Page 19 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

Of course I’d be kidnapping the class clown. I groaned, following his instructions and then entered the hidden passage.

“My uncle will probably have your head for this,” he mused as we snuck through narrow hallways in the castle. “But then again, he said he’d been dreaming about you. That was weird. Don’t you think it was weird?”

“Do you ever stop talking?” I muttered.

“No, not really. It’s part of my charm.”

“I can see why your uncle doesn’t like you,” I muttered, though the thought of the king made my thighs clench.

As we neared an exit, I felt the pressure mounting. I glanced back once, the weight of the situation finally threatening to crush me. I was stealing the prince, and I’d just subdued the king of Faerie. This turned out to be a fine evening.

Damon had taken us through amaze of secret hallways and successfully led us to the outside of the castle, right by the corner gardens. A hedge maze of glass lilies and indigo snow dahlias took us further from the castle. Our path was marked in the fresh snow, but there was nothing I could do about it. I might be part high fae, but I didn’t possess an ounce of their elemental abilities. The chilled night air bit my skin, making me shiver and wish for my cloak.

“Take me to the center fountain,” I whispered through chattering teeth.

“The portal?” he asked, raising a brow. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” Though I tried to keep my tone neutral, I failed, and a touch of bitterness leaked through.

He looked me up and down with a crooked smile. “You didn’t strike me as someone from around here. For one, you’ve actually got some curve and an ass; a beautiful one at that. Few women in Faerie do, given the whole starvation problem.”

I sighed and pressed my lips into a thin line. He was baiting me, or he was just truly this annoying. Either way, if I didn’t respond, he wouldn’t get what he wanted, and that was for someone to pay attention to him.

As we exited the gardens, two guards came into view, standing by the main gate. We just had to get past them, and we’d be clear to head to the portal at the fountain. Like a sixth sense, I felt Damon ready to start talking again, but I cut him off. Looping my arm through his, I draped my hands over the chain to block it. “We’re going for a walk. You will tell them nothing else.”

His jaw clenched as he tried to resist. That’s when it happened. My magic flickered, losing almost all the strength I had left . . . and a feral roar sounded from inside the palace. I no longer had a hold over Vareck.

The guards turned, looked at each other in panic, then rushed to the palace doors. My heart was racing. We had minutes, at most, but it felt like seconds. I could hear the shouting and screaming from inside the castle walls.

Damon tutted in disgust. “Oh, fine soldiers, they are. Kaia will have their armor for abandoning the front gate,” he said, watching them leave a wide-open exit for us.

“She can have their armor, whoever she is. Just move,” I growled, running swiftly on the frosty pathways leading to the center fountain, thanking the stars I had good boots on. He kept pace beside me, not that he had much of a choice anymore.

When I saw the fountain, I felt a rush of relief, even as my adrenaline skyrocketed. I could hear the shouting outside now. Guards would be flooding the city soon.

“Well, here we are, milady.” He stopped at the edge of the fountain, dipped his chin, giving a slight bow. “Have a pleasant evening. While I’ll admit that watching you persuade the king was truly a highlight in my life, the rest of it has been. . . well, strange. Have fun. Please don’t come back.”

I twisted my lip and scrunched my nose. “Afraid you’re coming with me.”

He huffed a playful laugh. “As you so eloquently stated earlier, my uncle doesn’t like me. He won’t pay a ransom.”

“Sorry, princling. This isn’t for ransom.” For the first time all night, real emotion crossed Damon’s face. A mixture of confusion and worry. A pang of guilt rang through me. I had no idea what was going to happen to him, and the thought made my stomach roil. Whoever hired Lou had plans I wasn’t privy to. Maybe it involved ransom. Maybe it didn’t. The reality hit hard, threatening to consume me.

Damon put in true effort now that he realized my intentions. His will battled mine, fighting for the right to control his body. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I fucked up.” I didn’t stop to think, my words slipping out in a rush. Pulling a small vile from my cleavage, I tossed it into the frozen fountain, watching the glass shatter and the liquid spill over it in a shimmering wave. His frown deepened, and I mumbled ‘sorry’ before tackling him around the waist and throwing our weight toward the fountain.

Chapter 7

Vareck

The guards claimed she’d gone through the public portal in the fountain, taking my nephew with her. Despite Kaia’s reservations, I followed.

She was the woman in my dreams, of course I had to follow. She had recognized me. For years I’d wondered if she was real. Beyond confirming her existence, the one question that had always been plaguing me was if she had dreamed of me too. Based on her reaction to my admission, the answer was a yes.

The way her body had tensed. Her breathing changed. The shock written all over her features. Yes. There was something there.

How many times had I’d imagined meeting her? Countless, and yet—nothing like this particular series of events had played out in my head. Partially because I thought I’d be far more articulate in my approach and the reality was I’d stumbled through my words like some flustered schoolboy. The other reason was my annoying nephew hadn’t been part of the equation.

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