Page 24 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
I clear my throat. “My dorm.”
“You’re finished with classes?”
I nod in confirmation.
“Come on.” Colt’s white teeth shine behind his enormous smile before, with a hand on my back, he steers me in the direction I’d been going.
We walk along the hall, down to the main floor, and out the back door into the cool midday air.
The sun is low on the horizon, already setting at just before four in the afternoon. I’ve only been in Iceland for a couple of days, but daylight lasting all of four to five hours this time of year is unsettling. Probably because I’ve lived in sunny places all my life.
Colt leads, and I follow without question, although a voice in my head tells me I should be cautious of everyone in this place. But I’m not. I trust him, and I don’t know why.
The entire walk, he is silent, his hand never leaving my back as we traverse the grounds, giant floodlights turning on with an audibleclankas darkness sets in. The grounds closest to the academy have a wide open patch of dead grass at its center and various training dummies on the outer rim made of all different materials.
Colt leads me behind an enormous tree about fifty yards from there and slowly, maybe even reluctantly, removes his hand to motion for me to sit on a clean-cut stump.
I do as he wordlessly commands, and he sits on the ground in front of me, his long legs folded in a lotus style. As he bends his elbows and rests that chiseled chin on his fists, he stares up at me with his beautiful mismatched eyes.
The floodlights cast darkening shadows all around us, but Colt’s face isn’t at all obscured. I try not to look in his eyes, but the memory of him demanding I look at him in the cafeteria rings in my mind.
I hadn’t been frightened by it. Instead, the demand had set my mind and body ablaze, desiring his attention as much as he apparently desired mine. But I can’t help myself now and peer into one pool of green and one of blue...like his scent of grass and rain. His dark blond hair has fallen over his forehead, making him appear far younger.
This urge within me takes hold, and all I want to do is comfort him like he’s a lost child, although he doesn’t appear to need it.
His boisterous attitude is subdued now as his lips part to say, “Tell me about yourself.”
My brows hike a fraction. He wants to know about me? I guess it’s natural to want to learn about the newcomer. But what can I say out here?
“Keep the volume low, and we’ll be fine out here,” he says as if reading my mind.
“I’ve...been on the run for about ten years,” I tell him quietly. “My father and me.”
“Your father helped you?” he sounds very surprised by this.
I frown and nod. I suppose there’s no reason to withhold the information now. “He’s also Cursed.”
At this, Colt’s hands drop to his lap with a smack, his lips part, and brows knit together. “Your father…?”
I nod slow. “He was able to hide his curse. But I guess that’s obvious.” My gaze falls to my knees where I’ve rested my tablet. Seeing it makes me think of Rai, and part of me wishes that he was here with Colt and me.
I enjoy talking to Colt, regardless of the solemn topic, but Rai does something to ease my soul. A pure kindness that reaches out and envelops me.
When I look back at Colt, he’s scrutinizing me, but absently, almost as though he’s looking through me. Then his gaze snaps to my eyes. “Will you tell me about your time on the run?”
I find myself nodding. “I was twelve when my curse manifested. My mother…” I let out a deep breath, my head falling, so I’m looking at my lap. “My birth mother died when I was born. My father re-married when I was an infant, a sanctioned pairing. She was a Beta.” I look back up at him. “She and I were fighting, as usual. But for some reason, she was hellbent on me going with her to some store, just the two of us. I didn’t want to go without my father, and I protested until we were screaming at one another.”
I peer skyward. “She was so angry; more than I’d ever seen her before. I saw something in her eyes that, even as a child, I knew wasn’t right. Something...just wasn’t right.” I swallow and look back at Colt with a frown, my voice even quieter. “I shouted that I hated her. That she wasn’t my real mother. She snapped and swung back to slap me across the face.” A pressure in my chest causes me to grasp at it. “The instant her hand touched my face, she turned into solid ice.”
Tears start to drip down to my jaw and tap my chest as they land on my shirt. “It was…” I take a deep breath. “I didn’t know what to do. I just screamed like I’d never screamed before, and my father came rushing through the door. He saw my mom, and the look on his face.” I choke now, shuddering. “I knew then I was a monster,” I breathe. “I love my father more than anything, and I loved my mother too, even if we didn’t get along. She raised me! She was my father’s wife! And I killed her. I killedbothof my mothers.”
My head dips, and I fight the sobs battling to escape my body.
“My father rushed to my side, and I was so scared I’d hurt him, too. I screamed at him to get away from me and ran. He called to me, and when I wouldn’t stop, he showed me. Showed me that he was Cursed, too. He made the ground quake as he shouted for me to stop running. And I did.” I lift my head again. “I remember looking at him with wide eyes, feeling relief and betrayal. Not only had he kept his curse from me, but he was responsible for mine. His blood runs through my veins, and it’s his blood that made me this.” I raise my gloved hand into the air, that old anger returning, though not as strong as it had once been. “His genes are what doomed me to this life of living on the run, living here in this place, living a life of never being close to someone.”
My jaw sets, and in the light cast across Colt’s face, I can see his eyes are glistening, his expression full of...understanding.
And suddenly, I feel like a complete fool. A selfish fool. I’m not the only one who has been through trauma or anger. I’m surrounded by Cursed who have been through similar, or worse.
