la'

lla. You're her last opportunity at fixing the mess she created mille

my throat, the weight of them

and unrelenting. "Yes. And if you think I

I refused to look away. For weeks now, I'd been trapped in th

murmured gently, my voice shaking w

d, his tone gentler now but no le

orld was dark and perilous, a maze of half-truths and buried betrayals.

closer to him. "Who is she? Wh

hought he wouldn't answer. But then he sighed, the we

low. "Calla, she is not some haphazard rescu

lacing of my words. "The lady who pulled u

r. The cause my family vanished from. I have spent decades batt

, the weight of it striking me like a go

ncarnations than I would want to count. The curse ties me to th

hrough his remarks. And me too? W

"Only you can call it off. All of it, the curse, the confli

My heart thumping in my chest, I staggered tow

have to make that decision." "I considered myself a

oo late," just abov

tightened hi

en sentiments and emotions we both were t

h his arm, I murmured, "You

ea what you are presenting. You will start to be targeted if you stand by

ite the terror running through me. " Lucian, I am

for the first time. "You should be scared," he

spine, and I started slinking toward h

ny of us could say another word. Lucian pressed me beh

growl, he said

he neck's hair to stand on edge. From the shadows came a black figure w

d with a venomous voice. Sti

" Lucian demanded, his

that chilled my spine. Obviously the fema

s ablaze with a wild l

up," the man sa

e air around us buzzed with vitality. Their force of i

e fight continued. Then I sensed it-a

lex and ancient-like a brand seared i

e with a far-off,

ing in their eyes. "It's begun," they said, t

u tell me this

ill pulsed weakly under my skin. The jungle was eerily still, save for the sound o

t know it would

g out. "I deserve the truth, Lucian. You keep telling me to

ching you suffer because of something I couldn't stop? I've spent centuries attemptin

napping voice. "Change it, Lucian."