A Curse of Shadows - Page 96

Isla rubs her fingers over the side of her head. “Everything feels fuzzy in my memory. How long was I out?”

“Maybe five minutes,” Estee says, coming closer. “Do you remember the pain?”

She shakes her head, then wiggles out of my arms but starts to sway. I grab on to her again, keeping her tucked into my side. “Let’s take things easily. First things first, we need to get out of here and I need to summon a god.”

All stares land on me, just as I assumed they would. “Why?” Grayson asks first.

“Because the curse on them might be broken now, but those dark objects still exist,” I explain. “I’m going to bring a god here to either destroy them or take them back to their world. We have no use for them here.”

“What if we need one to kill whoever did this to us?” Isla asks, and I want to tell her I don’t believe we do, but then she’ll ask how I might know that. Considering my father is one of the people I think could have taken her from me, I’m not willing to say anything until I know for sure.

Mostly because if I think too hard about this, I might end up killing all three of them just because I can.

“We won’t. Now, let’s get out of here,” I tell her as I reach for the daggers on the ground and tuck them into my back pocket before picking Isla up to carry her out of here.

“You’re not telling us something,” Grayson says through our mind link.

“There’s nothing to say yet,” I promise him, which isn’t a lie. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep Isla safe. I assure you that.”

I can feel his eyes burning into the back of my head as we walk and his voice carries through my mind. “Just remember that keeping Isla safe means keeping you alive as well. Don’t put yourself at risk by believing you have to do this alone. Summoning a god is a gamble at best.”

I cut the connection with him because there’s nothing else that I can say without revealing too much and he might be family, but I’m still his king. I’m going to do this.

All of my instincts are screaming at me that this is the best path forward and I’m going to trust them, just like I did for all those years that I spent believing my mate was out there somewhere, waiting for me.

She may not have known it, but my soul never let me forget. Though, my chest constricts, knowing she was literally under my feet all this time. Maybe not her soul, but a piece of her, and I’d never known. I hadn’t sensed her the way I should have if we’d been officially bonded. Maybe if I’d pushed harder…

I shake my head. I can’t do that now. Not when there’s still so much to do and there’s no changing the past.

We exit the basement, moving quickly through the castle until we get to my suite. I walk in and set Isla on the couch. She hasn’t said much since waking back up, except that things are fuzzy, but she still seems to know who we are. Everything else, we can figure out later.

As I get her some water from the bar cart, I address Grayson and Estee. “The three of you need to stay in this room while I’m gone. Do not open the door for anyone, not even my father or mother. Do you understand?”

Estee shudders. “You don’t have to tell me twice. Dying twice in one day is enough for me. We have no clue who else might be being controlled by dark magic.”

No, we don’t, which is why it’s so hard for me to leave Isla when I know Estee was previously one of those people.

Still, I know this is what I must do.

I go back to Isla and hold the ice water to her lips. “Drink this, love.”

She only takes a few small sips. “I feel really tired.”

Estee slides in next to her and yawns dramatically. “You and me both. If we’re going to be trapped in this room, we might as well nap. Who knows what tonight will bring?”

If I have my way, death, followed by peace.

“Your sister is right.” I kiss Isla’s head. “Get some rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can be.”

She nods, her eyes growing heavier by the moment.

I turn to Grayson, knowing I can count on him, but also hating that I’m leaving right now. “Don’t take your eyes off them. Don’t even let them use the bathroom with the door closed. I don’t care if that curse is broken or not. I won’t lose my mate again.”

“You know I’ll protect my girls with my life.” His eyes glance over my shoulder, focusing on his daughters. “Nothing will happen to them if I can help it.”

“Use the communications unit on my desk if anything happens,” I tell him. “Mali and Cain will be able to reach me while I’m at the portal cave.”

“Let’s hope you’re back before I need to do that.”