I stand frozen in the middle of the room, my breath coming too fast, my heart pounding so hard it hurts.OhGoddess–what amIgoing to do?
But beneath the terrorIstill feel the heat of desire.
It coils low in my body–thick and insistent, pulsing in time with the frantic rhythm of my pulse.Thewitch’s curse is still working on me–stronger now, sharper, like a fire that’s been stoked.Everymovement makes me more aware of it—of the ache, the need, the terrible, growing hunger that refuses to be ignored.
I press my thighs together instinctively, trying to contain it, to quiet it but it doesn’t help–if anything, it makes things worse.
The alarm screams again and then the doors burst open.
Priestess-Sistersflood into the library in a rush of white robes and sharp voices, their soft-soled shoes whispering urgently over the moss-carpet as they hurry toward the center of the room.Theirpresence brings with it the scent of crushed herbs and clean linen, but even that familiar comfort feels distant now–overpowered by the lingering acrid tang of the witch’s magic.
“Elowen!”
SisterAgatha’svoice cuts through everything—sharp as a blade.
I flinch.OhGoddess,I’mtrapped now.I’msureI’llbe blamed for the missingGrimoire.
She pushes to the front of the others, her narrow face drawn tight with anger, her small eyes already searching the room.Theyland on me accusingly.
“What have you done?”she demands.
“I—”Myvoice catches in my throat.Mythoughts are sluggish, tangled by the unwanted desire, as thoughI’mtrying to think through a thick fog.“Ididn’t—Imean,Iwas?—”
Her gaze flicks past me…and stops.
I see where she’s looking–the space where theForbiddenGrimoireshould be is empty.
The pedestal stands bare and the alarm rises to a shriek.
For a moment, no one speaks.
Then the room erupts into panicked chaos.
“It’s gone!”
“How is that possible?”
“The barrier—was the barrier breached?”
“Who touched it?”
Their voices overlap in a rising tide of outrage and disbelief.Ican feel the tension in the air like a storm about to break, heavy and electric.
“Elowen.”SisterAgatha’svoice cuts through the chaos again, quieter now but far more dangerous.“Explainyourself.Immediately.”
All eyes turn to me, and my mouth goes dry.
The truth presses at the back of my throat—the full truth—butIcan’t let it out.IfItell them everything…ifItell them what the witch did, what she said, what shemademe feel…
IfIlet them knowI’munder a lust curse, they’ll cast me out–or worse.Thetemple is the only homeI’veever known–Ican’t lose it!
“I—Icame up here,”Imanage, forcing the words past my lips.“Icouldn’t sleep.Ithought…reading might calm my mind.”
Even asIsay it,Iknow how thin my excuse sounds.
SisterAgatha’seyes narrow.
“And theGrimoire?”she asks.
