Page 70 of Cursed Beasts

“Please don’t hurt him,” he said, so softly that I almost missed it.

“Like you?” I expected his anger, but he was stoic.

“Yes, like me.”

Watching him limp away, I felt even more guilty. I walked back to my room, desperately needing all these dots to connect. Lucien told me so much the other day that I was ready to grill him for more answers, but we didn’t have time to talk yesterday.

Closing the door, I leaned against it, wondering what I should do. I laid down in my bed thinking about everything I had learned recently.

There was a knock at the door that pulled me away from my thoughts. I expected to see Mr. Potter walk in, but Lucien came in, still dirty.

“What happened?” I asked, quickly inspecting him, worried he had gotten into another fight.

“I didn’t feel right leaving you alone,” he said, looking a little embarrassed.

“I told you, you could bathe here.” I enjoyed his blush. “You can use any of the products you want.”

“Thanks,” he said, heading into the bathroom.

I laid back down in my bed as my mind kept going back to all three of them being betrothed to a Belladonna.

Why did it feel like a vital piece of information? And why did that make me feel uneasy?

Wait—

I jumped off the bed to my bag that was on a chair by the door. Dumping out the contents on my bed, I began frantically looking for the book that I had been decoding. I opened up to the page that I remembered seeing something familiar.

They promised me to all three of them, an alpha, a knowledge seeker, and a man who could light my heart on fire if I let him.

Is this the Belladonna they were betrothed to? Was this about them?

My heart was racing from this information. I looked through the grimoire for a name so I could see whose book this was, but I didn’t see a name anywhere.

“Are you ok?” he asked hesitantly.

I nodded my head, not trusting myself to blurt something stupid out.

“Have you made any progress with that?” He pointed to the book.

I shook my head, still worried about saying something awkward.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, and I knew it was a mistake. For some reason Lucien could already read me well.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to fess up. I took a deep breath.

“Who was the Belladonna they promised you to?” I asked, confused that I was feeling like this.

His gaze darkened before he looked away.

“Her name was Vivienne,” he practically snarled.

“I think this was her grimoire,” I said, showing him the small passage I could decode.

As he read it, his brows furrowed. He turned away quickly, like it brought too much emotion in him. Was he in love with her? Were any of them in love with her?

I gnawed on my lip, waiting for him to say anything, but the silence in the room was stifling.

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