Chapter 64
CHAPTER 64
JULIET
V alaric walks toward me on silent footsteps. Shadows and moonlight carve the lines of his powerful form—the fierce and dangerous beauty that is both captivating and terrifying. His gaze locks upon mine, his crimson eyes seeming to glow with an inner fire.
Hurt and anger simmer in my veins at his betrayal. I want to run away from this devastating pain. But as I gaze up at him, I cannot seem to make myself move.
“Please, Juliet. Let me explain.”
“How long?” I demand, my voice cracking. “How long do I have until I end up in a glass coffin like the others?”
He swallows hard. “I don’t know.” Sadness mars his handsome features, but it does little to soothe the betrayal coursing through me.
I shake my head in frustration. “How can you not know?”
He takes a step forward, reaching out as if to comfort me, but I recoil. The hurt is still too raw. “My first wife only had a month,” he admits. “The second had six weeks. And the third and fourth had a little over two months.”
Dread twists my stomach. “It’s been nearly three months. What must we do to break the curse?”
“If I could tell you, I would. But I cannot.”
“Is it the curse that keeps you from telling me?”
“Yes.”
Tears blur my vision as I struggle to make sense of it all. The man I love, the man who promised to protect me, is now the source of my doom. “Why did you keep this from me?”
He clenches his jaw. “I told my first two wives of my curse, but my tongue is bound so I could not tell them how to break it.” Valaric looks down at his hands. “They lived in a near constant state of fear after that. Worried of their fate, and I could do nothing to reassure them.”
He curls his hands into fists at his sides. “I was afraid that if I told you, you would pull away from me. I worried that this knowledge would devastate you as it did Lyra and Olena. And I couldn’t bear the thought of you living in fear, and to see you look at me the way you are now.”
His words are a painful reminder of the love that binds us even as it threatens to tear us apart. Valaric takes a step closer, the weight of his guilt and regret bleeding through our bond. “Juliet, please.”
“Can you at least tell me how you came to be cursed?”
His gaze drifts to the garden wall with a haunted look. “I lost everything the night I was turned. My brothers-in-arms. My village. My entire family.” His voice is thick with emotion. “I was consumed by hatred and rage, all I wanted was vengeance.”
His jaw tightens. “Vampires that are made… it takes time to learn and adapt to their new form. The ones who killed my people: they were older, stronger, faster than me. I needed something to give me an advantage. A way to ensure that they paid for what they had done.”
He looks down at his hands. “So I went to a blood witch. Never once did I stop to consider the true costs of the bargain. I had lost everything and everyone that I loved.” His eyes gloss over with unshed tears. “I was dead inside. All I wanted was revenge.”
“What happened?” I ask softly.
“The blood witch—Talindra—gave me a potion to walk in the sun for a day. It was all I needed to exact my vengeance. But after it was done, I owed her a favor. One she could call upon at any time.”
“What did she ask for?”
“Years… decades passed before she came to me.” He shakes his head. “Her mate was dying. I could have saved him with my blood, but it would have bound him to me, and she did not want that. So, she asked me to turn him.”
“Did you?”
“I warned her that not everyone survives the transformation. Many die in the attempt.” He sighs heavily. “But she did not listen and he did not survive. It broke my side of our bargain.”
“But you tried,” I say incredulously. “You warned her.”
“It doesn’t matter. She asked me to save him, but he died instead. It gave her power over me. For the past twenty years, she has summoned me five times to save someone and take them as my bride, as I did you.
“She uses her dark magic to create an enchanted rosebush—the one you noticed in the garden. And I have until the last petal falls to break the curse.” He curls his hands into fists at his sides. “So many have suffered because of my sins. Lyra and the others… I took them from their lives. Their families. Just as I did you.” He curls his hands into fists at his sides. “It should have been me who paid the price. Not anyone else.”
My anger begins to dissipate as I watch him fall apart. “You cannot blame yourself. You couldn’t have known what she would do to you.”
“Everyone knows not to make bargains with a blood witch,” he grits through his teeth. “I was so driven by the thought of revenge… I should have considered the risks.” He meets my gaze evenly. “Damar suggested something that I had considered before but dismissed. But now I realize it is the only way to keep you safe. There is no other choice. I must leave tomorrow night. I will find a way to—”
“No.” His words strike fear in my heart.
Whatever this is, it sounds dangerous. Sadness and betrayal still pulse through my veins, but they are tempered by an irrevocable truth. Valaric may have lied to me, but it does not change the fact that I am still his, just as he is mine.
