Page 116 of Heirs of the Cursed

She’d never been Darcia Voreia, and all that she knew was a lie.

“When the Royal Army arrived in Dawnfall, Harg Koller brought some interesting news to me. The cursed princesses of Ro’i Rajya were missing.” He burst out laughing. “And to findthem, he needed my help. Here I thought becoming the Fiend would be of no use.”

Darcia’s face paled at that.

The Fiend, the man that all Laivalon spoke of, that no one knew beyond that name. She’d heard so many stories, so many sleepless tales about him . . . But she’d never imagined that the faceless monster everyone feared would be living under the same roof.

Conrad Voreia was the Fiend.

“You.”

“Surprised? I never thought I’d played my role so well.”

It didn’t take her long to understand. The apathy, the hatred and the evil his heart held . . . Her stepbrother had always been two things to the world: a fraudster and a dangerous man.

“You’re the monster.”

“One of the many that exist in Laivalon. Don’t look so frightened, Darcie. You and I are not so different after all.”

Darcia refused to believe that. She watched as he stood before her and admired with terror his regal, monstrous bearing. Conrad Voreia had been doomed—or destined—to do horrible things. From the moment she’d been brought to their house and taken everything he held dear, he’d turned into the devil she hated.

But the only one to blame for him falling into darkness was her.

“The soldiers began to ask the most specific questions. They were looking for women with unknown pasts and with wild magic. They were looking for women who got sick easily, so powerful that the name ‘dryad’ didn’t do them justice. From that moment on, I started doing a little research of my own.”

Conrad paced around her, marveling at her wounded body. He relished in the sight of blood, her suffering and her pain. He drew in a sharp breath, as if he could absorb her weakness.Even then, Darcia didn’t dare to speak, fearing that he’d lose his remaining control and beat her to death. If she were going to die, she at least wanted to know the answers to questions she never asked herself before.

“Harg Koller was stupid enough to trust me. After all, my customers throughout the kingdom had told him I was worthy of it. I gave him the keys to the goddesses’ temples to find the princesses, but I left out one detail. If the keys came into contact with any protective magic, it would burn as a warning,” Conrad smiled. “He showed me the burn on his hand and accused me of providing him with broken magical objects. I remained silent. The Chaser seems to have taken a liking to you; he even considered you a friend. I wonder what he will do when he learns the truth about you, but ultimately, I’ll be the one who destroys you.”

“What are you getting at?”

Her stepbrother dropped to one knee on the floor in front of her. Darcia’s attention was momentarily diverted to the dagger in his hand, the one he was eager to bring out to play. Conrad raised it until the tip caressed her forearm, the blade nearly severing her.

“At last, I can make fate play in my favor. Because there’s nothing you can do now, not when I know who you truly are.”

Darcia was about to get inside his mind, but the thought vanished the moment the edge of the dagger rested on her neck.

“You are not Darcia Voreia. You never have been.”

“I’m your stepsister,” she said.

“No, you’re not. And you’re not street trash like I thought you were, either.” He tilted his head a little to whisper in her ear. “You’ve always been one of them, a cursed princess.”

Darcia’s heart skipped a beat. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it? You’re one of the Dark Twins, an heir of the cursed. I don’t know if you’re Amira or Meissa, but you’re clearlya Boreaalinen. And the price on your head is an extremely interesting amount of vramnias.”

“If you believed that for a second, you would have surrendered me to the king a long time ago,” she said with a trembling voice. “You have always been cruel, Conrad. I didn’t take you for a mad man as well.”

“Oh, but you are. And I also found out where your sister is,” he confessed. “She looks exactly like you, did you know that? Except for the hair. I’m sure she colored it so she wouldn’t feel dirty for what she is . . . Awhore. The best paid hetaira in all of Bellmare! A luscious whore who has done nothing but give me money for eating every Royal Army soldier’s cock without knowing they want to cut off her head. Oh, come on, laugh! It’s funny.”

But Darcia couldn’t take in everything her stepbrother was saying. The world was moving too fast, leaving her behind.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be on our way to Bellmare soon and I’ll introduce you to her. Maybe I’ll let her eat my cock before handing her to the king.”

Darcia didn’t hold back. She got to her feet as best as she could and punched him in the face with her hands still bound. Conrad stepped aside and spat out traces of blood on the earth. When he raised his head, his bloodthirsty gaze set on her boreal eyes.

“You’re going to regret that.”

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