Page 52 of Cursed

“Fragile or not, she could hold the key to everything,” Valen interjected. “Lucian wants her for a reason— We all know her magic is weak. There shouldn’t be any reason for him to have any interest in her. But he does—he’sobsessed. You know it, Titus. We all saw it the night we dragged her to his study. He should have thrown her out—”

“Or killed her,” Bastian said.

“But he didn’t,” Valen continued. “He’s killed better, more powerful people for smaller insults—”

That was true.His lenience had shocked me, too.

“We have to take the chance,” Valen said. “We can draw her back in and remind her of her place in this house.”

“Place?” I scoffed.

“Where she belongs,” Bastian echoed. A smirk lingered on his angelic face. “And if we do this right, she’ll remember what it felt like to kneel at our feet.”

“With us in control, and her powerless.” The idea wrapped itself around my thoughts.

“We can make her need us,” Valen said.

For a moment, I recalled the nights when Avril was truly ours.

When she was under our power and our mercy, begging for us.

The memory sent tingles down my spine. She had been such a sweet distraction from the tedium of our dark existence.

“I like this plan,” I said as I turned toward Valen, who smirked triumphantly at my words.

“But let’s not forget,” Bastian said, breaking our contemplative silence. “There’s something about Avril that Lucian craves— That could be dangerous.”

“Dangerous or not,” I replied, “she’s already teetering on the brink— ”

“So we proceed with caution, then?” Valen asked.

“Caution,” I repeated, mirth tugging at the corners of my mouth. A rare thing. “Yes,” I agreed reluctantly. “We can’t afford Lucian’s wrath if he discovers what we’re up to.”

A mutual understanding seemed to settle among us after that revelation—but I still wasn’t sure if I could trust my brothers.

Until Avril was under our control again, I couldn’t let down my guard.

And even then…it was impossible to know what they truly wanted, or what they hoped to achieve with this plan.

But that could wait—for now, there was something to unite us. Something we all wanted.

It would have to be enough.

I pacedthe confines of my dimly lit room and each footfall echoed in the hollow space like a heartbeat.

Shadows clung to the corners, twisting and shifting as if they were alive, and the grimoire’s whispers echoed in my mind. I pressed my hands against my ears to keep them out, but it never worked—if I couldn’t figure out how to use the spells that were etched on those pages, the book was going to drive me insane.

I was sure of that much.

The Bloodstone Grimoire lay on the vanity, and the dark stones embedded in the leather cover winked ominously. It was a cursed thing, a relic that promised power but threatened madness—

If I couldn’t control it, its power would consume me.

A sudden knock on my door shattered the fragile silence, a sharp rap that made me jump as panic surged through me.

“Damn it,” I muttered. Was it Bastian? Had he returned to taunt me about the grimoire again? Or to demand more ‘favors.’

I stomped to the door, ready to shout at him and tell him to leave me alone.

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