Page 56 of The Prince's Curse

Julian cleared his throat. “No. She’s alive and well.”

At that, Scarlett looked up and said, “That’s what he meant.” Her eyes welled over, and she scrubbed at them before continuing, “When Kova came back, he didn’t tell me the specifics, but he told me that Shoshanna had given him hope things could get better. Is that what he meant? That she was alive?”

Paris nodded. “That’s it.”

“And what was he to you?” she asked, meeting Julian’s eyes.

“He was our brother. Part of our family,” Julian said. “Until he came to town with you a few months ago, we thought he was dead.”

“Do you want him back?”

That’s complicated, he thought. The loss still stung, especially the way Kova had left them to think he had taken his own life. But knowing that Kova had sacrificed himself for Lucia changed everything. Julian had tried to do the same, so he could hardly fault the man.And from the sound of it, Kova had protected Scarlett, maybe even planted the seed of doubt that had brought her here. If anyone could forgive Kova, it was Julian.

“Yes, we do,” Julian said.

She nodded eagerly. “Okay. Then we go to her house in Charlotte and break him out.”

“It won’t bother you to act against Armina?” Misha asked.

“I never said that. But it’ll bother me more to leave Kova there to die.” Then she glanced around. “Do you have some paper and a pen?”

And just like that, she was in. He watched in wonder as she drew them a respectable sketch of Armina Voss’s house, a sprawling mansion somewhere near Charlotte. It was odd to think that the witch had just been a few hours from them, that Scarlett had grown up mere hours away.

She noted entrances and windows, marking the locations she thought would be thebest points of entry if they had to break in.

“What kind of magic protection is on the house?” Misha asked.

“I don’t know how it works, but I know she has all kinds of spells around the perimeter of the house. I think her workshop has extra protections. None of the vampires go in there,” Scarlett said. “The apprentices and I have jewelry that marks us as safe to enter.”

“Just like Lux with Shea’s barrier,” Misha commented.

“Yeah. She learned from Armina, so that makes sense,” she said. Then her face fell. “Except that mine is in my bag, which is still at the hotel. I hope they didn’t get to it.”

“We’ll deal with that later,” Julian said.

“We have the ones that we took from Georgina and the assholes working for Shea,” Paris said. “Three of them. Would those work?”

Scarlett shrugged. Misha frowned and said, “If they’re linked to a specific spell or a specific witch, it might not. Those would be bound to…Lux, I believe?”

Scarlett wrinkled her nose. “She’s the one who worked with Shea, I guess.”

Misha shook his head. “They might work, but if it’s possible, we should get Scarlett’s. We know that one works.”

“We could go back to my hotel during daylight,” Scarlett said. “Then Shea will be weaker, at least.”

“So will we,” Paris said.

Her brow arched. “You’re aware that I’m not a damsel in distress, right?”

Julian put up a hand. “No one thinks you’re weak. But we’d rather not risk you,” he said. I’d rather not.

“I have an advantage. My aunt—Armina—wants me home, not dead. At least not yet,” she said, her expression faltering. “Let’s go back during the day.”

“We could have Jonas accompany her,” Paris said. “If you don’t mind a mission with a former coworker.”

She shrugged. “Maybe a few weeks ago I would have felt differently, but the world is upside down. Call him, and let’s move around one.”

Paris nodded and said, “I’m on it.”

---