Page 46 of Cursed Beasts

“What are you doing?” Mr. Potter snapped at me. “You’re going to give the poor girl a heart attack.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at his dramatics, but being reprimanded by him flooded my system with anger again. The sound of the clock’s ten-minute warning sounded. I looked back at where the Belladonna was sitting, seeing the table empty with a few flowers left on the table.

I huffed in annoyance at Mr. Potter, wishing I could just exert my dominance over him to show him who was the boss. He started talking before I tuned him out and stalked off, thinking of all the ways I could make the Belladonna break.

21

KATARINA

Slamming the book shut, I pushed away from the table, frustrated. After finally getting my hands on the book I almost died for, it had turned out to be nothing but gibberish.

It wasn’t uncommon for witches to write in code, especially if there was a new spell they didn’t want anyone to know, or there was an event that they wanted to keep secret. Usually, certain parts of a grimoire were written in code, but not the whole damn book.

A headache formed behind my eyes, making me even more tired. This book had begun to consume my every thought as I tried to decipher what it said, but failed horribly. Maybe my intuition wasn’t as great as I thought it was.

Frustration clawed at me as I leaned forward, laying my head over my hands. I had been obsessing over this book for way too long. I needed to move on.

Stretching my neck back and forth, I tried to clear my thoughts to see what else I could do. I pulled out a Kit Kat from my bag, hoping the sugar would help me snap out of my brain fog.

Unwrapping the candy, I popped it in my mouth, savoring the sweetness, grateful that I had found them in my suitcase. There were a bunch of sweets in my suitcase that brought me a little comfort I desperately needed.

Looking out the big window to my left, I saw the eerie night under an almost full moon. My internal clock was off, and I missed the days, but it was so hard to stay awake for it when I was up for most of the nights. I always thought better at night, so I guess it didn’t matter.

Since I had no idea what to research, there were a few spells I could try to break down the curse. I would need one of the guys to power the spell and I didn’t know if I was that desperate yet. Even though I still had time, I packed up my things, feeling suddenly exhausted.

The feeling of being watched hadn’t gone away, but at this point, it was almost comforting. I looked around again, wondering If I could tell who it was this time. Since seeing a wolf in the library a few days ago, I had been on edge. It took me a whole day to leave my room because it had scared me so bad.

It didn’t make a move to hurt me, but the growls were enough to make me worry that there might be a chance he would. I assumed it was Zev because he was the only one who I remember seeing shift before the clock had struck four, and I think Aeon was the one who had a white paw. The night they left me in the library it was too dark to decipher who was who.

Picking up my bag, I decided to return the book to its resting place on the shelf. Even though it was out of place, I didn’t have the energy to get the ladder to put it back. All I wanted to do was walk back to my room, but the smell of lamb made me stop at the dining room before heading to my room.

The smell of butter and herbs made my mouth water. A juicy rack of lamb was sitting in the middle of the table, with potatoes and green beans off to the side with a peach pie and cookies for dessert.

I hadn’t been eating very well, consumed with that damn book that still was gnawing at my thoughts. I picked up a plate and served myself a hefty serving with a slice of pie and a few cookies.

Juggling both plates, I left the dining room and almost dropped them a few times when a hand steadied one of the plates.

“Mr. Potter’s pie needs to be protected at all costs.” Lucien took the plate from my hands, looking down at me with a small smirk on his face.

He was definitely a heartthrob with that longish blonde hair and his dashing, good looks. He was a gentle giant that didn’t give off an ‘I’m going to kill you’ vibe, but he definitely could. Lucien oozed power, something I had noticed just came naturally to him.

I couldn’t help the blush that surfaced, yanking my hand back like he had burned me.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, giving him a tight smile.

“Peach pie is my favorite,” he said, with a sultry quality that had me catching my breath.

I shook my head, thinking nothing but dirty thoughts as I pictured him eating me for hours, among other things that had me feeling too hot.

“I’m sure it’s delicious,” I said, backing away from him, worried that this was a trap. Aeon and Zev were going to pop out of a corner while Lucien distracted me.

His eyes followed me until I disappeared into the hallway. I turned around quickly and walked as fast as I could to my room. I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder as I arrived at my door to make sure he hadn’t followed me.

Opening the door quickly, I shut it harder than necessary while I set my food down quickly and flipped the lock into place in two seconds. My heart was racing as I stared at the door, still expecting it to be thrown open by one of them.

My flimsy little lock was probably nothing against these guys, but I still had a sense of safety in the room. Once I knew they wouldn’t come barging in, I set my bag down. I grabbed my plate with me up to the ledge of the window to eat while I looked out.

It was times like these that I missed TV and my phone. What I wouldn’t give to get lost in something other than obsessing over this damn curse or over the hunky guys. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I missed the commotion of my home and my family.

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