I dimly register the crossbow that Nuadar is holding, which has an arrow that is glowing green, but then four things happen in succession. Slithery coils snake around me from behind while sunlight flares from Ani just as the beast roars in rage and attacks the serpent shapeshifter who has me in his grasp.
The manticore doesn’t even register the arrow piercing his flank. We go tumbling to the ground, the huge snake hissing in pain when the manticore’s jaws snap tight over his scales, and I’m released from his coiled grasp. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the shapeshifter crawl away and transform to human form, clutching his mangled, bloody arm. His left leg hangs by a tendon. Gods, the manticore nearly bit him in half.
Three others are felled by poison darts from the scorpion tail, dropping like flies, and Nuadar looks wild-eyed with fear when the beast crunches the head off the fire-wielding guard, flames and all, and finishes a sixth with a lethal swipe of his claws. He stalks Ani with a vicious snarl as Nuadar loads another crossbow with shaking hands, but even I can see that the manticore is too powerful.
Stars above, where is the king when his men and sister need him?
To my horror, Ani drops her hands and approaches the beast, putting herself directly in his path, voice low but audible enough to me. “Brother.Stop this.”
The earth spins beneath my feet as my brain stutters.Whatdid she say?
“You know you’ll regret it if you kill me,” Ani goes on, her voice monotone and unthreatening.
The manticore stumbles, shaking his mane, and then roars. His front leg wobbles and then buckles, and then before my eyes, he slumps down to his side as whatever sedative Nuadar had shot into him finally takes effect.
“Sura!” Ani cries, running to my side. “Did he hurt you?”
But my mind is spinning, my gaze stuck on the enormous, unconscious form of the manticore. I half sob out a wheezing breath. “What you said... what you called it. Is that thing... the fuckingking?”
She stares at me sadly, blue eyes somber. “It’s his curse.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Nearly a fortnight later, I’ve summoned enough courage to stand in front of the manticore’s enclosure, staring at the new reinforced magical doors that house the cursed form of the Everlean king. I swallow past the knot in my throat and tug on the collar of my tunic.
I don’t know what I’m doing here, or what kind of answers I’m seeking.
According to Ani, this is the longest—over a month—that the king has gone without shifting back to human form. Not many people know of the curse, only her, Nuadar, a handful of trusted guards, and now me. She’d also confided that the manticore had never uttered a single word before, so his speaking had shocked them. I hadn’t told her that in addition to that, Razulek and Indira had also called me his mate. I’m surethatwould have gone over well.
“Oryndhrian,” Nuadar growls rudely from behind me, “you’re looking for trouble. You don’t belong here. You should not be going in there!”
I bristle at his antagonistic tone and derisive address. “Open the door.”
Scowling, he waves a hand toward the door and the locks disengage. I’ve since learned that Nuadar is a dominant corpus magi with a near sovran numen for toxins, which explains the tranquilizing serum he made to weaken the manticore.
“Thank you,” I tell him, but he only grunts with a curse.
Breathing calm into my body, I walk inside and hear the locks reengage behind me. I try not to let the fact that I’m locked in with a bloodthirsty, inhuman monster affect me, but there’s no hiding the uptick of my pulse. The space is shadowy, and there’s no sound except for the slight scuff of my feet as I head deeper into the darkness.
With each step, my heart races more, but I won’t allow my fear to stop me. Lamps ignite on the walls—more magic, I realize—and I see a huge, shadowy form held in place by thick golden chains. They’re connected to massive rings in the walls and the ground. Slitted amber eyes track my progress, but the manticore doesn’t raise itself from its prone position.
About six feet away, I crouch, studying it. When it doesn’t move, I hesitate only for a moment before sitting down. I have no idea what the reach of those chains is and whether I’m playing with fire, but I make myself comfortable.
“Darrius?” I whisper.
There’s no reaction, not even a blink, but those sharp predator’s eyes don’t waver from my person. Other than the rise and fall of his chest, he doesn’t move, just stares. I sit there for an hour before my leg starts to cramp, and when I eventually stand to leave, the only sign that he notices is a barely audible sigh. Does it sound like disappointment, or is that just what I imagine it to be?
He could be relieved I’m leaving for all I know.
Despite that, I return the next day and settle myself a foot away from the manticore. This time he moves, but only to settle his head closer to my knee. His eyes close with a sound like a contented purr. I must let out a noise of surprise, because he glances up, his tongue emerging to place the smallest lick—of reassurance?—on my bare elbow before he settles back down.
My adrenaline spikes, my magic surging in my veins, though not with alarm... but with an odd kind of exhilaration, as though my simurghenjoysthe company of the monster. She hadn’t been worried in the forest weeks ago, and now, all I can sense is intrigue. I wonder if it’s because like recognizes like—my simurgh, though not a corporeal incarnation like the manticore, is a similar mythical being. A creature that gives life thoroughly fascinated by one that takes it. I don’t miss the incongruity of such a pairing.
“Hello, Darrius.” I wrinkle my nose when it sounds strange to my ears. “Though is that even your name? Are you him? Or are you your own furry, feline self? Shall I call you Dare, then, like your sister does?”
Feeling a bit ridiculous with my one-sided conversation, I proceed to recount all the facts that I remember about myself—from my birthday to my childhood in Coban to what I can recall of my lost memories—all the while with his nose pressed into my knee, his warm breaths feathering out over my skin.
It’s shocking how natural it all feels.
