Page 50 of Cursed Beasts

“You didn’t know you were being left here?” I asked, lifting her chin up to me so I could see her eyes.

“No, I wasn’t lying when I told you that after you guys left me tied up.” She tried to yank her head back out of my grasp.

“You don’t have any magic either?” I asked the question that I had been wondering about. Since she told me, I had assumed she was lying, but she had yet to cast any magic at us or place any protection spells.

“No,” she whispered, looking ashamed.

My stomach dropped. If she didn’t have power, how was she supposed to break the spell? What did she think she was going to accomplish if she couldn’t even cast a simple spell?

The small amount of hope I had vanished, leaving me empty.

“So, is this all a cruel joke to get my hopes up?” I snarled, squeezing her chin tighter.

“Ow, no, I just need—”

Growling, I brought her closer to my face, letting my hand grow claws so they dug into her skin. I scared her, but her face held a determination to look brave.

“Here I was defending you from Aeon and Zev, saying we should give you a chance. That we needed to do better.” My arm was sprouting hair, my body shaking with the need to shift. My anger blazed through my veins at the need to hurt her.

“Lucien, look, I just—”

“No!” I bellowed, pushing her away from me. The disappointment was too much to bear.

She landed on her back with small cuts on either side of her face with eyes wide and full of fear. We stared at each other while I tried to gain control, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I turned to leave.

“Look, I don’t know why they sent me, but I worked for my father on breaking spells. I have done a lot of investigative work.” Her voice was shaky. “I can prep and set up the spell. I just need one of you to either cast the spell with my direction or I can figure out a way to charge a spell that doesn’t require one of us to start it.”

Glancing over my shoulder back at her, I looked at her face, needing to see her eyes. She looked and smelled like she was telling the truth. I still felt the disappointment because even though she gave me solutions, nothing ever was that simple.

“Our magic has limits too.” My voice was deep from my wolf. “It sounds like empty promises and a bunch of what ifs?”

I didn’t give her a chance to say anything as I walked away, feeling even more disappointment. This is why I hated hope. Life had dangled it in front of me numerous times, only for it to be snatched away. Hope was for the weak and the gullible, and I was tired of being both.

23

KATARINA

The look on Lucien’s face broke me when he realized I didn’t have any magic. I saw all his hope die in his eyes, and all I saw was his pain and suffering.

Guilt weighed heavily on me after he left, leaving me on the floor with my face hurting. I couldn’t let go of the guilt until the clock chimed, breaking me from my thoughts.

Seeing the marks he had left on my face made me instantly mad, but seeing his hopelessness tampered it down. I felt like I had kicked Lucien’s puppy and being a puppy kicker was not who I wanted to be in life.

I spent the next few days waiting for him to come back to the library, hoping he would have a change of heart or maybe he wanted to watch me from the shadows like he used to. I still had a sense that someone was still watching me in the library.

Every time I looked around, all I could see was books upon books.

I even spent one night wandering the grounds hoping to run into Lucien, but it seemed like everyone was avoiding me, or maybe I was just getting worried that the only person who could help me now, hated me.

Desperation was at an all-time high when I even contemplated stalking him in his wolf form so that I could corner him when he changed back, or even, goddess help me, ask Aeon or Zev for help.

I didn’t know which was scarier, but I decided I didn’t have enough guts to do either. Now that I didn’t have help, I had no idea what to do.

After not finding Lucien again, I grabbed my grandmother’s grimoire and took it to the library with me along with the other books I had brought with me.

I went back to my usual table, setting everything down, and began to stare out the window at the waning moon. My anxiety was through the roof today, making me feel extra paranoid.

“No dinner today?” I looked up to see Mr. Potter setting a plate in front of me that had a few rolls with the butter on the side. He knew I was a sucker for bread.

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