Page 121 of Castle of the Cursed
“That will have to wait. Your uncle is here.”
CHAPTER 28
“OKAY,” I SAY, ONCE WE’RE in the library. “We can stage it here.”
I get the syringe from my hoodie pocket and uncap the needle. Then I drop to the floor, my limbs sticking out at odd angles, thigh concealing the weapon in my right hand. A shadow falls over me, and I feel Sebastián’s chest pressing down.
“What—?”
“Shh,” he whispers, his lips by my neck.
I gasp in pain as his fangs bite down, drawing blood. He doesn’t drink, only punctures my skin to make the scene more convincing.
He licks the blood off his teeth. “Delectable,” he whispers before vanishing. I let my head loll to the side so some blood trickles across my neck.
“He’s almost here,” Sebastián whispers. “Take smaller breaths.”
I can just make out the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs, but I’m looking away from the entrance so I don’t see Teo walk in. But when I hear his sharp intake of air, I know he’s seen me.
“¡Pero es de día!” But it’s daytime!
I open my eyes to see that Teo isn’t staring at me.
He’s gaping at Sebastián.
The shadow beast lifts my uncle by the neck, and I leap to my feet, shouting, “Stop!”
Teo glares at me, seeming more upset by my signs of life than his own impending doom. He looks like he would speak, except his throat is being crushed.
“Put him down,” I say to Sebastián. “Please.”
To my surprise, the Iron Prince obeys me. Once Teo is on the ground, he stumbles back against a bookshelf.
“Antonela said we would not be able to see or touch each other,” he says, staring warily at Sebastián. “What’s changed?”
La Sombra’s seeds are rewriting the rules.
Neither of us says it, but I know Sebastián and I are both thinking it. He can appear in the daytime. He can step out on the tower’s balcony. And he can interact with Teo.
If the plants’ healing qualities can curb the sharp edges of a spell… maybe they can do the same for a curse. Is that why Bea wanted me to take them?
“You’re the one with all the answers,” I say to Teo, holding up the syringe threateningly. “You tell us.”
“If you keep me here, she will know you’re alive,” he threatens me back.
“But she won’t know Sebastián is here,” I say, crossing my arms, “waiting to strike as soon as she walks through the door.”
Teo’s lack of retort exposes his concern, and Sebastián presses him, “Why is she afraid of me?”
“She fears no one,” says Teo, squaring his shoulders like defending Antonela makes him more powerful. He looks at me, and I see no love in his eyes. He’s Antonela’s champion through and through.
“Your sister is going to be the first Earth-born bruja, and our bloodline will be the most important that ever lived.” His brown eyes beam bright with Felipe-like fanaticism. “I know it’s hard to hear, but she is a marvel. After all she’s been through to survive, are you going to let her die, just so you can play house with a creature who doesn’t belong here? What happens when you grow old or sick or he gets bored—?”
“She killed your sister!” I roar, reaching for any trace residue of love for his twin. “She killed Bea! Your twin who loved you and was willing to give up everything just to save you—”
“But she wouldn’t give me the one thing I wanted.”
“You mean magic?” My eyebrows are at my hairline. “You read the journals, you know the entries better than anyone, and you still don’t get it? She was protecting you! Don’t you see? Look what you’ve become!”
