Cursed: Briar Rose's Story (Destined Book 6)

by Kaylin Lee

  “Nothing yet.” Tavar dragged his gaze away from me. “Still need to clear the other side though.”

  We’d just finished checking the rest of the area when a shout came from the rocky slope.

  Deacon waved a furious arm. “Cole!”

  Cole and Tavar jogged closer. The curse’s excitement, mixed with my own dread, made my steps so clumsy I lagged behind.

  Deacon met Tavar in front of the boulder, his eyes wide and his mouth in a grim line. “Alba’s gone.”

  The curse vibrated happily. It is beginning, creature. You cannot stop us.

  I paused and searched the area compulsively for traces of magic. How close were the Masters? But the only magic I found was Alba’s.

  My feet tripped closer to the boulder, compelled by the curse. What was that? Alba’s trace wasn’t fading. It was just as strong as if she were standing right here, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  I scanned the rocks that were nestled between the boulder and the slope, tuning out their voices as they argued about Alba. Was she somehow still here, but hidden? Underground?

  “Tracker, report!” Cole’s command caught my attention.

  What could I do? She was right here! Someone was with her, not a mage, but someone, someone in the Masters’ employ,

  I held my breath, trying to think of a way to signal Cole to look for her, but the curse took over with a warning shock of pain to my heart. “No mages here,” it said for me. “It’s clear.”

  “What about Alba? Any trace?” Deacon sounded frustrated.

  The curse floundered, unused to speaking for me. Lie well, the curse growled. Or I’ll take over again, and you won’t like how that goes.

  “I just found her trail leading back the way we came,” I blurted out, thinking fast. “Looks like she went back by herself.”

  “Why would she go back?”

  “She told me she was getting scared again during our last break.” Alba would never forgive me for this. “She said she wanted to go back to the fomewagon to wait for us. I thought I’d convinced her to stay with the group, but I guess with all the false alarms just now, she got scared and ran back.”

  Shame made my skin crawl. All I could think of was that horrible night I’d spent searching the city rooftops for her when we’d been separated on an outing, only to find her curled up and sobbing less than a block from our bakery home. My sister needed me, and all I could do was betray—

  “That idiot mage girl should be locked up.” Eugene’s sour voice this time. “Unless attached healers don’t have to follow the rules like the rest of us.”

  “But no one saw her leave,” Cole said slowly. “And it seems like she would be more likely to stick with the group for safety. If she was planning to run, you should have said something, Bri.”

  “I’m sorry, Cole. You’re right. But Alba’s not a Sentinel,” the curse answered, scrounging for words in my thoughts and memories. “She’s terrified of the Badlands, of anything new and dangerous. She always has been. She should never have been sent out here. She’ll do what she always does when she’s scared—find the last place she felt safe, then stay there until someone comes to get her.”

  “Fine.” Cole’s deep voice was resigned. “We’ll go on and clear a little more territory, then turn back and find her at the fomewagon tonight. And tomorrow, we’ll assign someone to stay with her while the rest of us continue the mission.”

  The curse cackled and my stomach roiled as we hiked up the slope, leaving my twin sister there in the rocks.

  We cleared the rest of the first section in silence. Everyone had been shaken by the strangely fruitless excitement. No doubt, they all thought we’d reacted poorly to the empty camp and movement in the woods. Only I knew that Alba had been kidnapped, after all.

  The curse kept a ruthless clamp on my voice, forcing my legs forward along the path, every step taking me further away from my sister.

  Mother had been counting on me. You’ll look out for her, won’t you? I thought of my mother’s bloodshot eyes, her desperate grip on the coffee mug, and wanted to sob—not that the curse would ever allow such emotion.

  “We’ll head back now.” Cole wiped his brow and gestured down the slope. “Go find Alba.”

  The curse hissed its anger at his words. It wouldn’t allow me to miss the deadline—I had to be at the crater the next day, to be inside the palace before eternal sleep claimed me. There was no time to turn back.

