Page 50 of Cursed Heirs

“He is in deep distress. With you now departed from the vicinity, they’ve lifted the ward they’d put in place to protect you from his nastier urges. I believe we’re about to see what a mistake that was.”

Commotion sounded and then I caught sight of Xavier bolting through the living room and headed for the patio doors.

He burst through them, the impact blowing them to smithereens, glass shattering all over the place and over him.

He didn’t pay it any mind, even as shards cut into him, all over his chest too in his shirtless state.

I choked out a gasp as he stood there with his arms outstretched.

In broad daylight.

A vampire standing there with the sun bearing down on them.

Without his magic and the failsafe that Elliot Sabre had employed, he couldn’t walk in the sun freely.

He started to burn.

“No!” I cried, making a move to go to him.

Constantine’s hand locked around my wrist, holding me back.

“We can’t impact this plane, remember?”

“I can’t just let him burn himself alive.”

“Free will, Alena.”

“No!” I screamed, watching helplessly as every visible inch of Xavier’s skin turned red, then began to move to black, before flames erupted all over him.

A burst of speed caught my eye and I saw Professor Wilhelm speeding through the living room. He hurriedly snatched a throw off the couch, then barreled out onto the patio and threw it over Xavier as he hauled him back inside with another burst of speed, taking him down to the floor and putting out the flames all over.

“Oh my God,” I breathed. “Too close. Way too close.”

“He is not taking well to life without his magic. In fact, it is clear he is utterly devoid of hope, his will to live gone. He’ll try again and perhaps next time there won’t be anyone within range to stop him. They can’t lock him up forever. That is no life either.”

“You did this,” I uttered, brokenly as I saw Xavier crying on the ground, screaming at Professor Wilhelm for stopping him from taking his own life.

“I did and I can also undo it.”

“If I come to you when I wake up?”

“You will come to me and prove your loyalty, then I will restore what I took from him. As you can see, time is of the essence.”

“Prove my loyalty, how?”

“You will see once you come to me.” He reached out and tipped my chin up. “Your misplaced deep affection for him will ensure you remember the urgency of this when you wake.”

“Misplaced?”

He smiled. “Soon it will pass. Soon your affection will only be for me.”

“Constantine, I don’t—”

“Shh. Time to wake up, Alena.”

In the very next moment, everything slipped away, blackness engulfing me.

My eyes snappedopen and I bolted up from my desk where I’d been sprawled out before sleep had taken me out of nowhere, when I hadn’t even been tired.

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