Page 130 of Cursed

Would I ever be free of them?

I could barely remember what my life had been like before I had opened the grimoire.

Before I had spilled my blood in a desperate search for power—

No.

Not power.

Freedom.

Choice.

The shadows wrapped around me like a shroud and the flicker of the candles I’d lit offered no comfort—pale comfort.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the beat of my heart—steady—strong—dependable.

Weak.

Disappointment.

Pale magic for a pale girl.

I grimaced as the dark whispers crept through…

A soft knock broke the heavy silence, and I sat up as the door opened and revealed one of Withermarsh’s stone-faced servants.

How were they able to breach those sigils?

I couldn’t understand it—but I couldn’t ask, either.

The woman’s face was unreadable. “Miss Velez, you have been summoned to Master Lucian’s study,” she said.

My heart plummeted, and dread curled in my stomach like a serpent.

Lucian.

Did he know?

“Know what?”The whispers hissed.

Did he know that I’d been in the bowels of the mansion plotting to overthrow him?

The whispers buzzed in my mind.“Was that what had happened? Plotting?”

No… it wasn’t.Titus and his brothers had rejected me.

There was no mistaking that.

But the thought of facing Lucian made my skin crawl.

I quickly pulled down my sleeves to conceal the raw evidence of my dabbling with the grimoire—the scars that marred my wrists and arms.

“Tell him I’m not feeling well,” I managed to croak, but the servant’s gaze remained unwavering.

“Master Lucian is waiting,” she said.

She would not be deterred, nor would Lucian.

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