Page 184 of Castings & Curses

The leader inclined his head. “Perhaps this will make your decision easier. You may keep Ravenscroft castle and the land it stands upon. But you shall relinquish the vineyards.”

Without the vineyards, I would have no income…no power. Putting my own more selfish feelings aside, I considered the villagers. I’d grown fond of many of them in the time I’d spent with Sage. They were good people. Yet I doubted many would be comfortable living in the shadow of a vampire… Although I despised the man, Radu was no worse master to the villagers on his estate than I had been to mine. He would need them to continue working the vineyards, and so they would be treated fairly. No doubt, they’d be relieved that their undead lord was no longer walking the vineyards in the moonlight.

When all was considered, I realized it was only my inability to surrender the power and wealth that had made me a lord that was holding me back. And I knew none of the trappings of nobility were important to Sage. She was all that mattered to me as well.

“I have made my decision,” I declared, my voice unwavering. “I will give the vineyards to Radu Mirea.”

“Very well,” the leader said, bowing his pale head.

With a bone-white hand, he wrote upon a parchment given to him by a servant, adorning it with intricate symbols and writing in an ancient script. “This is your vow, Lord Lazar. The pact must be sealed with your blood.”

I drew a blade from my belt and cut my palm. As I pressed my bleeding hand to the scroll, a shocking power surged through me, stealing my breath and whitening my vision for a moment, leaving me trembling. As I staggered back, my hand instantly healed. I curled my fingers into my palm. I was a vampire still, but one step closer to a life with my beloved.

I watched as the leader chanted over the parchment. He bit the heel of his hand with his fangs and dripped black blood over mine. As soon as his blood blended with mine, a glowing stone formed from the droplets. Before I left the chamber, the leader handed me this artifact—a stone that pulsated with otherworldly power, imbued with primal magic.

“If all goes well, this will be the key to breaking the curse,” he said. “But it can only be activated when united with the one you love. Once she has made her sacrifice as well, you and the witch must hold it together to lift the curse.”

I nodded, tucking the stone safely in my pocket. “Thank you.”

As I made my way back to the village, the weight of my decision settled on my shoulders. The land I had fought so hard to protect would now be in the hands of my enemy. But as I thought of Sage, the woman I loved with all my soul, I knew it was a sacrifice worth making.

CHAPTER20

Sage

The air washeavy with anticipation as I made my way through the ancient woods toward the heart of the coven. Each step brought me closer to the answers I sought. I needed to know what my sacrifice would be—the price I must pay to break the curse that divided us so cruelly.

The coven’s high priestess, a learned and revered figure known for her powerful magic and boundless wisdom, resided in a secluded glade deep in the woods. As I approached, the trees seemed to whisper my name, as if the forest itself disapproved of my love for the vampire prince.

Finally reaching the glade, I found the high priestess seated on a moss-covered stone, her silver hair cascading gracefully over her shoulders. Her eyes, the clear blue-green of secret pools, met mine with a sense of knowing.

“Sage,” the high priestess said softly. “I have been expecting you.”

This did not surprise me. Able to commune with all living things, from insects and plants to every animal that creeped or crawled, she would have been following my forbidden journey with Cristian. I struggled to keep my voice steady. “High Priestess, I need to know what my sacrifice will be in order to break the curse and so that Cristian and I may live together without fear. Tell me, please.”

The high priestess gazed at me with compassion. “Child, the sacrifice you must make is the deepest desire of your heart—the one you hold most dear.”

My gut clenched at the words. I knew in my soul what the high priestess meant, yet I struggled to understand. “You mean… Cristian? I must give him up to break the curse?”

The high priestess nodded solemnly. “Yes, my dear. If you refuse, the curse will remain. Not only will you be exiled from the coven, but your family will be as well, leaving all of you to wander without the protection and love of your kind. Cristian Lazar will walk for eternity without you, never safe from the wrath of the vampire council.”

The weight of the choice pressed down on me, and I sank to my knees, tears streaming down my cheeks. “But I love him. He is my heart and soul. How can I let him go?”

The high priestess soundlessly approached me and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Love is a powerful force, my child. It can bring joy and strength, but it can also demand sacrifice. At birth, you were promised to another man. This is the way of the coven. He is the one you are to marry.”

I shook my head wildly. “No. I cannot—”

The priestess raised a quelling hand. “The path ahead is difficult, but know that love’s light will guide you through the darkness.”

How could love’s light guide me when there could be no love in my life without Cristian? Yet I couldn’t be so selfish. The high priestess had named the price. Unless I agreed, Cristian would be hunted for eternity, an outcast. My family would be exiled. The feud between witches and vampires would remain insurmountable. And the curse could still destroy the lives of innocents caught up in it as crops withered and livestock died…

I had come to her for an answer, and now I must accept the consequences, whether I liked that answer or not.

The high priestess spoke softly. “You have a choice. You must make the decision that feels right for you. But remember, sacrifices are made not only for our own happiness, but for the greater good.”

Biting my lip, I linked my hands together and pressed them over my aching heart.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the glade in shadows, I wiped away my tears and stood tall, bent with sorrow, but filled with a grim sense of purpose.

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