Page 148 of Cursed to Be Mine
I nod.
She wraps her arms around herself, and for a moment, I can’t bear broaching the subject tonight.
But I need to know. I do not have the luxury of burying my head in the sand.
“Talon knew about Varius being a hybrid,” I say, not bothering to dance around the question of, ‘Is it true?’ I can see on her face that it is. “You cursed him so he wouldn’t have his ascension, blocking his magic as well as the truth of what he is.”
“Yes. I didn’t realize he wasn’t your father’s until the day before he was born, when I felt him bite me.”
“Does his real father know?” Emotions burn my skin, making me itch with the need to move. I keep myfeet rooted, my arms still.
She shakes her head. “And he never will.No one will.”
“There isalwaysa way to break a curse.”
“Not this one.”
The curse and how to break it is created by one person. I want to trust her. I want to trust that this isn’t going to blow up in our faces, that no one else will find out Varius is a hybrid and try to kill him, ripping apart this family, ripping apartmeas we all take different sides, but I can’t.
I can’t...
“You can’t guarantee that,” I say hoarsely, imagining all the deaths that will be at my hands. “And then he will find out, and what do you think will happen?”
Varius can’t step down in the middle of a war. Leno is not strong enough to lead. In the fragile peace we were born into, yes. But not when Antonio comes for us like he has the Blood Fang. Varius’ hold on power will both save us and break us.
“Ican,” she says strongly, grabbing my hand. “He will never break it.”
“How do you know?”
Her eyes soften as she squeezes my fingers. “Because I know the weight of a first born. He has to fall in love with someone to break it, and that won’t ever happen. He will never trust someone enough to be that vulnerable.”
Experience thickens her words, her being the first born of the previous generation, but it is not a shock to know she never loved Father. It was clear even as a child that theirs was nothing but a business deal.
Shaking my head, I pull my hand free. “You better be right.” Because this will destroy Varius if he findsout that everything he sacrificed for this Family was all for naught, a false crown that had never fit his head.
My jaw locking down all the rage burning inside me, I turn for the door, unable to look at her. Before I pass into the hall, I say over my shoulder, “Talon died because of your lies, Mother. Make sure no one else does.”
A pained noise comes from her, but I end it by shutting her door. Standing there, I close my eyes, grief rocking me on my heels. Warmth envelopes me, mykirabreaking through my barriers, holding me in my pain. Heading for the stairs, I go to her.
She is a balm on my soul.
A treasure I’ll forever cherish and never fail to protect again.
When I open the door, she wraps me in her arms. “I’m so sorry, Khalid. I’m so sorry.”
Her wet cheek presses into me. Her love envelopes me. And in the comfort of her arms, I break.
