Page 118 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

Thea

Iscanned the guests of the wedding. It was customary for royal families to show up, especially for a wedding between two royal families. My father had come to check on me first thing this morning, which was odd. Then he surprised me with a dress—the one from my damn vision. Cassius was supposed to die today.

My father almost seemed surprised to see me in my room but played it off as making sure I was helping with the wedding. I didn’t help, and there had been no plans for me to help, so I knew he was lying. Then Gwyn hovered around me all morning, and if she had to leave, Mae came to watch me.

Something odd was happening.

“Where is Cassius?” Sy asked without moving his lips.

“I assume they aren’t coming to the wedding,” I responded. Thank the gods and stars. If he stayed away today, then the vision wouldn’t come true.

The sun was too hot for an outside wedding, but here we were, cooking in this heat. “My family has been odd all morning.”

Sy sighed as his eyes glanced around at the ridiculous amount of fae here. Kizar and Cerithian fae mingled as the ceremony started. I couldn’t focus on how ugly Tally’s dress was or how Jesper stared at me when he should be focusing on his future wife.

“Well, that’s probably for the best. Is the plan still a go?” he asked.

“Yes. I want to be done with this. Don’t worry, I have it under control.”

As the priestess spoke their vows, I felt an odd chill on my neck. I ignored it until it happened again. My eyes darted around the castle gardens, and I spotted him. Haden. He was hiding in the woods that lined the grounds. My heart stopped when I saw the blood running down from his nose. I turned forward so I wouldn’t attract attention. I would slip away as soon as I got a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Sy asked.

“Haden is in the woods wounded. He wants me to go to him.”

Sy didn’t respond at first.

“Well, that can’t be a good sign.”

“It’s not.”

A sinking pit formed in my stomach. I couldn’t stand not knowing how Cassius was. I wanted to check on him this morning, but my family had hovered around me too much to sneak away.

“Fuck,” he sighed as everyone cheered loudly at Tally and Jesper kissing. They were married, which meant my plan was already in play. “I will support you any way I can.”

“Tell Valor that it’s going to get messy.”

Then I followed my family down the aisle like I was supposed to. However, it was easy to sneak away once the fae lined up to give their congratulations to the couple. I slipped from the crowd and headed straight to the woods.

“Haden?”

I didn’t see him at first, but then he appeared bloodied more than I had even realized. Haden had a dagger out like he wasn’t sure if I was here to kill him.

“Your father had Crimson attacked.”

“Fuck,” I sighed as my darkness exploded from me. It wanted us to burn everyone alive. “How bad is it?”

I turned to Haden, who stared at me oddly. His dagger fell to his side.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I came to you?” he questioned.

I reached forward and healed his wounds.

“No,” I sighed. “I was planning on fulfilling my prophecy today. This just pisses me off more.”

Haden watched me oddly when I gave him a small smile.

“Cassius was right. You really broke your curse.”

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