Screaming, Bridget launched herself off the couch. She didn’t know how she’d gotten there, but Nylah’s concerned face hovering over her told her she’d been unconscious for a long time. Blood poured from her nose as she tracked down Stellan standing in the corner. It was strange.Just moments before, she’d seen him upset over her death. Now, he looked at her like a stranger. There was no compassion in his eyes, only steely determination.
“You killed him,” she snarled, wiping the blood from her face with the sleeve of her coat.
“Excuse me… What?” Archer exclaimed. “Who?”
“Cade.”
“Not the Cade you know,” Stellan corrected loudly over Archer and Nylah’s sudden onslaught of questions. Clenching his jaw, he pointed at her. “That’s not what happened. Think about what you saw.”
Struggling to breathe, Bridget closed her eyes. For once, she wanted to forget. She wanted to go back to living in blissful ignorance of what was coming for her. What sheknewshe could not stop, no matter what Stellan or anyone did. But no matter how hard she tried, the images she’d seen wouldn’t leave her retinas.
Cade wasn’t just a prince. He wastheprince. The Tuathan prince from the painting and every story she’d ever heard about the Cavamynian War. And she…
How was it even possible?
Archer laid a hand on her shoulder. It helped lessen her trembling. Only a little. “What did you see?” he asked softly.
“It was the curse,” Bridget croaked. Oh, God. What did it allmean? “I need…”
Help. An explanation. A way out of this. Hope.
Cade.
Her stomach flopped. Did he know? The idea that he might have known their entire relationship had her wishing the floor would just swallow her up forever.
Slowly, Stellan moved closer to her. With every step, he searched her face. For what, she wasn’t sure. Her eyes watered until she guessed he found what he was looking for. “If you expect me to help you, you need to say it,” he said.
Bridget paused. If she said it, everything would change.
She gazed at Nylah, who watched her with so much concern her heart broke, then took a deep breath. “We’ve met before.”
Stellan nodded. “Back in Elyria.”
“Over five hundred years ago.”
Silence enveloped the room. Bridget didn’t think anyone was even breathing.
After what felt like forever, Archer sat down. Then stood up. Then paced a circle around the couch. “I think for once in my life, I'm actually speechless.”
“How can you be speechless if you're still talking?” Nylah countered. “And as long as Cade isn’treallydead, I think I can handle you being older than dirt.”
Bridget let out a choked laugh. She really loved her sister.
Clearly rattled, Alexia backed into Stellan’s tiny kitchen table. “That’s not possible.”
“I haven’t created a curse quite like it since…” Stellan said, running a hand through his blonde hair. Bridget could’ve sworn he looked lighter. Like a weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “It put me to sleep for a very long time. It's a side effect Tuathans encounter if we use too much of our magic at one time… it took me years to recharge.”
“The Bloodstone… it’s your blood, isn’t it?” Bridget asked.
The blood of one of the most powerful Shamans lies inside, Cade’s voice echoed.
Castor paced in front of Archer’s cell.Curses need two things: an anchor and blood.
Quinn’s smirk taunted her.You’ll never guess who was used to bind it.
Her and Cade stood in front of the painting that depicted the memory she’d just seen. It had given her chills. She’d barely been able to look at it. Even then, somewhere inside her had known there was more to the story.
“You created it for the curse that sent the Sanguis to Iegorus…” she ranted, “a regular rune wasn’t strong enough. But why use Cade to bind it? And how is it even possible we werethem?”
