The Curse

by Harper A. Brooks

  That had to be it.

  “Surprise…” The word came out as a breathy whisper.

  Filip glanced at her, confused. “What did you say, Ash?”

  “Surprise.” Her voice rose with excitement. “Erec said Jerrick works on the element of surprise and that we could use it against him.”

  He didn’t say anything, waiting for her to finish her thought.

  “Jerrick’s men didn’t expect women warriors. They didn’t think we would be able to fight back.”

  His eyes widened. “Sweet Moons,” he gasped. “I think you’re right.”

  She grinned. “Of course I’m right.”

  Filip chuckled but winced as the pain intensified. Astrid sucked in a sharp breath as it sliced through the side of her ribs, too.

  “Careful now,” she sputtered, pressing a hand against the throbbing area. If the pain was this bad through the pack bond, she couldn’t even imagine what he was feeling.

  “I know,” he said through gritted teeth. “Laughing’s not supposed to hurt.”

  After the wave of agony eased, he relaxed back into the cushions. “So he knows we have female fighters now. He’ll be waiting for it. It won’t be as shocking.”

  “True, but we can still use the element of surprise to our advantage,” she said and stood. “We attack Jerrick first. He won’t be expecting that. He’s always the one to ambush first. What if we turn things around and do it to him?”

  “We do know his plans… And he isn’t aware we know.”

  “Exactly.” Astrid began to pace the tent, her mind racing. “If he’s going to attack the morning after the Blue Moon, when he thinks we’ll be the most vulnerable, then we need to hit him before then. Tonight.”

  “That’s too soon, Ash,” Filip said. “We still have people wounded from the fight. They’ll need another night to heal to be able to fight again. We’ll have to organize ourselves, make preparations, come up with a set strategy. This will be our last chance, so we have to make sure it’s right.”

  “But we’ll need the cover of night. We can’t attack during the day. They’ll see us coming.”

  Filip said nothing for a few breaths. Then, he said, certain, “It’ll have to be tomorrow night.”

  Astrid’s pulse sped up at what her brother was proposing. “But the Blue Moon. How—”

  “That means you’ll have to get to Erec before it rises,” he explained. “Jerrick’s pack will be resting for the morning attack. They’ll be unsuspecting.”

  “So I reach Erec the same time our warriors strike?”

  “Yes. If we time this just right, you both can survive the curse and we can take down Jerrick.”

  It sounded crazy, and too risky. But what other choice did they have? They were running out of time. “I can go a different path. Head east a few miles then turn south to get behind the camp and to the cage where they’re holding him. The warriors should take the same way Kalle, Bec, and I did. It’s a more direct route.”

  “That’s a good idea,” he agreed. “Are you going to be okay going alone? I can have Bec join you.”

  She stopped pacing and stared at him in disbelief. Was he actually asking her instead of insisting she didn’t go by herself? He really had lost too much blood.

  “No, I think this is something I should do alone.” As dangerous as it was going to be, Astrid wanted to be with Erec, and only Erec, to finally tell him how she felt, that she truly did love him. And if this Blue Moon was definitely their last, and they weren’t the mates the sky spirits had chosen for them, that was okay. There wasn’t anyone else she would rather spend the last remaining minutes she had alive with than him.

  “I understand,” Filip whispered. “The Blue Moon is a moment you two should share together. And you’ll join in the fight afterward, I’m sure.”

  She grinned. “If we both live through it, absolutely.”

  He tried to laugh again, but it came out more like a shuddering gasp of breath.

  “And what about you?” she asked. “Did Mila say when she thinks you’ll be able to get up and walk again?”

  His expression became very serious, and he hesitated. “No, she hasn’t,” he said but there was caution to his words, as if he knew something he didn’t want to tell her. “All she said was that I’m not healing like I should be. It’s going to take me longer to recover.”

