Page 310 of Castings & Curses

“What are you doing here? It’s a trap! That man, Gwideon Malevant, he said you’d come. And he... and he...” Nola breaks down, filling her lungs to the brim with rapid gulps of stale air.

“It’s OK, Nola. I know. I know.”

“So why did you come?” she screams. I don’t how long she’s been a prisoner here, but it’s clearly taken a toll on her sanity.

“I wouldn’t leave you here now, would I?”

“But he’ll kill us both!” Panic contorts her features as she says those words. My heart breaks to see her like this. And it’s all my fault too.

I take her face in my hands and plant my stare into hers. “Now you listen to me, Nola Green. I’d rather die with you than live without you, especially since it’s my stupidity that put you in this danger. How on earth did you get here anyway?”

She coughs and swallows her tears for now. I know my girl, the panic will attack again soon, but for now, she gathers her thoughts. “Some armed men broke into the apartment two days ago. They asked me where you were, and when I told them I had no idea because you’d never come back from your waiting gig, they called someone who must have told them to take me instead, because next thing, they grabbed me and tied me up and dragged me to a car and brought me here...” She drags the end of her sentence in a wail. Her sobbing accentuates and tears as big as pearls submerge her cheeks.

“OK, OK. You’re OK, sweetie. We’re here now. We’ll take you away from this hell hole.”

“We?” Her wide eyes look like ping-pong balls in the gloom.

“Yeah, I brought a friend.” I signal for Bella to approach. “Now, don’t be scared, she’s a sight to behold, but she’s our friend, OK?”

I can already tell Nola will freak out, but we don’t have time to ease her into meeting my beasty girl. “Bestie, meet my beast.”

At the sight of Bella, Nola’s mouth contorts into what would have been a screaming O. Except she passes out before any sound sails out.

“Great.”

Bella doesn’t mind and goes straight to work. She breaks the shackles apart at Nola’s wrists and takes my friend’s unconscious body in her arms. We don’t waste time and head straight back for the tunnel, but Bella halts after a few strides and I bump into her again.

“What the—”

She growls, and I can see why. Light flickers in the tunnel. One after the other, the torches burst into flames in a cascade of whooshing sounds, accentuated by the rhythmic pounding of heavy combat boots clip-clopping down the hallway. A swarm of armed guards floods the chamber and surrounds us, aiming their weapons at our trio. A slow clap echoes through the dungeon as Gwideon Malevant appears behind the last guards.

“Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, ladies.” He snaps his fingers and the torches within the room ignite at once, blinding Bella and me. “Let there be light, for I shall enjoy watching you die.”

CHAPTER16

He sneers,arrogance built in his broad shoulders and sinewy stature, pride oozing through the pores of his perfectly sun-kissed skin. Why do I even bother about his tan, really? I’m about to die; so are my best friend and my lover, and all because of me. But all I can think of is how shiny his tan is in the shaky light flooding the chamber. All fake, like him. A fake human. A warlock conniving with demons. No wonder he’s so rich.

His sultry voice booms in the tensed stillness and shakes me from my weird thoughts. “Three birds, one stone. I like those odds.”

He’s toying with us, enjoying his power, reeling in our fear and anger. He takes his sweet time glaring at us and licking his teeth, like he appraises his next meal.

Bella growls harder, protecting me from Gwideon. But she can’t cover my ass even if she wanted to, and she’s still holding poor, unconscious Nola. We’re sitting ducks indeed, surrounded, guns pointing at us from every side.

I can’t take it anymore and step forward, much to the dismay of Bella who grunts her disapproval. I signal for her to let me handle it my way. “What do you want, Mr Malevant? Why did you take Nola?”

He smirks and snorts. “Isn’t it obvious, my dear? When my men failed to come back with your heart, I knew you’d found your way to our lovely Bella here. I did the next thing to lure you back. And it worked wonders, didn’t it?”

Puzzled doesn’t even begin to describe the state of my mind right now. “But how? And why? You don’t make sense, dude.” He squirms at my familiarity, but I just ramble on. “I mean, for one thing, why not let me just lose myself in the forest? I would never have come back, and nobody would have believed me if ever I had said anything about that night. Which I wouldn’t have, cause frankly, to each their own. And I’d rather forget the whole thing fast, anyway.”

He cocks his head, studying me like I’m a talking dog. “Oh, you don’t know.” My frown makes him laugh like a madman. “Oh, goodness gracious, dear. You are something else! Back off, beast!”

He snarls at Bella as she moves to prevent him from getting closer to me. With a flick of his hand, he sends her and Nola flying against one of the columns. I ogle at my friends, dread paralyzing my whole body as I realize how strong and powerful Gwideon Malevant is. We’re doomed.

The warlock advances on me with slow, deliberate steps. I can’t take my eyes away from the lifeless bodies. Tears scramble my vision, but I can only flutter my eyelids as the rest of my body is stiffer than dead. He is on me now, sniffing, playing with my hair, roaming around me, appraising. I’m food for his sickness. He’s more of a beast than Bella ever was, the real monster.

“The fat-bottomed girl with the purple hair,” he muses, his voice a venomous rumble. He locks eyes with me. “I had a vision of you back when I cursed this one.” He jerks his head in Bella’s direction, but keeps his stare fixed. “You know how it works, don’t you? Curses? They must have a remedy. I only got a glimpse of your hair when you intruded on my little affair the other night. Then I saw your ass scamper away. You’re fast for a heavy weight. Agile, too. Too bad, isn’t it?”

His fat phobic riddles get on my nerves just enough to rekindle the fire in me. I clench my fist and set my jaws, ready to punch the smirk off his face as soon as…

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