Leila’s POVThere were a million thoughts running through my head as I flipped through the thick fraying pages of the dark spell book I’d stolen in battle, but the second Kai’s scent hit my nose as he fast approached my room I was dragged back to reality and I immediately hid the book in my drawer.I barely had any spare second to readjust myself and look normal before he pushed the door open and slammed my door shut behind him.He halted.Looked me over like he was trying to ascertain why I looked so nervous but he decided against it that second, choosing instead to deep his hands in his pockets and pull out the crystal necklace I’d spelled to subdue the cursed bloodthirsty beast raging within him.I rose from my dresser with my mouth agape and looked at the spot where it should've been resting only to see that it was empty, yet there was a fading scar right beneath its usual position. I didn't want to believe that his beast had overpowered him and was now standing before me to take
eila’s POVIt's been three days since I placed a deadly curse on Cora, but there were absolutely no signs that it’d worked. After twenty four hours she was supposed to have been suffering from dizzy spells that would cause her to lose her consciousness and overall perception of reality, when the forty eighth hour mark reached she was meant to have been in severe psychological pain that would tear her up from inside out as though it was physical.And on the third day— which is today— she was meant to have woken up in a pool of her own blood because she’d have been scratching herself violently all night long without knowing it, and then just before the clock hits 12 midnight to signify the start of a new day and the end of one, she’d drop dead mysteriously.However, I’d been watching her for days to see if she was manifesting any signs that she’d been cursed, but nothing of the sort had happened, instead she’d sunk her claws even deeper into Kai’s skin.I mean, why else would he be skep
Cora’s POVGod, I was so fucking pissed.Leila coming up to me and trying to act like she was some stupid mediator pissed me off so much, but why? Why should it piss me off when she was offering me a life far away from constant pain, humiliation and degradation? And all of that would’ve been taken away just in exchange for the biggest asshole I’ve ever come across? It was a damned good deal, she knew it too, and I’d only just admitted it.I admitted it to myself exactly a week and three days after our conversation that’d turned her raving mad. It’d taken me 10 fucking days to admit that I was incredibly dumb to throw away an incredible offer and pursue a route that I would most likely emerge from as a loser. Besides, I couldn't claim that I would’ve been betraying Nina because she offered to let me bring friends along too, I could’ve gotten Nina her fucking freedom but I didn't even consider.it.Hah, brilliant, the longer I stay under Kai’s rule, the dumber I get.Still, I convinced m
Kai’s POVAs I walked away from the pit I’d just pushed Cora into, I could hear my heart dropping to my stomach and leaving an aching pain in my chest. I didn't know why, but just because I was certain that it was linked to Cora, I shoved it aside and decide again figuring it out. Besides, she deserved every bit of what she was about to suffer for trying to kill me, how much more merciful could I be after sparing her life?I heard her feet hit the floor of the pit and I felt my heart sink even lower, fucking piece of shit—my damned heart, for the longest time I didn't believe that I had one, but of recent it’d been my least favorite organ to wrestle against.“Is she in?” My temporary partner’s voice tore me away from my thoughts—thankfully might I add—and back to the present.“Yeah” I responded half heartedly and she practically bounced toward the pit like a bunny returning to its hole.“It took longer than I’d have expected,” Freya’s voice was thick with an emotion I couldn't quite d
Cora’s POVGoosebumps scattered on my skin as Freya smiled down at me, asides from the rays of sunshine that poured down into the well as she pulled off its covering, everything else caused my pulse to quicken with dread.Why dread? Freya had been torturing me for the past two days, and since I was deep in a ditch I couldn't even fight back. I was absolutely helpless and she was having the time of her life, bathing me in dirt, throwing water—that was most likely from the gutters behind the palace that were never cleaned—on me, releasing creeping insects into the pit and then leaving me in the dark to struggle with them, starving me so my resolve would break……She was ruthless, fucking deranged too.“Hello babygirl, slept alright?” I could hear the sarcasm in her voice, heavily too to show how pleased she was to be torturing me to her fill.Alone also, Kai hadn't been to the pit since the night he’d pushed me in, he didn't give a fuck what she was doing to me and he’d known how much I’
Cora’s POV“This is gonna hurt” Kai warned as he studied the bullet that was lodged in my shoulder.He seemed like a ghost of himself, standing there and acting like he cared about me. I knew beyond a doubt that he was only helping me remove the bullet because he wanted to keep me alive long enough to keep tormenting me, day in and out.“You should’ve just let her kill me” I grumbled and he looked at me like I was the craziest person he’d ever come across, and truthfully, I probably was.To confirm that, he didn't respond and it bothered me.Kai never did anything without an underlying selfish intent, I’d learned that within weeks of knowing him and over the last few months he’d proven it to be true. Now, because of that I knew that I’d be in his debt after he’d saved me from death at Freya’s hands and now he was worsening things by catering to me?I shivered inwardly wondering which deadly means he’d employ to collect those debts, and there was no saying that he’d let it go. No, Kai
Kai’s POVI felt myself stirring, but I didn't want to open my eyes, I wasn't ready to wake up just yet.My sleep was so peaceful and this time I was even having a pleasant dream, one where I was running in circles with my mother when she was still alive, a memory that I’d buried under years and years of meting out violent justice because I didn't think I deserved the memories of her, not when she’d be disappointed in the path I’d chosen.So this once that the memory had come to me own its own accord, I basked in it and I had no intentions of rushing back to face a reality where she was absent. My fierce and brilliant mother who’d trained me in combat at a young age and still showered me with the only genuine love I’d ever experienced in all my life, why would I want to be torn away from her?No, I wasn’t waking up.In fact, I adjusted my position and realized that I was resting on an amazingly soft surface so I leaned in even further until my cheeks were perfectly cushioned by it. As
Cora’s POVNina’s eyes were red and swollen like she’d cried a whole lot, like she’d been crying for days and it made my heart sink knowing that her sadness was sparked by my stubbornness that unfailingly landed me in trouble, every damn time.“I'm okay, you can see that right? That I'm alive and well?” I told her as I adjusted uncomfortably beside her.“You’re so full of shit,” She was frowning but it didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug, the types where you can barely breath.It went on for a while and I just remained still, not minding that I would soon run out of air because I’d missed her to death even though I’d never admit it. She was the only form of family and normalcy in my life and I hated being away from her, in those moments that I was, I was usually just drowning in pain.“Maybe be on your best behaviour for a week straight with no sudden disappearances?” She said pleadingly as she pulled away from me.And knowing now impossibl