Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Avery smiled at me—a warm, sunny smile that was just for me.
“How is he lately?” he asked and I knew he was speaking of my Drake. “He’s uh, been kind of quiet lately. I thought he might get angry when my Dad made such a scene—I’m really glad he didn’t, though,” he added hastily.
“I am glad too,” I told him. “I believe he was quiet through the scene with your father because he didn’t really feel that you were threatened. And he knew that no matter how much your father threatened or shouted, he had no real power to take you away from us.”
“No, he can’t do that.” Avery got a stubborn expression on his face—which only made him more adorable. “No matter what he does or says, he can never separate us,” he said.
“Only breaking the curse can do that,” I said softly. “Avery, are you certain you even want to try?” The thought of not being with him—of not loving him anymore—was unbearable to me. And I was terribly afraid that was what would happen.
Avery sighed.
“We have to try, Saint. Think of it this way—you owe it to your Drake to try. The curse torments him—I can see it in his eyes when he comes forward in you. And I’m afraid one of these days I won’t be here to talk him down when he gets upset—it’s dangerous.”
“Breaking the curse might be dangerous too,” I pointed out, though I knew he was right. It was getting harder and harder to control my Drake—maybe because this was the longest time I had spent in human form without letting him out in my entire life.
Avery frowned.
“That’s a chance I’ll have to take. Magic can be risky at times—especially if you’re trying to do something big—or undo it.”
“I just don’t want you to be hurt, mi Corazon,” I said anxiously.
“I don’t want it either, but I think I will be, one way or another,” Avery said in a low voice. Twisting around in my arms, he put his own arms around my neck and drew me down for a kiss. “Which is why I’m putting off looking in the grimoire for tomorrow,” he murmured as he pressed his lips to mine. “We’ve had enough drama for one day—now I just want to be with you.”
“As I wish to be with you,” I murmured and kissed him back. Tomorrow we would worry about breaking the curse on my Drake. Tonight, I just wanted to be with my beloved l’lorna.
I had no idea what the future held and for now I didn’t care, as long as I could hold Avery.
31
AVERY
“Well, I think I’ve found a way to break the curse,” I announced to my Coven mates, the next Friday night.
“You did?” Megan looked up at me hopefully and Emma and Kaitlyn leaned forward too. Everyone else had gone to bed but the four of us, including Saint, who was extremely tired.
All that week I had been working on something in the woodworking shop, which was mostly frequented by Drakes, who absolutely hated my guts. Saint had been with me every day to protect me and, as a consequence, he had been in a constant battle with his own Drake, trying to keep it from coming out to murder anyone who threatened me.
It was a risk I wouldn’t have taken, but I honestly couldn’t help it—being in the woodworking shop had been a necessity in order to make what I needed to help break his curse.
“Actually, I found it right away, but I’ve been working on the implement the spell calls for,” I told them. “This.”
The piece I held out to show them was a crude thing—a wooden object a little larger than a golf ball. It had to be handled with care because it consisted of a lot of jagged spikes and splinters of wood that poked out from the round, central core in every direction.
“Uh, what’s that?” Kaitlyn asked, frowning.
“A Curse Breaker,” I said simply.
“Really? This is what you’ve been working on all week?” Emma eyed the jagged wooden object carefully. “I don’t mean to upset you, Avery, but it’s not, er, very pretty.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” I told her. “It’s not meant to be an objet d’art, Miss Fairy Princess, it’s meant to break curses.”
“And how, exactly, does it break them?” Kaitlyn asked.
I took a deep breath—now we got to the sticky part.
“Well, I said,” trying to sound unconcerned. “It’s not that difficult, really. You squeeze the Curse Breaker until you draw blood and chant the spell that compels the one who placed the curse in the first place to remove it.”
“You squeeze it until you draw blood? Your own blood, you mean?” Emma demanded.
“Exactly,” I said coolly. “It’s a kind of sacrifice—that’s how it works.”
“Pardon me, Avery, but isn’t that Blood Magic? You know, as in the kind of magic that has been outlawed by the Council of Other Elders?” Kaitlyn asked.