He is the other half of my heart and my soul, and I cannot bear the thought of anything bad happening to him. “If you’re thinking of putting yourself in harm’s way, do not. It isn’t worth the risk.”
He frowns. “How can you say this when you have seen the cost of my curse?”
“Because I love you.” The words leave my mouth in a rush. “And I don’t want to lose you, Valaric.”
He drops to his knees and looks up at me, his face twisted in despair. “Juliet,” he rasps.
Panic seizes my chest. “What’s wrong?”
“No!” A tortured cry rips from his throat as he falls to the ground, writhing in agony.
I sink to my knees, grasping his shoulders. “Valaric?”
“You need to go,” he says, voice strained as his handsome features begin to warp and change. “Now.”
“What’s happening?” My hands shake as I reach for him. “Tell me how to help you.”
Even as the words leave my mouth, I realize what this is.
It’s part of his curse. It must be.
“You need to run,” he grinds out, a tortured look on his face. “It’s not safe. I—”
My blood runs cold as he releases a deep guttural growl. His form begins to shift, his skin stretched tight as his muscles twitch, his bones cracking and distorting. His claws elongate into black talons, and his fangs extend into sharp points that nearly reach his lower jawline.
“Valaric?” I reach a trembling hand to touch his shoulder, but quickly pull back as his eyes snap to mine, glowing like red embers in the darkness.
His face is barely human. He is nearly twice his normal size, his features dark and monstrous, and fixed entirely upon me.
“Juliet, get back!” Eben yells from behind me. “He’s not in control!”
Valaric releases a deafening roar that shakes the very earth beneath us. “Kill me!” I barely recognize the deep and terrifying voice that leaves his mouth. “ Kill me before I hurt her!”
“No!” I shout as he collapses into the snow, his body still contorting, still growing. He tries to stand, but he falters, falling again to his knees.
Lightning fast, his massive hand shoots out, his talons wrapping around my waist. He pulls me to him, my back pressed against the solid wall of muscle that lines his chest.
This is just like my dream.
His breath is ragged against the back of my head as he growls, low and vicious. He presses his nose to my neck, and a strangled whine escapes him, as if he’s fighting the hunger—the urge to feed. His large hands tighten around my waist, his claws digging into my skin.
“Valaric, please,” I barely manage to whisper. “I know you’re in there.”
In a swirl of wind and snow, Eben shifts into a massive brown wolf. Cole shifts as well, his black fur melting into the shadows as he walks toward us.
They’re trying to save me. But I don’t need saving.
“He won’t hurt me!” I call out, praying that I’m right.
Valaric snarls at them, his talons tightening. I gasp as he pushes me behind him, his wings flaring out, shielding me from their approach. His gaze locks onto Cole, as he tries to flank him, ready to strike.
Valaric’s focus on Cole gives Eben the opening he needs, and the brown wolf lunges forward, fangs bared, sinking them into Valaric’s side.
Valaric knocks Eben away, sending him sprawling back into the snow. Cole releases a howl and charges forward. My husband roars as his sharp wolf claws rake across his chest, tearing through his flesh.
“ No! ” I scream, rushing forward, throwing myself between them.
Valaric’s massive hand grabs me again, pulling me close. It’s as if he’s trying to protect me.
The bond hums with intense energy between us. I focus on it, trying to reach him through the haze of his fury. Closing my eyes, I call on the connection that binds us. My hands lift of their own accord and magic sparks across the tips of my fingers.
It’s blood magic. Valaric’s magic.
It arcs through the air, forming an invisible ward around us, pushing back Eben and Cole.
The wolves howl and slam their massive forms against the barrier, desperate to save me. But they don’t understand. I’m not afraid for myself. I’m protecting my husband.
Valaric groans, his wings curling around us as he pulls me to the ground. His powerful body covers mine, his eyes glowing a deep red as he stares down at me.
“Valaric,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around him to pull him closer. “I trust you. I love you.”
As his fangs pierce my flesh his growl is low and animalistic even as his arms cradle my form as if I’m something precious. He holds me like a lover, his body trembling against mine, his fangs buried in my neck but gentle, almost tender.
I know, even now, that he would never hurt me.
His wings tighten around us, blocking out the world, the cold, and the danger. There is only him. Only us.
But then, just as suddenly as it began, he pulls away. His head snaps up. The feral look leaves his eyes only to be replaced by sheer horror as they go to my neck, where his fangs pierced my skin. Blood trickles from the two puncture wounds.