  “I can scout up ahead, to save time,” I found myself saying. Beside me, I sensed Tavar shift warily. “That way we can skip the second section, or maybe even second and third sections, when we meet up again tomorrow.”

  Cole scowled. “I don’t like splitting, but we can’t leave Alba alone, and I don’t want to get any further behind our schedule or we’ll be delayed getting back.” He muttered something dark under his breath. “Marco, go with her. Clear as much as you can tonight and tomorrow morning. The rest of us will go right to section four in the morning, and then we can all meet up in section five before the end of the day.”

  “I’ll go with them,” Tavar said, his voice gruff.

  My stomach sank as the curse crowed with delight. He will be a good messenger. He will not rest until a rescue team comes for you, creature, and your mother will certainly be on it. I hiked up the slope with Tavar and Marco without speaking, an acid taste in my mouth as I counted the trees we passed to keep the curse quiet.

  At least the team had split. There was still a chance I could lose Tavar and Marco, too. At least, I might be alone when the Masters came for me.

  A good messenger, indeed, the curse whispered quietly to itself, already lulled into boredom by my repetitive tallying.

  I started my count of the trees back at one as we worked our way up the mountain toward the crater, intensely aware of Tavar’s every movement behind me. There was still a chance I could save him. Still a chance I could be redeemed.

  Chapter 14

  “Almost done.” Marco glanced out at the valley as he walked the narrow, icy path. Frigid rain streamed down around us. The ice was melting, but the slick, wet rocks were still dangerously slippery. “I’ll be out by fall, winter at the latest. Just a few missions left.”

  “What’s next? After the Sentinels?”

  I was surprised Tavar and Marco were conversing. I almost never heard Tavar speak easily around the other Sentinels.

  Marco slowed as he edged across a particularly icy patch of the path. “Getting married, brother.” He glanced over his shoulder when he was past the ice, a mischievous grin on his suntanned, bearded face. “Guess I waited long enough or something. Found the girl I’ve been waiting for. And I’m not leaving her again if I can help it, which means I’m out.” He faced forward and kept walking. “Just a few more missions,” he repeated. “Then I’m home for good. Do the family thing. Maybe Raven will make me an instructor back at the compound.” He shrugged under his heavy pack. “I don’t care. Just don’t want to leave my girl anymore.”

  Wind whistled across the exposed cliff, quieting us for a moment. I passed the icy patch, followed by Tavar.

  When the wind quieted, Tavar spoke. “Who is she?”

  “You know Cole’s wife? Kaia?”

  Tavar grunted affirmatively.

  “Her sister. Jade.” Marco’s deep voice softened slightly. “She’s gorgeous. And smart as a whip. I met her when Cole married Kaia, and I knew right away she was the one I’d been waiting for. We talked all night after the wedding.” He laughed under his breath. “She thought I was just a thick-skulled soldier at first, she tells me. But not now. She gets me.” His head jerked, like he was nodding to himself. “First thing when I get back, I’m marrying that girl. I’ve waited long enough, waiting for these missions to slow down, waiting for the fight against those monsters to end. Still no end in sight, but I’m done waiting.” His tone turned dark. “Life’s too stricken short.”

  I thought of the three men the 19th had lost on their last mission an
d shuddered. If I couldn’t shake Tavar and Marco soon, this mission would end even worse than that one had.

  “What about you, Westie?” Marco’s tone wasn’t mocking—he seemed genuinely curious. “You got a girl waiting for you back in the city?”

  My chest was painfully tight as I waited for Tavar’s answer. I’d never once considered that question! Did Tavar have a girl waiting for his words of promise even now? A girl he’d kissed, a girl he fell asleep thinking about each night? I was going to be sick—

  “No,” he said stiffly from behind me. “I don’t.”

  The pain in my chest eased only slightly. If I managed to escape him and Marco before the Masters came, their plan would be foiled. The Sentinels and Mom would beat the Masters eventually, stopping whatever ‘end’ they’d spoken of when I’d been cursed. And Tavar would, I hoped, live a long and happy life. Surely that would include marrying some sweet, pretty Asylian girl.

