Chapter 3 - Cursed
"Is he here yet?" I asked Imelda for the fifth time. She rolled her emerald eyes, shaking her head, a smile on her face as she did the last of the buttons on my dress.
She wore a white dress with intricate lace details on the bodice. It hugged every curve perfectly. She looked absolutely stunning and looked the exact opposite of me. If she was day, I was the night. The dress I wore was as black as the night sky. My dresses were altered not to reveal too much skin anymore. I couldn't stand the look on everyone's face when they looked at me, looked at my scars. The pity and grief in their eyes were already too much to handle as they stared at the scars on my face.
The laced sleeves allowed for airflow, and the dress's bodice hugged my breasts perfectly. The skirt was light and flowy as it fanned out to brush the floor.
"You weren't honestly expecting him to show up early, were you?" She laughed, and I couldn't help but crack a smile too. The nerves for tonight's events were eating away at me.
"You're right. If he's anything like before, he won't show up on time either." I teased, and we both started laughing again.
"That laughter I hear?" Balthazar mused as he stood in the doorway to my room. I turned to him, my smile widening. Of all the people I thought I would consider a friend. Balthazar was the last person I would have ever expected. He stepped up when it counted, and not only did he prove his love and loyalty to my sister but also my family.
He helped me when no one else could, and I would forever be grateful for him.
"Of course it is. We aren't all dead inside." Imelda teased, and I forced myself not to flinch at her words. But I knew Balthazar saw it. He saw everything. Knew everything, so keeping this secret from him had only been that more challenging.
"Ahh, is that it. Or perhaps it's just that you aren't as funny as you believe yourself to be, darling." He teased, giving me a wink, which earned him a swat from Imelda.
"You wouldn't know funny if it smacked you in the face." She scoffed. I bit back a laugh, turning towards the mirror once again. My onyx hair was done up in a bun. My hair was now streaked with white; more of it seemed to appear these days.
The scar across my left eye was still red and angry, despite the makeup I had applied to it; even glamour couldn't hide it.
"We should get to the dining hall; I'm sure everyone is waiting." I blurted out before Imelda and Balthazar could get into it.
Imelda clicked her tongue and narrowed her eyes at him before grabbing my arm and dragging me down the hall.
"Not funny. Can you believe it? I'm funny you think so, right?" She asked, and I just nodded in response, not wanting to offend her further because Balthazar wasn't entirely wrong. Imelda was horrible at telling jokes.
***
The party was in full swing. After Balor had arrived late and we all welcomed him home and introduced ourselves to his mate. We had dinner. Everything felt right, whole, again.
Reyna was a perfect match for Balor, and I was so happy for them both. The tension between him and Imelda had vanished entirely too, and he even was getting along with Balthazar.
My parents were thrilled to see him too. Everyone was happy, and I hated that I would be the one who ruined it.
The anxiety of everything took over, and I suddenly needed to catch my breath. Imelda, our mother, and Audra had dragged Reyna around the palace. They asked if I wanted to join, but I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to do what I needed to.
I headed out to the hallway and down to the library. The garden was easier to access from there, and the moonflowers glowed beautifully at this time of year.
The warmth of the night air wrapped around me, and I felt my magic try to reach out in response but was too weak to do so. A shiver ran up my spine, and I pulled my arms tightly around me.
"Darkness is coming," a voice whispered in my ear, and I jumped, spinning around—my heart racing in my chest.
"Not if I can help it," I muttered under my breath. A dark faded laugh sounded from behind me. I spun around again, cursing myself for falling for the shadow's tricks.
"There is nothing you can do." The shades hissed.
"Nothing," A voice shouted in my ear, and I muffled my scream with my hand. Then, a cold hand gripped my shoulder, and I spun around in fear. My eyes looked around frantically. Fear consumed me, and I screamed before being pulled into a hard chest, warmth wrapping around me once again.
"I am here; you are safe. I will never let them hurt you." My senses came back, and I inhaled the familiar scent of strawberries.
"I thought you were them." I cried out, and he only held me tighter.
"You know you shouldn't be out in the dark alone. That's when they're at their strongest, Nes." He warned, and I nodded.
"I know, but I needed to clear my head before I go back in there," I pulled away and looked up at my mate.
"Why are you out here?"
"I knew you needed me." He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I sighed.
"Please stay in the room; I don't want anything to happen to you." I could see the reluctance in his face, but he knew why I needed to do this alone. So instead of arguing with me, he nodded.
"At least let me walk you back to the hall." I could hear the plea in his voice, and I knew he needed to know I got inside safely.
"Okay, but after that, straight to the room until I return."
"Of course, my love." He gave me a wide smile, one that revealed his dimples and took my breath away. my heart skip a beat.
