A Curse of Shadows

“Oh, my sweet girl.” He coughs and blood dribbles from the side of his mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

“You have no reason to apologize.” My stare moves to Asher. “But you do. Save him.”

“Swear that you’ll stay.” His retort is quick and vicious.

This evil bastard. So much for the kind king Cain described him as.

Still, I don’t know what to do. This connection to the older gentleman, a man my heart is telling me is somehow my father, makes me want to stay. Yet I can’t fathom the thought of never seeing Elodee again.

“Give me one moon cycle,” Asher adds, only slightly calmer than before. “When the second moon disappears in four weeks’ time, if you still don’t know why you should stay, then I’ll send you back to where you came from, and I’ll save your father if he still wishes.”

Four weeks to save a man’s life and possibly get answers to the questions that have been plaguing me since I stumbled into this world? That doesn’t sound like the worst choice I could make. And if this man really is my father, I can bring him back with me. I can’t do that if I leave now.

“Fine, I’ll stay for now,” I declare even as part of me screams in protest, “but if you don’t honor your word, I will find a way out of here myself.”

His responding grin feels like a mutual promise. “I’d expect nothing less.”

CHAPTER FIVE

ASHER

Turbulence rips through me, a tornado of regret, fear, and incandescent rage. I’ve long considered myself a just and composed ruler, but now, Isla—as I’ve now decided to call her after her little outburst—manages to push my buttons just as easily as she could when we were children.

The plan had seemed foolproof: sway her with the feebleness of her father’s life, pulling at what should have been an innate draw toward family and duty. But the moment the ruse failed, so did my self-control.

Desperation can sometimes wear an ugly mask.

Using Grayson’s life as a bargaining chip is a vile choice and the worst one that I’ve ever made. Unease coils in my gut, a beast writhing with every pulse, yet what choice did I have? Letting her go without understanding what the hell happened feels impossible, which is where my current ferocity truly lies. The unknown of what should have been, not with Isla.

The enigma of her memory, the fractured link to her past life, will undoubtedly haunt my every thought until I know why she doesn’t remember her family or the life we once shared. Did she truly choose to forget me and everything she’d had here? Or, as my thoughts ventured to last night, did the intricacies of reincarnation fail her, casting her to Earth for all these years? I’ve gone through a million scenarios and no matter what I’ve been told or seen, my heart refuses to accept that she would have willingly forsaken our bond.

Our connection was sacred, unquestionable—she was the very essence of my being, and I hers. She wouldn’t have left me like that if she had a choice. The depth of our love couldn’t have been fabricated.

Grayson is still with me after exiting Isla’s room, but his continued coughing reminds me that his life hangs in the balance and if I don’t do something, he won’t survive the next four weeks.

“What were you thinking, running away to die?” I ask him with disappointment as we enter a guest room just past Isla’s.

His brittle body crumbles in on itself as I sit him on a chair. “I had nothing to live for. My mate’s heart was broken after losing her two children to the point that not even I was enough for her. Like you, I had hope, but time snuffed that out years ago, just as I knew it would my life.” He looks up at me with a suffering gaze that also flickers with a father’s recognition. “That’s really our girl in there.”

I nod with a frown. “She doesn’t remember us, but I would recognize her soul anywhere.”

His smile widens for the first time in possibly years. “She remembered me. Maybe only for a moment, but I felt the connection. There was something there.”

I leave him on the chair and head to the bathroom to grab a cup. His comment makes me think back to the interaction. Was there something I missed as I threatened Grayson’s life to get what I want? I wouldn’t think so, but nothing has gone as I hope as of late. For the moment, I’ll take his word and the flicker of light it casts over the situation. Especially since Isla agreed to stay.

Returning to Grayson, I extend the claws from my left hand and make a small incision over the veins on my wrist. A small amount of blood pours into the glass before I pull back. Not enough to heal him like he deserves, but he’ll at least live thanks to these small doses of my alpha power—something only I can share with him as his king.

I plead with him to understand my next words. “I can’t yet revert the damage you’ve done entirely, but I can buy us some time if you really want to keep living.”

His shaky hand reaches for me, barely able to grip my elbow. “I’m not saying I agree with what you just did, but I trust you, Asher. You love my daughter, you always have, and if you can bring her back to me, to us, you do whatever you must.”

Taking the offering from me, he manages to tip the cup to his lips, drinking the crimson liquid that thanks to our wolf genes will start to undo the damage he did by denying his inner beast the freedom of shifting for years and, from the looks of it, by starving himself.

As he closes his eyes, allowing the energy he’s consumed to breathe a sliver of life back into his body, I can’t stop myself from asking, “Do you think she’ll hate me for this?”

He coughs slightly and laughs before meeting my uneasy gaze. “Maybe, but you can’t have hate without love. She’ll understand when the time is right. She always did before.”

Grayson’s words give me a glimmer of hope that I haven’t just made things worse, but while Isobella might have understood in the past, this is Isla. We don’t know her any longer, but I’m going to do my damnedest to change that.