Page 131 of The Cursed Kingdom

This time, Mason shrugs. “Unsure. Again, I’m here with you.”

I should throw this bowl at his head. I bet that would wipe the cocky smirk off his face.

Instead, I show restraint. Mason’s purposefully trying to make me angry, and I won’t give him the satisfaction. I was frantic before, and now that I’m calm, I won’t lose control again.

Even if it did feel really fucking good to stab Mason. I want to do it again, and I hope he gives me another opportunity sometime soon.

“Have you hurt her, and do you intend to?” I try again.

Mason nods, seemingly pleased I’ve finally worded a question in a way he deems appropriate. It makes me hate him even more.

“Ihave not,” he says. “And it depends on the answers she gives us.”

I shut my eyes and suck in a deep breath, doing everything in my power to remain level-headed.

“Is she hurt?” I ask.

Mason raises a brow. “Have you seen her?”

I’ve grown used to seeing Lill in her weakened, frail state, but I suppose it must be shocking for an outsider. I’m yet to see a faerie who isn’t the picture of health. It’s how Lill would look if she weren’t being starved of magic.

“Other than that,” I clarify.

“A guard whipped her—”

I jolt, interrupting. “What? When? Why? Is she okay?”

Mason blinks, and I snap my mouth shut with an audible click.

“A guard whipped her—” Mason resumes. He shoots me a sharp look, silently daring me to interrupt again. “—without our permission. Lilly’s fine, and her back will heal.”

Lilly. He called her Lilly.

I faintly remember a young Lillian throwing tantrums whenever people called her that. She’d throw herself onto the ground kicking and screaming, and she’d be inconsolable for hours afterward.

I’d rather eat sand than ever call her Lilly.

Mason does, though, and he does so with confidence. There’s something I don’t know. Something about Lill’s childhood here that I’m not privy to.

“What—”

Kie bursting through the front door stops me, and I turn around just as he slumps against it. He clutches his hand to his chest, and he looks crazed as he locks eyes with Mason.

What’s happening?

Mason stands, already alert as he takes in Kie’s disheveled appearance.

“Mason…” Kie gasps. “Lillian.” He stops and shakes his head, almost as if he doesn’t believe what he’s about to say. “It’s her. She touched me. She’s our mate.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

ABBY

EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO quickly.

One second I’m asking Mason questions about Lill, and the next I’m practically jogging to keep up with him and Kie as they storm to the building Lill’s being kept in.

They round a corner, and I accidentally bump into the side of one of the tall, giant trellises covering the outdoor walkways. Thousands of butterflies fly up and away, almost as if they sense the princes’ rage.

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