Page 70 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Hagan’s answer was simple. Absolute.
‘Because I can.’
And so Ylva watched.
Not because he forced her to but because she chose to. She carved every scream into her memory, branded every cruelty into her soul. She watched so that one day, when she escaped this place, when she finally broke free, she would remember exactly what to repay.
A thousand times over.
To be cursed is unlike anything. It is the worst punishment. For witches that have committed terrible crimes, their punishment is not death or to be imprisoned for the rest of their days. No. They are cursed.
Each curse will be different. Harsher. A living nightmare to relive every single day.
Many pray for death to grant them a final release from the torture.
And yet, that is the way with curses. One cannot escape them.
Tabitha Wysteria
Kage stood motionless, watching the sunrise bleed slowly across the horizon, knowing he had only minutes left before the curse would claim him once more. Night was the only mercy afforded to him on mortal soil; with the coming of day, he would be dragged back to the Underworld, back to the truth of what he was now.
From where he lingered, he could see into the small hut where Bryn Wynter slept. Then the wolverian prince stirred. He sat upright suddenly, panic flaring in his movements, his voice raw as it cut through the quiet morning.
‘Kage?’
The sound of it wrenched at Kage’s chest. Every instinct urged him forward. To step inside, to crouch beside Bryn andmurmur reassurance, to promise him that he was still there, that he would not vanish without warning. He hated the strain in Bryn’s voice, the fear threading through it like ice.
‘Kage?’
The pull came then.
The ground beneath Kage’s feet shuddered, the snow cracking and sliding as a dark hollow yawned open below him. The Underworld was calling him home. His black eyes dropped to the widening void, then lifted again to the hut, where Bryn was already stumbling to his feet, fumbling in his haste to reach the door.
Kage wanted to shout, to tell him to stay where he was, that night would come again, that he would return. But the moment had already slipped through his fingers. Bryn could no longer see him. Could no longer hear him.
The Underworld took him.
He exhaled softly as the world shifted, shadows folding in around him. When he turned, he found Zagreus watching him from his throne of bones, his expression drawn into a thoughtful frown. At Kage’s side, Wren bounded forward, licking his arm with bright, unthinking enthusiasm.
Kage did not return it. His thoughts were still above, in the snow, with a prince calling his name into the empty dawn.
‘Back so soon?’ Zagreus drawled, inspecting his nails with feigned boredom. ‘You should have remained hidden away, wyverian prince. If my mother—’
‘Where is she?’ Kage cut in, his voice level and unyielding.
Zagreus’ mismatched eyes flicked up at once, surprise flashing across his face. ‘You wish to speak to her?’
Kage inclined his head. ‘I do.’
‘With my mother?’ Zagreus echoed, a slow, intrigued smile beginning to curl his lips.
Kage said nothing.
‘How interesting,’ Zagreus said, rubbing at his jaw as his smile sharpened into something wicked. ‘You were trembling at the thought of her not long ago, and now you return unafraid. What a sudden change of heart, Kage Blackburn. My sister comes to collect you, and suddenly you grow bold. You have my full attention.’
Still, Kage did not rise to the provocation. He slipped his hands into his pockets and turned away, already moving. He did not know precisely where Persephone would be, but the castle was the most likely place to begin.
He had taken only a few steps when he heard Zagreus sigh behind him, followed by the scrape of bone as he rose from his throne.
