Page 81 of Cursed Heirs

“I’m fine. I’m honestly fine,” he assured Tal.

As they pulled apart, Tal slapped his chest. “I warned you and you fucking ignored it and went off half-cocked anyway.And look what happened! You were hurt again!” He tugged at his tight-as-sin black and orange tank. “I can’t… I can’t let you keep doing this! You can’t go up against Constantine again. He’s obviously too powerful, even for the Dark Fae Prince, all right? Please don’t let your ego put you at risk again. You can’t beat him and—”

“Iwasbeating him.”

I frowned as I continued to study him. He seemed… haunted.

“Was.Exactly. Until he overpowered you,” Tal bit back, his anger escalating all too quickly.

It had Ore and I exchanging a look. This was fast becoming an issue. If he couldn’t pull it back soon—

“Alena showed up at his behest and… intervened.”

Tal and I both went stock-still.

“She attacked you?” I asked.

“She attacked me, she stopped me from putting down Constantine, and then she tortured me.”

“No, no, no,” Tal uttered, shaking his head vehemently.

“He has her under his control. I witnessed him influencing her. There are signs of heavy black magic infection all over her too.” He looked out at me. “She disintegrated my magic. That puts the most powerful dark magic wielders out of the fight, including my father and me. To take them down now, there are only two people in the world who can manage it. Either your father or Abigail Rose herself.”

“Take them down?We’re not gonna hurt Alena!” Talon cried.

“She’s been corrupted by black magic and by him. To free her from it, nothing can be off the table.”

“No!” he roared. “Fuckingno!”

I shook my head discreetly at Orpheus and he got the message and reached out carefully to Talon, telling him, “All right.Thatwill need to be off the table. I’m sorry. I… just seeingher like that, having her hurt me and defendhim… it’s in my head.”

“It hurt? Emotionally?”

“Yes, baby bird, it did.”

“I’m sorry, Ore. I’m sorry you had to go through that. But the idea of another one of us being hurt like that, especially sweet Alena, I can’t take it.”

“I know,” he said, stroking his cheek. “I know.” He fingered his jaw. “How about you go take flight for a while, releasing some of the pent-up shit in your system? I promise I won’t go anywhere, I’ll be right here in the house.”

I smiled out at him as he looked over at me. “Flying always makes you feel better, even in the worst of times.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Okay, yeah.” He leaned into Ore and brushed his lips over his, then eased away. “Just can’t stand you in pain, brother.”

“I know you can’t, and I’m sorry you had to see it twice now.”

He scrubbed his hand over his head. “This war… all this shit… it’s too much.”

With that, he strode from the kitchen and out onto the patio.

And then he took flight, soaring into the air.

There wasn’t much space with Abigail’s ward up, but it would be just enough for him to do what he needed to.

“It’s his intense abandonment issues,” Ore murmured, watching his flaming wings for a moment. “Losing his parents so tragically and suddenly, and now always so fearful that will be replicated in us, the closest beings to him these days.”

“It is, yeah,” I said sadly, leaning against the island and regarding him. “So what did you want him away to tell me?”

His vibrant-purple eyes dimmed as he revealed, “He’s had her, X. Constantine has… defiled Alena.”

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