Page 25 of WitchCurse

“Why? To give your master more time to feed on me? Has the blight begun to take him?” I wondered if he hid a nightmare beneath his clothing and glamour like I had for ages.

“He is not my master. I serve the new lords while I await the arrival of my own,” the Stag said.

“Then save us all by killing me already.”

He sighed. “I offer life and you beg for death?”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Have I not suffered enough?”

“And what of your scion? Or the wolf? Would you condemn them as well?”

We were all condemned, that’s what fate proved everyday as my magic was eaten away bit by bit. “My destruction was foretold.”

“By whom?” the Stag asked. “Sebastian was the end of Underhill. Actually, Ari was, but the words of a seer are often misinterpreted.” He sighed and his eyes changed a moment, going milky white. He wasseeingsomething. I blinked.Hewas a seer? Did anyone know? Seers normally did not walk free any more than I ever had. The fae claimed they were all knowing and all-seeing, but without their stashed visionaries, they were as blind as the rest of us.

His gaze turned to the wolf and then the color returned to his eyes. “Yes, this is correct. A decision, though never really a choice. Will you choose to die?”

“I’m not afraid of death,” I said. The cage, however, the endless cycle of being chained and fed upon, that was something I would not allow. Even if it meant forcing my end. If I killed him, would Zephyr finally end me? I could drink deep of the Stag. He glowed with fae energy.

“You are not mine,” the Stag said as I tried to suck on his energy. He fed me strength, and I should have been able to yank more from him, drink deeply as easily as I had from Zephyr’s glamour, but I couldn’t take beyond what he offered. “I am not yours. Mine has yet to be freed, the puzzle not in place. We are both creatures of this world, he who is mine.” But I wasn’t. I was a being of Underhill, a relic like the rest of the fae. He pulled his hand away. “I hate leaving the decision to you foxes. You’re far too much chaos to ever make the right choice.”

“Was the alpha the wrong choice for Sebastian?” I wondered out loud. Liam grounded Sebastian, cycled the endless draw of energy, from his pack and through his pack to keep Sebastian and Ari balanced. It seemed like a good fit.

“No. Our father took control as it was all moving too slowly for his tastes.” He frowned down at me. “He chooses for all of us.”

Our father? “Seer, tell it to me plainly. I am not a man with patience for riddles. If you wish to speak circles, it would be best for you to find my scion, he enjoys a good game of wordplay.”

“You can have more than one,” he said. “I can’t tell you what to do. That would be a violation of my sight and a reason for fate to take it from me. But I leave you with the best option. Don’t fuck this up.” He shrugged and stood, taking the strength of his energy with him. “The path forward is not always the easiest, but the payout can be worth it.”

Fuckingseers. Stupid riddles. He backed away, a portal opening behind him, and he left, the walls closing in again. I breathed hard, feeling like every nerve was awakening. He’d given me enough fae magic to begin healing, but not enough to manage the chaos of energy still swirling from the new realm.

CHAPTER10

Kiran

The wolf lay a few feet away, gaze focused on me though he seemed to have to struggle to breathe. The ice slowly working a coating over him, looked painful. I’d spent centuries in ice, knew the biting numbness well. But wasn’t certain what to do about it. I stretched out a hand to reach for him, able to touch his paw, but not much else. A bit of comfort in the end, I supposed. I’d have liked to not be alone either. Though eventually he would finish his change, attack me, and if I had enough strength, I’d be forced to eat him. The circle of fae existence really, brutal and heartless as it stripped away all that was kind from us.

I closed my eyes and tried to find Nick.

It was like wading through the dark sweet syrup I watched Liam use in his breads. Nothing, like he was just beyond my reach.

The wolf pulsed with fae magic. The bite spreading? Technically it was a dark court curse, not all that unlike venom from a snake bite. I could kill him and suck down that bitter sludge. It might be enough to free me. A minor punch of energy to burst through iron walls? Was that what the Stag meant?

I could only imagine the rage they would direct my way if I returned to the little fox’s court without their beloved wolf. Even if it had been a kindness to end his suffering, it would be enough for them to finally end me. But then there was Nick; he liked this wolf. I didn’t dislike the wolf, and tried to help him as much as I could, soothing the raging ocean of broken memories within him.

You can have more than one,the Stag had said. I could have more than one scion? He left me with the best option? To watch the wolf change and us fight to devour each other when that transformation completed, or for me to bond the wolf? He was a being of magic in this world, his wolf affliction a blood curse, could that be an anchor for me? Would the little fox and his alpha kill me for taking one of theirs?

He'll die if you don’t,my rational thought said, sounding a lot like Nick. If Toby changed to aHuntwolf he’d stalk the pack, if the curse didn’t spread through the pack bonds first. The alpha would be forced to sunder him from the pack and kill him. Twice dead, or once bound?

Decisions. The Stag said we kitsunes were bad at them. He had also said that there really weren’t any choices. He wasn’t wrong.

The wolf didn’t deserve to be abandoned, but I knew all too well the need of the many outweighed the one. How many fae had I eaten in my lifetime with that idea in hand? Too many friends. Until I’d stopped bothering to find companionship at all. Until Nick, who meant far more to me than he should. I knew he wanted this wolf, and had tried to bring us closer, but I kept everyone away. Better never to form a bond when all they delivered was pain.

If I bond to him, it will condemn him too. But he is already dying.The transition to theHuntmore like that of a zombie rising than mortal death. Did anything remain inside them of who they used to be? It was rare I warred with myself over something as simple as a decision to act or not act. Was there another option? If I bonded him, the others would hesitate to kill me. But it might reverse the blight?

Death or possible life. Was that what the Stag meant? He offered life?

I stared at the wolf, not happy at the conflict in his eyes. Someone in the pack had mentioned that he’d been changed to wolf without his consent. Injured after a car crash, he’d been given a curse of blood and death. His world within was filled with a chaos of broken memories, things his wolf tried to protect him from, and I had not pushed to view those shards of his past. I did not want to be the next to force that on him. Another transition, another chance at freedom stolen. Wasn’t death the ultimate freedom?