Page 103 of A Thieving Curse

Lucas beamed. “I knew it.” He exhaled like wind rushing out of a cave. His head tilted to the side, and his eyes froze. His body went perfectly still.

Raelyn curled over, squeezing herself and bawling. Meredith wailed and grabbed onto Peter. They held each other as Meredith’s screams echoed over the mountainside. Alex cradled the sides of Lucas’s head.

“Lucas?” Alex turned Lucas’s vacant face toward him. “No, Lucas, please.” Tears dripped off his chin onto Lucas’s bloody chest. “Please.”

Raelyn wiped her nose with her sleeve as she tried to catch her breath. Alex’s hands slipped off Lucas’s cheeks. His wings rustled, and his tail thumped loudly against the ground.

“My boy…” Meredith curled against Peter, and he hid his tear-soaked face in her hair.

Raelyn reached down and took Alexander’s bloodied hand in hers. He didn’t look at her. She could hardly see through her own tears.

Alex trembled. “No. No!” He screamed. Not an animal roar, but a low, angry, human scream filled with pain and heartbreak and loss that ground her heart into dust.

Tristan cursed.

Raelyn jerked her head up to tell Tristan to be quiet, but a gleam caught her attention and she gasped instead. Alex’s wings and horns glowed with a golden light. She leaned back and saw his tail and claws were shining, too. “Alex?”

The light spread to his skin, and he pulled his hand free of hers as he shook violently and groaned. Meredith and Peter’s crying quieted. Alex looked at Raelyn, eyes wide with fear.

“Burning,” he whispered. “Hurts…”

Radiance flashed over his entire body. She threw up her hand to shield her eyes and turned away. Tristan’s men shouted, and Tristan cursed again. The light faded and disappeared. Cautiously, she lowered her hand and looked back.

Alexander still knelt next to Lucas’s body, but he was doubled over, his head on the ground by Lucas’s shoulder. He was naked. More naked.

His wings were gone, leaving his back exposed. His tail and horns were gone, too. So were his claws. She regarded his bare back in shock. After a moment, Alex raised his head, still crouching. Moss-green irises flecked with amber stared at her. Her mouth fell open. The knights standing around muttered to each other, and someone said, “King Philip.”

“Alex…” Raelyn reached toward him, then let her hand fall.

Alexander pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. “I feel strange.”

“Yes…” She gulped. “You…you’re…”

“Naked?” The side of his mouth curved up, but his eyes were still strained with sorrow. His beautiful green eyes.

“Human,” she murmured.

Alex frowned and reached up. His hand fell unobstructed on the top of his head. “I…can’t feel my wings.” He peered over his shoulder, and his face paled. “I don’t…have wings. Or a tail.” His panicked gaze locked on her. “I don’t understand.”

“Self-sacrifice,” Jasper rasped. “The giving of one life for another.” He sniffled and took a deep breath. “Powerful love.”

Raelyn looked down at Lucas’s face and felt strangled.

Alex shook his head. “No… He…this…isn’t fair.” He rested his head on the ground again.

Gareth grunted and Raelyn peered over Jasper to see Tristan trying to wrest Gareth’s sword out of his grasp. Tristan backhanded Gareth across the face, his gauntlet hitting with a loud crack. Gareth reeled, blood trickling from a gash on his cheek as Tristan yanked his sword away.

“Gareth!” Raelyn leapt to her feet.

Tristan raised the sword and stalked around Lucas’s corpse, his hate-filled gaze fixed on Alex.

“Tristan, he’s human!” She darted forward to block his path.

“Move,” Tristan spat. “Now!”

Alex growled—or a human approximation. “Don’t you dare talk to your queen like that,” he said from behind her, his voice smooth and low. He grunted and muttered something under his breath.

Tristan raised his brows and gave a mocking laugh. “Look, princess.” He grabbed her arm and turned her around. “Your monster can’t even walk like a man.”

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