Page 14 of Of Curses and Beauty

Alaine felt herself falling into a routine, but she wasn’t upset by it. She tucked her feet beneath her, angling her body toward Daric as he folded his massive frame onto the opposite end of the sofa.

“This has felt more like a holiday than a curse.” She didn’t mean for the words to slip out, but they had been echoing through her mind since breakfast. If she was honest with herself, being there felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It was easy to forget her responsibilities. Easy to forget the life she left behind. Easy to be there with Daric in their own little corner of the world. Like every part of her life leading up to this point had been a nightmare and now she was waking to find it all fading into the mists of memory.

She caught Daric’s pained expression and instantly regretted her carelessness. “I don’t mean to belittle your suffering. I can’t even imagine what the past three hundred years have been like for you. I only meant that…” she hesitated, wondering how much to share. “I am enjoying my time here more than expected.”

It was hardly a shameful confession, but the tips of her ears heated regardless. She struggled to meet Daric’s intense gaze and found herself focusing on his lips instead—lips currently set into a grim line. She braced herself for his response, certain she’d offended him.

Seconds felt like hours as anxiety dug its claws into her mind. For better or worse, they were stuck together for the foreseeable future, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had intruded on something precious. The possibility that she had ruined his life left a bad taste in her mouth, especially as she was feeling her life had just begun.

Daric’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. When he finally spoke, his voice was gruff with emotion. “What I’ve been through is not your concern. I am here because of my own actions, but you—“ He shook his head with a sardonic laugh. “You came into my life like a pebble in my shoe. After so long in stasis, the sudden change chafed. You were an unexpected distraction and I wanted to hate you for it.”

Alaine deflated, her breath escaping in a heavy exhale. Her disappointment must have shown on her face because he rushed to continue. “Iwantedto hate you, but I can’t. You’re…intriguing.”

She lifted her brows, finally meeting his eyes with a look that conveyed her full skepticism of that assessment. Not that she wasn’t flattered by the description; she just wasn’t sure it could be true after she’d spent half the day alone in the library.

“What?” He chuckled and the warmth of it melted some of her petulance. “You’re intelligent, funny, kind. You’re exactly the kind of prison mate I didn’t know I needed.”

Alaine chuckled in spite of herself and considered his words. No one had ever described her as anything but pretty.Intelligent. Funny. Kind.She turned them over in her mind. Was that who she was? It seemed like a good start toward defining herself. They were labels she would be proud to wear, not that she had been ashamed to be beautiful. She’d only been shamed by thereactionsto her beauty, the way it had been weaponized against her, but she refused to let these newfound traits be taken from her.

The small smile that lingered on her lips disappeared when she looked at Daric, who squirmed in the wake of his confession. She suspected it had been some time since he’d had any kind of meaningful conversation. That thought brought back the sobering reality of their situation. As much as she enjoyed their time together, they were still cursed.Daricwas still cursed, and that didn’t sit well with her.

“Well, if today was any indication, I think that witch made a huge mistake when she cursed me. A housemate who’s a great conversationalist and a magical cottage that provides unlimited reading material? Some curse.” She smiled, but Daric didn’t return it, his expression serious.

“I must admit, this curse is much more enjoyable with your company, but I sincerely regret that you’ve been dragged into my personal Hell. However, I think if we both combine our efforts, we could get you freed in no time.”

Alaine blinked at him, providing him ample time to take the words back or tell her it was a joke, but he remained silent, watching as she absorbed the full weight of what he’d said. “I just told you I’m happy here and you’re ready to send me away?” she snapped. She couldn’t help it. A lifetime of searching for a place where she could be herself and here he was trying to free her, to get her to leave. “I’ve no interest in being freed.”

“You’ve only been here a day. You have no idea what it’s like waiting day in and day out for nothing—“

She jumped to her feet. “And you have no idea what it’s like out there. To be afemaleout there! To be primped and prodded and leered at and bargained for.“ She knew her anger was misplaced, that he only wanted to help her, but she couldn’t help the years of frustration that suddenly overwhelmed her.

Alaine’s blood was boiling now, the heat of the fire becoming too much in the small space. As though sensing her burning rage, the fire in the hearth winked out, plunging them into darkness. Her breath was coming too fast compared to Daric’s deep, steady breaths. His unaffected state only made her angrier.

How could he be so calm about this?

“What about your family, Alaine?” Even his voice was calm and yet she shook with rage. “What about your father? You’ll just leave him behind?”The guilt she’d been suppressing resurfaced at his words, but she refused to be cowed.

“I would gladly live out the rest of my days here.”

Finally, she hit a mark and Daric exploded to his feet. She felt the air he displaced as he shot up, felt the anger rippling off him in waves to match her own. The shadowed outline of his massive form unnerved her, but she didn’t shrink in the perceived safety of the dark.

“And what if there is no end?” he roared. “What if thousands of years from now, we’re still the same two people rising with the same sun, while everyone you loved, everything you knew, was nothing but dust in the wind? What if you regret the chance you missed to see your father again? What if the loss and longing drive you mad? And there’s no cure for it because there’s no end to this curse.”

Was she mistaken or had his voice taken on a haunted edge as though these were his own fears being spoken aloud? He quieted, seeming to reign himself in and when he spoke again his voice was softer, but no less sharp. “What if you realize that the lives you live between those pages are nothing compared to living it for yourself? What then, Alaine? I can’t sit here and watch you throw away everything I’ve desired for the last three hundred years. I won’t.”

His tone brooked no argument, which was just as well because as far as she was concerned, the conversation was over.

“Light, please.”

A single taper appeared on the small dining table, providing just enough light to ensure she didn’t stumble on her way to her room. She made sure to extinguish it before slamming her door, leaving Daric in complete darkness.

Chapter 12

Daric

Thatcouldhavegonebetter, Daric thought as the ghost of the light finally faded from his vision.

Plunged into the familiar dark, he sighed, wondering how he could convince Alaine to see reason. He understood better than most the pressures of being desired for one aspect of a person. The expectations to look a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain way. But accepting the curse was not a solution. Sure, being secluded to a cottage in the forest seemed better with company, but it was only a matter of time before she tired of him and desired her freedom. He was saving her the trouble of wasting all that time in between. It had nothing to do with his fear of getting attached to her. Nothing at all.

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