  That made her nervous. She looked over her brother’s disheveled state, her gaze resting on the bloody bandages around his torso. There was no way he was strong enough to fight. Not like this. “I hope you’re not thinking about being a part of this attack. You need to stay behind and rest. Bec and Kalle can lead the others.”

  His brows rose. “I will do everything I can to be there. I’m the pack’s alpha. They’ll be looking to me to guide them.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him.

  He let out another breathy cough for a laugh. “I guess we both got that same stubbornness from Father, didn’t we? And here I thought it was just you.”

  “And now it’s my turn to tell you, ‘Don’t even try it.’” Even though her voice was firm, she couldn’t help the smile forming.

  “Oh, how things have changed!” He was grinning now, too, and like he used to. Full and toothy, his brown eyes sparkling with warmth and laughter.

  “You may have to get used to it.” Chuckling, Astrid walked over to his bedside and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Besides, you’ll be no use to us if you’re limping around and can’t even swing a sword. You’ll only slow us down.”

  “Ouch, Ash! That’s harsh.” Filip’s next attempt at laughter came out as a loud hog-like snort, and it only made her howl even harder.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The sound of rustling snapped Erec out of another patch of restless sleep. He looked up and blinked against the light of the evening sun. Exhaustion and paranoia had had him drifting in and out of consciousness for hours, but he’d made sure to never fall deep enough to be caught off guard. As his vision focused, he noticed a figure coming toward his cage.

  With his senses on high alert, he sprang to his feet and sniffed the air for the stranger’s scent. Blackberries.

  He was about to shout at Eva to leave him alone, but as she drew closer, his breath caught in his chest. One eye was swollen shut and severely bruised, and there was a gash across her cheek. The split in the middle of her lip was bleeding, and she licked it nervously when she got to the cage’s bars.

  “What’s happened?” Erec gasped as his mind filled with the horrifying images from his dreams, ones of carnage and death. Astrid. Henrick. The west-side pack. His breathing sped up as the terror took hold. Had there been another attack? Jerrick had said the morning after the Blue Moon. It was too soon.

  Erec glanced up at the naked canopy again to see the sky painted soft shades of pink and purple. He was guessing he still had about two hours before the sun set completely and the Blue Moon rose. Two hours left alive before the curse claimed him—Astrid, too.

  “It’s not what you think,” Eva whispered, voice quivering. Her gaze dropped to the ground. “Your mate is still safe. So is her pack.”

  Erec paused, his worry far from easing. If Astrid and the west-side pack were safe, then there was only one other person who could have caused Eva’s bruised eye and bleeding lip.

  Jerrick. The anger slamming into him was so violent it stole his breath away. His entire body shook with the power of it.

  “Jerrick did this?” He couldn’t control the volume of his voice anymore; it shot up with his temper.

  Tears glistened in her untouched eye, answering his question.

  “Has he done this to you before?” He was shouting now; he couldn’t help it. The thought of that barbarian laying a hand on her unleashed a fierce protectiveness within him. Even if Eva hadn’t been the mother he had always wanted or needed, she didn’t deserve to be beaten by anyone’s hand.

  She appeared so fragile then, so broken and lost.

  Slowly, she nodded
her head at his question but said nothing. She didn’t have to speak, though. Erec knew why this had happened.

  It was because of him.

  Running a trembling hand over his face, he cursed. Mostly at himself. “He found out you visited me…” The realization had his stomach twisting into knots. Jerrick had hit her because she had given her son something to keep warm. Against his word.

  And I rejected her kindness and threw the blanket in her face.

  Guilt crashed into him as hard as the anger had. Eva wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Jerrick on her own, but she had tried to help her son as much as she could, even risk her safety to do it.

  Still not uttering a word, Eva reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a large metal key. She walked around the cage to the barred door, and working quickly, twisted the key in the lock until the latch released.

  Erec stood there, frozen in disbelief. Even when she heaved the door open, he couldn’t believe what she was doing. “You’re letting me go?” Did she know what that could mean for her? When Jerrick found out, he would most likely have her killed.

