A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(47)

Then he turns for the door.

Grey’s eyes are cold. He grabs the cringing boy’s arm.

Scary Grey.

At my back, present-day Lilith whispers, “They’re all beasts, aren’t they?”

The vision goes dark, and I’m returned to the pain so swiftly that I cry out.

Lilith’s fingers twist, and I feel like my bones are being pried through my skin.

“You think I am the villain,” she says, and pain licks through my veins. “You think I am the monster. But who made the choices here, Harper?”

I choke on a sob. I’m still facedown on the marble, and my tears gather on the floor.

“Rhen’s family killed my people,” she says. “And you blame me for wanting revenge? You see for yourself, he was a monster before I ever arrived.”

“No,” I gasp. “No—you’re the—”

“I expect to see military movement, Princess,” she hisses. “I expect to see him yielding to me, not to you. Am I understood?”

Her fingers jerk. Spots flare in my vision, and the marble beneath me turns black.

For a moment, I think I’ve passed out, but no, the floor has changed. I’m lying on asphalt. I try to lift my head, and I see the pale gray concrete of a curb, and the rusted slats of a storm drain. A candy bar wrapper is stuck there, the edges fluttering in the wind.

I’m back in Washington, DC.

“No!” I cry. If she leaves me here, I have no way to get back. No way to help Rhen. No way to—

A car horn blares, and I whip my head around. An SUV is headed right for me.

I scream, and it vanishes. I’m back in my chambers, the scream echoing in my throat.

“Remember,” Lilith says, her breath hot on my ear. “I can control you just as easily as I can control him.”

“No,” I shout. I brace myself against her weight, as if I can throw her off. “No.”

A hand seizes on my shoulder, turning me over. I surge upright, swinging wildly, screaming in rage, clawing with my hands.

“My lady. My lady.” The male voice forces me still, and I realize why my fingers were clutching at leather and buckles instead of skin and silk.

Dustan is kneeling beside me, and my fingers have a death grip on his armor. She didn’t break my spine. She didn’t break anything at all. My back feels wet, though I can’t tell if it’s sweat or blood, and my abdomen is achy and sore. I’m trembling so hard that my teeth clack together. My breathing is loud and panicked in the space between us.

Dustan and I aren’t friends, but we’re not enemies either. I can’t make my fingers let go. Instead, I put my face against his armor and cry.



I don’t know how long I sit there, but it’s not long. Rhen can’t find me like this. He’s already terrified that Lilith is going to return. I unclench my fingers and push back from Dustan to find that he’s not alone. Freya and Jamison stand behind him, and there’s another guard in the doorway.

I wipe my eyes. “Am I bleeding?”

Dustan searches my face, then casts a glance down at my body. “No.” He pauses. “The enchantress was here?”

“Yes.” I wish I could stop shaking. Freya gasps. Her hand clutches at Jamison’s.

Dustan begins to straighten, inhaling like he’s going to issue an order to the guard who’s waiting in the hall, and I know—I just know—he’s going to call for the prince. Rhen will absorb my panic and fear, the way he always does, and he’ll allow it to double his own. Lilith will continue to control him.

I scramble to my feet and ignore the spots flaring in my vision to grab hold of Dustan’s arm. “Commander.” My voice sounds like I’m speaking through gravel. “You can’t tell Rhen.”

He looks at my hand, and his voice drops. “My lady. I cannot keep this a secret—”

“You can. Dustan, you must.”

He stares at me, and his expression says he absolutely cannot.

“Please.” I dig my fingers into his bracer. Grey would never have yielded, but Dustan might. “Please, Dustan. She wants—she wants him to put his army in action. She wants to force his hand. We can’t let her. Not like this.”

His eyes are hard, and I don’t think he’ll agree, but then Jamison takes a step forward. “If this enchantress wants military action, she will have it. His Highness has ordered forces to the border.”

I blink up at him. “He has?”

Freya nods. Her cheeks are still pink from crying, but her tears are dry. “Yes,” she says. “Jamison is part of the regiment assigned to the mountain pass.”

I glance between them. I want this to be good news, because Lilith will be abated—but it’s not. The regiment assigned to the mountain pass will be the first to encounter troops from Syhl Shallow.

And possibly the first to die.

As always, everything is so complicated here.

I can’t think. I can’t think.

I rub my hands over my face and take a breath. “Dustan. Please. Don’t you see that she’s trying to use me to manipulate him?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Then we can’t let her—”

“I also know that he rules Emberfall.” He pauses. “And you do not.”