Chapter 4 -Truth I stood at the entrance of the dining hall. It seemed like everyone had moved out into the rest of the palace or called it a night.The music had died down, and the food was slowly being removed from the tables. It was always intriguing watching the behind-scenes of events. I used to sneak away all the time as a kid to watch the solstice celebrations be prepared. The magic it took to put everything together was always astonishing. I always wondered how they did such amazing work in such a short amount of time. I felt faint, so I leaned myself against the doorway. I knew I was already at the end of my energy limit for the day, but I knew what I had to do to clear the air between Balor and me. I had to let him know what I was feeling and what had happened to me. L
Chapter 5 - Disbelief*Six Year's Ago*"Nes," Damon shouted as he ran through the medical ward. I was in the middle of healing a trainee. A broken arm he had earned in a sparring match while training a little too hard.Even though Damon had just become the new leader of the Royal Guards a few days ago, everyone had already started training harder than before. In the last three days, the number of injured trainees and even guards In need of our care had almost tripled."Nes," He shouted again, and I bit my lip as I tried to keep my focus. I could already sense Nova was about to ascend into a rant of respect for the sick and injured as soon as he found me."N-" Nova let out a sigh of irrit
Chapter 6 - VowsNesrin's POV"What have you done?" I muttered. Shock consumed me as I took in Apollo. Disbelief had worked its way through my mind."Such a disgrace," Ahmes growled, and I had a hard time disagreeing with her.I had only met Apollo a couple of times. One of those times was when we entrusted him to protect our sister."What happened to Imelda. Did you hurt her?" Damon growled. Those words seemed to snap Apollo out of the daze he was trapped in. Panic filled his violet eyes as he stared at us. His lips parted, but no words came out."Your sister is fine. He went a little crazy, but he claimed he would have never hurt her." Hector's voice was void of any emotion.
Chapter 7 - Misdirection*Present*Nesrin's POV"Wait, you're telling me you made a vow with a dragon. Healed some unhinged prisoner and then passed out in his prison cell?" Balor questioned, looking at me like I was the dumbest person alive, and maybe he wasn't wrong. I blew out a deep breath."Yes," I said coldly."And why didn't I see it?"He asked, furrowing his brow."Dragons, they're old magic just like oracles, true Dacian, and dark magic. They can hide things from seers.""Of course." He said I could see he had more questions, but I really wanted to continue before deciding against it again."Now, will you let me
Chapter 8 - DeceptionNesrin"I need to go to Caspian tomorrow." I casually threw out as everyone ate their dinner in silence.The tension in our home was anything but calm since Imelda had left. It had been three weeks since she ran away. Ran away is the broad term of what she did since our mother refused to believe that all her children would blindside her like that and help our sister escape her arranged marriage from hell. Literally.Or at least that's what she wanted us to believe, but I knew she was just hurt that she wasn't involved in her escape plan.My mother arched a brow at me but didn't say a word as she took another bite of her roasted duck. I took her silence as my queue to continue talking."Garren is a friend of
Chapter 9 - PreparationNesrinI stared at the book before me. It had been two weeks since I stole this from Garren's private library. I had hoped that after translating it, we would be on the right path. But all hope of doing this the easy way, easy being abroad term, dwindled away with each page we translated.I let out a groan, rubbing my hands down my face. We had looked at this book for hours, and everything we had found brought us to the same conclusion. The only way to get his wolf back was to take the pendant back.In order to do that, we would have to go into the dark realm find the witch who took it. Once we found her, we either found some way to take it from her without her realizing, hoping we got away fast enough. Or, my stomach turned at the thought. We would have to kill h
Chapter 10 - Red HandedNesrin"Again," Apollo ordered. My breathing was becoming heavy as I worked through the motions. It had been two weeks since we started training.I swore that anytime I thought I was getting better and finally matched him, he would only begin going harder than before, leaving me out of breath, bruised, and exhausted even more than before.After the first sparing session ended smoothly, Damon knew he couldn't stop us from continuing. That being said, Damon insisted on being present for every session. But I could tell he had relaxed a bit as he had to leave early today but allowed us to continue and gain some extra training time.I was also surprised when he told me that he, in fact, had kept Apollo our secret and that even our grandfather didn't know anything about him or his past.
Chapter 11 - OversteppingNesrinI bit my lower lip nervously. I pushed myself off of my door, holding my head high as I sat down on my bed."Do my parents know you're here?" I asked."Of course they do. Unlike you, I let the people I plan to visit know of my arrival." His voice clipped. I held back the urge to flinch at how cold his voice was."I didn't mean to make you angry, but you weren't there, you with, Imelda. I didn't plan to have it this long," I said, looking down at the ground."What did you intend to do then? Because stealing from me is one sure way to make me angry, Nes. You know how dangerous it is to steal from a dragon." Garren bit out. Something abo