Page 32 of Beneath the Flames
The door silently swung open.
“You really should keep your castle better locked up, Rhydian.You never know who might waltz right on in,” a familiar voice said before he stepped out of the shadows next to my window.He was dressed in all black, a long chain with a large medallion resting around his neck.All the royalty of Avalea wore similar ones.
I gave mine to Nico years ago to keep him safe in case there came a day whereIcouldn’t.
“Carrow,” I bit out.“How did you get in here?”
His too-white smile gleamed in the dim light of the room as he lifted his head in an arrogant way.“Good to see you too, cousin.”
“I wish I could say the same,” I replied.
Carrow held his arms out to the sides.“Is that any way to treat family, Rhydian?”
“You are family in the loosest sense of the word,cousin.”I spat the word.We were only distantly related, and it was because of him that I was stuck here in Eroth.While he wasn’t the one to lay the curse, he had set up the events that led to it.
It had been years since I’d laid eyes on his silver ones, and it instantly brought back the memories—the pain—of what he’d done.
My magic flared, white-hot and burning, and I squeezed my hands into fists to keep it at bay, to keep it from attacking like it did in Maren’s world.Not that it would do much against his violet magic.Thanks to the curse, my magic was far weaker than his.I loathed that fact since I used to be the most powerful Fae in Avalea, a fact that had always gotten under Carrow’s skin.
Carrow missed nothing, noting my fists and the tense set of my shoulders.
“The years have not been kind to you, Rhyd,” he said, though there wasn’t a trace of sadness in his expression.In fact, he looked almost…gleeful.I clenched my jaw at the nickname I hated.
“You can thank yourself for that,” I retorted.“Get out.”
He clicked his tongue, doing no such thing as he made himself at home on the chair next to the fireplace, lifting his legs up onto the low table in front of him.Mud was caked tohis boots, leaving smears of dirt behind on the furniture.
“Your time is almost up.I came to see how you’re faring.”The arrogant smile on his face told me all I needed to know about what he thought of me now.“I heard you finally gave up.It’s about time, especially after the…outcomes of the others.”His thin lips stretched into a gruesome smile, and I swallowed down bile at the memories his words summoned.“I’m honestly impressed you held on for so long.”
How he had heard that I’d stopped searching for a cursebreaker was a mystery.The only person to hear it from would have been Nico, andhedefinitely wasn’t talking to Carrow.Nico might have liked to bend the rules sometimes, but I would have known if he had been sharing secrets with our enemy.He hated this Dark Fae nearly as much as I did.
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business,” I snapped.“You won.Go crawl back in the hole you slithered out of.”
Carrow’s eyes narrowed, the only sign that my words bothered him.The frustrating thing about him was that he always thought he was right, and didn’t like being challenged when he had done something wrong.He didn’t like being referred to as a snake, a bad guy, an enemy.
He thought he was doing Avalea a favor when he convincedthemto place the curse on me.With me out of the way, Carrow could do whatever he wanted.If onlytheyhad realized that the one they should have cursed was him.He was more of a danger now than I ever was.
But the thing about my cousin was that he was incredible at becoming whoever he needed to be to get his way.A master at manipulating words and using others’ desires to achieve his own.
Plus, his magic was truly something to be feared.
Thus, here we were.
I was about to open my mouth, to tell him to leave when Nico burst into the room.
“Rhydian, you need to come with me.The girl—”
Before I could think it through, my magic burst from my hands, sealing Nico’s lips closed before he could say another word.At first, his eyes were wide, disbelief shining in them that I would use my magic against him.But then they flicked to where Carrow sat muddying up my table, lounging like he owned the world.A small sliver of fear sparked in his eyes when he finally looked back at me.
I had done my best to protect Nico from Carrow, but he was not ignorant aboutwhoexactly he was.
“Girl?”Carrow’s brows lifted comically high.“You have a girl here?”His lips slid into a wicked grin.“I thought you’d given up, Rhydian.”He stood, leaving a pile of mud on the table.“Well,” he said with a chuckle.“A glutton for punishment, I see.You just don’t seem to learn your lesson.”He clapped his hands together and then rubbed them excitedly.“Let’s meet the poor thing you’ve chosen to die for a chance at freeing yourself.”
I had to put a hand over Nico’s mouth this time to keep him quiet.He always tried to defend me, especially with Carrow, but it was always to his detriment.It was better that he stayed silent.I pulled him behind me.
I shook my head.“Absolutely not.”
“Oh, come now, Rhyd.I won’t hurt her.”
