Page 123 of The Cursed Fae

Sniveling, weak man, I thought, stomping my foot.

The ground quaked beneath my boot. Laz lost his balance and fell backward onto the hard sand of the tide break. I clenched my fists, and waves raced to answer the summons, crashing over his shoulders when he tried to crawl away from my advance. Each of my measured steps sent another tremor through the earth. When I inhaled the sea breeze, the gusting wind raged alongside me.

For all his talk and bravado, Laz proved to be nothing more than a coward. He didn’t stand his ground as a warrior. He laid down and begged for his life as the icy water flowed over his back.

“Don’t do this, Winter,” he pleaded. “You’re from the human world. You do not understand what it means to be part of a family like mine. My father would not tolerate another deficient son after Ty.”

I almost empathized with him in that moment. In the last few weeks, people began treating me differently merely because I was a Sable. It was a lot of pressure. Laz had dealt with that his entire life.

“Missy was an accident,” he pleaded. “She wasn’t supposed to die.”

“What about your brother?” I shouted against the wind. “Was he an accident, too? Or did you finally realize you’d never be the favorite child with him around?”

I’d blurted it as a shot-in-the-dark accusation. Of all the victims, Archer was likely the only true accident, if one existed. It probably gave Laz the idea the next time he’d needed a power boost.

Fury flashed in his teary eyes as another wave crashed upon his shoulders. Laz pitched forward as if carried by the water’s momentum. Before my brain caught up to the feint, his hands clutched my wrists and yanked me down to the hard sand. I toppled over him into the freezing water. He proved much stronger, quickly pinning me on my back.

How did this go so wrong?

Saltwater rushed over my face, filling my nose and mouth. Grasping for something deep within myself, I struggled to fight him off. I choked when a flow of salty liquid burned into my lungs. The ocean retreated, only for another wave to follow on its heels. I lost my grip my the magic—my only weapon against Laz.

The asshole had lulled me close with his pathetic act, and I’d fallen for it like an absolute sucker. Out of options, I gave Laz exactly what he wanted—my power.

Best of luck with it, fucker.

His gaze glowed. A blissful grin spread across his face as my magic flowed into him. I understood that euphoric sensation.

What is it they say about too much of a good thing?

I dug deep and flung every ounce of my power into him as another flood of water helped Laz drown me. Saltwater burning my eyes, I watched his expression go from ecstasy to agony. I knew that pain well. From spending time with him. My gaze locked onto his through the stinging ocean, taking in every twitch of his body. I enjoyed watching him suffer.

Am I a monster?

Laz tried to break our hold, but I maintained the death grip. Until that moment, I had only played defense, responding to his attacks. Even when I thought I was in control, I’d been wrong. The instant I vowed I wouldn’t let the killer run away, everything changed.

My power was too much for me to contain most of the time, and I was born with it. What did I think would happen when I forced it into Laz? I honestly didn’t have a fucking clue. The memory of Missy’s devastated rage in my dorm room drove me. It made me not care when I knew I should.

His muscles twitched, and then he seized. I should’ve released him. He was no longer a threat to me or anyone else. It was over.

Then I remembered Archer, who died before he could live. Killed by his own fucking brother. My fingers dug in deeper.

Terror shone in Laz’s gray eyes as he realized he would die along with me.

Only one of us would come back.

That was probably the reason death didn’t terrify me. It wouldn’t be in vain, either. Laz would never hurt anyone else. If he miraculously survived to leave the cove, I’d irrevocably fried his magical circuits.

My only regret was that Nana Essie would find my body.

I had prayed to Gaia Missy would bring her before the situation went to shit. My ghostly friend had understood my words to Laz about the other spirit seers in my family. I had meant them for her, and she’d left to get Nana. My great-grandmother usually wore her jewelry to block the view of the other side, but I’d still hoped.

I was wrong about that, too.

Inky blotches dotted my vision as I lost consciousness. Then I heard voices. Someone shouted at me to stop. Laz went limp in my grip, eyes rolling back in his head. His weight collapsed on top of me, and I wondered if he would suffocate me before I died of depletion.

The next wave knocked him off me. Hands grabbed my shoulders and dragged me up into the dry sand. I looked up, expecting to see my great-grandmother’s wrinkled face. With the moon high overhead, a silver halo wreathed his golden-brown hair.

Archer.

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