Page 151 of The Prince's Curse

His red eyes widened, and he pointed at her hand. “Take a breath.”

She looked up to see those bright seams spreading on her skin again. Alice’s voice echoed in her mind. What should have been woven. Staring at her hand, she envisioned a flame, then snapped her fingers. A spark flickered, then faded away. “Breaking the curse left something with me,” she said.

“If I release you, are you going to break my neck?” he asked.

“I really want to,” she huffed. “But that would be selfish. Maybe later.”

A smile tugged his lips, and he released her wrists. “Can you control that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I just shut Jordan Cole down like flipping a switch. You sure you don’t want extra help if she’s got your people?”

He pressed his hands to his temples. “I can’t lose you,” he said quietly.

“And I don’t want to lose you,” she said. The heat in her hands was growing, and she clenched her fists tight. “Get off me. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

With a sigh, he eased off her, heading for the door.

“Julian?”

He turned back.

“If you try that again, I will break your neck,” she said. “Soulmate or not.”

Chapter 35

He descended the stairs and found Safira waiting in the lobby of the main building. Her face was still bruised, her veins bulging from the wood poison. “The kids are all yours,” he joked weakly.

“What’s left of them,” she said solemnly. Her jaw ticked. “I want to go with you.”

“I need you here. If I fall, you and Nikko have to keep them together. Make sure Olivia survives the transition,” he said.

Her hand brushed the back of her neck idly. If he died, the Covenant would shatter, leaving what survived of their ragged little band in disorder. Safira was strong enough to keep her sanity, and she’d deal with the others well enough until they figured out a solution.

Her brow furrowed. “Don’t talk like that.”

“It should have been you or Paris from the beginning,” he said, cupping her cheek. He leaned in to kiss her brow, and she held his hands firmly.

“Please come back. Don’t hand yourself off to her unless it’s the only way,” Safira said. She pulled back, forcing him to look into her eyes. “You have something to live for now. Don’t give it up. Come back to us. Think of what this court will be one day.”

He nodded to her. Her pretty eyes widened as she watched Scarlett coming down the stairs. “Did you—” she mouthed.

“Didn’t work,” he whispered. Dread pooled in his belly as he pulled back from Safira. Scarlett was dressed in black, a backpack slung over her shoulder. She barely looked at him as she strolled past. Her red hair hung long and loose over her back.

So much for Paris’s bright plan. All he wanted was for her to be safe. After all of this, she had to have a chance at life. How stupid would it be to risk so much to break the curse, only for her to die at Armina’s hands anyway?

Even now, he considered turning on her, hooking his arm around that soft throat, and holding it until unconsciousness took her. It wouldn’t take long, would barely hurt.

And when she woke up a few minutes later, she’d break her way through to get to him. She’d made that much clear.

What would Eduardo do?

Outside, she nodded to Kova and spoke quietly to him. He took her bag and tossed it into the back of the SUV.

Scarlett was ferocious in a way that Brigitte hadn’t been, but that stubborn loyalty was just the same. She cared for his family, would probably grow to love them if she survived.

And it didn’t matter what Eduardo would do.

He was not Eduardo. He was his own man, and if fate had seen fit to free her from the curse, then perhaps fate had something left for them.

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