Page 113 of Cursed Heirs

“Trapping me against the wall is your idea of friendly?”

“It is when you’re so reactive you can’t be trusted to listen, rather than doing something foolish before you hear what I have to say. Likemelting me, for instance.”

“If you think I’m going to apologize for that, you’re dreaming. After what you did to Orpheus—”

“I’m not here about him.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not?”

What the hell else was there between us, if not Ore?

“No, I’ve come to do you a favor,” he uttered in an overly pleasant tone. “You’re always the one left on the sidelines, aren’t you? The Dark Fae Prince’sbaby birdneeding protection.”

“It’s not aboutmyprotection, you fool. If I lose control, everyone is fucked. Ore helps to keep me grounded. All three of my loves do.”

“That comes at a price. Your ignorance. I’m here to rectify that, to give you inside information first, for once.”

“Why would you do me any favors?”

He reached out and stroked my cheek like Ore did, except nothing like him at the same time. Creepily and in a way that sent a shudder through me.

I growled and he drew back smiling with amusement. “Yes, so reactive to the slightest provocation.”

“Get to your point or get gone. I need to get to class.”

“Certainly,” he said, far too agreeably. What was he playing at? Something was really… off here. Aside from me being pinned to the fucking door, of course.

Jeez,this guy. He was another kind of fucked—on so many levels.

“I’ve seen Alena.”

Hope sparked. “What? Where? How?”

“I made a new friend in Constantine.”

That hope was smashed to smithereens.

Before I could absorb the shock of what he was revealing, let alone get a word out, he went on, “You see, he respects my knowledge base, my skills, my passion. He respectsme.”

“No, you couldn’t have seen him… the ward… how could you have come in and out?”

“Constantine’s acolytes drew some of Alena’s blood for me. That’s right, your whore bled for me.” His lips twisted. “Oh, my apologies,Constantine’swhore now.”

I gritted my teeth, trying to get control. “Stop.”

“You see, she broke free of his control, but I hindered her in leaving and now he’s caged her. Well, bound her, is more like it.”

“She’ll break free. She’s strong.”

“The thing is, it’s not about strength. He’s rigged it where if she unleashes her magic against him, or any of us, it will power the Orb. Meanwhile, while she’s defenseless, he’ll corrupt her mind again with black magic.” He fondled his jaw, making a sarcastic show of thinking on it. “Wait a minute, won’t that kill Saryan Hart?”

“You piece of shit,” I seethed.

“It was me who discovered his interference. How satisfying it will be to bring down my dirty prince’s father after his harsh rejection of me, after he brutally and selfishly cast me aside in favor of your angel princess.” He laughed like the psycho he clearly really was. “She won’t be anything resembling a princess soon. She’ll be his completely. He’ll have her power working with Orpheus’ blood to operate the Orb, and once he regains control of her, he’ll also have her to complete the spell with him.” He stepped up to me and grasped my jaw harshly, making me hiss. “I’m here to bring you to her.”

“What?” I grunted through his brutal grip.

“She needs some additional persuading so Constantine can take control again. He also needs a phoenix. So that’s what you are—two birds and all that. Pardon the slight pun there.” He released me roughly. “Not yet, though. First, I need you to relinquish all this control that’s making you weak. Unleash for me and you’ll see your love. You’ll be together again.”

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