Page 54 of Cursed Lifeline

“What kind of loophole is that?” I shout.

Turning quickly, I start down the throne steps before I do something foolish like run the stake I carried here through both their hearts. I shake my head with disappointment as I try to understand it all. I’ve only taken two, maybe three steps when my mother calls out to me. To my dismay, I stop.

“Angel,” she sighs, and I cringe at the use of that name. “Be thankful you’ll have more time...”

“Watching Esme come back to life and possibly die again would surely kill me next time,” I hiss over my shoulder. “Your loophole is designed to ease the burden of your own bad decisions, mother. Not mine.”

My mother snaps, “Then I suggest you decide differently next time.”

I swing around to meet her angry stare and bite back, “I choose her. I’ll always choose her. Because of the curse, I owe it to her, to us, to...”

“What you feel for Esme and what she feels for you is real,” my mother firmly states. “Otherwise the loophole would not have been created. The curse is only tied to the outcome. So break it, Felix. Only you two hold the power to do that.”

“When will she come back?” I demand. “And when she does, how much time will we have before…” I trail off, not wanting to think about ever going through what I just did ever again.

Evangeline shrugs. “Time is a mystery,” she smiles sadly. “The future can change at any moment. But she will come back. When, where, I don’t know. I control life. Not time. Your answer is as good as mine, Prince Caldwell.”

I regard the two women with a frown. After a moment, they smile sweetly, thinking they’ve made a breakthrough. I allow them that small moment of glee before reaching out and quickly snapping Evangeline from her seat.

The fae screams. My mother shouts, but this time, I don’t stop to listen as I pull the princess from the dais, raise my dagger to her throat, and start to back down the steps toward the exit.

“Controlling lifeiscontrolling time in a sick sense, princess,” I seethe into the fae’s ear and feel a fearful shiver rush up her spine.

I hold the disapproving eyes of my mother as I back away, and with each calculated step I take, I form a plan.

“Felix,” my mother warns. “Don’t do this.”

“I’m only borrowing her mother,” I grin, sarcasm dripping from my menacing tone. Kicking behind me, I force the exit open and pull Evangeline from the room as I shout, “You’re the one who told me to break the curse. If I’m to play your game after what Viktor just did, it’ll be by my own set of rules from here on out.”

Sharply, I take one final step back, pull the fae out of the way of the swinging doors, and release a heavy sigh as the deafening clank of their closure rings through the concrete corridor behind me. Stashing my dagger away, I tug Evangeline alongside me as I continue on my way out of my mother’s castle.

Time, for once, is on my side. Our side. And I don’t intend to waste it.

Besides Evangeline, there is only one person who can help me now—one who knows Esme better than I do. Someone who can help me control the outcome in her next life if we agree to work together, though our kind never has before.

Alfred.

The fae fights me, spews insults, and screams threats as I pull her out into the dark of night.

“If you don’t help me,” I seethe, pulling her to a deathly stop in the center of the courtyard in front of my mother’s estate. “I promise to hunt down your family and make them pay. Make them play a sick twisted game like the one I’ve been forced to participate in. Only, I won’t offer them a way to break any curse I’ll inevitably place upon their unfortunate souls.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” she asks as she trembles in fear.

“Because,” I hiss, leaning closer and waiting until I have her full attention. “Your family knew my mother’s. Which means you’re a link to the curse.” Cocking my head to the side, I study her with a raised brow. “In fact, I’d go so far as to say they not only helped them create the curse, they helped them cast it. Otherwise, why would you offer to assist my mother in finding a loophole?”

Her stunned expression tells me all I need to know. The girl is lucky I don’t end her life right here and now on the spot. Instead, I manage to control my anger the best I can as my mother’s guards rush out the front doors of the castle, armed and prepared to rescue the princess and stop me from committing whatever crime I may be about to execute. Before they can reach us, I pull the fae harshly against me, wrap my arms around her waist, and say, “Hold on tight, princess.”

Before she can blink, before she can catch her breath, I teleport us back to France. To the Palace of Versailles. To the one person who could hold the advantage I desperately need in Esme’s next life.

After everything that’s happened, I just hope he won’t kill me on the spot when he sees me and instead agrees to help.

Even after he learns what it’ll cost him.

Nineteen

Alfred

Song: Who is She | I Monster

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