Page 26 of The Prince's Curse

That was Kova.

Forgetting that she was a sweaty mess, she bolted across the house, following the sound of his voice and the smell of…the smell of blood. That drew her to the basement.

Her stomach churned as she took in the grisly scene. She had rarely ventured down here; this was the territory of Tante Mina and her apprentices. But it was never locked; she stayed away out of respect, not an inability to get in.

Dim lights cast a hazy glow across the acid-stained concrete floor. One wall was occupied by metal shelves laden with black plastic crates, full of supplies for Tante Mina and her apprentices. Along the far wall were three barred cells, each bar glowing with runes of her aunt’s magic. At the moment, only one was occupied. In the center cage was Shea,who watched with a look of fascination on his face, crimson-scarred arms crossed over his broad chest. A chill prickled down her spine at the sight of him.

He flashed a look at her, then looked back to the center of the room, where Kova lay across a rough-hewn stone table, stripped to the waist.

Her friend.

Dark bruises marked his bare chest and arms. One eye was swollen shut, and there was a terrible open wound in his side.And Mina was not tending to him; she was hurting him. Her thin bejeweled fingers danced over his chest, igniting those red marks as his whole body jolted in pain.

“Kova?” Scarlett said.

Her aunt’s head snapped around, and she could have sworn she felt a winter wind biting at her skin. The older woman’s deep black eyes seemed to pull Scarlett in, threatening to drown her in that darkness. “Go upstairs,” her aunt’s voice rang out, echoing impossibly loud in the concrete basement.

And yet, she hesitated. Kova wouldn’t just walk away if she was hurt. “Is he okay?” she asked shakily.

“Go upstairs,” Mina hissed.

“Let the apprentice learn,” Shea said with a low chuckle. There was a whipcrack sound, and he recoiled, both arms glowing bright with his binding marks. His voice rumbled in his chest, and then he coughed violently before spitting out blood. “My apologies,” he bit out.

Unease gripped Scarlett as she stepped closer. It was one thing to wrestle Shea into submission, but why Kova? He had always been their ally.“What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m taking care of him,” Mina said.

Kova let out a bitter laugh, arching against the bindings. Blood pattered to the ground, and it smelled off, somehow, tainted by magic. “Just go, zaika, You can’t help me,” he said.

“I will not ask you again,” Mina said.

The coldness of her aunt’s voice sent a chill prickling down her spine. Scarlett backed away, then ran up the stairs. From below she heard Kova laughing again, but it was a terrible, tortured sound that made her think of madness. Then another awful cry, chased by a laugh in a manic song that repeated again and again.

In a mad dash, she ran through the house and out the front door. Her hair whipped in the wind as she sprinted across the dark expanse of the lawn, down to the edge of the property and onto the rocky trail where she often ran with Kova. This time, there was no predatory vampire on her heels, ready to tear out her throat.

Reality was chasing her. Something was very wrong, and seeing Tante Mina hurting Kova was only the most recent mark in the wrong column.

For the last three nights, she’d been dreaming of Julian. That wasn’t unusual; for years, she’d dreamed of him hunting her, trying to finish off the one he couldn’t kill. But these recent dreams were lovely, making it a disappointment to wake up each day.

One night, they walked hand-in-hand through a field of brilliant red flowers, and he kissed her cheek before telling her to come home. Another night, a bit more mischievous, he’d chased her through a strange house, through winding corridors and spiral stairs, before he caught her. And instead of screaming in terror, she’d giggled in delight as he hiked up her skirts, bent her over a nearby table, and fucked her like both their lives depended on it. She’d woken from that one a sweating, flushed mess, and had no choice but to finish the job herself in the shower while wondering what the hell had gotten into her.

Not a single dream ended with her throat ripped out, and she kept hearing his voice.

Come home.

Come to me.

Come back to me.

Not just that. He called her Brigitte. She didn’t know anyone named Brigitte, but it was music on his lips. And stranger still, it felt natural. It felt like home.

Perhaps the other witch had permanently screwed up her brain, because these dreams were beginning to feel right. She was supposed to go to him. Julian was home, not this place that felt more and more like a prison.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself harder, her heart thundering in her chest. Maybe Shoshanna York was just that devious and skilled. Her magic felt like warmth and light, leaving a sweet lingering scent that lulled Scarlett into a false sense of peace and complacency.

Real power takes sacrifice, Tante Mina once told her, but those words had never sat well with Scarlett. And watching Kova—her friend, her ally for as long as she could remember—writhing in pain with blood dripping from his fingers…

This wasn’t right.

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