Page 112 of The Bones of the Cursed

Viros takes the ashes, sprinkling them on the floor of the healing hall, then lights a candle beside Alanis’s body. “I think Leena knows more than any of us. Always in the background, doing Iclas’s bidding. She saw more than any of us even know.”

The Goddesses link hands with Viros, the three casting their powers onto the ashes before them. The ashes catch fire, smoke swirling into a funnel that stretches to the ceiling. They step back. When the ashes settle, Leena stands there, looking confused as hell.

Elion stares in awe. He races to her, grasping her face and kissing her roughly.

A lightness fills my body watching the reunion, but it is soon followed by a bitter taste. Why her? Why could she come back and not Alanis?

“Why am I here? How?” Leena’s voice is soft but shaky.

Ames explains everything to her. Her head whips towards Alanis’s body, tears falling as she passes a gentle finger over her cheek. The same cheek with a faint scar from her Banshee nails.

“Tell us everything you know about Alanis,” Ames orders, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Leena takes a breath, carefully sitting in the vacant chair opposite me. Perhaps coming back to life hurts. “I watched Iclas torture my mother for decades. I listened to her weep as he raped her repeatedly.”

My father flinches at hearing what his sister endured, and he clutches my mother’s hand.

“He was so focused on the fact that she abandoned their mating bond that I’m not sure he even realized he wasn’t acting out of love. He wanted to possess her. To own her. When he cursed me with the black magic, my mother fell into depression. She slowly withered away, but he made sure she still survived, no matter how horribly. When Odessa disappeared, he lost his mind. He thought she was the key, so he sent Orion to hunt her down.”

“Orion,” the king repeats. “How long has he worked for him?”

Leena shrugs. “Since the beginning. Orion is his best friend. He was working in Weynmar at the time of the curse. He sooninfiltrated the King’s Guard, working undercover for Iclas.”

My father swears, and I almost want to laugh. Not very kingly of him.

“Orion found Odessa. He and a few of the kidnapped Fae Iclas brainwashed snuck up on her in an alleyway. They were supposed to bring her back, not kill her. But something went wrong.”

I can hear Viros’s heart thundering in his chest. His mate died because of Iclas’s greed. His daughter died because of Iclas’s greed. His anger grows, overtaking every other emotion in the room.

My father tenses, feeling the shift.

“I want his head on a fucking spike,” Viros spits. “I want his soul dragged to Hell and tortured, Ames.”

The God of Hell simply smiles, and the sight freezes my blood. No wonder he is the most feared God.

“Please continue,” Caselia orders Leena, who reaches for Elion’s hand before continuing.

“When Orion returned and told him she died, he lost it. He tortured my mother to the point she became nothing more than a shell. Her brain was so severely damaged she was catatonic. I then became his outlet. He didn’t torture me nearly as much, but he used my body as he saw fit.”

Elion grows tense, but doesn’t seem surprised. The two must have spent quite a bit of time sharing secrets.

“The day he realized the tug was back is when he found Alanis. He realized who she was.Whatshe was. He reached out to a Witch. The same one who helped him with all his other dark spells.”

“What did this Witch do?” Kailu asks, his voice more tired than I’ve ever heard.

Leena’s voice drops to a whisper. “She made a loophole, so even if Iclas failed in stopping Alanis from sacrificing herself, hecould still unleash the curse upon the land. Could still unleashhiscurse.”

My blood is at a boiling point. Uncontrollable sorrow and anger mix together into a potent cocktail. “How? He can’t join with Alanis and drink her blood. She’s gone.”

Leena’s hollow gaze meets mine. “The dark Witch placed a curse on her, shielding her soul.”

Ryta curses. What worries me more is the pale complexion on the face of Hell himself.

“You can’t mean—” Caselia starts, but Leena cuts in with a damning explanation.

“The curse shields her soul. Meaning when she died, the curseclaimedher soul. Most likely, it led her soul back to the one who cursed her.”

Elion looks as confused as I feel. “What does this mean?”

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