Page 93 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

His eyes didn’t soften at my words. “What else am I missing, Dianna?”

You died.

It was on the tip of my tongue. It was right there. If I told him, it would make sense to him why I’d asked Reggie and not him, why I felt so empty when it came to feeding, and why, above all, I had been so overprotective. I could tell him, and then I’d have to tell him everything. It would ruin his hope for The Hand. I would have to tell him I had given up the one thing he wanted most of all, traded it for his life, and a part of me was terrified. It meant I’d have to tell him my one true fear and why touching him reassured me so damn much. Why I desperately needed to know that I was wrong and that he still wanted and cared for me. What if I’d given up our mark, and we weren’t mates anymore? What if I had saved his life but, in turn, ruined mine?

“Nothing.” I shook my head, and he stared at me. “Nothing.”

He leaned back a fraction, gazing at me, and I thought he knew just how terrible I was at lying. I thought he knew it all, but my stress died the second he held his hand toward me, his pinkie finger extended. “Pinkie swear.”

“Pinkie swear?” I repeated.

“Yes, it’s the law and an unbreakable promise, as you said before. I will only believe you if you do.”

I couldn’t stop the grin or the god-awful feeling I had when I hooked his finger with mine and lied and lied and lied.

I was a cruel, awful bitch.

And I loved him.

THIRTY-FOUR

CAMERON

Moans filled the air. Whoever was behind the wall sounded as if they’d gotten their organs rearranged, but I didn’t care as long as it drowned out what I was doing. I stood up, his body at my feet. I took a deep breath and wiped a hand across my face.

My eyes adjusted to the dark room, and I inhaled deeply, filling my nostrils with the smell of sex, smoke, and booze before the scent of death coated the air. I slid my fingers through my hair, the short strands sticking up from the blood I had just wiped on myself. I looked at the bodies scattered around me and couldn’t stop the sick laugh that exploded from my lips or how my eyes welled with tears.

I had done that. I had killed them because I was so fucking hungry.

My pocket vibrated again. I knew who was calling. That damn mirror was worse than a phone. I ignored it as I had several times before and stared out over the dark water, unable to look at what I had done. I had jumped on board this ship when it docked at River Bend a week ago, tracking down a lead. Only I was stupid and hadn’t realized it was headed to another major port and was filled with too many rich drunk aristocrats that wanted to fuck their way back to wherever the hell they’d come from. The man at my feet was the one I had come to see. He claimed to have seen a toruk flying south across the evening sky.

I blew out a breath, frustrated at information that made no sense and pointed me in too many directions.

My pocket buzzed once more. I reached in and grabbed the obsidian stone, throwing it at the wall with all my might. It didn’t smash against the wood as I so desperately wanted it to. Instead, a fist closed around it, stopping its forward momentum.

“So you have been ignoring it,” Kaden said, his voice filled with anger.

“What a massacre,” Isaiah said, stepping out of the shadows. Imogen followed him, and my breath died in my lungs.

“What are you doing with her?” I hadn’t realized I was in Isaiah’s face until Kaden placed a hand on my chest.

Isaiah laughed. “Get your bitch in line, Kaden, before I rip him to pieces.”

“Both of you,” Kaden said, pushing me back, “calm the fuck down.”

“Why do you have her?” I asked again, unable to look away from Imogen. She just stared straight ahead, her blue eyes so far away it broke my fucking heart. I had been avoiding her because I couldn’t look at her, couldn’t see her, without needing to take her away from this, to save her. If I did that, I knew I’d be locked up somewhere and skinned alive. Then, I’d never be able to save them. I had to find Dianna.

“I’m the only thing keeping her safe,” Isaiah said.

“Bullshit!” I spat. “You, like him, only give a shit about what you can own or use. There isn’t an ounce of care in you.”

Kaden’s fist connected with my face, and I stumbled back. I caught myself and spat dark blood on the deck. “Oh, my mistake. I guess you do care about one brother.”

“I’ve been calling you.”

I rubbed my jaw as it healed. “Yeah? Well, go fuck yourself. I haven’t found anything.”

“I don’t believe that,” Kaden said, stepping closer to me. “I think you have, and you’re chasing it. So I’m going to ask you once, then I’m going to take something you love very much.”

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