  Shouldn’t I want that for him? Why did the thought make me want to start hurling random rocks off the cliff beside me?

  “Don’t be like me, Westie,” Marco said, his voice tinged with humor as he navigated a second icy patch ahead of me. “You can’t marry the Sentinels. And I’ll tell you one thing, the missions will lose their sparkle soon enough. You’re going to need something else eventually, something lasting. Something—someone you can hold onto.”

  We walked in silence for a moment. I could hardly breathe, waiting for Tavar’s response.

  “I just want to kill the mages who killed my parents,” Tavar answered at last, his words clipped. “And I don’t need anything else until that’s done, however long it takes.”

  I’d never heard Tavar speak so bleakly, much less make such a dark statement about the Masters. In fact, even after all the time we’d spent together, I’d never heard him explain his motivation for being in the Sentinels at all. Then again, he’d never asked me for mine, either.

  I shivered. Rain lashed my face. There was so much pain in his words, I felt it in my bones. I thought of the childhood he’d spent in a small valley in the Badlands, where every family of Western immigrants had been enslaved by the Masters. His parents had been taken, one at a time, forced to give up their lives to fuel the Masters’ alchemy. He’d been thirteen by the time the Sentinels found their settlement and brought them to safety in Asylia.

  How long had he dreamed of avenging his parents’ deaths? And here I was, a girl he wanted to call a friend, leading him right into the hands of his greatest enemies.

  I’d been distracting the curse from my thoughts by counting rocks along the path while I listened to Tavar and Marco’s conversation. Perhaps it was the proximity to the crater, or the proximity to the deadline, but the curse seemed to be more bored than usual. It knew it had won.

  I reached the icy section Marco had just passed, my steps shaky. I couldn’t let the Masters get their hands on Tavar. And I couldn’t let them lure Mom into the crater.

  It was time.

  I inhaled sharply, then stepped right on the iciest part of the path.

  The curse screeched in horror and wrenched control from me as I slipped, but it was too late. I flailed as I pitched over the edge of the slope.

  Tavar’s fingers brushed my arm but found no purchase. He screamed, a wordless, gut-wrenching cry.

  I plummeted through the air, finally free.

  Chapter 15

  “Bri!” A faint, female voice broke through a deep, heavy darkness.

  My heart sank. I was still alive?

  Pain came from every direction. My head throbbed and my skin burned, and for some reason, I couldn’t feel my legs.

  I cracked my eyes open, but darkness quickly leeched away the brief sight of trees and rainclouds overhead. There was a fresh wave of pain, then more numbing darkness.

  I was alive, but I was dying. I’d done it.

  Victory warred with sorrow, confusing me. I’d known all along it would come to this, hadn’t I, deep down? It was better this way. Tavar would be spared. The Masters wouldn’t be able to use me to trap Mom, after all. I’d managed to keep my fight from the curse all these years. I’d won. So why did I feel like mourning?

  The curse rattled silently in my chest, shocked and confused, unsure what to do now that it had failed. There was no way I’d make it to the crater now. I probably wouldn’t even live to see the fulfillment of the curse, which was just a few minutes away.

  “Bri, I’m here!”

  Wait—was that Alba?

  I felt movement beside me. Someone grabbed my arm with a shaky grip. “I’m here, sis.” She grabbed my arm. “I’ll heal you. I promise. Everything is going to be fine.”

  I tried to pull away. My face was hot and wet, my skin burning like it had been set on fire. I managed to open my eyes again, and this time was met with the blurry, disheartening sight of my sister hovering over me, her black hair soaked from the rain.

  If she’d escaped her captor, why hadn’t she run straight back to Asylia while she’d had the chance?

  “It’s your back. It’s probably broken. I’m going to heal your back first. Then … then I’ll tackle the rest.” Alba’s voice trembled.

  I couldn’t believe it. She’d evaded the Masters this long, and now she was here with me at the end. My fall, her escape—it had all been for nothing. If she healed me, the curse would win after all, and the Masters would find us soon enough. We were close enough to the crater, even here.

