Page 73 of The Prince's Curse

She was still wearing the clothes she’d had on earlier, though her weapons were gone. With a burst of excitement, she shoved her free hand into her jacket, finding the distinct hard shape of the tracker there.

Who would have ever thought she’d be relieved at the thought of vampires coming to get her? Hell, who’d have ever thought she’d run away from Tante Mina and into the arms of her worst enemy?

Voices murmured downstairs, barely audible through the floor. Then feet on the stairs, coming closer and closer until the door swung open.She shrank back at the sight of her aunt. Close behind her was Stella, carrying a tray with her gaze downcast.

“My sweet girl,” Tante Mina said. The warm tone that would have been so comforting just weeks ago scraped at her nerves. She gestured toward the bed. “Please sit. You need to let the drugs wear off. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have sent your apprentice to drug me then,” she snapped.

Mina’s dark eyes flew open. “Scarlett!”

“Don’t you mean Brigitte?”

Her aunt smiled, but it was a brittle mask that didn’t quite hide the emotions swirling behind it. “I don’t know what lies those vampires shoved into that clever mind, but it’s over now. Have a seat so I can look at your face.”

“No,” Scarlett said.

Her nostrils flared, and her eyes glinted as she commanded, “Sit.”

The shackle on her wrist ignited with faint blue light, and while she felt no pain, there was a distinct tug at her spine, a command she couldn’t resist. Scarlett plopped onto the bed and glared at the witch.

Stella lingered in the doorway while Mina sat on the edge of the bed. Taking a cloth from her pocket, she gently dabbed at Scarlett’s face. “He was far too rough with you. I’ll punish him for it,” she said.

Her brown eyes were warm again, so familiar. When she was young and training with Kova, Mina would tend to her scrapes and cuts. There was no cooing poor baby then, just a quiet reassurance that she would heal and be stronger next time.

Even after all Julian and the others had told her, it was hard to retain that suspicion when she was here in her aunt’s presence, amid everything that was familiar. This woman had raised her. Armina Voss was the closest to a mother she’d ever had.

The older woman reached out, gently combing through her tangled hair and laying it gently against her shoulders. “Why did you leave?” Mina asked quietly. She gestured quickly, and Stella scurried forward to set the tray on the nightstand. Slowly, Mina poured two cups of tea, then slid one to Scarlett.

“I thought I would kill Julian,” Scarlett said.

“But I told you that you weren’t ready. I was very clear,” Mina said.

“Why do you get to decide?” Scarlett said.

Her brows arched. “Because I know you, my love. I know the business of vampire hunting, and most importantly, I know Julian Alcott. You cannot just take off without my guidance, and?—”

“I met him,” she said. “And he didn’t want to kill me. He just wanted to talk to me.”

He was nothing like what you said. You lied to me, she thought vehemently.

The witch shook her head. “And what lies did he spin? Don’t tell me you let a four-hundred-year-old vampire sway you from your path. You know better than that.”

“He told me that he killed someone you loved, and that he understood why you were in pain. And that you had taken out your rage on someone he loved,” she said. “And he said?—”

He said that he loved me. That I was alive a long time ago and we were lovers.

Even in the quiet of her mind, it sounded utterly crazy. But it wasn’t a fear of sounding silly that held her tongue. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Mina that she’d wanted to kiss him, that she had kissed him and when her lips were on his, she believed every word he said. Somehow, itfelt like she had to protect that sweet kiss and the vampire himself.

“He said that he wished it hadn’t happened that way, but they were at war. He said he was protecting his people just like the Shieldsmen were doing,” she said instead.

Mina’s breath hitched, her hand trembling as she set down her cup. “Well, I suppose even vampire bastards can tell the truth occasionally. He did not just kill my Tobias. He let his men torture him to death.” Her eyes held Scarlett’s. Her voice was shaking, and the room grew colder by the second. “Tobias was a good man. He killed many vampires, but he was always merciful, no matter how much blood they had spilled. When the men under his leadership were killed, he made sure that their widows were provided for. He was trying to make the world safer, and his reward was an agonizing death at the hands of three bastards who should have burned for what they did.”

“And so you killed the woman he loved?”

“I did no such thing. Fate works in mysterious ways, my child,” Mina said with a faint smile, as if she was remembering some subtle joke.

Her throat tightened. “I am not your child. And I think you lied to me about my mother, for that matter.”

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