Page 45 of A Castle of Broken Memories

“Ah, fuck.”

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Iwas a breath away from screaming. Not because I was afraid of whatever curse creature was creeping toward us, although I didn’t relish dealing with it right now.

It was bigger than that.

It was—my stomach curled in on itself —helplessness.

The one emotion I’d spent a decade shielding myself from, painstakingly scraping away every raw nerve, every tender leaning. Now, it was all I could feel.

I’d failed to contain the curse.

Calum was badly hurt. Dying, maybe.

Possibly dead already.

Tenebris would be alone. He didn’t do well on his own.

And Jack…

Gods, he’d spend the rest of his life trapped up here. Only now he’d be stuck with me—a hot mess with a talent for ruining every fucking thing she touched.

“Mari. Hey, Mari.”

I dragged my gaze away from the bed to find Jack watching me with a look of concern. He held up his dagger and nodded toward my midsection. It took me a second to figure out what he was getting at, but then I realized he’d fallen into a fighting stance and was waiting for me to do the same.

Get your shit together, Mariana.

I fumbled for my daggers with shaky hands.

The shadows moved again, only this time they slid to the very edge of the bed and a pair of big blue eyes appeared amidst the darkness, blinking up at us. I tensed, waiting for the creature to show its teeth.

It gurgled.

High-pitched and squeaky with the slightest hint of a purr, the thing was making a noise I’d expect from a cuddly pet, not a vicious curse creature. I lowered my weapons but remained alert, just in case the adorable shadow blob decided to spring out and eat my face.

It slunk forward, and two floppy ears sprung up from the top of its head as it cleared the bed frame. It blinked its round eyes, gaze darting back and forth between me and Jack. When we remained motionless, it scooted farther still, a plump body popping out behind its head. It lifted a long, hind leg and scratched at the side of its face.

It’s a rabbit.

A few, wispy black hairs sprouted from its back end in place of a tail, and it lacked any discernible features aside from its too-large eyes, but the resemblance couldn’t be denied. It was a freaking bunny rabbit, cursed castle-edition. Not that it wouldn’t still eat my face off.

At least it’d be a distraction.

“Hey, little guy,” Jack murmured, keeping his dagger at the ready while lowering himself to the creature’s level. “Did we scare you? Barging into the room like that.”

Dear gods, did my ovaries just twitch?

Get it. The fuck. Together.

The creature cocked its head, studying us for a long, bated moment before making a vertical leap up onto the bed. Jack’s hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me from releasing the dagger poised between my fingertips. “Wait,” he whispered.

I gritted my teeth, the need to take control of just one thing making it overwhelmingly difficult to stay my hand. But I did, and the creature scampered to the head of the bed where it promptly curled up in a ball atop one of the plump, white pillows before disappearing altogether.

“Looks like the curse affected the giants’ pets, as well.” Jack sheathed his dagger and pointed at a piece of parchment tacked to the wall. Someone had sketched a rabbit cradled in a man’s broad hand.

I took a step closer, examining the man’s face. It was soft and guileless, like a child’s. I blinked, realization clicking on like a light bulb. He is a child. My gaze drifted upward, to the circlet crowning his slicked-back hair. A prince.