Page 150 of Cursed Dreams
“No!” “Stop “Thalia screamed, rushing forward, her hand outstretched. “Don’t hurt him! Please, don’t kill him! He’s, my father!”
Vaelith turned his head toward her slowly, and the smile that spread across his face was cold, dark, and nothing like the male she’d come to know. His molten gold eyes shimmered, with a cruelness she had never known.
“No,” he said, voice low and deadly. “He’s not.”
The world tilted beneath Thalia’s feet. Her breath hitched, the air slicing through her lungs like ice. “You’re lying,” she choked, shaking her head violently. “You’re trying to confuse me, you’re lying!”
“I don’t lie, Thalia,” Vaelith said, his voice silk over razorblades. “You just never asked the right questions.”
“Iknowhim,” she insisted, staggering back toward Rodric, eyes flicking between the man she had called father and the one pinning him down with magic. “He raised me. He, he was there every day, he—”
“He raised you, yes” Vaelith said flatly, his eyes boring into hers. “But you were not born to him.”
Thalia’s head swirled “Lies!” she roared.
After your magic assessment, I began researching your lineage. I needed to know what you are,whoyou are. Your magic felt so different, but so familiar. What I discovered…”
He stepped closer, shadows dragging like smoke behind him.
“You were orphaned. Found on the steps of the Temple of Esku when you were barely a few days old. The High Priestess Elara was the one who took you in, who realized what you are. She gave you to them,” he nodded toward Rodric, still held by the coiling shadows. “A gift. A secret raised in plain sight.”
“No,” Thalia whispered, her voice fraying at the edges. “You’re trying to manipulate me.”
“I’m trying toprotectyou,” he snapped, the fury returning. “Your so-called father? He has known about the curse for years. He is one of them, Thalia. One of the rebellion. He’s been feeding you just enough misinformation to lead you along—stories at bedtime, little hints about the past. Guiding your curiosity. Letting you grow up yearning for his version of the truth.”
Vaelith’s lips twisted. “You were raised to seekhim. And when the time was right, they made sure you found your way to thetemple. They made sure you crossed paths with your precious prince.”
Thalia’s heart thundered, each beat too loud in her ears. “No. I chose this. I found him—I saw him in dreams—”
“Dreams,” Vaelith snarled, his lip curling. “You what he told you there was real? You think you’re the first?”
Thalia blinked, her entire world spinning.
“You’re not special in the way you think you are,” Vaelith continued, stalking forward, eyes blazing. “He’s been dream walking with others for centuries. He’s been reaching out, planting seeds, twisting minds. Corrupting souls! That is why the rebellion began in the first place, because fools like your father fell under his spell. And now it’s happening again.”
Thalia felt the words strike deep, slicing into her like cold blades. “You’re lying,” she whispered, but her voice cracked. “Caelum wouldn’t—”
“Hehas,” Vaelith snapped. “Did you ever ask him how he knew your name?”
Thalia froze.
The question struck her with a force she hadn’t been expecting.
“He saw a seer,” she said weakly, her throat dry. “She told him about me. That I would save him.”
Vaelith’s laughter was sharp and hollow. “A seer,” he repeated mockingly. “How convenient. Tell me, Thalia—” he turned his head, looking at the still-bound Rodric— “is your father a seer?”
Rodric didn’t speak.
Thalia looked to him, her chest tightening. “Dad?” she whispered. “Tell me he’s lying.”
Rodric’s eyes, so full of sorrow, met hers.
“Tell me he’s lying!” she cried again, her voice breaking.
The shadows shifted around Rodric’s body, Vaelith looked almost regretful as he withdrew them. Rodric collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, but never looked away from Thalia.
Her heart shattered at the sight.
