Page 59 of The Bones of the Cursed

Malakai, content with her answer, joins me. I stare at him, loving the way he is dark to Kailu’s light. The ruthless, bad boy prince, who rumors swirl around the realm about, is my mate.

“Keep looking at me like that and you won’t be finishing your breakfast.”

My cheeks redden and I bite my lip, dropping my gaze. WhenI finally look up, Kailu is glancing between us with a knowing smirk on his face.

After breakfast, the king leads us down a flight of stairs to a metal door. I watch as he makes a pattern, seeing a smoky sort of haze at his fingertips, as if his magic were alive and infiltrating the lock itself. After a moment, the door clicks open and we step over the threshold. The archives are massive, boasting rows upon rows of records. The room is at least fifty feet wide and sixty foot long. The shelves stretch as far back as the room allows. The smell of must, parchment, and wood lingers in the room, as well as a sweeter scent like vanilla. The king immediately leads us to a row near the back of the room and pulls a brown, wooden box down, the shape perfectly square.

“This is the one that will have any information about the Isle.”

We settle in and get to work. Hannah and Siveral join us for about an hour, Hendrix coming shortly after.

Captain Thelos barges into the room sometime around noon, Malakai’s father following close behind with a look of concern. “Siveral, Hendrix, I need your assistance.”

Kailu stands abruptly, Malakai following suit. “What is it?”

The captain looks disheveled and much older than when I first met him not so long ago. “Another ghoul attack, this time in Levanthius.”

Malakai tenses. “How bad?”

The captain shakes his head. “The threat is still ongoing. Safe to say at least a dozen casualties. More soldiers have been taken.”

Hendrix and Siveral quickly depart. Kailu pauses for a moment before placing a kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to go help. I’ll be back soon.”

Panic slides into my body. He must be able to tell because he pulls me into him for a tight hug. “I’ll see you soon,” he whispers.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod. “Be safe.”

I just pray that isn’t the last time I see his warm smile.

The king follows Kailu out.

Malakai grabs my hand, continuing to hold it as we scan the remnants of the box. There’s a notebook at the bottom that looks to be a journal. When I open it, I see that it belonged to Paliri, as if she kept it to write about her daily life, but it’s the sketch that falls out that catches my eye. Queen Paliri was beautiful.

An entry near the end gives me pause.

Iclas asked to meet with me again. He is angry I moved the royal family so far away, but I couldn’t stay on the Isle anymore. Forced to live so close to the man I loved, but unable to have him. My father didn’t care. He didn’t care that Iclas was my mate. I felt this tug that led me into town to the market. That’s when I saw him. As soon as I did, the tug faded away, as if I had found the one my soul was calling to. Iclas and I spent so much time together. I truly loved him.

My father didn’t care. He had no royal blood, so I was still forced to marry another, my father uncaring about what the Fates wanted for me. He did not believe that I was fated to this male. That the Fates would ever mate our bloodline with someone so beneath us.

The only way to go on was for me to leave, so I didn’t have to see him every day. It was a coward’s choice, but one I needed to make. But Iclas won’t ever forgive me. He opened a portal in the Golden Vale. I warned him against such magic, but he was insistent. He said it would never close and begged me to come. He said it would lead directly to him so that we can finallyaccept our mating bond.

He thinks I abandoned him because I never met him. He holds a grudge against my father, and now me. I fear he will be forever lost to the pain and darkness that has consumed him.

Holy shit. Iclas was Paliri’s mate, or at least that’s what she assumed. She describes the same tugging sensation that I’ve felt multiple times.

Iclas opened a permanent portal in the Golden Vale, but to open a permanent one would take a large blood sacrifice. I’m fearful of how he managed that

I run my finger over an imprint on the bottom of the page, a line with what looks like a half circle and spokes drawn protruding from it. The rising sun or possibly sunset?

“Got anything?”

I jump at Malakai’s words, closing the book and setting it back into the box. “No, nothing. Just a random diary.”

“Well, at least we have the information that my parents gave us. We can leave first thing tomorrow. It looks as if we need to go to that damned Isle.”

Kailu saunters back in just then, frustration evident on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Malakai asked. “There’s no way the ghoul issue resolved that quickly.”

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