Page 160 of Her Dark Promise

“Except almost die.”

I rolled my eyes at Bastian’s comment.

“And starve yourself,” Bastian went on.

Where was he going with this?

“The bouts of anger. Don’t forget the torture. Did I forget to mention that you gave me blue balls.” He held up two fingers. “Twice.”

I slapped his arm, and he laughed, rubbing it.

I looked around at the rest of them, Callum had stood and was rubbing Bastian’s back, laughing at Bastian for his nonsense. Soren had his leatherbound journal and quill and was writing in it with fervor. His glasses had slipped down his nose slightly, his hair bouncing with each stroke of the quill.

He looked back up at us and said, “There was a book that I read at the beginning of my research that solidified my theory after getting all the information from Rose’s memory. Eachcurse is uniquely worded in a way that only the one casting the curse knows exactly how to break it. There is no universal way to break all curses, and Circe did a splendid job concealing all evidence that would have helped us break your curse.” He took a breath. “But my current theory… Love.”

My mouth fell open at the word, once again left speechless by my scholar.

“Love?” Emilia asked.

“Well, there are a variety of variables, but the bottom line is that there is a change happening within Rose at a fundamental level. Not as a monster that she has come to deem herself as, but a girl.”

“You’re sure?” Bastian asked.

“It is only a theory, but it is the only thing that makes sense at this moment.” Soren pointed at the shard of light. “There is light shining through the fog for the first time in three hundred and fifty-two years. That has to mean something.”

“Soren’s right; it has to mean something,” Callum said, beaming.

Bastian groaned, “Yes! I was growing tired of reading through those boring texts all day. I am just happy we are finally making some progress.”

I left them to talk more about the curse and what the light could mean. I was still in shock over everything that it was taking longer to process our new discoveries. I looked over to Emilia who hadn’t said a single word. The expression that was on her face was slightly concerning. Her brows were furrowed, her breathing irregular, and she was fidgeting with her skirts.

I stood and walked over to her. “Are you alright?”

Her eyes slid to mine, but she swallowed as if not knowing exactly how to answer me. I embraced her, not knowing how else to set her mind at ease as I whispered, “This is the first step inbreaking the curse. If we can do this, then there is nothing to fear, Emilia. You won’t be alone.”

She pulled back until she was looking at me. “What?”

I gave her a small smile and brushed a stray hair out of her face. “Well, aren’t you worried about what this means for you—for us?”

I cocked my head to the side as she slowly nodded her head. She was about to say something, but then she touched her throat and opted to sign.Of course, your majesty. This is just surprising, is all.

Yes, it was surprising. It was nothing short of a miracle.

I brought her back into my arms and laughed at the stupidity of crying over a tiny fragment of light, but to me, it was everything.

Hope.

That feeling was warm within my body, casting out any harboring doubt that that couldn’t be a possibility. But that light. That light was timid proof that everything I had gone through over the last few centuries would be over soon.

I pulled away from her, and as I turned around to talk to my men, I was squealing as someone hoisted me over their shoulder and roared, “I think this is cause for a celebration!” I yelled as Bastian slapped my ass hard enough to cause a sting and then bit into it.

“Bastian!” I wanted to scold him, but I could feel the apex of my thighs clench together to try to stop how wet I was becoming from his actions.

I looked up through my hair falling in front of my face and found Callum smirking at the two of us. Soren was stealing fast glances our way as he hurried to finish whatever last thought was going on in his mind.

“Bast, wait!”

Bastian was carrying me through the rose garden and up the steps as he slapped my ass hard again, and I groaned at the sting pulsing straight to my core.

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