Page 99 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“Monster blood.”
“Fuck, Hattie. Why didn’t you askme?”
Ithadcrossed my mind, but: “You aren’t a test subject, Noble.”
He stiffened. “Actually…”
Test subject. Fucking Fates.“They called you a knight, but they ran experiments on you? That’s how they cursed you.” My icy fury returned; with the hearth blazing nearby, heating the entire left half of my body, I felt like I was moments away from steaming.
What I knew of Order magic was basic: an Oath was like a magical rope that tethered the Oath-taker to the Ledger that tracked them; the Order of the Arcane braided the rope. “Obviously the Adepts of theOrder of the Arcane created your Order,” I said, “so why did they taskPhina—an alchemist—with finding a cure?”
“Containment, not cure,” Noble amended.
Gildium might’ve turned blood black, but it also possessed strong containment properties. “You don’t think a cure is possible?”
Noble didn’t answer, and this time I couldn’t tell if it was due to his Oath or a lack of hope.
“There are no Arcane apprentices or adepts in our study,” I continued, fists clenching, “yet they’re the ones who did this to you?”
Noble turned his face toward the fire, watching the flames.
“Unless…” I continued, inching toward him as I thought aloud. “Unless the Adepts of the Arcane couldn’t figure out how to undo what they’d done.”
Noble’s fists tightened at his sides. “Your revelations are not going to distract me from the fact that you tracked down a vicious knighton your ownto ask her for cursed blood,” he said. “It’s my turn to be angry.”
I scoffed. “She’s not that vicious,” I said, “seeing as she let me live.”
Noble blanched. “Hattie—”
“Have you and Phina studied your blood? Viren didn’t give any indication.”
“We have—extensively. Inconclusive.”
I nodded. “Your blood might be black, butyouare not a monster,” I said. “Pure monster blood is the better place to continue our research.”
“‘Our research.’” He shook his head ruefully. “I shouldn’t have let you get wrapped up in this mess.” His chin dropped to his chest, wavy hair falling across his face.
At the sight of his regret, my concerns about our research, the conspiracies of the Orders, and even his monstrousness disappeared. Suddenly the only thing that mattered was that Noble was torn-up. Hurting not over his condition—but over its impact onme.
His selflessnessastounded me.
I approached him slowly, halting with a foot of space between us. This close, I had to tilt my chin up to meet his gaze. Flickering firelight blazed across the right side of his face, igniting the green in his irises; the left side was shaded, his straight nose and angular cheekbones splashed with shadow. Half light, half darkness.
Even now, his soft lips were pressed tight with tension. How many times had I yearned to melt the sharpness of his expression with my touch? How many times had I stopped myself?
No more, I thought. With everything out in the open, there were no remaining secrets that could dissuade me. I knew all of who he was—the blessing of his being and the curse trapped within him—and I was done holding back.
I brushed my fingers across his forehead, raking the hair out of his face. He leaned into my touch, eyes falling closed as I slid my hand down the smooth skin of his neck, across the ridge of his collarbone. When I rested my palm over his heart, his returning gaze was heavy.
“What are you doing, Peach?” His voice was leather and steel—soft, but with a cautionary edge. The sound of my nickname in that deep tone made everything in me clench.
I rolled my eyes playfully, smoothing my hand indulgently across his pecs. They were sofirm. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked innocently. “I’m comforting you.” This close, I could smell his scent: soap and cedar andhim.
He gripped my wrist, halting my hand’s slow journey across his bare chest. “This doesn’t feel likejustcomforting.”
I stared into his eyes. “It’s not.”
He removed my hand from his skin, but it wasn’t a rejection—it was disbelief. “Aren’t you afraid of me?” he asked. “Repulsed? You don’t even know why I’m like this. What it means.”
