Page 97 of Monster's Pretty Bride

If I don’t do this, Naranus will die.

Eryss will lose everything.

Naranus suddenly moves, dropping to his knees beside me as his men fight the enemies desperately, his hands fisting in my torn cloak. “I won’t allow this,” he growls, voice low and dangerous, his breath uneven. “I refuse.”

I laugh, the sound brittle. “You don’t get a say.”

His fingers tighten. “Like hell I don’t.”

I lift a hand, weak but steady, and place it against his chest.

This is the only way. I am ready.

“Let me do this,” I whisper. “Please. Take care of my little sister, gargoyle.”

Eryss screams, hands clawing at me, trying to stop what must happen. “No! NO!”

Tears streak her face, mixing with blood and sweat. She fights me, resists me, her magic sparking wildly as she tries to undo the inevitable.

But I don’t let her.

I can’t.

I begin the ritual.

The moment my magic ignites, the world shifts.

The symbols I etch into the ground glow with deep violet energy, an ancient incantation spilling from my lips. My voice shakes, but my conviction does not.

The air thrums with energy. The curse inside Naranus responds, sensing the change, sensing the trade.

It fights.

It flares.

Naranus shouts, his body jerking as the magic wraps around him, trying to resist the pull.

His claws dig into my wrist. “Catalina, stop?—”

I keep going.

The power surges through me, raw and unforgiving, a burning brand that seeps deep into my soul, binding me to the curse. The cracks on his body begin to close.

The curse leaves him.

And takes me instead.

My scream rips through the night, the agony splintering through my bones as the magic devours me whole.

Eryss wails, her magic slamming against the ritual, trying to tear me away.

Too late. The process is already sealed.

A heartbeat later, the curse is gone from him.

Inside me. I feel it. Creeping through my veins. Eating me alive.

But I smile.

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