Page 131 of Castle of the Cursed
I don’t care about closing the door or replacing the rug. For the first time in my history of playing hide-and-seek, I’m not trying to stay hidden.
I want to be found.
I spread my blood on the apple-shaped rock, and I enter the purple room with singed walls.
“I get it, Bast.”
At first I think Antonela has beaten me here—then I confirm I’m alone.
“I know what you see in her.” My sister’s voice is coming through the wallpaper. “Me.”
It’s as if la Sombra is broadcasting the conversation.
“But remember that it is just a body,” Antonela goes on, “and it will be mine again soon.”
“You betrayed me.”
Now it’s Sebastián speaking.
“You give me too much credit, Bast,” she says, and now that I’m more familiar with the evenness of her tone, I’m also more attuned to its nuances. There’s a gentler tenor when she speaks to him that makes me wonder if she’s not altogether indifferent to his opinion of her.
“I did not anticipate much of what has happened,” she says. “I knew so little then. When I came before your throne, I understood only survival and leverage and power. You opened my eyes to attraction and sex and partnership—”
“Partnership? I understand this word better now than I did in my old life, and this was not it. You acted purely in your own interest.”
“I am sorry I did not trust you.” Antonela’s voice is lower, like she’s moved closer to him. “Show me I can trust you now. Drink my sister’s blood, and set me loose upon this world.”
The seconds are torturous.
“First, you have to find her.”
Sebastián is leading Antonela toward me as planned, but it’s hard to feel any relief through the terror of knowing this is it. I’m about to face my twin, and whatever happens, I may not survive.
I thought after the subway that I was done with life. I was sure the world held no future for me. Then I fell in love with the instrument of my death. The weapon brought here to kill me.
Now I know there are things worth living and fighting for. I understand why my parents gave up everything and everyone they knew to keep me on the run and off the radar of la Sombra’s curse. They knew my life was worth the sacrifice.
For all they gave up for me, I can’t let one of their daughters kill the other. That’s why the trapping spell is the only way. Maybe over time, Sebastián and I will find a way to help Antonela.
“You were much better at this game as a child.”
My sister steps into the purple room, Sebastián behind her.
“Please,” I say. “Don’t do this.”
She doesn’t look at me. “Remember you are the prince of the Bleeders,” she says to Sebastián. “You belong back on your throne. You said your father would coffin you if he found out, remember? You risk too much staying here longer.”
“How would he find out?” asks Sebastián, pretending to care.
At least, I hope he’s pretending.
“You disappeared right after a pair of casters visited your castle. No doubt your guard will think magic played a role. If the casters in power want to keep the peace, it is likely they will perform a locator spell to redirect the Bleeders’ attention elsewhere.”
“It would take a remarkable caster to be able to locate me on Earth,” he says, his words measured, like the weight of his thoughts is slowing his speech.
“True,” she says, with a shrug. “Just as it would take a remarkable human to trick you.”
They stare at each other.
