, Adir continues to mutter nonsensical words under his breath. I don’t have the strength to turn around and figure out what the hell he’s talking about. I’m just grateful I’m free of him.

Suddenly, Des’s head whips toward the stairway.

Alex rushes into the room with a burst of vampire speed. Lome runs in next, followed by Thane and two men I don’t recognize. All four of them freeze, and their horrified gazes snap from me to the imprisoned Immortal.

Des’s lips part in what I imagine is a shout. The newcomers rush to him. He waves his arms in strong, animated movements. Then, Thane turns and speaks to the strangers. One nods and steps forward. He raises his hands to the invisible barrier, pressing against it.

A soft, purplish light blooms beneath his touch, spreading slowly across the surface. The barrier reveals itself, shimmering like a veil, casting strange shadows on the walls.

“It’s not possible.”

Drawn by the tone of his voice, I grunt and roll onto my back, meeting Adir’s stare. His expression is carved from disbelief.

“It cannot be,” he murmurs.

I push myself up on my unbroken wrist.

“That should have worked.” He doesn’t look away from me, not even when the sound of the barrier cracking fills the dungeon. “You should be dead.”

I flinch.

“It should have worked,” he repeats, looking and sounding as if he’s in a daze. “Why didn’t it work?”

“Why?” I whisper weakly, shocked that I came so close to death, wondering why this Immortal is determined to cut my life short when I’ve done nothing but exist. Anger overrides my fear, and I yell, “Why!?”

Instead of answering, he continues to observe me with searching eyes. “You’ve changed. I knew there was something different about you.”

The curse.

I press my lips together, trying to hide my realization, but Adir notices.

“Ah.” His shoulders roll back. His confusion fades, replaced with the cockiness I’ve come to associate with the God of War. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t you?”

Another crack flies through the air.

I blow the air out of my lungs, reassuring myself I’ll be freed in moments, and mutter, “You’re crazy.”

Des was right, I shouldn’t have come down here. I was stupid to think I could help the alliance.

“Maybe,” Adir frowns. “But I’m also right.”

He spins on his heel and paces the length of his cell, kicking the chair out of his way. The worn wood shatters into pieces. “Perhaps you will be useful. Perhaps we should keep you alive.”

He shakes his head slowly and continues, “But the other two? Their alliance is secure. They cannot live.”

Warning bells go off in my head. “What other two?”

He continues to pace the cell, muttering to himself.

I rise onto shaking legs and step toward the cell, trying to catch his attention. “Adir?”

He acts as if he doesn’t hear me. “I must get the word out. No one should harm the human.” Bright eyes land on me. “If that is what you are.”

Before I can form a reply, a firm hand settles on my left shoulder. I glance back. Alex. He gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze, relief softening his guarded face.

"Are you alright?" he asks quietly.

I manage a shaky nod.

A sudden movement to my right pulls my attention. Des slams into the metal bars with a snarl. I gasp as the same crackling, sizzling sound rips through the air .

Adir's expression shifts; whatever haze clouded his face clears. He looks like himself again.

"What did you do to her?" The usually composed Immortal’s voice rings with fury as he grips the bars.

The prisoner rolls his eyes. "Nothing, as you can see. Darcie is well. Aren’t you, Darcie?"

"Don’t you dare speak to her." Des shakes the bars with both hands, voice rising. "Ever again, or I will end you. Do you hear me? I don’t give a fuck what the others say. I will end you!"

Lome lunges, grabbing Des and yanking him away from the magic-laced bars. The wounds marring Des’s skin begin to knit themselves back together, fast and unnaturally smooth, just like Adir’s.

“Honestly, Des,” Adir sneers, his tone clipped and cold. “Could you be any more predictable? Control yourself.”

Des snarls, thrashing against Lome’s grip, but his brother holds tight. Alex steps between me and the chaos, blocking my view with his body.

“Are you in pain?” he asks.

I hesitate, scanning myself. No burns. No ache. I roll my wrist. No pain.

“No,” I whisper, dread twisting in my gut. “I’m okay.”

“Thank the Creator.” Alexander exhales with a shaky breath, eyes falling shut—missing the flicker of panic that no doubt crosses my face.

“If that’s what you are…” Adir’s words replay in my head.

Adir doesn’t believe I’m human.

But I know I am.

At least… I was .

Something is changing. The curse is doing something to me… turning me into something I don’t understand.

And the possibilities? They terrify me.

A deafening boom echoes through the dungeon. Dust rains from the ceiling. I duck and whip around, catching the aftershock of Des’s spell colliding with the barrier around Adir’s cell, bright and violent. The prison holds. But only just.

Lome fires next, a bolt of emerald power streaking toward Adir. It fizzles uselessly against an invisible shield.

"Enough!" Thane’s voice cuts through the chaos. "I said enough!"

Lome whirls on him, fury flaring in his eyes. “Did you not listen? There’s a plan to hurt Eshe.”

My blood grows cold. “…the other two… they cannot live.”

He meant Eshe. And Bella.

There’s no doubt in my mind. And it wasn’t an empty threat. Adir has someone out there, ready to carry it out.

Thane’s jaw tightens. "Don’t waste your rage on the ravings of a traitor.”

Adir lets out a low, chilling laugh. The unnerving sound slithers along my spine. Every gaze turns to the prisoner.

Adir meets Thane’s stare with pure scorn. “So weak. Even now, the mighty brothers can’t agree on how to neutralize a threat.”

He steps closer to the edge of the barrier, ice-blue eyes sweeping over us. “I will get out of here,” he says, soft but certain. “And when I do…”

The smile that curls across his face is slow. Menacing. Certain.

“I’ll strip you of the pitiful souls you cling to, those fragile humans you treat like talismans of power.”

Lome growls. Thane’s hand snaps out, gripping his shoulder and pulling him back. Des is silent, back rigid, fury pulsing off him in waves. I stand frozen, my fingers cold and numb.

And in the pit of my stomach, that familiar gnawing chill returns, the one that always knows before I do.

This isn’t over.

Not even close.