Page 19 of Cursed Shadows

“Why is that?”

He shrugs. “Women have a way of interfering with what’s best for a man. And what’s best for any of us is seeing Variant put to death. Nothing else should get in the way of that. Nothing else should matter.”

I laugh at him. “You’re telling me that if she were to open her legs to you, you’d deny her?”

“It would never come to that because I would never allow it to.”

“Really?”

“I have no interest in women. Only revenge.”

“I wish I had a drink; I’d cheers to that,” I say with a smile. I wonder if being dead did something to his libido. I hope never to find out.

“How do we restore her memory?” he asks, clearly changing the subject.

I shake my head. I’d hoped that once theAtacomiteleft her system, she’d have something more to give us. “First, we need to get out of here,” I answer. “This realm isn’t doing the angel or me any good.”

Baron nods. “You overstayed your welcome the moment you walked through those front gates,” he points out.

“Yes,” I agree but my mind is elsewhere. “She’s hiding something from us, that much I know.”

“Hiding something?” Baron asks, eyeing me.

I nod. “I believe she’s lost her memory, but Eilish knows more than she’s letting on. She’s shown me things, things that don’t exist outside my head.” I stand up and start pacing the room. The subject of this woman perturbs me. I’m angry I don’t have answers yet. “She may be our key, but I’m hesitant to trust her. We need to know her past.”

“Whoever gave her those markings is onyourside,” Baron says.

“That is, if she truly possesses her wings,” I remind him. “We still don’t know the answer to that very important question.”

“That’s a large gamble to take.”

“It is, and if it turns out she’s not intact, I don’t know what will happen.” I’m quiet for a moment. “The sprite swears he’s seen them. And I can’t think of a reason for him to lie. Yes, hehated Anona, but for him to make the trek to the Gorge to find Dragan required balls I’m, quite frankly, surprised he has.”

“Let’s assume she does have wings. What then?”

I shrug. “We need answers to the questions of where she came from, why she’s missing her memories, why she was marked falsely, and who marked her.”

Baron nods. “Whoever marked her holds at least some of those answers.”

“I would agree. And once we have those answers, we can devise a plan to defeat Variant once and for all.”

“It all sounds so simple.” His voice trails off and it appears his mind is elsewhere again. He’s staring back into the fire, lost in thought. When he looks up, he asks me, “You’re an elf. A magical being. Can’t you detect whatever it is you feel she’s hiding?”

“I’ve already tried. Dragan and I also attempted to force her to reveal her wings, but our magic failed.”

“Then you have only the word of the sprite?”

“We have only the word of that fucking annoying sprite,” I confirm.

“He could be in cahoots with her.”

I nod. “I’ve considered that.” Then, I take a deep breath. “If we had a Transmutation Stone, maybe I could draw something out of her. There’s a chance it could remove the walls placed on her memory, as well.”

“And where can we get a Transmutation Stone?”

“I have one, back in Geldingstock, but going there now would be a death sentence.”

“Because?”

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