Page 137 of Her Dark Promise

The stack of books that he hadn’t read was far larger than what he had read, and I knew that this wasn’t going to be fast or easy. This would take time, something that I had an abundance of.

But they don’t. I wonder if they will die before they get through half that stack of books.

I ignored her taunts as I leaned back in my chair, curious about what he found that I didn’t. He looked at the three of us. His features were set, and determined, and he was in full research mode.

“There are way too many books for us to thoroughly go through each one, so skim over each sentence looking for anything related to curses, magic borns, or the surname ‘Morahan’.” Soren paused and looked at me, knowing that Circe’s surname might cause a negative reaction. He hurried along, “Poetry and storybooks should also be skimmed through as you never know where the answer lies.” He then turned to me, a crease forming between his brows, and said, “Remind me of her exact words that she said when she cursed you.”

I could recite the words in my sleep, even if I hadn't seen the vision a few days ago:

All you know will fade like mist.

As you have shown the heart of a beast, so shall you live as one.

Silence your prison; loneliness your true companion.

Isolated.

Unloved.

Cursed.

Only when our tangled thread unbinds, can you reclaim what was lost.

Soren was scratching his chin, deep in thought. “Word choice is vital when placing a curse upon another. The mist makes sense because that is what eviscerated thousands of people.”

“Soren,” Bastian hissed.

Soren winced at the tone, realizing what he said. He cleared his throat, not wanting to bring more attention to the massacre of my kingdom, and continued, “Circe, obviously, had an immense amount of resentment toward you if she believes you have shown the heart of a beast.”

“Simply because you did the right thing and told your mother about Circe’s ill intentions,” Bastian scoffed.

Callum intervened, “Back to the topic at hand.” Then, he turned his attention toward Soren. “Is there anything else we should be looking at when going through the texts?”

“I suppose anything related to the War on Witches.” He shrugged. “Other than that, take notes of anything that jumps out to you.”

We all seemed to nod as Soren mumbled to himself, “‘Our tangled threads unbind.’ What could she have meant by that?” He sat down in his chair and pulled his journal out.

I grabbed a book and could see Bastian out of the corner of my eye as he stared at the endless pile, dread crossed over his features. Callum, I could see, was doing his best not to stare at Bastian. It was a look I couldn’t quite place, but now wasn’t the time.

I turned away from them and back to the pile of books. As much as I hated to admit it, Soren was right. I needed help and a fresh pair of eyes. Hopefully, they would find something that I couldn’t.

We all turned when we heard someone enter and found Emilia walking toward us with a smile and a large platter of food. Callum hurried over to her and lifted the tray out of her hands and onto the table.

My back stiffened, and I shot up.

“Callum told me that you were fully healed and that you were all researching. I thought you all might be a little peckish.”

Hope blossomed in my chest at how relaxed she seemed to be.

She looked down, suddenly nervous, and my stomach dropped. It was another moment before she barely looked into my eyes and asked, “May I speak with you…alone?”

I nodded and followed her out of the library.

We walked down the hall far enough away so we wouldn’t be overheard. We stood awkwardly as she mustered up the courage to say whatever she had been thinking about. She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers.

I had thought long and hard about what she could be worried about, what could be making her slowly lose her mind. The only reason I could fathom was her desire to still want to move on with her life.

“If this is about you leaving, just know you have my blessing. I will give you plenty of money so that you won’t need to worry about your needs.” She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes. “You can come back anytime you want. Long ago, I told you you could leave when you were strong enough. I’ve known for years you were ready, I just couldn’t let you go.”

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