Page 51 of Cursed

Bastian’s shout echoed through the room, and my eyes narrowed as the black smoke of his magic curled around his arms and torso.

He was angry.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my youngest brother wield any kind of genuine emotion…

“Maybe you’re right,” I conceded. “But how do you think she’ll respond to us after what we did? Would you trust her to forget that?”

“Perhaps she doesn’t have to forget,” Valen said. “She wants to trust us. She definitely wants to fuck us.”

Bastian chuckled knowingly, and I felt a prickle of jealousy rush up my spine.

“I canfeelit,” Valen continued. “We can remind her of the good—the moments when we had her, when she wasours. We can control her again, Titus. It’s worth the risk.”

“Control.” The word rolled off my tongue like poison. A part of me craved that power, and the thrill of bending her will to ours once more was tempting—almost too tempting.

Bastian leaned against the wall as the tendrils of his magic writhed around his limbs and regarded me cooly—as if he hadn’t just been flung against the stone like a rag doll. “We all know how good it felt to possess her— That moment when she surrendered, when the contract you forced her to sign bound her to us—it was glorious.”

I nodded.

Would we be able to manipulate her again without losing ourselves in the process?

“To what end?” I said through gritted teeth.

“This isn’t just about us,” Valen said. “It’s about the Grimoire—and what it means. If Avril has it, we have to have her loyalty before she goes too far— If Lucian can control her through it—”

“You want to get there first,” I snapped.

Valen inclined his head.

A fragile alliance began to form amongst us, bound not by trust, but by a shared hunger for control over the grimoire—and Avril. I hadn’t touched the grimoire in almost a decade, but its whispers still echoed in the recesses of my mind. It had awakened my power, and helped me to increase it— If I could wield it again…

“Agreed,” I said. My throat was dry, and I swallowed the bitterness that came with the acknowledgment. “We manipulate her, but we do it carefully. Lucian can’t find out.”

“No,” Bastian agreed. “He can’t. We need to work quickly—she’s too weak to use it properly.”

“Not for long,” Valen said.

I turned my gaze to Bastian. “You’ve seen her with it— What happened?”

Bastian laughed, but there was something in his eyes that made anger rise in my chest. I stretched out my hand and the pale green smoke of my magic shot out and wrapped around his throat. He tried to swat it away, but I tightened my grip and the twisted green smoke dragged Bastian up the wall until his feet dangled in the air.

“Titus—” Valen said warningly.

“I— I showed her how to open it,” Bastian choked out. “The pages— they remembered my blood—”

“Of course they fucking did,” I snarled. “The booktakes— that’s its nature.”

“Titus!” Valen shouted. “Drop him!”

I let out a furious grunt and released my grip. Bastian dropped to the floor, and he stumbled, but then caught his balance and braced a hand against the wall as he gasped for air.

“Asshole,” he coughed.

“Did you think you were doing her a favor?” I growled.

“She asked for my help,” Bastian protested. “I thought she could be useful—”

“You know better than anyone the risks of relying on someone so—fragile.”

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