Page 115 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

Their eager eyes watched me as I walked into the courtyard, and they all bowed to me. I smiled.

“I broke my curse,” I announced.

A gasp spread through them, and I could feel their pride and happiness consume me. They watched me wondering what I called them here for.

“I will be fulfilling the prophecy soon, and I would like you to help me. But first, I’m sure you all have noticed that Lyra is missing.” They all nodded and looked worried. “All the fae of Exile were killed, including my brother Kaz, her mate. Lyra chose to go to the next life with him. Myfather and Genia killed those elite magic fae. They killed my mother.”

The witches gasped and all looked up to the moon and muttered something. I was assuming it was a prayer for Lyra and Exile.

“How can we help? We want revenge for Lyra and all elite magic fae, for Bayla.” A witch with silky black hair stepped forward.

“I need you all to visit the guards of Kizar and Cerithia and blood mark them.”

I swear their red eyes glowed brightly at my demand. They were excited to help me get revenge.

“I know it is unlikely that you can get to all of them, but just get to as many as you can in the next two days. I will summon you to me when I am ready.”

“We will do our best.” The same witch bowed.

“I know you will. Do not kill any of them, and do not control them until I give you the command.”

Their brows furrowed.

“Ifweblood mark them, then you can control them—even though you weren’t the witch to mark them because you’re the queen.”

That was even better.

“Perfect.” I smiled. “Start marking them, and I will still summon you when I’m ready to fulfill the prophecy. I haveto go; call to me if you need me, and I’ll come as soon as I can.”

They bowed as my darkness swarmed around me, and I was taken back to the castle.

Chapter 30

Cassius

The wedding was tomorrow. I had been a wreck since Thea came here last. My marriage bond demanded that we go to her and bring her home. It wanted to take her and lock her in our home so that she could never escape, so we wouldn’t lose her. Fear and anxiety gripped me. I had been pacing around our bedroom trying to figure out how I could help her without being in the way. I would die if she did. I could not survive without her.

She was fulfilling the prophecy tomorrow. I wanted to see her do it. Gods, I had waited years for her to kill those who hurt her. Fuck, it was harder to stay away from her than I thought it would be. I needed to protect her. I walked over to our wedding portrait and stared at it. Maybe I should check on her. I slipped on my clothes and summoned my shadows. When they disappeared, I stood in her room in Cerithia. But my anxiety only increasedwhen Thea wasn’t in bed. It was late as fuck; where was she? I silently slipped out of her room and crept around the castle, trying to locate her.

When I found her, I was more confused than I had been. Thea was walking down the hallway, where all the guards seemed to be frozen. They didn’t move or blink. I stayed still when I saw her walk up to them, yanking down the collar of their uniform before she lifted her fingernail, which was sharp enough to pierce their skin. Then she dripped her own blood into the wound.

She was doing blood possession magic.

I had seen her do it once before.

I wish my father and Jesper knew their ending was coming tomorrow so they could live in fear.

I smiled at her thoughts. Then she started thinking of all the ways she could kill them. She had a lot of ideas. Her darkness burst out of her in a frenzy, probably excited to kill everyone. A moment later, she unfroze the guards but didn’t move. She tilted her head like she could hear something. Shit. Hopefully, it wasn’t me.

Then she kept walking without looking back at me. I sighed, relieved. She was fine. My marriage bond had calmed down since I had seen her. But a moment later I saw her pause at an open door and look in. Something like shock zipped down our marriage bond.

“Does Tally know you two are fucking each other?” she asked casually. A moment later, Jesper and Mae came from the room, disheveled and looking disgraceful. For fuck’s sake, he was sleeping with Mae and Tally?

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jesper sneered.

“What are you doing here?” Thea smiled back when his face froze with fear. Whatever he saw in Thea’s eyes right now scared the shit out of him. Thea just smiled at him.

“Do your parents know that you’re sleeping with Jesper?” she asked Mae.

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