Page 27 of The Prince's Curse

Something in her wanted to cut through the dense woods, find the road, and keep running until her legs gave out. And she knew that if she did, her legs would take her south, toward Atlanta, toward him.

She had to get this uncertainty out of her head, and the only way to do that was to deal with Julian Alcott. He was the thundercloud on the horizon, the question mark hanging in her future for nearly thirty years. But sometimes she felt as if Julian stood at the edge of a cliff, and she had been running toward him for her entire life. When she finally struck him down, she would tumble over the edge and into the abyss. The path ended there, and even Kova couldn’t tell her what they might do when it was finally done.

And what if…what if she didn’t kill him? What if she met him and didn’t hate him?

What if she saw him and her body ignited? What if he smiled and kissed her and took over her mind like he did in her dreams? One touch and?—

Pain rattled her as she barreled into a tree. She crumpled to the ground, breathing raggedly, trying not to vomit. Lying on the wet carpet of leaves, she stared up at the canopy and looked for slivers of moonlight between the branches.

As her heart thrummed against her breastbone, she thought of Tante Mina, eyes black as night. She thought of that terrible stake, and the growing number of vampires slinking through the house under the guise of Lux’s experiments.

And Kova, telling her to run, to get away while she could.

Was this all a grand conspiracy to mess with her head? As if she’d heard the doubts rattling around Scarlett’s mind, Mina’s voice rang out. “Scarlett? Dear? Where are you? Come back to the house.”

Her voice was far away, but Scarlett’s dhampir hearing picked it up even deep in the woods. And as she called, Scarlett thought, I won’t. I’m going to run.

But instead, she trudged up the trail and back toward the house. Her legs ached, and an acidic burn pooled in her lungs from the exertion. When she reached the house, she found her aunt standing on the back patio with a frown on her face.

“Where have you been?” she scolded.

“Out running,” Scarlett said. “I needed some air.”

“You should be resting.”

Always the doting, maternal figure, as if she was still a child. Suddenly, the overbearing attention felt stifling, rather than comforting. “I needed some air,” Scarlett repeated.

The older woman’s eyebrow arched, and there was a hint of something dark on the wind, an unpleasant scent of magic. Then she nodded and said, “Come into my workshop. We need to discuss our plans.”

Reluctantly, Scarlett followed her into the house. It was quiet, but thick smell of Kova’s blood made her uneasy. “Is Kova all right?” she asked.

“He’s fine,” Mina said absently. When they reached the workshop, she closed the door firmly behind her. Her spacious workshop, always neat as a pin, adjoined a sitting room and library. She followed her aunt into the sitting room, watching as she slowly settled onto the couch.

“Are you feeling all right?” Scarlett asked.

The other woman glanced up and smiled. “I’m fine. Dealing with this witch is taking a toll on me.”

And it had; Scarlett hadn’t said anything, since her aunt was vain about her looks. Her dark hair and elegant clothes made her look much younger than she was, her face not showing the lines of an older woman. But now there were dark circles under her eyes, and a faint tremor occasionally gripped her hands. She moved stiffly, as if her joints were grinding down to bone.

“Did Kova kill her?” Scarlett asked.

Mina shook her head. “He failed.” She sighed. “No, he chose to fail.”

“What do you mean?”

“He took one look at her big brown eyes and decided he couldn’t bring himself to kill her,” Mina said bitterly.

“Maybe he had his reasons,” she said.

“His reasons are being a wretched, sentimental coward,” Mina snapped.

The heat in her tone felt like a slap in the face, and Scarlett shrank back. “So what will you do?”

“I gave him a simple task and he failed it, and I must trust that my apprentices will do better,” Mina seethed. “Lux will go to Atlanta soon, along with Mr. Shea. They will deal with her. “

Her stomach twisted into a knot. “Why don’t I go?”

“Because it is not time for you to go,” Mina said.

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