Page 99 of The Prince's Curse

“Because they have no survival instinct. They follow their orders until they’re done or they die,” Misha said. He cleared his throat. “Is this something she could do to us?”

“Or to Rhys,” Julian murmured. “Could she have bound him?”

Kova shrugged. “I don’t know. As far as I know, all of them were Carrigan Shea’s Vessels or part of his court. His blood had something to do with it.”

Julian shifted uncomfortably as the others turned to stare at him. “I guess we’re safe for a while, given that she wants me to live long enough to see Scarlett die.” Scarlett shifted uncomfortably, and he lifted his chin. “What else does she want?”

“Other than to make sure Scarlett dies? She wants the rest of us to continue to suffer. And Shoshanna York has very much gotten in her way,” Kova said, glancing down the table at the human witch. Her fingers tightened around her glass. “And it’s not just a wounded ego. For months, she’s been having trouble controlling her magic like she did before. Something about the threads being unstable. Do you know what she means?”

Shoshanna frowned. “Part of Armina’s magic relies on binding these spirits… I call them fati aranaeum, but they’re sort of like a manifestation of fate, at least as I understand it. And they don’t like being bound. In fact, several of them gave me knowledge when I broke the curses, like they were finding a loophole to get revenge on her. It’s possible that by returning to their natural order, they’re making her magic harder to control.”

“No offense to you, because I support anything you do to make her miserable. But she’s not happy with you, and she wants you dead,” Kova said. “And she knows where you live.”

Alistair covered Shoshanna’s hand with his. His jaw ticked, and Kova knew he wanted to make a bold claim. But there was that bloody, fanged elephant in the room. Kova had very nearly killed him; the only reason Alistair was still alive was because Armina hadn’t given the direct order to kill him, only Shoshanna.

“If I had to guess, I’d say that Armina will come here to make sure she finishes what she started with Scarlett. And then she’s going to do whatever she can to hurt the rest of us,” Kova said. “She has two apprentices, both of which you’ve met. Lux is the stronger of the two. She helped Carrigan Shea and built a security spell for him. She was tangled up in his court at the end, and she talked him into starting the binding spells. Apparently she told him she was going to make him stronger than any vampire alive, and that made her job much easier in the end. Stupid bastard,” he said, shaking his head. “Stella’s younger. She’s only been with Armina for a few years. She’s got a lot of raw power from what I can tell, but I don’t think she’s entirely onboard with what Armina’s doing. Lux is the one to worry about. And of course, she’s got her hunters.”

“And the curse?” Shoshanna asked. “I can barely even look at Scarlett without the magic drowning me out. I think we might be able to dampen it like we did with you, but it’s so much stronger. Having her books helps, but if you know anything…”

“Sorry, but magic is way out of my league,” Kova said.

“We think it could change after her birthday,” Misha said. His brow furrowed as he looked at Scarlett. “Sorry. Your birthday. Given that in the past, it’s always been afterward, I wonder if there’s a protective element that lasts until Armina is ready to strike.”

Scarlett was quiet. “Well, you can find out tomorrow,” she said. The others looked to her slowly. “Tomorrow is my birthday. Assuming she told me the truth.”

A cold chill settled over Julian. Of course it was. Something in his mind had been trying to block it out, but they were nearly here.

Paris nodded to her. “Shoshanna, could you make some sort of protection for her? Like a shield?”

“If she was a house, sure,” Shoshanna said wryly. “People are far more complicated, even the ones without ancient curses. It would be betterto focus my energy on untangling her curse,”

“But…” Paris sighed. “Forgive me for laying out everyone’s business, but the time has passed to be coy. In the past, you needed a soulmate bond strong enough to use. Is their bond not already strong enough? He’s loved her for a hundred and eighty years. If you could fix Sasha after four weeks with no memory and no fucking, surely you can do this.”

“Paris,” Sasha complained, shaking his head as he took a drink.

The casual words were a fist to the gut, and Julian looked over to see Scarlett’s eyes widen. Her heart raced, although her face remained stoic.

“Their bond is incredibly strong,” Shoshanna said without hesitation. And even knowing what he had felt for all these years, hearing her say it still filled him with relief that it was real, not just the obsession of a grief-stricken mind. “The problem is that I have to be able to see the shape of the magic. It takes time, and none of you were anywhere near as complex as this. And we’re back to the original problem, which is that I can barely look at her without losing my grip on reality.”

Scarlett cleared her throat. “She’s right. Don’t waste time trying to protect me if you think you can break it.”

“It wouldn’t be wasted time,” Julian said quietly.

“I’ll get to work on it. I need to sleep after helping Kova, but if you guys can come see me this evening, I’ll get to work. Misha stockpiled some of the pagos when he made it for Kova. It could take me a while, but I’m ready,” Shoshanna said.

Julian nodded. “Then get to it. We’re at your disposal.”

Chapter 24

Scarlett had spent enough time with Kova over the years to know that his sour expression and snappy tone had nothing to do with the situation and everything to do with the fact that it was past ten in the morning and the sun was burning bright beyond the tinted windows. She and Olivia didn’t mind, but the three male vampires crowded into the big conference room were in an informal contest for the worst attitude.

It certainly hadn’t helped that their drive out to the suburbs had been a shitshow. Upon leaving the parking garage under Infinity, they had to take a detour to avoid the burst water main that was flooding the nearby streets.

After a late-night drive to the sprawling, dated compound in the suburbs, Julian had whisked her into the administrative building, which made her feel like she was back at school. A brief argument over security ensued, after which Julian finally told the others if Armina was going to find them, she was going to find them either way.

At Paris’s insistence, Julian had gone to bed to sleep off the residual impact of Armina’s magic. Dominic had eyed Scarlett and Kova warily over a cup of coffee, apparently refusing to leave Olivia alone with them.

They’d gone through Kova’s list of four safehouses. Scarlett vaguely remembered traveling to one of them after leaving Atlanta the first time, but had never been to the other three. Together, they’d used online maps to look at the surrounding areas to plan reconnaissance missions. While looking at a small townhouse in Charlotte, Scarlett asked, “Why don’t we just go now?”

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