Page 22 of The Prince's Curse

“If they free your hands, are you going to kill me?” she said.

“As long as Armina Voss has her hand up his ass like a puppet, absolutely not,” Paris said. “Work with what you’ve got, Miss York.”

Shoshanna looked to Julian as if pleading for help, but he shook his head. With a look that clearly broadcast you fucking jerks, she slid around behind Kova and pushed up the remains of his sleeves. Misha joined her, examining his other arm. The two of them were enrapt.

“Tell me where Armina Voss is,” Shoshanna said, lightly tracing the marks on his left arm.

“I can’t,” Kova said.

“Try,” Julian said sternly, understanding Shoshanna’s intent.

“She lives in—” The other vampire’s back arched with a painful crack, and he swore in Russian.

“Fascinating,” Misha murmured. Kova’s skin had ignited again, those red marks glowing bright. “Tell me what you feel?”

“It fucking hurts,” Kova bit out. “What do you think?”

“Despite your curse?” Paris asked.

Kova nodded. “It’s the only thing I can feel.”

“So you are still cursed,” Shoshanna mused. “I wondered after I broke Lucia’s curse. I think that’s why it was so difficult. Can I look at your chest?”

“I’m all yours,” Kova said wryly. Using a pocketknife, the witch cut through his shirt to examine the marks there. With clinical intensity, she traced the marks while Kova looked away.

“Let me look at something,” Shoshanna said. She put her hands flat against his chest and closed her eyes. For a moment, she nodded as if hearing someone speak, but seconds later, her eyes snapped open, going bright, angry white. And stranger still, those lacy markings seemed to peel away, turning into thorny vines that lashed at her.

“No, no, no,” Misha said, as if they’d done this before. He grabbed her by the waist and yanked her away from Kova. The witch went limp in his arms, but Misha looked up and said, “It’s okay. She’s?—”

“Oh my God,” Shoshanna murmured. Misha held her up while Paris shoved a chair under her trembling form. With a violent shudder, she flung out her hands and started scratching at her arms like she’d just been bitten by insects. Then she slapped one hand to her face, where blood was trickling from her nose. “Shit, shit, I just?—”

Misha fished in his pocket, took out a vial, and pressed it into her hand. Without a word, Shoshanna drank its contents and shuddered. Closing her eyes, she breathed slowly.

Kova cleared his throat. “I mean no offense, but it took Armina weeks to complete the spell, and I’ve been bound for over a hundred years. I doubt it’s the sort of thing you can break with a snap of your fingers, no matter how powerful you are.”

“I just need time,” Shoshanna said, her voice shaking.

“We don’t have time,” Kova said. “She’s going to expect me back soon. And even if I fail, she’s preparing to send Scarlett here after you.”

Of course it wouldn’t be so easy. Shoshanna had changed everything for them, but Julian couldn’t expect her to do it all. The others stared at him, and he held up a hand to take a moment.

He would not lie to himself and say that he believed things would work out. But seeing Kova fighting for Lucia, seeing Shoshanna and Misha and all the others ready to fight… He couldn’t sit back. Doing so was cowardice, and if he was anything in this life, he was not a coward. He had defended Eduardo for centuries, and only in the last few months had he been relegated to the shadows, holding the throne while others fought his battles.

No more.

He cleared his throat. “We let him go. I know you can’t strike at Armina, but can you tell Brigitte—” He shook himself. She wasn’t truly Brigitte, not anymore. “Scarlett. Tell Scarlett to come for us. We’ll give you an address. And then?—”

Kova’s head snapped up. “No more,” he blurted. “Anything you tell me, Armina can get out of me. You know she’s coming. She wants to kill you, and you want to see her. That’s all I need to know.” His eyes were wide as he nodded, as if to say play along. “Let me go. Give me a good fight.”

“I can handle that,” Paris said irritably. Kova smiled, despite the clear threat of violence. “Can we track him somehow?”

Kova said, “Don’t let me hear you!”

Sasha winced and said, “I already broke his phone so they couldn’t track him.”

“You know you can just turn it off,” Misha said mildly.

“I’m still catching up on modern technology,” Sasha replied with a faint smile.

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