Page 64 of The Cursed

But I didn't know if my husband knew that. I didn't know if he was aware of the steps I'd taken to prevent pregnancy in the event that a man took what I didn't offer. My world was harsh and brutal, and I hadn't known what situations I may find myself in once I came to the Coven.

I'd never been more appreciative than now for my paranoia.

"Would the child be a witch? Or Nephilim?" one of the Devoes asked, stepping forward to ask a question. He was calm, collecting the information as his brain worked through the options at our disposal. "A Nephilim child would not continue the legacy of our founding houses."

"There's no way to know for sure," Gray answered, returning the man's calm, collected attitude. "But I am also the only being alive who can create new witches. I can merely bestow the power of a Green and a Black to mortals of my choosing should Willow and I's children prove to be too powerful to fill the role."

I held in my startled gasp, hating that we sat negotiating with the potential of children I didn't even know if I wanted. I kept quiet, trusting that Gray knew what he was doing. I would argue with him later, when the prying eyes of the Coven were no longer scrutinizing every move we made.

"And what would you expect in return for such a bargain?" the Devoe asked, quirking his brow.

"The Coven will embrace Willow as they promised the night you bowed to her, and when the time is right, she will open the seal permanently and allow our people to come and go between our lands as they please," Gray said, and I barely stopped my sigh of hurt.

Another motivation, another goal that we hadn't discussed.

"We'll discuss it privately," the Devoe said, lifting his chin.

"I would expect nothing less," Gray said, coming to my side. He took my hand, lifting it to his mouth to press a soft kiss to the back of my hand. It soothed my hurt for the moment, allowing me to push through this show so that I could tear his throat out in private, if I so pleased.

"You cannot be okay with this," Iban said, forcing me to turn my attention back to him. "The girl I knew would never allow—"

"The girl you thought you knew did not exist," I said, my voice soft as I delivered words I knew would hurt. It was my own fault that Iban had twisted our relationship into more than it was. I'd used him to make Gray jealous and allowed him to kiss me when I'd known my heart belonged to another. "Because she was something you created in your mind. The real Willow does not live for your approval or make choices based on what you may think of them. Accept this or don't," I added, crossing my legs and settling into my chair fully. "You and I are done either way."

Iban sighed, his shoulders dropping as he stared at me. I hoped he would have the sense to walk away, to realize that a public forum like this was not the place for us to hash out the details if we wanted to preserve any semblance of a friendship. "I'm disappointed in you," he said, shaking his head.

The petty part of me couldn't let him have the last word, not when it could make me look weak when I needed to look strong. "Then call me your queen of disappointment, and I'll add that to the list of things I don't give a fuck about," I snapped, immediately regretting the harsh words. I just wanted to return to our bedroom, shower, and take care of the much more pressing urge than Iban’s wounded ego.

"Enough. Name your co-conspirators," Gray said, stepping up to me. His eyes bore down into mine, the command in that gaze forcing me to shove away my thoughts of remorse. Gray had seen it rising in me, I realized, stopping me from taking back the harsh reprimand that I suspected Iban and I both needed.

I was no longer his equal in the eyes of the Coven, and he needed to learn to respect the new boundaries of our friendship if we were to have one.

"I don't know their names," I admitted, even as my eyes wandered over each one of them.

So many people I was responsible for, and I couldn't even name them as I sent them to their deaths.

I closed my eyes when Gray steered his attention to the person I'd isolated as the leader of the charge. "Then you will," he said, nodding his head.

Beelzebub and Leviathan moved, pushing through the crowd to take one of Iban's arms in their grip. They lifted him off his feet, carrying him out through the Tribunal room doors as Gray followed them. He turned at the last moment, his gaze coming to mine with an order that I would obey, even if it took everything in me not to challenge him.

I would demand the exact retribution if one of his own wronged the witches.

"Nobody leaves until I have the answers I need."

CHAPTER 34

GRAY

Leviathan and Beelzebub dragged Iban into one of the nearby classrooms, dropping him to the floor in the center of the desks. The man stumbled to his feet, glaring at me as Beelzebub stepped aside to allow me to pass.

"I have to admit, you made her turn her back on you far earlier than I expected," I said, taking a few steps until I stopped just in front of him. "I'm almost glad you survived your little fall the other day. Seeing you crash and burn all on your own was worth it. I thought I'd have to wait years to be rid of you, but you made this so painfully easy."

He paled as I took another step, throwing his hands up to defend himself even though I hadn't moved to harm him. "You can't hurt me. She won't forgive you for it," he said, his rational brain trying to cling to his only hope.

"She watched me take you somewhere private," I said, my nose wrinkling in irritation. The dried blood had seeped into my shirt, rubbing against the surface of my skin in a way that felt irritating. I wanted to be done with this business so I could get Willow into the shower and tend to her needs while removing all symptoms of her betrayal from my body. "What exactly do you think she believes is happening?"

"She's not ready to watch me die," Iban said, shaking his head. Even if Willow had distanced herself from her former friend and admitted he was out for his own interests, she still didn’t want him dead. From the moment he'd first betrayed the girl he hadn't even met, locking her into an arrangement with no care for her feelings, he'd acted with one purpose in mind.

Serving himself.

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