Page 125 of The Prince's Curse

He always saw. Always knew she was his.

His vision went red, and he lurched toward her, one step, then another. It was getting easier, as long as he focused on her, on that pulsing heat in his chest, the sound of her voice, the smell of her that saturated him from head to toe.

“Ah, ah,” Lux scolded him. “You, kneel. Both of you.”

Her voice boomed in his head, drowning out his will.His stomach twisted in knots as he knelt in front of her. His body was still, even as his mind shrieked in terror.

“Are you two soulmates? You may speak,” she said.

“Yes,” they blurted at the same time.

Lux wrinkled her nose. “Adorable. But useful, I suppose. You’re going to be very helpful to me. You obey me now. You can try to fight it, but it will only hurt you.” With one hand, she made a twisting gesture, and Sasha doubled over. It felt like her fist was wrapped around his guts, squeezing them into a knot.

“Stop,” Kristina whispered.

“You may not speak unless given permission. Now, give me your phone,” Lux said. With horror in her eyes, Kristina reached into her pocket and handed it over. The witch handed it back. “Unlock it.”

Kristina obeyed, her hand shaking. The only consolation was that she was fighting, just as Sasha was. There had to be a way to break the spell.

“Now, I want you to be useful to me. I’m not going to make the two of you hurt each other. But you’re going to help me. And if you’re good little pets, then I might let you live when I’m done here,” she said. “Now, tell me where I can find the rest of your little court.”

Chapter 30

Julian’s hands crushed her throat, but seeing those beautiful eyes devoid of affection was far worse than the knowledge that death was imminent. He throttled her, lips curling back over his fangs. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t break his viselike hold, couldn’t do anything but pray for deliverance. Cold venom from his fangs dripped onto her face, burning and searing as it trickled like tears over her cheeks.

Voices shrieked in her ears, and she tried to choke out please help!

A warm voice resonated through her mind, drowning out the shrieking panic. It’s all right. Stay with me. Scarlett, stay with me.

The sound of her name in that familiar, lovely voice was sunlight through the clouds.

Shoshanna.

All at once, her awareness tilted and turned, and she realized this was in her mind, that it was a dream and she was in no real danger, no matter how much her mind shouted that she was dying.

When she looked up at Julian’s terrible red eyes, she saw a reflection of golden light, like a candle in the dark. His visage shimmered, and suddenly his hands loosed. She scrambled away, sprinting across a shadowy void. Still, his voice echoed in her head, taunting and teasing.

You can’t stop it. You can’t stop her.

It’s just a vision, a dream, she told herself. But logic fell apart as old magic brought her face to face with her own death, again and again.

Cold wind whipped around her, and suddenly a figure materialized in front of her. Instead of Julian, it was Kova, with those red marks burning like embers on his skin. His lips were curled back from bloody fangs, and he scowled at her.

With a terrible, angry look, he drove a blade up into her belly and carried her to the ground.“We never cared about you,” he said calmly, twisting the blade up into her ribs with a terrible, scraping pain. “We never?—”

“You’re not real,” she said shakily. As soon as she uttered the words, the pain in her belly dulled, as if she’d merely been pinched. She reached down and yanked the blade out and threw it. The blood pouring from her belly evaporated like red smoke before hitting the ground.

The not-Kova turned to watch the blade disappear into the void. When his head whipped around again,his handsome face split down the middle to reveal that of Armina Voss. She yanked her hand out, and instead of a blade, her long-nailed fingers dripped with blood. Scarlett tried to escape, but her limbs were like concrete.

And still, she could feel that warmth of Shoshanna’s presence.

I’ve got you, Shoshanna had said.

A deafening screech reverberated as the strange void around her rippled, black and gray threads of spidersilk tangled all around and dripping with ichor. Lightning struck, blinding her.

All at once, a kaleidoscope of death swirled around her. She saw herself clutching her head and falling to her knees, a faceless vampire ripping out her throat, a car running her down, lightning striking, and a hundred more visions that slipped through her mind before she could understand what she was seeing.

Searing heat swept over her, and she let out a scream. This was real, this was it, she was dying, and?—

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