Page 121 of Cursed

The library was dim,and shadows curled around the towering shelves like hungry wraiths. They seemed to follow me everywhere now—but I wasn’t frightened of them anymore. I sat nestled between the shelves, lost in the musty pages of an ancient tome that I had remembered from the library at the academy—but the contents were much different.

Perhaps Lucian was right, perhaps the Sageswerekeeping knowledge from us…

Or were these the lies?

My fingers traced the jagged edges of the parchment as I read, but my thoughts drifted—lost in the whispers of the grimoire that followed me everywhere. Their constant buzz had become both a comfort and a curse.

“Avril?”

I sat up straighter in my chair.

Valen.

His tousled brown hair caught the faint light like an ethereal halo. He hesitated—I could feel his apprehension. And, just like Titus, something more.

“Valen, you don’t have to lurk…”

His presence was magnetic, and I swung my legs out of the chair as he approached. I wanted to be close to him, even as unease coiled tighter in my gut.

He crossed the room with fluid grace and his eyes flickered over me.

“I wondered if you’d be here,” he said.

His voice was steady, yet I could hear the same tone of desperation I had detected in Titus’ voice only a few days before.

What was going on?

I closed the book and met his eyes. “Do you need something?”

He hesitated again. “I wanted to offer my help.”

“Help?” I echoed, and I couldn’t stop the skepticism from creeping into my tone. “I don’t need your help…”

What did he want from me?

As much as I wanted to trust him, I couldn’t push aside the danger that followed behind him.

“You do,” he said firmly. “With the grimoire,” he clarified as he took a few cautious steps closer. “I know it can be overwhelming. The grimoire is strange—” He tapped his fingers against the side of his head. “The whispers— they never really go away.”

My lips pressed together, and I said nothing.

Valen didn’t seem disturbed by my silence. “I thought… I thought you might want my help. I’ve used the grimoire before. It— It is a powerful book. With many hidden secrets.”

“I know,” I murmured.

“Maybe I can help you make sense of it. Before—”

There was something in his voice I didn’t like. “Before what?”

In that moment, I caught glimpses of his past—memories interwoven with cruelty and moments stolen from innocence. I felt the sting of his regrets brush against my mind. The echoes of laughter turned harsh, the pain of a bond that had twisted over time. Yet beneath it all, there was a flicker of something softer—a protective instinct that flared to life whenever he thought of me.

“Before what?” I pressed.

Valen blinked, and I wondered if he was aware of what I’d seen—or if he’d sensed the unintentional intrusion at all.

“Before— Avril, I just want to protect you,” he said.

“Protect me?” I scoffed. But I couldn’t dismiss the warmth that gathered in my chest at his words. There was sincerity in his words, and despite myself, I said, “What makes you think I would ever trust you?”

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