Page 62 of The Cursed

Our people,I corrected myself. The witches were Gray's creation just as much as the demons and Vessels were, something he'd done for selfish gain—but done no less.

"We are summoning the Coven to show them their assassination attempt failed," Gray said, making me turn my shocked stare up to him. "If they were under the assumption that you did not even attempt to do it in the first place, they will never pledge their loyalty to you."

"So you think the solution is to make me look like a failure?" I asked, huffing in indignation. If I failed in my first task as Covenant, what did that say about my ability to lead?

"You did not fail. You did exactly what was asked of you, down to being able to stab me in the first place.Theirplan failed, and they will pay for sending you to your death," Gray explained, stepping out of the way. The gears of the Tribunal room moved in the distance as the first of the witches responded to my call. He moved to stand beside my throne, leaning his weight into the side of it with a cocky grin.

"You cannot punish them for what they attempted without giving me the same fate," I said. It wasn't fair that they should suffer when I didn't, not when it had been me to deliver the blow.

"Watch me," Gray growled, the warning in those words shocking me.

"Some of them are my friends," I admitted, waiting for him to condemn them anyway. I could seemingly forgive him for most of his wrongs, believing they came from the right place. Nonetheless, if he killed Della and Nova, there would be no coming back for us.

"Which ones?" he asked, sighing in aggravation as a witch waited by the entrance. I didn't recognize her, and she certainly kept her distance until more familiar faces arrived.

"Della, Nova, and..." I trailed off, knowing that the next name would infuriate him. I'd made it clear that I would not allow Iban to touch me again, and instead I'd schemed with him to kill my husband. I didn’t consider him a friend anymore, not in the same way I did Della and Nova, but I didn’t want him to die for his role either.

Fuck.

"Say it," Gray said, staring down at me. He already knew the answer, knew the one name I would say that would give me pause.

"Iban. Iban was the one who found the dagger and the book," I said, swallowing my nerves.

"So he was the one who knew you would die doing this?" Gray asked, his lethal words oddly calm. Cold washed over me as I thought of his warning to Gray before he'd tossed him over the stairs.

Someone will use me as his weakness.

"He wouldn't," I said, shaking my head in objection. "If he'd known, he would have just told me to kill myself, Gray. It doesn't make sense."

"That may be for now, but there's nothing stopping him from putting the pieces together," he argued, turning to face the group that stepped into the room. Our conversation was over being that there were enough witnesses who moved closer enough to hear us, as they filled the room slowly.

It was a steady stream from there, most of the Coven having come in their sleep clothes to obey my command. Della and Nova entered the room together, their gazes landing on my hands that were impaled by the throne.

I took the opportunity to raise them, pulling the thorns through my flesh without sparing a glance. The pain was agony, but as I stood, I forced my face into a stoic mask. Every eye in the room fell to my hands as gold light shimmered over the wound, healing them as I turned my attention to where Gray waited.

He pushed off the throne, stalking toward me and standing at my side. I didn't miss the gasp at the sight of his blood-stained shirt, or the way those who had known about Iban's plan glanced between us.

Shocked to see me breathing, I realized, swallowing down my distaste.

I'd let myself be manipulated again, so lost in the notion that it was my responsibility to fix what I'd done. I would never stop being a pawn until I started acting for myself, abandoning all thought of the goals of others and doing what wasright.

I would do what was right for me from that point on.

Gray captured my chin with his fingers, turning my face to meet his eyes. Whatever he saw there made him nod, an approving smile tipping up the corners of his mouth. The expression nearly stole the breath from my lungs, far more intimate than anything he'd done to me in the privacy of our bedroom.

He wore his approval and pride openly on his face, leaving no question for anyone watching our exchange that he'd forgiven me for what I'd done.

"We tried it your way," Gray said, looking through the gathered Coven. "You sent my wife to do what you were too afraid to attempt on your own. As you can see, she was vicious enough to stab me." He chuckled as he said the words.

I hadn'tjuststabbed him. I'd twisted the blade in his heart, determined to shred it into pieces that would never heal.

I blanched at the recent memory, the feeling of his blood soaking my hands and mixing with my own blood that dried on my skin as he spoke. When I was a child, all I wanted was a peaceful life in a home by the woods, surrounded by gardens like my mother's.

This could be my home, but I knew I would see it drenched in the blood of those who opposed me long before I had the peace I wanted.

"Yet here you stand," the purple witch said as she stepped forward. Her eyes glimmered like stars, a warning in her gaze as she was bold enough to speak. Identifying herself as one of those Gray would see as a traitor, even knowing what the consequences would be. "And she is alive and well."

"Of course she is," Gray said, his words spoken through clenched teeth. His lips peeled back as he continued, the brutality in that expression making the purple witch recoil slightly. "She is my wife, and just because you were so willing to sacrifice her for your own foolishness, does not mean I am."

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