Page 117 of The Prince's Curse

“Drop the act,” Scarlett said. “I know what you intend for me. I’m calling you to ask you to stop it. I know you cared about me once. Please prove it. Leave me alone, and leave Shoshanna York alone.”

Mina was quiet, then let out a soft laugh. “So, you threw in your lot with the vampires, and now it’s not working out? You steal my work, destroy my things, and now you want to ask me to help you?”

Her voice was not cold; it was oddly normal, almost conversational. She sounded amused.

“Tante Mina, please. I’m asking you not to let me die,” Scarlett said, her throat clenching. “I’ll convince them to leave you alone.”

Her aunt let out a mocking laugh. “Tante Mina,” she said in a syrupy-sweet voice. “Funny how you want to pull that thread when things aren’t going your way. Save your breath and your weak attempts at persuasion. Let them all come. Let them all regret the day they took him from me.”

“This has gone on long enough,” Scarlett said. “You shouldn’t?—”

“Save your breath, my love,” Mina said. “You chose a path. Hang your hopes on Kova and Dominic and all the other bastards surrounding Julian. When the smoke clears, I will still be here, as I always have. And they will stare at their bloody hands and wish they had never met you.”

“Tante Mina?—”

The dull beep broke through her disbelief as she watched Call Ended flash across her screen. Her chest heaved as anxiety swept in.

I’m going to die.

Her breathing accelerated until she was gasping for air, barely holding back sobs. Twenty-eight years of lies, and not one shred of concern for her. The woman she thought of as family, the closest to a mother she’d ever known, was going to let her die a bloody death.

Wanted her to.

The door swung open, and Scarlett scrambled to her feet, hands up in a defensive position. Shoshanna stood in the doorway, brow furrowed in concern. “Are you okay? I heard you crying.” Then her face fell. “Sweetie, are you?—”

Scarlett put up her hands to fend off the witch’s approach. “I need a minute. If I fall apart, I’m never going to get back together, and you have work to do. Just give me a minute. I promise I’ll be okay.”

Swallowing hard, Shoshanna nodded and backed out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. Scarlett gripped the edge of the sink and stared into her own puffy eyes. With each pounding thump, there were flashes of visions, of sorrow and despair, Julian’s face a mask of grief, then a smile, then fury.

And there was her aunt—no, the woman who had lied to her for her whole life—smiling at her proudly at her graduation, cleaning her scraped knees, watching as she wrestled Kova to the ground for the first time and proved she could handle a vampire. There were countless mornings of breakfast shared, of long conversations about what had happened to Scarlett’s mother, the true nature of the world and what they could do about it.

And none of it mattered anymore. The good was poisoned by the wicked lies.

She sucked in a breath, closed her eyes, and willed herself to calm down. Just as she forced her lungs to cooperate when she ran through the woods with Kova on her heels, she wrangled her wild emotions. Her chest ached, but still she held her breath, as if to coerce her mind into obedience.

The smell of coffee pricked at her senses, and she finally released her breath in a controlled sigh. Slowly, she washed her face, tamed her hair into a low braid, and dabbed on a moisturizer that cooled her skin. She still looked like hell, but she refused to let that dam break again.

We have work to do.

Downstairs, Shoshanna was puttering around the kitchen. Her breath hitched as she whirled to see Scarlett.“God, you’re quiet,” she said.

“Sorry,” Scarlett said sheepishly.

Shoshanna peered at the coffeemaker, then took down two cups from the cabinet. “You want some?”

“Yes, please,” Scarlett said.

After the cups were poured, Shoshanna set out creamer and sugar, carefully mixing hers to a light brown. Scarlett dashed a sweet-smelling creamer into the coffee and sipped it tentatively.

Finally, Shoshanna raised her brows. “What’s going on? Did I shake something loose with the magic?”

She shook her head. “It’s not you. I just…” She sighed. “It hit me that this is real. And I was stupid. I called Armina to ask her to just let it go. To leave us alone.”

“You talked to her?” Shoshanna said breathlessly.

“Yeah. And she basically told me to go fuck myself,” Scarlett said, staving off another hitching cry with a drink of her coffee. The scalding liquid grounded her, distracting her from the turmoil in her mind. “And for the first time, there’s nothing I can do to protect myself. I’m scared, but if I keep talking about it, I’m going to fall apart. And then I’m no good to anyone.”

Shoshanna pressed a hand to hers, startling her with the warmth of her skin. It wasn’t just heat; there was a subtle current under the woman’s skin, as if the magic was surging beneath the surface. “You don’t have to be tough all the time, but I understand why you are, so let’s make a deal. I’m not going to keep fussing over you, so I can put all my energy into breaking this damn curse. But you promise to tell me the truth about how you’re feeling when I work. I can’t focus on my magic if I can’t trust you to tell me if something’s wrong. Something that hurts you can hurt me, too. And then I’m no good to you or anyone else.”

---