  Her wounded gaze found him, weighted with years of sorrow and regret. “Like I told you before, Erec. I lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  Cautiously, Erec stepped to the open door, watching her the entire way. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to trust her just yet.

  When he jumped down from the cage and into the snow, he turned to her. “You didn’t need to do this,” he said. “You will be in a lot of trouble once Jerrick finds out.”

  Eva gave him a small knowing smile. “It’s okay,” she whispered and raised her hand to touch his face. To his own surprise, he didn’t flinch or pull away when she cupped his cheek. He didn’t move at all.

  A strange ache started in the center of his chest, one he didn’t fully understand. Not only was he afraid for her life, he was worried he’d never see her again—that like before, he’d wander into those woods and lose his mother, when common sense told him he really didn’t know this woman at all.

  It was confusing, but he let her touch the side of his face until she finally wanted to let go.

  “I’ll come back,” he promised her. “You don’t need to stay here with him. I’ll bring you to the west-side pack where you’ll be safe.”

  Eva’s smile didn’t waver but neither did the sadness lingering in her eyes. Instead of acknowledging his offer, she gestured to the forest where Astrid had appeared days before. “Go to your mate, Erec. Go to her. You don’t have much time.”

  He glanced up at the strips of sky peeking from behind the branches. The pinks and purples were darkening, and the outline of a full moon was now visible behind the haze. Panic shot through his veins, raising the hair on his arms. It was almost night.

  The moment blue colored the moon entirely, it would be the end.

  But it was going to take him some time to get back to Svanna Rock. He reached down, feeling for his wolf, but the animal wasn’t there. Maybe it wasn’t dark enough for the shift yet. It looked like he was going to have to make most of the trip in his human form. That meant he was going to have to run faster than he’d ever run before.

  Even if his wolf shape came to him along the way, reaching Astrid before the Blue Moon might be impossible.

  It didn’t matter. He had to try. He had to get to her before the curse claimed them both.

  Heart hammering, Erec sprinted into the woods, muttering a quick prayer to anyone who was listening that he’d make it in time.

  …

  Night had fallen fast. By the time Astrid reached the halfway point on her route to Jerrick’s camp, the moon was taking shape behind the gathering clouds. Any other night, she would have taken comfort at the sight and the return of her animal spirit, but she couldn’t tonight. Not when her and Erec’s lives had been reduced to mere minutes and miles still separated them.

  Sprinting along the forest’s edge, where the trees were sparser and the snowdrifts weren’t as high, she followed the river’s curves farther west. The entire way she cursed herself for not leaving earlier like she had wanted, but like Filip had said, everything had to be timed correctly for their plan to work. For her, she had to get to Erec before the moon turned blue. At the same time, the west-side pack’s warriors would surprise attack Jerrick’s camp. Then if—when—the curse was lifted and she and Erec had survived, they would join in the fight.

  The more she thought over what had to be done, the more unbelievable it seemed. How had Filip made it sound possible?

  Never slowing, Astrid glanced up at the sky. Through the thick smearing of clouds, the moon’s rim shined a florescent blue. Panic buzzed through her veins, making her skin crawl. Once that color consumed all of its face, that would be the end—either the end of the curse or the end of her.

  She picked up her pace, her gaze lifting to the moon every so often to check its progress. With every thundering beat of her heart, the blue lining seemed to become a little thicker and glow brighter, reminding her that she didn’t have much time left. Ahead, she spotted a bend in the river close enough for her to leap over in her wolf form.

  Crossing the icy depths in her human skin was too dangerous, especially with the strong current and arctic temperature. Shifting would be the safest bet, and as she knew from experience, running the rest of the way on four legs would be faster than two. She had to change.

  As she came up to the riverbank, she called to her wolf. Like always, the prickling sensation built at the base of her spine, but instead of the power shooting throughout her body, it only pulsed there three times before fading out to nothing more than a dull, grinding ache.

