Page 32 of A Thieving Curse

“What did you say?” Jasper demanded.

“Me?” She choked back tears. “I tried to talk to him, and then that—that dragon threatened to eat me!”

“Alexanderis cursed to turn into a dragon when he loses his temper,” Jasper said, his tone even, like an annoyed tutor. “The curse is cruel because it also makes him more prone to rage. Dragons are temperamental. If the shift is caused by anger, it’s harder for him to control—”

“So I’m not even safe here!” Raelyn shoved to her feet and rounded on Jasper, Meredith, Peter, and Lucas. “Then there’s no point in staying here.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve and looked pleadingly between them. “Please. Help me get to the pass.”

Peter turned away, muttering under his breath. Lucas kicked at the grass, avoiding her gaze.

Meredith scowled. “Don’t be stupid. He didn’t hurt you—”

“Fine. I’ll find my family myself.” With that, Raelyn hiked up her skirt and sprinted into the forest, ignoring the others’ shouted warnings and cries to come back as she wove through the pines.

12

LUCAS CHASED HER, but he stopped when Raelyn screamed at him not to touch her. She would not be dragged back to that monster.

When running on her ankle became unbearable, she slid to a stop over a layer of dead pine needles and leaned against a crooked aspen, panting. Every time she blinked, she saw the dragon-man’s face elongating and morphing, twisting from human features into a dragon’s head. She shoved off the tree. She had to keep going.

Just head downhill. Down the mountains. Surely I’ll find the pass, and then my family, and everything will be all right.

Thinking of reuniting with Gareth helped her push through the pain that spiked through her ankle with each step. As she walked, she searched for any sign of a trail or other humans—an animal trap, boot prints, anything.

Every creak or snap of a branch sent her heart pounding. A rabbit darted in front of her, and she jumped back with a scream, then held her breath. The rabbit hopped away, and no beasts appeared out of the trees. Raelyn released a quiet, strained laugh over screaming at a rabbit and kept walking. She skirted a tight grove of aspens and found herself on a narrow trail.

The path had a short layer of grass, and pines grew along its edges. It was scarcely wide enough to accommodate her, but it was a trail, and it headed down the mountain.

As she followed the trail, dodging overhanging branches and stepping over roots, her thoughts drifted back to after the dragon transformed. The way Jasper had asked what she’d said like it was her fault, like she was the villain. She had only shouted; he had threatened toeat her.And his lies! He was either deluded or a selfish monster. He had to be.

But then, she doubted level-headed Jasper could be fooled, so the dragon-man must be the prince. Raelyn didn’t see how someone as kind as Meredith could love the prince if he were truly so horrible, and someone as friendly as Lucas wouldn’t care for a beast. If the dragon-man could enchant them, he would have enchanted her by now, too, so their affection had to be real.

Then there was the fact he didn’t eat her. He shifted into a dragon, rage in his eyes, his tongue flicking with hunger. Yet he flew away and left her unharmed.

According to Jasper, the prince had lost his temper, and the curse turned him. Raelyn rubbed her arms. If she bore that curse…she would have transformed during their argument, too. It wasn’t like she’d known what would happen, though.

But she had known she was hurting him. The things she’d said… She had seen his raw, human emotion and ignored it. He’d called the others his family, seemed genuinely concerned about their wellbeing. He wanted his family safe as much as she did hers.“Appearances can be deceiving.”If Jasper was right, and the dragon-man wasn’t a monster at heart… She hadn’t treated him like a human. The thought filled her with guilt.

She ducked under a low pine bough and stopped short. The trail hadn’t led to a village. It had led to a lake. A gorgeous mountain lake set in a little valley, surrounded by more tree-cloaked mountains cast in shadow as the sun edged toward the uneven horizon.

No.Raelyn sagged against the pine. She hadn’t been following a disused human trail. She’d been on an animal trail. But she had no time to despair, not now, or she would never find her family. She straightened. Might as well get a drink before continuing. She eyed the pink-tinted sky. The sun was setting faster than she’d expected, and she needed to get as far as possible before nightfall made her chances of survival slimmer.

As she approached the edge of the lake, she scanned the tree line for any animals—mostly for any vicious ones. The ground turned soft and muddy, and she retreated to look for more solid ground. Instead, she spotted a huge hoof print. Her breath hitched, and she backed away from the exposed shore. What creatures could have left such a heavy print?

A moose. Maybe a very large elk. A minotaur. A centaur. Some other monstrous creature.Please be long gone. But the print looked fresh.Or be a moose. At least a moose wouldn’t want to eat her.

The sun edged toward a peak across the lake, casting lengthy shadows around the quietly lapping water. She needed to keep going, but where? For a moment, she considered going back. But the dragon-man had made clear he wouldn’t help her, and her family needed her. And she needed them.Never mind the drink.She turned from the water. At least reentering the woods afforded her more places to hide. Then she could go around the lake until it seemed like she was going downhill.

Sticks cracked under her boots, and the air grew colder by the moment. More concerning than the cold in only a thin linen dress, all the worst monsters came out at night. When they would be able to see her, but she wouldn’t be able to see them. She tugged on her braid as she reentered the trees, trying to ignore the growing regret at her rash decision to run.

Gareth. Focus on getting to Gareth.

She squeezed between two aspen saplings and froze as a branch snapped ahead of her. Something breathed, heavy and loud. A sound like the snort of a bull.Oh, please, no.She inched backward, straining to see into the dense trees as her pulse pounded in her ears.

“Pretty girl.” The voice was deep and scratchy, the sounds slurred and indistinct. Glowing golden eyes materialized out of the shadows. Her blood turned to ice. A minotaur stepped out from between two pines, the needles rustling as they caught on the dark, matted fur of its bull head and legs. It towered over her. Thick hair covered most of its muscular torso and bulging arms. A fraying rope held ripped, stained trousers in place. “Pretty girls taste best.”

Raelyn’s legs moved on their own, propelling her back toward the lake. Her chest shuddered with each frantic breath, and terror overrode the throbbing in her ankle. Could minotaurs swim? She couldn’t swim far, regardless. So she banked away from the shore and headed for the woods as heavy hoof-beats shook the ground.

“Come back, tasty girl!”

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