“What have I done?” His voice is hoarse, broken.
I kneel in front of him. “It’s all right. We’re fine.”
His eyes search mine, full of guilt. “I could’ve killed you.”
“Never.” I cup his face with both hands. “You would never do that.”
He lowers his head in defeat. “I can scent your fear,” he says, trying to pull away, but I won’t let him go.
“Of course, I’m afraid. I thought you were dying.”
His monstrous form shudders under my hands and his head snaps back to mine, his expression morphing into something akin to disbelief. Hope flickers in the depths of those twin pools of darkness as he blinks up at me. “You are not scared?”
“No.” I stare at him unflinchingly. “You are my husband, and I love you.”
Shock ripples across terrifying features, the raw, unguarded look of a man unprepared for such absolution. “But I am a monster.”
“So you have warned me. Many times before.” I take his hand, careful of his sharp talons. Turning it over, I press a tender kiss to his palm. “Your outer appearance may be altered, but inside, you are still you,” I whisper as I thread my fingers through his. “And I am still me. I love you, Valaric. Nothing will change that.”
He draws in a shaking breath. “I thought I would lose you once you saw.”
“I’m still hurt that you kept so much from me,” I admit, and his eyes grow dim. “But I understand now why you did.” I trace my fingers over the sharp line of his cheekbone. “I bound myself to you in a temple of the old gods on the night we first met… the evening that you saved my life. And I accepted you as my husband.”
He clenches his jaw. “You did not have a choice. The bargain had already been made.”
“You’re wrong.” I touch his face again because I want him to know that his appearance does not matter to me. I fell in love with his heart and his soul. “I chose you then, and I choose you still.”
A wave of love and warmth ripples across the bond as he stares at me in awe-filled reverence.
He drops his forehead to mine and I cup his cheek. “You are mine, and I am yours.”
Valaric closes his eyes and leans into my palm. My breath catches as his face begins to change again, returning to its previous appearance. I look down at our joined hands, watching in wonder as his talons shrink back into short, black claws.
“I don’t understand. How is this happening?”
“You’ve broken the curse, Juliet.” A handsome smile spreads across his face, and he lifts me into his arms, and spins me around. “My beautiful, wonderful wife.” He captures my mouth in a searing kiss.
The warded barrier begins to dissipate. Valaric pulls back, his expression a strange mixture of disbelief and wonder. “You accessed my blood magic through our bond. But how?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “I just knew I wanted to protect you. And when I reached for the bond, it’s as if… I suddenly just knew how.”
Eben and Cole walk over to us. Cole claps him on the shoulder. “Glad to have you back, Val.”
“Thank the gods,” Eben adds. He embraces Valaric like a brother. “I was afraid we lost you.”
“Thank you.” Valaric looks at the two of them. “For trying to protect Juliet.”
He looks at the castle. “The others,” he murmurs. “We must check on them. If they are not already awake, they will be soon.”
When we reach the west wing, he opens the first door and rushes inside, stopping abruptly before the empty glass coffin. He moves to the next door, only to find his second wife is gone too. Valaric checks the others and finds they have vanished as well.
“If the curse was truly broken, they should all be awake.” His brow furrows deeply. “Instead, they have disappeared.”
Dread slithers down my spine.
Eben walks in behind us. “What is—” He goes silent, staring in shock at the empty glass coffins.
“Where are they?” Cole’s voice calls out from behind him.
“They’re gone,” Valaric murmurs.
“Gone?” Damar’s voice rings out from the hallway. “How?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Juliet passed the final test. The curse should be broken.”
“Perhaps it is,” Damar offers. “Maybe this is what is supposed to happen. With the curse broken, the others may have already been transported back to their families.”
“The rosebush,” Valaric murmurs. “If it is still here, then that means—” Without warning, he rushes back out into the hallway.
The rest of us follow him, and although he is much faster than me, I know by the direction he travels that he is heading to the gardens. When I finally reach him, he is kneeling before the enchanted rosebush. The glowing red blooms are beginning to wither, several of the petals have already fallen, lying scattered in the snow.
Valaric stares at the plant in complete and utter devastation.
“What’s wrong?”
“The curse must be broken before the last petal falls,” he says grimly. “In the past, it has disappeared when I’ve run out of time. If the curse were truly lifted, this bush would be gone.”
“Then why is it still here?”
His hands clench into fists. “The witch must not be done with us yet.”