  Confused, she tried again. The power throbbed and pushed but couldn’t move beyond that point. It stayed put before dying out completely.

  Dread seized her. Something wasn’t right. Her inner animal was locked in place.

  But night had fallen. Her wolf was awake. Astrid could feel it sitting beyond her subconscious, waiting to be released, but for some reason, the shift wouldn’t come.

  She peered up at the sky again to see the glowing blue color beginning to creep across the moon’s surface. Another wave of fear washed over her. Could she not shift because of the coming Blue Moon? Was it hindering her power somehow? She had never heard of this happening before, but no one she knew had ever waited until their very last Blue Moon to try and break the curse.

  Oh no…

  Without her wolf, how was she going to cross the river? She drew in a deep breath. She didn’t have time to ponder this. She was going to have to try and jump it as a human. If she didn’t reach Erec, she was dead anyway, so she had to take the risk.

  She swallowed roughly. She had to do it and do it fast.

  Just like hopping the stones with Filip that one time…but without the rocks. And a wider distance. Oh, and her brother wasn’t here to catch her if she fell.

  Astrid blew out a breath and closed her eyes. No time. She had to get to Erec.

  Maybe if she got a running start… But the moment she lifted her leg to take a step back, every muscle clenched tight and millions of hot pinpricks scattered throughout her body. The shock of it sent her onto her knees, throwing her spear out of her hands and into the snow feet in front of her.

  Her heartbeat was a thundering boom in her ears, and she could do nothing but stay still as the strange feeling raked throughout every limb. She knew she was breathing, but she couldn’t feel her chest moving, couldn’t feel the air filling and leaving her lungs. Even her fingers were oddly numb and tingly.

  Terror like she had never felt before stole every thought in her head. It was as if frostbite was taking over every inch of her. All sensation was lost. She wasn’t really touching the coldness of the snow underneath her palms. It was there and she could see it under her blue-marked hands, but she couldn’t feel a thing.

  What is happening? This was bad. Really bad.

  She tried to heave herself back up, but even though her mind sa
id move, her body didn’t react to the command. The fizzling pain continued to ricochet across every nerve, forcing her to stay put.

  Tears stung in her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when she had to get to Erec.

  Her head was like a hundred-pound boulder on her neck, making it impossible for her to lift her chin to check how far along the Blue Moon was, but she could see the ominous sapphire color reflecting off the whiteness around her.

  Get up! You have to get up!

  Before she could do anything more, a buzzing energy shot across her hands, and the swirling blue marks around her fingers and wrists began to glow. Even with the numbness, she threw herself backward and landed on her bottom, horrified at what she was seeing. She blinked repeatedly to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. The blue lines branding her skin were emitting their own light.

  The curse—it was starting to take hold. Her inability to shift, the loss of feeling, and now this? It had to be the curse. There was no other explanation…

  Her wolf whimpered in acknowledgment. It knew it, too. This was it. Her body was dying; that had to be why she’d lost all sensation. And that meant she wasn’t going to make it to Erec in time. She was too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The sharp sound of branches snapping to her right drew her attention across the river. In between the trees, the shadowy figure of a man appeared and stumbled through the brush, his steps labored and full of resistance. When he reached the streaming blue moonlight, Astrid gaped. “Erec?”

  His expression was one of determination and extreme agony. Even with a vest covering most of his chest, the exposed blue tattoos on his right shoulder gleamed like hers.

  “Erec!” she yelled his name as loud as her phantom lungs would allow. Although her legs were like jelly, she was able to climb to her feet, but the sudden movement made her head spin.

  Erec’s storm-colored eyes found her. “Astrid…” His voice was a croaked whisper, but it was the sweetest sound she’d ever heard. “Astrid!” He tumbled into the river, struggling to close the distance between them. The water was up to his hips, but he didn’t seem to notice the depth or the temperature. With his desperate gaze locked on her, he pushed against the current.