Page 89 of Spellbound
I walked through the open iron gates, looking over my shoulder. Naomi’s hands were on his, compassion in her stance and face. His hardened look softened. I felt like I’d missed something.
I hesitated at the front door, but Dora opened it before I had a chance to. Edmund rushed out from behind her, and Maddox wasn’t far behind.
Edmund pulled me into a tight embrace, pressing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “I was worried sick. Is Naomi with you?”
“Yes.” I jerked my head in her direction.
“I wanted to go to find you,” Edmund said from inside our hug. “Viktor stopped us. He made the woman—ah, what’s her name again?”
“Thalia,” I said hollowly.
“Her. She placed a spell on the house so we couldn’t leave it.”
I swallowed thickly. “I know.” My shoulders slumped when he released me. “She’s dead.”
His eyebrows flicked up. “Oh?”
Maddox looked me up and down. “You look dreadful.”
Dora pressed her hands against my cheeks, tilting my face up. “You’re ever so pale. You need food. Quick, get inside. You can tell us all that happened there.”
Maddox patted my back as we walked inside, then smiled. “Good to have you back.”
I wanted to smile back, but I couldn’t bring myself to force it. “Thanks.”
Edmund grabbed a box of cookies in the kitchen as I walked to the table. He shook them in my direction, but I still felt nauseated. “Where’s Viktor?” he asked, and my stomach knotted.
“I don’t know.” I sighed, deflated. “He could be anywhere.” I didn’t want to tell them what I’d seen in those moments after he killed Lucius. How through his grief-stricken tears, he’d looked at me with a hatred I’d never seen on his face. I wouldn’t tell a single soul how he’d never seemed as dangerous as right before he fled, and now I had no idea what he would do. This was Leda all over again, and Aziel was right. She was dead because of me. I had become his new Freya.
PART THREE: BROKEN GODS
