Chapter 3 #2
“Bryn,” he says sternly. “I am serious. I will not let you die. There was a time you believed I’d rip the stars from their perches for you. Die for you. That has not changed, even after all this time. I left my position to come to you. Abandoned my kingdom.”
I ignore that statement, too. He may not have changed, but I have. “I’m quite content with the life I’ve lived. I’m not afraid of dying.”
He slams his cup down, the coffee sloshing over the sides. “You will not die. I am here to make sure you remain alive. So, you will come with me.”
“Why can’t you just break this curse yourself? Why do you need me?”
“Because you are the one who is cursed. It’s attached to your essence, but it also affected me. Therefore, I had to find you, so we can break it together.”
“We? There is no we. I’m not going anywhere with you. Give me the details of this so-called curse, and I’ll break it on my own.” I scoff, then shovel eggs into my mouth.
While I’m enjoying the food he ordered, my head is still throbbing, and I don’t care to hear any more.
Plus, the proximity to him physically pains me. My chest aches against the force of my heart trying to claw its way out of the cage I locked it in.
I may have covered up our bond, but my heart still wants to be his. Remembering what it was like to have the kind of devotion he showered me in. But after what he did, there is no way I’m letting it out. I want this conversation over, and his presence gone.
Mikael tilts his head back and laces his fingers behind his neck. He stares at the ceiling and blows out a breath. I’ve seen the look his expression morphs into so many times in the past. He’s thinking through what to say next.
Inhaling, he closes his eyes before looking at me again. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
“Not really.” I pop a piece of fruit in my mouth and get up, walking to the door. I open it and gesture for him to leave. “You know, I’m surprised you think you can come barging in on my life and demand that I go somewhere with you. You have some nerve, and it’s time for you to go.”
He swivels in his chair and faces me, but remains seated with a hard look. “Your soul was divided. Shattered into four fragments. We must figure out how to retrieve them. Have you not felt off these last few months?”
“I can’t say I have. But to be honest, I’m often intoxicated enough not to have noticed anything.” I shrug and nod toward the open door.
I won’t say anything to Mikael, but I have noticed something being off—just yesterday it happened again, in the alley.
Those kinds of episodes started a few months ago. I was patrolling the city one night and a searing agony exploded throughout my body. My vision went white, and immense pain, like I was being pulled apart from the inside ran rampant through my body. I clutched my heart and fell to my knees.
Even after the sensation subsided, I laid on the street in the same position for hours until a guard found me and took me home. The episodes kept happening after that, but never as bad as the first time.
Maybe I am cursed, but I still don’t want Mikael anywhere near me. I’ll figure it out on my own.
The legs of the chair scrape against the floor as he pushes it back and rises. Walking over to me, he slams the door shut and looks down at me with a scowl. “I tried asking nicely. I will not let you die. If you don’t come willingly, I’ll force you to.”
I take a step back as uncontrollable laughter takes over, and I wheeze through the next words that leave my mouth. “You’ll force me? I’d like to see you try.”
Mikael’s quickness takes me by surprise when he closes the gap between us, fusing our bodies together, and pushing my back against the wall. “Is that a challenge? I’ll take you right now in this,” he slides his finger under the shoulder strap of my chemise, “piece of clothing.”
I swat his hand away and narrow my eyes at him. “You know, I suppose there are a few more males I haven’t enjoyed fucking yet that I’d like to before I meet my end. I might as well live so that can happen.”
His hand slams into the wall above my head.
Oh, the fun I’m having.
I wait in silence as his nostrils flare and his jaw tics. It gives me great joy to get a barb in, hurting him in some small way. I wonder if there’s anything I can do that will break him in the same way he broke me.
It’s torture, being so close to him, breathing in his scent and staring into his gray eyes. If this were a different time, the outcome of our interaction would be very different. I’d have already kissed him.
But now, I want nothing more than to stab him—again.
“Once we break the curse, I will leave and never return. If that is what you wish.”
“I want you to leave now and never return.” There is no life in which I’d want him around me again. There is too much hurt to come back from where our relationship ended.
“We’re not leaving this room until you agree to break the curse with me.” He stares, and I can’t stand it. It’s an uncomfortable and dangerous sensation, like an insect crawling on my skin.
Shoving him away, I return to the table. I let out a silent breath to regain my composure. Picking up a biscuit, I turn around and take a bite.
With a mouth full of food, I ask, “How does this curse even work? Explain it, and then I might consider going with you.”
I’m not considering going with him. But I want him gone, and right now he’s acting like a crazed lover who needs to be heard or he’ll never leave me alone.
Yes, this is my city, and I could have him sent away, but I am curious. One, because of that incident in the alley, among others. And two, because he risked showing up in Eidrfall after centuries of silence.
“The curse activated the moment I stole the amulet, and these lines, this riddle, appeared shortly after.” He points to his chest, to the four lines of elegant script that I thought was a new tattoo, then continues, “When I spoke to King Ignatus about it, he laughed and told me that was his intention.”
He pauses, taking a sip of coffee. I’m about to ask a question when he continues.
“I was furious. I stormed out of the castle and never looked back.
I scoured the continents, researching, and found this isn't the first time the curse has been activated. In order to recover the pieces of your soul, riddles have to be solved, which will lead us to the place we need to go. Based on this,” he points at his chest again, “I worked out that I needed to find you. We have to find the next riddle, and it will tell us where to go.”
One is doomed to become none.
Unless two find four fragments.
And what has to be done,
In order to see beyond past pretense.
My finger hovers over each word, processing what they say when he speaks again.
“You can touch me. I liked when you held my hand earlier.”
The unexpected punch to his abs throws him off guard. His muscular abdomen caves in with his chuffing gasp that accompanies a laugh. I give him a blank stare like he’s lost his mind.
“You were still asleep when I woke up, and I couldn’t help myself.
Seeing your covered-up tattoo made me burn with anger and sadness at the same time.
I started tracing the jagged lines and, as I did, the ink on your tattoo started to morph.
It looked like it was forming into words, but once you pulled my hand away it returned to normal. ”
“Don’t touch me again without my permission.” I seethe, hardly hearing the rest of what he says.
“You have my word.” He nods gently. “You might want to see if touching it yourself will activate whatever magic the curse holds.”
I consider using the bathing chamber to change out of this chemise, but what does it matter? Only minutes ago, I flashed him my naked body.
I slide the strap of the chemise off my left shoulder and tug the fabric down. Mikael goes still, his eyes glazing over as he tracks my hand’s movement, like he’s remembering all the times he’s undressed me. He swallows hard and pushes out a breath, his gaze darkening.
I clear my throat. “Is it doing anything?”
He blinks and looks to my side. “No.”
I sigh and purse my lips.
Figures. Curses are tricky little things; sometimes they have a magic entirely their own, almost like a sentient being. It seems this one is going to be that way.
Mikael slowly lifts his hand, then hesitates. His gaze returns to my face. “May I please touch you?”
He’s looking at me with such sincerity. Within those gray eyes, I see the man I fell for—the one who always asked, sought consent, and treated me like I was his most precious possession. How—how could the same man who loved me with such devotion also be the one who utterly destroyed me?
“Bryn!” My name comes in a shout just before the door bursts open and Peylin enters, freezing mid-step.
Mikael removes his hand from my side, and I slide my arm back through the strap, adjusting the chemise.
“Oh, no. No. No. No.” Peylin storms up to Mikael and shoves him out of my room. “Downstairs now. I have business to discuss with Bryn.”