Page 48 of Cursed Beasts

Sitting on the ledge again, I felt so much better than I had earlier. I read through my grandma’s grimoire until the sun rose. I soaked in the sun feeling a lot better than I had in a long while. As much as I was a daughter of the moon, I needed sunlight to recharge and that was exactly what happened. I opened my notebook, jotting down more questions and things I needed to research.

I also needed one of the guys. As much as they intimidated me, Lucien seemed like the best choice to help me. He seemed a little warmer to me today. I would use that to my advantage because I was getting out of here. I wanted my freedom, and I was going to do everything in my power to achieve it.

I was never going to return home if I could help it.

22

LUCIEN

The past few days, the Belladonna seemed to be even more determined in the library. Her frustration was long gone with a renewed sense of determination. She looked to be in a better mood, too. It seemed whatever she had been taking out of her pocket and unwrapping was helping her. It smelled sweet, like chocolate, making me curious what she was eating. Drawing her during her intense studying had grown to be my favorite thing to do lately.

The furrow of her brow with her either biting or sucking her lips, was my favorite thing to draw. Each drawing made me see her differently, she had so many layers, and I loved seeing the many sides of her.

I wasn’t the only one who watched her. Aeon thought he was being sneaky, but I could always feel him close. I knew he was watching her, even though he had frowned upon me looking at her from the shadows and drawing her.

Jealousy was such a petty emotion and Aeon was green with envy. It made me enjoy his tantrum a little more, for the mere fact that Aeon felt like he had competition. He had to work harder for my attention. He needed to feel slighted because until now, I had always been the idiot waiting for whatever crumbs of attention he had thrown my way. I was so in love with Aeon that I would do anything for just a sliver of attention, but lately I enjoyed my attention being elsewhere.

Today I brought out my larger paper, feeling like I needed more space to draw more details of her angry expression. What I wouldn’t give to have some purple to make the only part of the drawing in color. Her eyes.

They seemed to change depending on her moods. Since she had gotten a renewed sense of urgency, her eyes were vibrant today. I got so lost in the drawing that when the clock chimed, I was startled, not realizing it was that late.

The drawing was almost done and with twenty more minutes, I would be finished. Setting down the pad, I looked up to see that I wasn’t the only one who was upset at the time flying by.

She threw her stuff into her bag, mumbling that she hated not being able to stay here as long as she wanted. A few other choice words, like fuck, bitch and cock sucker, came out of her mouth.

The soft noise of footsteps from above us made the Belladonna still. She looked around quickly like she knew someone was close. At first, I thought it was Aeon lurking in the shadows, but it was Zev.

She packed with more urgency like she knew danger was present. Grabbing her bag and putting it on her shoulder, she made her way out with a few backward glances. I followed her out of the library, curious as to why Zev was all of a sudden paying attention to her. His interest in her could only mean two things: he wanted to hurt or scare her.

I hid my notebook with all of my charcoals and pencils in a small cubby that I knew she wouldn’t find when I felt someone walk up to me. My guess was, Zev was mad that I was close to her.

“Have you checked to see what she is doing?” he asked, looking at the door where the Belladonna had just exited.

“No, I've just been watching, curious about why she is here, but I haven't seen anything concerning,” I said, wondering what he thought she was doing.

“Is she just reading?” He leaned against the wall.

“It looks like it, maybe some notes here and there,” I said, dusting my hands off. “It looks to be mostly supernatural texts she’s been reading.”

“Anything specific?” he asked, looking at my hands.

“She looked at a few encyclopedias, reading chapters here and there. There was also a book about the moon rituals,” I said, trying to think of something else to give him so he would be satisfied and not look too much into whatever she was doing.

“I’m curious and worried she is looking for a spell that might not be good for us,” he said, looking around; I knew Aeon was close.

“No spell books. It looks like she is doing research, but I can’t tell what it is.” Aeon walked up to us. “It doesn’t look to be anything dangerous, she has a renewed sense of urgency.”

“We need to keep an eye on her, I know she is going to do something when we least expect it and I already have Mr. Potter on my case about us treating her badly,” he snarled. “He thinks she might be wanting to help us, and we should treat her with respect, giving her everything she might need for her spell.”

“You really think she is trying to break the spell?” I queried. Even though I already had my own suspicions, I was too afraid to actually believe she would help us.

“There is no way she is doing that. When have we ever had one of them try anything except to hurt us?” Aeon looked angry but also in disbelief. “She’s definitely planning something; we have to be careful.”

I withheld the need to roll my eyes. Aeon and Zev were so jaded, that news like this always had to be bad. Everything related to a Belladonna was corrupted, making us lose any hope.

“I think one of us should ask her, maybe be nice to her because if she is trying to break the spell, I want to help,” I said, hoping that I wasn’t sounding too desperate.

Aeon laughed at me, making me scowl that he had the audacity to laugh. “You keep thinking that, Lucien. I assumed that after all these years your naïveté would have lessened, but I guess not.”

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