Page 140 of The Prince's Curse

“Shh,” Misha said.

“Take her hand,” Shoshanna said, beckoning to Julian without looking up. “I need you.”

He jumped into the spot that she’d showed him in her briefing, kneeling next to his lover. Her hand was ice cold in his grasp, and he swallowed back his terror even as visions of her death crowded his mind.

You’re here, wouldn’t it just be like Armina Voss to kill her on the brink of salvation, wouldn’t?—

“I’m here,” he said, shoving back that cold, harsh voice. He clasped her hand tight, then shivered at the sense of cold piercing his chest. Their bond, usually so warm and reassuring, was icy and wet, slithering around in his chest.

I’ve never seen anything like it, Shoshanna had told him.

Perhaps his soul was tired and his hope was in shreds, but his love had never failed. “I love you,” he said quietly, smiling as he conjured the image of her grinning at him across a crowd for that first time. He remembered how she’d leaned in for that shy kiss a week ago, and then the way she’d looked up at him as they tumbled into a heap in Armina’s house when he’d thought to rescue her. Always that smile, always that twinkle in bright green eyes. Always that spark of hope, no matter how bad things became.

It seemed that he’d barely closed his eyes when her fingers twitched in his palm. “Come on,” he said quietly. “I’m here. Come home to me.”

A stronger twitch, and he opened his eyes to see her shifting slightly, her lips moving silently.

Cold surged through the room, and Shoshanna gasped. “Something’s…”

Scarlett’s body arched away from the floor, and there was a deafening sound like a thousand glass panes breaking at once. The icy sensation in his chest intensified, threatening to burst through him and rip him to frozen shreds.

Shoshanna fell back, breathing raggedly. Amidst the roaring noise, he couldn’t hear anything, but saw Misha at her side.

Scarlett’s eyes were black and bottomless, and her veins bulged black as if that magic was poisoning her. He acted on sheer instinct and grabbed her, cradling her close as she trembled. “I’m here. I love you, and I’m not letting her have you,” he said, again and again until it was a nonsense mantra.

His mind flooded with nightmares again, but they were twisted and distorted. Sometimes he saw her in his arms, and sometimes he saw himself, as if he’d slipped into her mind. Everything was blood and ash, corpse-blue lips and dim dark eyes, and he sank into grim despair as he lost hope, as he accepted that it was all pointless.

“No,” he said aloud. “I love you, and I’m not letting her have you. You are mine and you will stay here with me.”

White exploded in his vision, and his body seared with a hot-cold that he couldn’t comprehend. Scarlett’s heart raced against his chest, her arms squeezing him so tight his bones creaked in protest.

And then she gasped. Firm hands clasped his cheeks, and he looked down at her green eyes, bright and clear. She was gasping for air, but she was awake and alive. “I’m here.” It lilted like a question.

“You’re here,” he said, barely holding his composure.

“Shoshanna,” Misha said loudly. “Shit, shit. Shoshanna? Can you hear me?”

Across the room, Shoshanna was shaking violently, with twisted tendrils of reddish black wrapped around her arms. The light in her spell suddenly surged, and Shoshanna let out an awful scream, the death-cry of a prey animal. The overhead lights shattered, raining down glass on them, and she went still.

“No!” Julian protested, reaching for her across the brilliant light.

“She’s alive,” Misha said, holding him back with a stop gesture. Then his head cocked. “Someone’s here.”

Julian’s watch buzzed, and he looked down to see an alert in red. Perimeter breached.

Though she made no sound, Shoshanna’s lips moved, her hands twitching like she was still doing magic. Her widened eyes glowed painfully bright.

“Her security spells,” Scarlett said quietly. “This happened before.” She stared at her hands, which were streaked with glowing red lines, as if her skin was cracking over lava. “What is this?”

Misha swore in Russian, then slammed another bloodstone into the ground before grabbing Shoshanna. Red light flared in his eyes as he yanked her away, stepping into another section of the floor where another spell was drawn. They’d prepared for everything, though they’d hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. “I’ve got them. Go help,” he said to Julian. “Scarlett, stay put. You’re grounded right where you are.”

Fury washed over him in a searing wave. He kissed Scarlett’s brow and said, “Stay here.”

Could he not have one moment to savor this? She was free—and he could not even kiss her lips without the fucking witch showing up to ruin his happiness.

He sprinted down the hall and leaped down the stairs, finding Alistair at the door with his teeth bared.

“Someone’s here,” they said in unison.

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