Page 50 of Too Cursed To Kiss
“It doesn’t explain that, but no, I did not sleep with Britannia. In one weak moment, we came very close, and I’m not proud of it. She can be very manipulative and persuasive. It was also a long time ago. She wears those pink things when she wants to piss me off. I suspect she packed them for that reason.”
The lingering silence sent a barrage of cringing silent thoughts and pictures through my head.
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Get over it. She’s not a blood relation, and I’ve regretted it every day since. You’ll have to tell me more about the elevator man and the dumpster sex sometime.” He glanced over with that vexing grin.
I smacked him, knowing full well it wasn’t okay to hit him, but damn, some things should never be said out loud, like dumpster and sex together. I’d never even told anyone else about that or the—Oh fuck me, now he knew that too.
He laughed. The bastard frickin’ laughed. It hadn’t beenmy fault the police had found my high school ex-boyfriend and I trussed up to the base of a flagpole like naked rutting chickens. This was why I never touched drugs. “Back to the important questions,” I hissed.
He grinned. “The ring will be in the inner plane where Agatha was. Our only hope of retrieving it or repairing it now is Devlyn. Britannia knows that too, which is why I expect she’s on the way there.”
“Hang on, you are sounding like Britannia is an enemy. I mean, sure, she’s my enemy, but when did she become yours?”
“When she killed Agatha.”
The echoing silence was as deep as the horror of that sinking in. Any way I looked at it, it made no sense. “How could she even?” I finally stammered.
“You are missing pieces of the story. Let me go back.”
By the time he’d finished, I had a better idea of how deep in shit I was. There were miles of stinking piles above my head. “Okay, so the guys who wish to eradicate your kind are working with Britannia to get the ring. They want the ring because it will allow them to change the first battle outcome, which literally will rewrite the history of your race. Which is friggin’ unbelievable, but I’m going with it. What I don’t get is why Britannia wants that. She’s one of you, right? Wouldn’t that end her too?”
“They’ve made her a promise to keep her ancestor alive, and since she’s half-blood too, she would be empowered by the new timeline.”
“Hang on, how closely related are the Grigores-agent people to your kind?” I dragged a hand through my hair, pulling it back as I contemplated the big picture.
“There is a lot of intermixing in history and the Eim and Grigores do not have mortal rules. They walk veryseparate paths.” He slid his hand down the wheel, his fingers curling.
“You mean like they’re gods?”
“Created or come from another level of existence to this plane. Whatever way you can satisfy your desire for an explanation.”
“I don’t understand. Why would Britannia want to kill off her current family?”
“Because she is displeased with how Father has treated her. The Grigores are seductive. They seek to change the order of our evolution, and they have promised her immortality, eternal youth, and massive power.”
“So she’s a brat. But they aren’t going to give her any of that, right?”
“I don’t know, possibly, but if Britannia wins, then I won’t know because I’ll no longer be here to find out. She can be a child at times. It’s not entirely her fault. Our parents have done everything for us, and when she finally decided to do things herself, she made mistakes.” He grimaced and dusted his jacket sleeve.
“Like hooking up with Gentry?”
“There have been a string of lovers, but she fell harder for him than the others.”
“And before him?”
“Since she, Devlyn, Caledonia, and I were schooled at home, Britannia didn’t have a lot of exposure to humans growing up. We didn’t even really care much about the outside world until we became teenagers. Then our interests changed, and we grew apart.”
This explained so much. “But if Devlyn is Britannia’s brother, then why would he help you?”
“Because I can give him what he wants most. Hisboyfriend back.” Wald swallowed like he was dreading something.
“Back?” I asked as time seemed to slow.
“It’s my fault that Sert is in limbo.” Wald swiped at his chin.
“Well, that’s not confusing at all. How about you explain?”
He paused as if considering. “There are more rooms like Agatha’s where she worked on the ring, and Sert is currently in one of them.”
