Page 66 of Once Charmed, Twice Cursed
I want to scream. I want to break something.
“Get on the horse, Bria,” my father says. “We’re taking you home.”
I rage in silence, waiting for Weston to protest, or for me to, or for Fortuna to sweep in and arrange some way to keep me here.
Only she doesn’t. Of course not. She never will again. I made sure of that.
“Get. On. The horse.” My father’s tone brooks no argument.
I flinch at the bite in his tone. Weston refuses to look at me.
And so, in the end, I do what I’ve always done.
I do as I’m told.
Chapter Twenty-Three
At home, my mother takes one look at me and bursts into tears.
“My sweet girl.” She faces me in the middle of the parlor, her lace-gloved hands flitting over my skin as if testing its integrity. “Oh, my girl, no, no, no, what did he do to you?”
I answer without thinking. “Alverton, you mean?”
“No, that Null boy. He...touched you, didn’t he? Oh, goddess. He forced you? Don’t tell me he forced you. What is this world coming to, when Nulls are allowed to go around assaulting Charms for their?—”
“Mom.”
She blinks. Tears course down her cheeks.
“What’re you even talking about? You know Weston. You’ve known him for ten years. Of course he didn’t hurt me.”
Her eyes fall to my collarbones, then skew away just as quickly, like she can’t bear to look. She presses a hand over her mouth and sobs.
My father stands in the corner, his arms crossed, hisexpression hard. “He might not have hurt you, but he took from you, nonetheless. He took from all of us. This whole family.”
A boulder lands in my throat, a burning ball of outrage. I have to squeeze my next words past it. “That’s ridiculous. Westonsavedme. He came and got me when the duke locked me up. When Alverton starved me. And afterward, he only unMarked me because I begged him to. He didn’tforceanything.”
Brendan hunches in an armchair, studying his clasped fists, but at my words, he raises his head. He hasn’t cleaned himself up. Dried blood crusts his chin and shirtfront. “What do you mean? About Alverton? I thought Weston was just saying that.”
“No. He was telling the truth.”
“The duke...hurt you?”
I clench my teeth. “He did more than that. He nearly killed me. He locked me in a room without any food or water for almost three days. By the time Weston got to me, I couldn’t stand. I could barely even talk.”
Horror dawns in Brendan’s eyes. My mother wails, but we both ignore her.
“I don’t understand.” My father frowns. “Why would Alverton offer such an enormous sum for you, then try to kill you?”
A shudder eddies through me. “Because. He thought he could force me to be the meek little wife he wanted. He thought he could break me.”
And he was absolutely right, I don’t add.
“But...” Brendan searches for words. “How could he have managed that? What about Fortuna? Your Mark?”
“It didn’t matter. The duke had a man who was just as lucky as I was. Luckier, even. Another Charm. And the Charm wanted me locked up, so it happened.”
My brother swallows. He looks like he’s choking on his own tongue. “I can’t... You’re saying I promised you to a man who tortured you?Idid that?”