  The curse shifted, regaining its senses as my thought seemed to ignite it once again. My Masters will come, it hissed. And you will pay. This isn’t over.

  It was as if the curse had alerted them, or perhaps we were close enough that Elektra knew where I was. My tracker’s sense tingled from the alchemy filling the air.

  The Masters were coming. My curse’s fulfillment was almost here—mere minutes away—and they must have been using their transporting magic to make sure I couldn’t escape the curse’s end.

  After everything they’d done to me, they would get their hands on my kind, innocent sister, too?

  A sudden, bone-deep fury gave me the strength to fight the curse’s revived control. “Alb—” The curse shot a spike of pain into my heart, cutting me off.

  “Shhh,” she murmured. “I’ve got this—”

  “Run.” Another excruciating shard of magic shot into my heart. My fury built. They could not have my sister. I wouldn’t allow it. I thought of how the curse had mocked her incessantly for the past five years—the cruel names, the disgust, the spite. No, Elektra would not get her hands on my sister.

  Alba seemed frozen. “What?”

  “Run.” The tingle of alchemy thickened around me. Soon my limited absorbent power would be filled with it. They’d be here any moment. The curse raged at me, sending shard after shard into my heart, but I forced the words out anyway. “You … have … to … run.”

  Alba frowned stubbornly, her ice-cold hands shaking against my arm. “No. I have to heal you.”

  “They … are … close.” I held her gaze as the curse poured its rage into my heart. If it killed me before Elektra arrived, at least I’d be spared the fate of eternal sleep. “Can’t … have … both … of … us. Run.”

  I knew the moment she understood—the moment my sister knew the truth. She shot to her feet, hand against her mouth, and after one, tortured pause, she was gone.

  A strange peace eased through me, making my chest feel strangely light despite the echoes of stabbing pain from the curse. Alba knew my fate.

  I was alone as the Masters’ tingly magic overwhelmed my senses, announcing their imminent arrival, but Alba knew the truth now—she knew what they’d done to me. If she hadn’t fully put it together yet, she would soon. The thought was an odd comfort as the air around me seemed to split in half.

  SNAP.

  They were here.

  “Nice attempt, Briar Rose, but as you can see, it wasn’t enough.” I hadn’t heard that male voice in five years, but I recognized i
t perfectly. “We were impressed by your commitment to death, however. That was quite a fall.”

  “Yes,” a female voice added. “It must have been painful, don’t you think, Piers?”

  Your pain is just beginning, the curse gloated, practically vibrating with excitement. I told you, creature, I told you, so very many times. We’ve already won.

  Chapter 16

  Rain poured down, drenching my hair, jacket, and boots. Thunder sounded like a drumroll, ushering me into the crater.

  The rocks marking the hidden tunnel into the crater looked different without the cloak of snow during my last visit—bleaker, more alien. More of a warning than an invitation.

  Elektra had healed me from the fall. Every broken bone, ever scrape, every bruise. I felt better than I had in months when they dumped me outside the tunnel to enter on my own. I was in perfect shape to fight my greatest enemies, yet I was more helpless than I’d ever been. The curse was ferociously vigilant now, not taking any chances after what I’d done on the cliff.

  Alba had escaped. That was good. And Tavar didn’t know what had become of me. There would be no rescue party, no trap, no luring my mother to join me in this fate.

  This was a victory.

  I let the curse propel me into the tunnel, retracing my steps from exactly five years ago.

  The inside of the crater was wet and muddy, with pockets of snow yet to melt still clustered along the edges of the rocky crater walls. The huge, circular valley looked different in the spring—dirty, wet, filled with drab shrubs. A far cry from the lush place the Western explorer had described. Strange, black rocks jutted out from the crater walls, looking unnatural in their perfect intervals and oddly elegant shaping.

  The Masters’ enormous, wooden palace at the center of the crater was just as immaculate and beautiful as it had been when I first saw it, like neither age nor the elements had ever touched it.