Page 87 of Curse of Thorns
Caelynn
Suddenly, I am a childagain. Back in the Luminescent Court palace, trapped by the High Heir, Reahgan. He holds me down with a powerful white light, and it burns every inch of my skin.
I can’t move.
I can’t speak.
I can’t breathe.
My body is on fire with the pain of my injuries and the panic, the need to get away from him.
Reahgan.
No,I think.No, no, no, no, no.
I beat him. I killed him.
And he... became a wraith.
How had I not even considered that as a possibility? It makes so much sense. I always knew he was evil. He belongs here.
And so do I.
Rev is frozen before the wraith claiming to be his brother.
Coldness spreads over my body.
“You’ve gotten yourself into quite the predicament, brother,” the smoke creature says. There is nothing distinguishable about this dark creature before us. Nothing that would pinpoint him as the late Luminescent Court heir. But I can feel it. His power, his essence.
It’s him. Can Rev feel the same? And... what does that mean for him?
“Don’t worry. I’ll solve it all for you.” His gaze shifts past Rev and onto me. “By killingherright here and now.”
Reahgan’s wraith form dissolves and rushes past Rev and straight to me. Panic swallows me whole, and my vision flickers in and out. I scramble back, but I don’t have near enough control to fight him.
Reahgan in wraith form is my worst nightmare—because it’s not a bad person I’m fighting. I’m not afraid of him.
I’m afraid of me.
The blackened, scarred soul in front of me is my worst moment come to life. It’s the decision that both saved and ruined me.
And it’s going to kill me. It’s going to strangle the breath from my lungs and what little hope I held for my soul.
I’m going to die right here. Because I’m not going to stop him.
A shadow flies between us, blocking the acidic smoke that was Reahgan’s attack. I cower before the magical battle swirling before me. Like storm clouds colliding in a raging war, they twist and twirl and rip at each other, crackling like thunder, but I cannot tell where one ends and the other begins.
My vision is spotted with black, and my teeth chatter. I can’t feel much of anything. I can’t see the fight happening over my head any longer. All I can hear is the pulse of my own heart slowing.
