Page 79 of Deadly Alliances

I didn’t even know how to finish the thought because I wasn’t ready to face my own feelings for him yet. Yes, I was furious at him for his betrayal, for all the lies and manipulation. But…I didn’t hate him. I had been missing him since I left the Dome, regretting breaking our bond. I still cared about him deeply. Maybe I even…

“Sometimes I feel likeItriggered the curse a long time ago,” Char said softly.

The vulnerable note in her voice had me shuffling quietly closer, until I was crouching against the wall beside the archway.

“I’ve always accepted it, you know? And I know we’re young, but I’ve always accepted and looked forward to the eventuality that one day it would be you and me against the world.”

Pain sliced through my heart, tipped with jealousy that burned in my chest. I thought I had sensed those strong feelings from her, but I had no idea how deep they were, or what the nature of their relationship was.

“I’m glad we were so close at school before I left. I thought at least we’d always have that friendship foundation when either you or I...”

“What? Got married and triggered the curse?” Tobias finished for her.

Marriage? Oh God, was she his fiance? They had obviously known each other for a long time.

“Have youseenmy parents?” Tobias asked, a bitter note to his voice. “Do you think my mom ishappyto be crazy about my dad when he’s so indifferent to her?”

I thought of the few times I had seen his parents together, both at the ball and on The Real Shifter Housewives, and my heart broke again for his mom. It was clear to everyone how little his dad cared about her. Tobias believed their dynamic was because of the curse. Could that really be it? I’d dealt with the generalmyself, and, honestly, he didn’t seem capable of love.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Tobiasbelievedin this curse. And if he thought he’d triggered it with me, that meant he truly believed he loved me.

“He respects her, which is a sort of love,” Char argued.

“Char—” Tobias said.

“Do you respect me?” she interrupted.

No response.

“Do you...” she choked. “Loveme?”

I stopped breathing, my eyes widening as I stared unblinking at the wall in front of me, waiting for his response.

“I do love you, Char,” he finally said, and I sucked in a gasp. “I always have. But not in the way you want. I’m sorry. I love Arya.”

My mouth fell open, my heart squeezing with a sad kind of joy. He had just rejected the beautiful blonde who’d clearly been in love with him for years and confessed he loved me. This was no lie, no manipulation, no show for my benefit because he couldn’t know I was listening. This was the way he really felt. And the chaos of emotions writhing inside me made it impossible to know what to do with that information.

“I hate to interrupt, but you and I have some business to take care of, Tobias Dracul.”

Oh no.

Fear seized through me, clenching every muscle in my body tight enough to snap. Hadrian was here! He’d sped right past me, and I didn’t even know it.

I covered my mouth and stifled my breathing. If Hadrian caught me down here... I didn’t even want to imagine what wouldhappen.

I smashed myself against the wall, praying to be invisible, undetectable, as Hadrian began to interrogate the two prisoners.

Please don’t hurt them, please don’t hurt them.

There was a hiss, then a familiar yellow fog filled the air.

No!

It was the same gas he’d pumped into the training room to force me to shift. I couldn’t transform into an ursa now! I’d expose myself for sure! My only comfort was that I still wore the turquoise necklace. Maybe it would protect me, maybe—

But before I could fully process the thought, agonizing pain splintered across my back and in every bone in my feet. I clenched my jaw tight to keep a scream from slipping out as the transformation rapidly progressed. I squeezed my eyes so tight that my face hurt as my wings bulged under my sweater and eventually burst through the fabric, and my talons shredded through my tennis shoes.

In seconds, the nightmarish mutation was over, and I could once again take a silent, steadying breath.

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