“You seem…lighter,” my mother said slowly, her eyes widening slightly. “As if a burden, a dark thing, a?—”
“A curse,” I finished, the word she couldn’t bring herself to say. I pressed a hand to my tightened chest and sank back into the chair, the truth spilling out in a rush. “I’ve been cursed for over six years. Since Bayrose died. Any woman I touched froze to death. That was how Elle, the servant girl with the red hair, died. You covered for me, said she’d run away, but you never knew it was the curse inside me that killed her.”
My mother stared, shocked into silence before tears of grief welled in her eyes.
“I sensed something was wrong with you, but…” Her voice broke.
“We didn’t know, son,” my father said, slumping onto the sofa and running a hand through his hair. “If we had known…”
“No one could see the curse except Barbie, the goddess,” I told them. “And no one could lift a curse forged from black blood magic except Barbie and Sy. I owe them my life.”
“Who did this to you?” my father demanded, his hands trembling as rage rolled off him.
“Bayrose and the druid,” I said, a familiar coldness tightening my throat at the memory. “They worked together. Bayrose sacrificed herself to become a Fury, bound to me, feeding on my energy and freezing any woman I kissed to death.” I thought of Barbie’s test kiss on my lips, the terror I’d felt that she might die like the others. “The druid used blood magic, a virgin sacrifice, and a dark ritual to turn her into that cursed Fury.”
I heard my father’s sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, Cade.” My mother sobbed. “You suffered all these years, and we didn’t know.”
I raised my head and looked at my parents; we needed to face this together as a family. “She was my first kiss. We were hiding in a closet. The moment my lips touched hers, she turned to ice.” My hands shook. “I killed her.”
“You were only fifteen.” My mother came to me, pulling me into her arms. Her gentle hand combed through my hair, the same soothing motion she used when I was a boy.
My father crossed to us in three strides, laying a hand on my shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, son. You are not responsible for a curse placed on you by a vindictive spirit. And the druid?” His eyes blazed with fury. “He dies.”
I nodded. “He’s been marked ever since he laid a hand on Barbie.”
“You should have come to us earlier. We would have rid you of the curse then,” my father said.
“No one could have lifted the curse except Sy and Barbie,” I said. “The Fury would have done more harm. I wasn’t even certain about the curse myself until Barbie saw it. All these years, I carried the guilt, believing I was a walking death sentence and I didn’t deserve to have a mate. I thought I’d never know love again, never give you grandchildren or secure alliances through marriage.”
“Is that what you think we care about?” my mother gasped. “Alliances? Grandchildren? Cade, you’re ourson!”
I stood rigid in their embrace for a moment before crumbling. Six years of isolation, of careful distance, of hiding behind jokes and dimpled smiles, it all came crashing down.
“Barbie kissed me,” I began.
My mother’s eyes brightened. “She kissed you? And you believe she’s the One?”
Everyone preferred to hear only the selective truth, even my dear mother.
“To challenge the Fury,” I continued. “She and Sy burned the curse out of me. I can touch anyone now. I can…” My voice faltered for a beat. “I have my life back because of her.”
“She’s a brave girl,” my mother said, grateful tears shining in her eyes. My father, too, was visibly moved.
“Not just brave,” I said as the three of us broke the embrace. Silver moonlight streamed through the windows, blending with the witch lights that glowed from the walls. Dawn was approaching, and I knew the day ahead would only grow darker.
“The future of the realm lies in the hands of Barbie and Sy,” I declared. “We must protect them at all costs!”
My parents exchanged a look that spoke of years spent navigating political minefields together.
“The other kingdoms will be in an uproar,” my mother cautioned.
“Let them,” my father replied without hesitation. He moved to his desk and pulled out a rune-etched sapphire that pulsed with immense power. “The Kingdom of Mages stands with you. And with the goddess who returned my heir to me.” His gaze was steady, resolute. “What do you need, son?”
Chapter
Five
