Page 81 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

“A tall blonde woman who wears the constant expression of disgust is asking for you in the main hall, Doe,” he told the girl beside me, whose face fell a little.

“That’s for sure my mother,” she mumbled and gave me a tight smile before making her way to the door, where Nathaniel made way for her. “Don’t forget about the play!” he called after her as she jogged up the stairs.

“I could never!”

When the sound of the bookshelf clicking back in place sounded, my brother turned to look at me.

“Don’t,” I warned, already knowing what he wanted to say.

“If you know it, why aren’t you holding back?”

“It’s not that easy.”

“I know—”

“No, you don’t understand. When she’s away, I feel this constant pain in my chest. I feel hollow and the only thing that’s pumping through my veins is rage. But when she’s there, it’s like I’m complete and this unbearable rage at the whole universe disappears when her light surrounds me,” I tried to explain what torture these feelings were to me. “And you know what’s worse than knowing if I let her in? Not knowing if these feelings towards her are real or a part of the curse.”

The Kingstone’s and De Loughrey’s fell for each other in every timeline, and in none their love succeeded.

We were damned to suffer from a love cursed to be our ruin.

“I can’t tell you that the invisible string that connects you and Doe isn’t a part of this curse. But I can tell you that everything you feel is nothing but the truth. And you can’t deny it. These feelings are eating you alive, and they grow stronger the moretime you spend with her,” Nathaniel said, leaning against the wall behind him.

“You saw it.” It wasn’t a question, I knew he did.

“It’s difficult to see anything else these days than two souls dancing in the light of the other.” He pushed off the wall and sighed sadly, stepping closer. “Archer, you’re my brother and God knows, the only thing I wish for you is happiness. Don’t you think we’re not seeing it? The way you’re looking at her, or how she awoke something inside you none of us ever did?” Nathaniel squeezed my shoulders. “In another universe I’d tell you to make her yours, but in this… if you try and make the bed, you’lldiein it.”

“But what if we won’t?”

My friend squeezed his lips into a thin line. “Archer—”

“No, what if this is how we break the curse?”

“That’s how James and Dottie died,” he told me in a low voice.

“James and Dottie didn’t know about the curse. They didn’t know enough about their abilities, where they come from and the Book of Shadows. We do, we’re on the right track and James begged me to break the cycle.”

Nathaniel’s eyes softened, but he shook his head. “You’re getting deluded, brother. Fate won’t spare you from death if you choose this path. Maisie and I are trying—we’re trying so hard to see a way around your destiny… but there is no path that leads to a future for the both of you if you give into this longing.”

My heart shattered inside my chest at his words. It wasn’t like I was completely ignorant until he spoke the truth. I have known the truth for so long now that it’s been eating me alive.

I think, for the time, I had hope.

Nathaniel’s hand was pushed off me and I pressed my lips tightly together as I swallowed hard, narrowing my gaze. “What if I want to risk everything just to be able to feel something?Maybe I’m sick of the life I was given. Death doesn’t scare me because what has this life ever given me except for pain?”

When I looked up again, my best friend’s grey eyes blinked tiredly. “You know I understand you. Before Maisie came into my life… you know what I tried the day she saved me from leaving this earth. Why do you think I’m trying so hard to find a path for you where Doe could be a part of your life? Because I know how it feels, and I also know that we’re not enough to save you.”

I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t disagree, and I hated myself for that.

“Don’t,” he said. “It’s okay, brother.”

I shook my head, “no, it’s not. If I save myself, it’ll be her end. But if I don’t, it’ll be the death of me. When will I ever be allowed to be selfish for once?”

“Responsibility doesn’t come with selfishness.”

“I never wanted these responsibilities. I just wanted to feel something. And now—now, I have to go back to that house where—”

“Where what?” he demanded.

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