Page 126 of The Prince's Curse

Cold water splashed her face, and she gasped as the shock of it brought her back to awareness.She gasped for air, staring up at Shoshanna’s sweat-sheened face. She looked concerned. “Are you okay? You’re here. Everything’s fine.”

“I’m okay,”Scarlett said. Her stomach lurched, and she quickly sat up, reaching for the too-familiar trash bin. At least there was nothing to throw up after… How long had they been at this? It felt like weeks. Her stomach lurched again, and her vision flashed red as her body jolted.

This is still better than dying, she reminded herself.

When she glanced back, Shoshanna rested on her knees, hands pressed to her temples.

“Are you okay?” Scarlett asked.

The witch nodded, but her heart thrummed dangerously fast. “My head is killing me.”

Guilt swept through her. “Should I get Misha?”

“I need Ruby’s tea. There’s some already brewed in the fridge,” Shoshanna said, voice trembling.

With several huge doses of the pagos in her system, Scarlett was unsteady on her feet, but she gripped the bannisters tight and crept downstairs. Misha and Kova were downstairs working; Misha was carving another enchanted blade for someone in the court while Kova carefully carved runes into wooden bullets at his direction. They’d been loitering in the workshop, but after the third or fourth round of Scarlett waking up in a panic, their hovering and fussing had driven Shoshanna over the edge. She’d finally snapped, “You two both have supernatural hearing. If something goes wrong, I’ll call for you. Can you find something else to do that isn’t here?”

And for once, Alistair was away from the house. Julian had called him on duty to patrol the city since Sasha and Kristina were incommunicado. She’d heard Misha and Kova murmuring about it, but with Shoshanna up to her metaphysical elbows in Scarlett’s soul, she hadn’t really been able to investigate further.

As she trudged across the kitchen, she heard the two vampires talking in Russian downstairs. Despite all the turmoil, she was happy that Kova had finally been reunited with his family.

She fetched Shoshanna’s tea, helpfully labeled in a large plastic cup, along with a bottle of water and some snack crackers from the cabinet.It felt like far too little for all the witch was doing.

But this was what she had to do. This curse was not a target she could stalk and assassinate. And trusting someone else, even a kind and genuine soul like Shoshanna, was infinitely harder than a kill shot.

Slowly climbing the stairs, Scarlett drew deep breaths to calm herself. They were close. And still, she had a deep, disquieting fear that Shoshanna would finish her work only to say that there was no breaking the curse, that it was far beyond her capabilities. And that would mean that after everything, Scarlett was screwed.

Logic told her there was no sense in worrying about something like that; she had absolutely no control over it. But that didn’t make it any easier to climb the stairs, knowing that grim news might await.

The upstairs hallway was dark.Shoshanna had turned off the lights and was sitting in a cozy chair in the corner.Her eyes were bloodshot when she looked up and took the large cup from Scarlett. As she drank, she wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Ruby still hasn’t gotten it quite palatable,” she rasped. Her pretty eyes were sunken in shadow, her hair tousled.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Too much magic,” Shoshanna said. Then she beckoned. As Scarlett approached, she realized there was an unpleasant, acrid scent underlying the lovely vanilla scent of Shoshanna’s magic. But the woman pointed to the large pad of paper she’d been working on. “I was so close, I had to stay in.”

“You mean?—”

“I finished mapping it,” Shoshanna said proudly, running her hand over the large sheet of paper. Intricate whorls and shapes intersected in a dizzying pattern. Merely looking at it made Scarlett feel like she was falling, with water roaring in her ears.

Blinking furiously, Scarlett looked away and said, “So you’re done?”

“The hard part is done. Now I just have to build the counterspell. No more digging around in your head until it’s time to break it,” she said.

“And you think you can?”

“I better be able to,” Shoshanna said with a laugh, then immediately winced.

“Are you going to be okay? Do I need to get Alistair back home?”

Shoshanna shook her head. “No. I promise I’m fine. I pushed it a little too much, but regardless of how much you all worry, I do know my limits.” She ran her hand over the paper again. “This one’s going to be tricky, but you and Julian have such a strong bond, and that’s going to help.”

“It’s strange to hear that it’s so strong given how little time we’ve been together,” Scarlett said.

“Well, for you,” Shoshanna said wistfully. “He’s loved you for a long time. And it’s definitely stronger after you two…well, you know.”

Her cheeks heated. “How did you know?”

“I’ve never seen Julian Alcott look that happy,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t be embarrassed. This is one big nosy-ass family. And Ithink half the court has hooked up in one of our guest rooms at this point. I was?—”

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