Broken Curse

3

“So, you’re telling me that one of you has been in cahoots with the wolves that want to kill us?” Gabby barked out a humorless laugh. “Maybe we were better off on our own.”

“Gabby, stand down.” I’d probably come off sterner than I’d meant to, but I didn’t want to deal with any more drama this morning. Finn had been enough.

“On your own, you wouldn’t have survived,” Ivory’s soft voice was strong. “Believe me, we were part of the society. They will mobilize everything they can to track us down. At least, together, we can potentially fulfill the curse—er, prophecy and bring them to their knees.”

“And I was part of the original alpha’s pack and grew up as an important member of The Hallowed Guild.” Aidan glared at Gabby, his golden eyes glowing. “So that’s how I know you’d have no chance at surviving alone. We have to figure out the next steps so we can take the society down.”

The front door opened, and Beth, Coral, and Rowan entered the house.

Beth’s blue eyes landed on mine, and immediately, she knew something was wrong. She crossed the room toward me, her royal blue hair bouncing with each step. Her black shirt bunched around her shoulders, revealing her anxiety. “What happened?”

Beatrice pinched the bridge of her nose. “Apparently, we have a traitor on our hands.”

“Wait …” Coral took inventory of everyone in the room. “Finn’s gone, so …”

“Yes, it was him.” Amethyst frowned and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair.

Logan lifted a hand in the air. “Aren’t you an empath?”

I didn’t like what he was insinuating. “What the hell are you getting at?”

“That she should’ve known,” Gabby said as she stood next to her mate, arms crossed over her chest.

“She helped save us.” Honor leaned back against the wall, her dark hair contrasting against the warm-colored wallpaper.

Logan rocked on his heels. “Maybe it’s a ruse.”

Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. “My daughter—”

“Stop,” Amethyst interrupted. “It’s a good question.”

“You have nothing to prove.” I hated that she felt like she had to explain herself. She was one of the most sincere people I’d ever known. “You were a part of saving them just like we were.”

“No, it’s good to question things.” Amethyst paced the room as she collected herself. “Ever since Finn was a child, he’s been in constant turmoil. Hurt, anger, confusion—those have been his key feelings all the time, and I didn’t get a different read off him.”

“He’s been like this since he was a child?” Sunny sank onto the couch. “That’s horrible.”

Gabby placed a hand on her hip. “Well, it doesn’t excuse his betrayal.”

“I find it interesting that someone like you would say that.” Ever since we’d picked them up, Gabby and Logan had reminded me of Finn. They had so much anger in them as well.

“What are you getting at?” Logan asked and took one step toward me, but Aidan tensed, ready to attack.

“I think it’s pretty obvious. You and Gabby have a lot in common with him.” Coral’s long red hair cascaded down her shoulders as her crystal blue eyes met Logan’s gaze head-on. “So before passing judgment, maybe look in a mirror.”

A proud smile crossed Rowan’s face. The only difference between her and Coral was that Rowan’s red hair was more orange, and she had twenty years on her daughter.

Aidan arched an eyebrow, flicking his focus between the two shifters. “If you don’t like how Finn acts, you need to take a long hard look at yourselves. You may find some common characteristics with him.”

They both tensed.

“He’s right, but let’s not fight.” They needed a wake-up call, and maybe they were finally getting it. We should probably have continued down that path, but my patience was up. “Everyone is here, so let’s open up that diary and see what we need to do.”

“Sounds good. Let me go grab the book.” Beatrice headed down the hallway to her room.

I didn’t blame her for not keeping the diary out in the open. Even though I trusted these seven new shifters, the witches needed to guard their books, which were meant to stay within the coven.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Sunny asked as she rubbed her hands along her jeans.

“The pages near the back are blank.” She hadn’t been part of the locator spell with the maps, so I couldn’t reference that. “The wording suggests that all five marked girls need to bleed on the first blank page. It will then reveal the next steps to fulfilling the prophecy.”

She nodded. “Oh, wow.”

“So… similar to the locator spell?” Remus asked and wrapped his arm around his mate’s waist.

“Yes.” It was supposed to be that simple.

“All magic requires a sacrifice.” Amethyst lifted her hand and glanced at her finger. “Blood is the universal one that works well for most, if not every spell.”

“That is very true, my child.” Beatrice carried out the old leather-bound diary. The binding was worn, revealing its age. “And here it is.” She sat on the couch, laying the book on the coffee table. “Please surround me.”

The five of us followed her instructions. I sat on one side of Beatrice with Ivory on the other. The other three sat on the ground around the pages.

Aidan stood behind where I sat on the couch, placing a hand on my shoulder.

It meant everything in the world to have him by my side, especially after all the s**t we had to go through to get here. He’d turned his back on his family to be my mate and be here for me.

“Here we are.” Beatrice pointed to the blank pages. Her hands shook as she held them down. “It is such an amazing honor to be alive and part of this history.”

When they made comments like that, it reminded me how important this whole thing was. It was the complete opposite in The Hallowed Guild. They despised us, and killing us was a means to an end.

I stared at the blank pages, nervous that something bad would happen. I didn’t know much about magic yet. Yes, mine had been uncovered by freeing the black void inside me, but it hadn’t been unleashed. If Aidan and me bonding had caused that country-wide earthquake, there was no telling what this would do, but there was no turning back.