Page 16 of Christmas with a Cursed Werewolf

"It's alright," I assure him, keeping my voice gentle. "I know about the magic. About the curse."

"That's why you're still here, isn't it?" He looks up at me with surprising insight. "You want to help break it."

The lantern in my hands pulses once, then dims dramatically. Like the castle itself is responding to his words. We've been at this for hours—placing lights throughout the corridors—but the darkness keeps pressing in, hungry and insistent, just as Nolan said.

"What do you know about the Winter Solstice?" I ask, partly to distract us both from the oppressive gloom. The brass feels unusually warm under my fingers, almost vibrating with that same energy I felt in the library when Ronan kissed me.

"Old stories, mostly." Nolan sets another lantern carefully on a window ledge. "About how the veil between worlds grows thin on the longest night. How magic bleeds through more easily." He glances around before lowering his voice. "Mother says that's why we need more light tonight than ever before. Because of what happened with Master Rurik?—"

He stops abruptly, face paling as he realizes what he's said. The nearest lantern flickers wildly, casting strange shadows on the wall.

"It's alright," I say again, though my heart races at the mention of Ronan's brother. "You can tell me."

"No, he can't."

Ronan's voice cuts through the darkness like a blade of ice. He stands at the end of the corridor, his tall frame backlit bydying lamplight, radiating a cold fury that makes the air itself seem to freeze. Even from here, I can feel the curse writhing beneath his skin, responding to his anger.

"Nolan," he says, not taking his eyes off me. "Your mother needs you in the kitchen."

The boy hesitates, looking between us with obvious concern. His fingers tighten on the basket of lanterns. "But Miss Everly and I haven't finished?—"

"Now, please."

Something in Ronan's tone makes Nolan shrink slightly. He squeezes my hand quickly before hurrying away, the sound of his footsteps fading into the oppressive silence. Each lantern seems to dim further as Ronan approaches, as if the darkness follows in his wake.

"You shouldn't be here." His voice is controlled, measured, but there's something beneath the surface—a strain that makes my heart ache. "I told you to leave."

"And I told you I won't." I lift my chin, refusing to back down despite the way the temperature continues to drop. "Not until I understand what's really happening here."

"What's happening is that you're making everything worse." He moves closer, and the nearest lantern flickers violently. In this light, his grey eyes seem to glow with an inner fire. "Your presence here, your interference with the castle's magic—it's destabilizing everything."

"That's not true." The memory of our kiss floods back—how the magic had surged around us, pure and alive. How for one moment, everything had felt right. "You know it's not. The magic responds differently when we're together. It gets stronger?—"

"Exactly!" His control slips for a moment, raw emotion bleeding through. "The curse feeds on that strength. Uses it. Every time you interact with the castle's magic, every time you—" He cuts himself off, jaw clenching. "You need to go. Before it's too late."

Something snaps inside me. All the hurt, all the confusion of the past days rises up like a wave. Without thinking, I turn and stride toward the library—toward Ember. Ronan's sharp intake of breath tells me he knows exactly where I'm heading.

"Miss Everly—" His voice carries a warning now. "The Arcanum is forbidden. Especially tonight."

"Everything is forbidden!" I push through the heavy doors, anger giving me strength. "Every time I get close to understanding something, you push me away. But I'm not letting you?—"

The words die in my throat as I enter the library. The air feels different tonight—charged with an energy that makes my skin prickle. Books tremble on their shelves, and the shadows seem to move with purpose, gathering in the corners like living things. The magic pulses around us, stronger than I've ever felt it.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with." Ronan follows me in, his voice tight with barely controlled emotion. "The magic here is dangerous tonight. Unstable."

"Then help me understand!" I turn to face him, ignoring how the room's energy seems to build around us. "Stop shutting me out and just tell me the truth!"

The air shimmers suddenly, like heat waves rising from summer pavement. The sensation I've come to associate with Ember intensifies, and then?—

Everything changes.

The library dissolves around me in a swirl of magic and memory. I'm still standing in the same space, but the room I see is different—younger somehow, filled with a light that seems to come from the walls themselves. Two men argue near the great windows, their voices echoing strangely in my head.

Ronan, years younger, his face less haunted. And beside him, a mirror image with colder eyes—Rurik. The resemblance is startling, but there's something off about Rurik's presence, like oil floating on water. Dark energy seems to pulse around him as he gestures angrily.

"You don't understand what this power could do," Rurik's voice echoes as if underwater. "The Nexus is just the beginning. With the right sacrifice?—"

The scene shifts violently. Now I'm seeing the library floor covered in strange symbols that burn with an inner light. Rurik stands in their center, blood dripping from his palms onto the ancient stones. The castle—Ember—screams in my mind, a sound of fundamental wrongness as magic bleeds from the walls.

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