Page 52 of Cursed

“Yeah. Even though we were brought up on opposite sides of the proverbial tracks, you and I are much the same.”

“I don’t think so.” I shake my head and frown. “You are so kind. And I’m… not.”

“We were both shaped by our parent’s expectations and abusive behaviors.” She smiles sadly. “My mother wanted me to believe I wasn’t worthy of anything while at the same time telling me to snag the wealthiest guy I could. Conflicting expectations. And your father wanted you to make you feel less than him, but also that you should expect everything to be given to you. Different but similar.”

“Why do you think you didn’t turn into your mother?” I ask.

She smiles, knowing what I’m really asking.How do I not turn into my father? “I don’t know. I might have become like her if life had taken a different path. Maybe meeting you changed all that?”

“Me?” I scoff and turn away.

Shayla spins me around with a gentle touch. “Yeah, you.” She thumbs over her shoulder at the cottage from where all the guys are probably covertly watching us. “Without you, I wouldn’t have met all of them. I wouldn’t have any love in my life. Maybe Arden and Landis were the first to make me feel worthy of love—for the first time in my life. But if it weren’t for meeting you that night, falling for some smart, funny, hot guy at the party, then I wouldn’t have all of them.”

I hear she doesn’t include me in that collection. Nor should I be included.

My eyes sting, and I rub them. “I fell for you too that night. Then everything changed so fast. And I realized how my family and Branden would react. My father programmed me to believe that everyone only wanted my power or my money, and probably both. And honestly? Most peopledoonly want that from me, which sucks.” I take a breath and close my eyes. “So when I discovered you weren’t some random human partygoer but a supe, I assumed the worst. But that’s what killed me too. I wanted it—us—to be real. When I thought you played me, it fucking hurt.”

“I know.” She pulls me into a hug that I don’t deserve. “But I had no idea who you were. I promise you that. I really was running away as soon as I turned twenty.”

“I was so blind!” A sob breaks from my chest, and I grip her so tightly to my chest, wishing for us to merge and heal each other, if only through our hearts. “I hurt you, and I hurt Branden by not seeing he was right. That you belonged with us. I fucked everything up.”

Shayla hugs me, stroking my back and comforting me. “That night, the Goddess guided us together for a reason. And now, I fear we know what that reason is.”

“To stop our parents.” Dread and nausea hit me hard, and my tears stop. As much as I know I must kill my father, I’ve not killed someone before. And it sounds as if both Shayla’s and Landis’ fathers will have to die too.

She hums her agreement and wipes the tears from my eyes. “Will you teach me how to use fire?”

“Of course.” I feel relieved and ridiculous all at once.

But then Shayla lifts up on her tiptoes and places a perfect kiss on my lips. And it’s as if I’ve been blessed by the Goddess herself.

My hands fall to her waist as I stand stunned into silence.

My dragon takes over. I lean down and press my forehead to hers.

Through my half-closed eyes, I see her smile. A tiny giggle leaks out.

“What?” I whisper.

“That was your dragon, wasn’t it?” she asks, almost as quiet as I am. As if we are both afraid of disturbing this beautiful moment between us. As if a louder sound will be a pebble in our still pond, distorting the peace we’ve worked so hard to achieve.

“He likes you—a lot,” I breathe out.

“I like him too.”

There’s a rumble in my chest.

Shayla pulls back and squees with delight. She bounces up and down in my arms like a kid. With her upbringing, I realize how precious these moments of frivolity are. She wasn’t allowed to be happy, to express joy. And neither was I.

She dances in a circle around me and doesn’t let her touch leave my body, just as she did last night during the faerie circle celebration. She had been carefree then, too. Just being alive.

I snatch her up in my arms and swing her so her legs fly out, and for a moment, it feels as if she’s soaring… inmyarms. And I feel like I could fly too, without my dragon’s wings.

I set her down, and she gives me another sweet peck on the lips. But she lingers, and my heart thumps wildly. When she pulls way, she hooks her finger with mine lovingly and walks us over to the outdoor sitting area.

Thanks to Arden unearthing a few large boulders for us to sit on, we perch ourselves on them instead of the cold ground. The rocks have been warmed in the sun. Shayla and I sit on a made-for-two boulder bench.

We face each other, legs crossed, and both offer awkward grins.

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