Page 79 of Cursed Beasts

As much as I wanted to take the ring, she would probably notice it. I checked a drawer in the nightstand and another pile of books that looked to be about blood magic.

Nothing else stood out as I took one last look at the room before I left. I couldn’t linger because she might find me, and I hoped Lucien didn’t come into her room because he would smell me in an instant.

I needed to come back again to do a more thorough search. She had to be hiding something, I knew it. Even though my wolf didn’t want to accept it, he knew it too.

Walking out of her room, I looked both ways hoping they wouldn’t catch me. When no one came by, I immediately walked out to the landing when I saw Aeon leave the dining room looking like his world had just shattered. I didn’t normally feel inside our bond, but his emotions were chaotic, making me feel overwhelmed with feelings that weren’t my own.

My wolf threatened to explode, hating that we were feeling all these emotions when his solution was just to go to the Belladonna.

She was threatening our unstable foundation so that if we didn’t work in unison our entire existence could be destroyed, leaving us in shambles.

As much as I wanted to make sure Aeon was ok, I couldn’t deal with his emotions and mine, but I was curious about what was said.

“Kit Kat, do you think this is what we’ve been missing?” Lucien’s voice sounded hopeful.

“I don’t know, but if this is her grimoire then there have to be clues or maybe even the spell she used, and if I knew which one, then it would be easier to craft the counter spell.”

The sound of pages being turned with a loud snap broke the silence.

“Ok, this is good.”

“Yeah, it is. We might be one step closer to getting out of here.” She also sounded hopeful, and my wolf pushed forward, wanting to go forward.

This changed nothing, she was still a Belladonna, and she was still keeping secrets.

“I think we need to talk about—”

“No.” Lucien interrupted her as a chair moved.

“Look, I don’t want to get—”

“It’s not you,” he snapped at her.

They stayed quiet for a moment. I strained my ears to see if they were whispering, but then I heard the telltale sound that they were kissing.

I barely managed to keep my snarl in before I walked off towards the back entrance. My wolf broke free before I walked outside, running fast and hard. He wasn’t mad that they were kissing; he was mad at me. I was ruining everything, but I would not be careless like they were being.

This time I knew better, and I would do whatever it took to keep her from ruining us again, even if that meant getting rid of her.

33

KATARINA

Today is Lammas, also known as Harvest Day. The day we celebrate abundance, our coven and the circle of life. I laid in bed wondering how three months had gone by already. It had been really hot lately, but you could feel the change of seasons about to start soon.

Right now, the coven would be decorating the town square. Golds, reds and oranges would decorate everyone’s shops, homes and our farms. It’s times like these, I missed the coven, that sense of community and the chance to give my thanks.

It was just after midnight, and at home, this is when I would bake bread or help with decorations to surprise the little ones when they woke up. Mr. Potter had a few things set up for Lithia. Maybe he would do the same thing for Lammas.

I rolled out of bed, looking through my closet to find something pretty to wear. Usually, we’d wear flowy gold dresses that I always secretly loved to wear. They looked very "Renaissancesque", but they were so comfortable and they were beautiful. I found a yellow dress with a low cut back that would be perfect.

Lucien would like this, and maybe—

I rolled my eyes at myself; I thought of Aeon and Zev way too much, especially Aeon. He had been consuming a lot of my thoughts lately. He gave us Vivienne’s grimoire, and I still couldn’t believe it, but his demeanor when he left was heartbreaking. All I wanted to do was hug him and tell him everything was going to be ok. Maybe possibly kiss him, and then offer up Lucien and myself to make him feel better.

Guilt had eaten at me, thinking I was causing this rift between them, but I also wanted to shout at them. They were at fault, too. I had seen Zev in the shadows lately watching us like prey, feeling like he was upping his game, making me worried about how far he would go. Would he kill me? What was his endgame?

I grabbed the grimoire from my nightstand, reading over the passage about Zev.

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