Page 62 of Unraveled (A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruins #1)

She knows I can’t. If I do, they’ll kill Ash—the man I love—and his sister. They’ll kill me .

Skylar presses his nose to Harper’s moonlight hair. “Are you going to choose the fae, the creatures who killed your father? You’ll choose them over your friend, who may I add, is here because of you ?”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t look away from Harper, and my heart tears as I move my hand to Ash’s shackles and snap my fingers. My spell breaks through the lock.

I hear a few shouts of protest just a second before the shot echoes in the room and Harper’s blood splatters over Skylar’s cheeks. He lets her fall to the ground. Lifeless.

The screams that follow match the turmoil inside my body, and my vision blurs with tears as I push the iron away from Ash’s ankles. Only when he’s free, I heave but, by some miracle, manage to not be sick all over the ground.

I doomed an innocent to save the man I love.

I’m a monster. The curse devours my insides as despair takes ahold of me.

But I won’t let Morla take more from us, and before I fade away, I use my sunderer power to unravel what makes my curse.

I steal some of its darkness and blend its magic imprint seamlessly with mine.

It hisses as if in pain, and I feel myself grow stronger as its anger becomes my own.

I look across the room, feeling the curse rush to my skin, savoring the possibility of freezing them all in stone. Naheli was right, this curse never wanted to kill me. It likes a host that speaks back. It craves death, but not necessarily mine.

Instead of light, I become darkness. A spell forms in my mind in threads of red and black.

Something new that encompasses all the betrayal and sorrow Morla, the strixes, Irene, my father, and Finley caused.

The enchantment tastes of a strange mixture of smoke and mint.

It wants to cause destruction, to turn their hearts to granite.

I lift my arms, and the spell blasts out of me so fast it pulls me forward. Unlike in the forest, where I had no true control of what I was doing, here, I launch the spell at the five men running at us. The first turns to stone so fast, there isn’t time to scream.

The second gets caught mid-run. The other three jump out of the way of my power, but I catch their legs and throw another swirling spell their way, finishing them off. My energy dwindles, but still, I turn two more to stone.

Ash gets up from the ground, and I don’t need to face him to know he’s regaining his power.

I can taste it in the back of my throat before waves of gold grow from behind me and stretch until I can see them from the corners of my eyes.

In the corner the shadows morph, and from them, a wolf appears.

This is the first time I’ve seen Naheli look mostly like stars.

Her eyes glow the same color as Ash’s power.

He presses his hand to my waist and guides me out of the cage, and it’s then that I notice I’m floating at least a foot above the ground. Our powers blend, mine in black and his in gold.

His words caress my ears, the fae tongue clear. “ Keep Nera safe, Monster .”

Then he steps around me, just as Naheli jumps to devour those who were foolish enough to stay and fight. Skylar’s face turns so white it looks like he’s made of marble himself. The pyramid cracks, and the veil sputters one last time and then fails entirely.

Many of the scientists run screaming from the room, just as the bells of Penumbra ring loudly outside.

The lunargyres—or the fae—made it into the city, probably called by Ash and Naheli.

For the first time since the cave downstairs, Skylar’s glamour fails him and his features flicker from his, to Morla, then back into Skylar.

The few lackeys that remained by his side falter and step back.

I rush to Nera, narrowly dodging a piece of the pyramid as it crashes to the ground. I undo Harper’s spells, and Nera’s skin regains its color rapidly as I drag her body over the ground and out of the iron.

Once she’s out, I turn to Ash as his golden magic envelops Skylar in a tight cocoon before throwing him into the metal pyramid.

His bones crack, a cry escapes his lips, and then his glamour fades completely, leaving Morla pinned to the metal.

Pale and staring wide-eyed at the man she supposedly loved.

She has no power left, not after cursing Ash with something so vicious it damned his entire kingdom.

Morla lifts a trembling hand and tries to cast something. Nothing happens. Ash strolls toward her, unconcerned.

“You can’t kill me,” she hisses, and blood sprays from her shaking lips.

“You were always so bright and cunning, Skye. And you’re right, but while I can’t kill you, I can punish you.

” Ash stops right beside her, and the room falls silent as the wolf spirit stalks over to them, her aura filling the space with indigos and purples.

A growl shakes the glass of the dome ceiling.

“Naheli, is another story, and I’m afraid you’ve made her furious .”

I want to look away as Naheli’s power engulfs Morla. But I force myself to be present, to watch what happens when one lets darkness take over. She screams and her face shifts into the faces of many people. Old and young. A shape-shifter like I’ve never seen before, and likely, never will see again.

Her breaths slow as Naheli becomes the sky inside the machine room. Wind blows my hair over my face, and the glass cracks above us. Only when the screaming stops do I open my eyes again and focus on Nera, who stirs at my feet.

I press a hand to her feverish cheek, and notice for the first time, my skin is no longer black. I inspect my hand, my arm, my chest, and find there’s only a small black dot in the center of my palm. A big part of my curse disappeared when Morla died.

When I look inside myself, and at the power that makes me, I find a trace of that darkness, what I wove into my core so I could use its power.

And that black slimy monster will forever be a part of me, like the memories of this night.

“Mia?” Nera’s voice is soft, and it pulls me out of my thoughts.

“You’re safe,” I say.

“No, I’m not.” Nera swallows, her eyes wide in panic as she stares at the dome above us. “He’s coming for me.”

“He’s dead. Skylar is dead.” I comb her hair back in a soothing motion that used to calm Irene when we were young.

Thinking of my sister makes the knot in my throat reappear, and I know I can’t speak again. Not for a while.

Ash rushes through thick plumes of smoke, and Naheli remains behind, near Morla’s body where she’s pinned to the metal wall with ropes of gold.

I sprint to meet him, and his arms wrap around me in a tight embrace. His heart thunders under my ear.

“Mia.” He pulls back, reaching for my hand as his eyes search every inch of my bruised skin. From the top of my head, down my arms, and pausing to inspect every finger.

He visibly relaxes, some of the tension in his face and shoulders melting away. “I thought the curse had taken most of your skin.”

“I pulled it apart, and I used it to wield a stronger kind of magic.” I look down at my palm and the black dot that remains. “I’m afraid I’ve accidentally woven it into myself. The good news is, Naheli told me it doesn’t want to kill me.”

“That ungrateful wolf.” Ash wraps his hand around the back of my neck and brings me close again. “Of course she told you that and not me, the fae she’s bound to.”

“What now?” I meet Ash’s gaze, ignoring the surrounding destruction. I wonder if he expects more trouble, though I doubt it, not with him and Naheli on the loose.

“We go home...” He hesitates, and his expression sours. “That is, if you don’t want to remain here, in Penumbra.”

I blink. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Well you were keen before, and we made a deal. You’re free. If you stay, I won’t come back for you.” He lifts my hand and brushes his lips over my knuckles. “But I beg you to come with me.”

I smile and know what Morla said back in the cave is true. He loves me. Against all odds, the king who was forced to hate the hybrids fell for one, as I did for him. And so, when our prejudices about and anger at each other grew into pure, genuine feelings, his curse was broken.

“This isn’t my home. You are.”

Ash pulls me to him, and his soft lips devour mine with an all-consuming kiss. He presses his forehead to mine, interlacing our fingers.

I don’t know what we’ll find in the castle. Whether Finley will be there, or Irene. Whether the lunargyres are now fae, who will want to try to return to Eponde to resume their lives in a broken city.

Ash looks over his shoulder at the spirit who takes up most of the space with waves of darkness and starlight. “We have to make one last stop at the library to collect my possessions, then we can go home.”