Page 20 of Magic Cursed
“Sky, Your Highness,” I say. It’s the first name that comes to mind.
“Please, call me Daimis. Sky, do you realize what happened yesterday?”
I grimace. “I got my ass handed to me?”
His mouth quirks in amusement. “More importantly, yousurvived. Not only did you survive, but you saved two children. That has never happened in an encounter with a shadow demon,not ever.” The look in his eyes is hope.
Ugh, why do people keep doing that?I’m not his hope. I’m no one’s hope, I’m. . .well, I don’t really know what I am, but nothing good.
“You’re the only person to ever survive a shadow demon attack,” he continues. “To ever save anyone else from one.”
Actually, there was much more than one shadow demon, but I’m not about to correct him. I fiddle with the fringe on the blanket. “I guess I just got lucky.”
He shakes his head. “No one is that lucky.Somethinghappened. How did you do it, exactly?”
I can’t tell him or anyone else what really happened. How could I possibly explain it? That the demons stopped attacking because they recognized the darkness in me was like their own? I’ll be killed as fast as the words leave my mouth. It must be one of the evilgiftsmy father passed to me when he died.
I twist the fringe between my fingers. “I don’t know,” I say. “I–––I can’t remember.”
He tilts his head, and I don’t think I have him convinced. He leans even closer to me, and takes my hand in his, stopping my fiddling. I stare down at my pale fingers dwarfed in his bronze ones. I’ve seen our hands joined so many times as kids, and now that they’re joined again, a deep part of me whispersdon’t ever let go. My heart rate picks up. I’m alarmed by the way my body seems to respond to his touch. Doesn’t it understand that he’s a threat?
“Sky.” His voice has a sultry, dark tone to it. My attention moves to his handsome face. “I assure you that anything you tell me will stay between just you,” he lightly squeezes my hand. “And me—it’ll be our secret. I promise that you’re safe in my very capable hands. I simply want the truth.”
Oh, he’s good. No doubt he’s aware of just how charming and sexy he is and is not past using it like a tool. A play right out of my own book. And even knowing that’s what he’s doing still doesn’t stop the goosebumps from rising, and the butterflies from tickling my stomach. I need distance. Lots of it. I pull my hand from his and advert my eyes. “Good Prince, no matter how much you flirt, it will not change the fact that I can’t remember.”
His smile turns both lethal and sad. “You misunderstand, I’m nogoodPrince, but I will get to the truth of what happened.” He says it like a threat. Daimis has definitely changed. A hardness in him lies just under the surface that was never there before. But I suppose watching your father killed right in front of you would change anyone, it had certainly changed me. Our gazes meet and for a moment I get the eerie feeling that I’m looking in a mirror.
A banging on the door interrupts us followed by a man’s shouts. “Daimis, open up. Come on, I know you’re in there. I need to question the survivor; I need to know where he got the items in his pack.”
I know that voice. No possible way, the goddess of fate couldn’t be so cruel. The door flies open and sure enough, Rock stands in the doorway looking as chivalrous as ever in a tunic of gold and royal blue. The symbol of a sun is embroidered in the upper right corner. The symbol of Daimis’s royal bloodline, the Berhane’s, the gods and goddesses blessed rulers of Thaaryn. It was a Berhane who first guided humans from the caves into this world many generations ago, guiding them into the light. Is Rock a part of Daimis’s court?
Rock’s golden eyes fall on me and his jaw drops.
I sink back into my pillow with a groan.
Daimis stands up. “I said I was not to be disturbed.” He sounds exasperated.
Seeing Daimis and Rock together is like staring at two finely crafted opposites. They both have muscled physiques, about the same six-foot-two height, though Daimis is a little taller and Rock a bit leaner, and are both deliciously handsome, but that’s where the similarities end. Where Rock’s blond hair and golden brown eyes are like a bright, shining sun in all its glory, Daimis’s dark hair and bronzed skin are a dark, sultry moonlit night, full of mysteries begging to be discovered.
“Sky?” Rock says, ignoring Daimis. “Wha—what are you doing here?” He rushes to the opposite side of the bed as Daimis. “You’re hurt. Are you okay?”
I don’t answer right away. I’m too busy trying to figure out how the hell I ended up in this twisted situation.
“She’ll heal,” Daimis says flatly. “How do you know Sky?”
“She’s the one I ran into on my last quest,” Rock says. “The one I told you about.”
Daimis tries to hide his smile. It makes him look so much like the boy I knew that it hurts. “She’sthe one who stole from you?”
“And saved his life,” I add. It seems I already have a reputation. How much exactly did he tell Daimis of our night together? My cheeks grow warm. Rock and Daimis must be close, or Daimis never would have let Rock storm in like that. I wonder what Rock’s real name is. I also wonder why no one is arresting me. They both know I stole from him. . . And yet, neither is demanding justice for my thievery. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just not adding up.
“I saved you, too,” Rock says, puffing up his chest. “Remember, we’re even on that front.” He folds his arms over his chest. “Or at least we were until you ran off in the middle of the night with my gold cuff.”
I turn from his gaze, shame washing over me. It’s a lot easier to steal from someone when you think you’ll never see them again. I’m not used to having to face my victims, especially one I had a connection with.
Daimis takes his seat again, carefully eyeing both Rock and me. “Sky was just going to tell me how she escaped the shadow demon before you barged in.”
Rock creases his brows like he’s working on unraveling a great mystery. “Wait a minute.” His eyes widen as the pieces fall into place for him. “You’re the survivor?Yousurvived an attack from a shadow demon?”