Page 49 of Heart of the Cursed
“You still haven’t answered my first question.”
“What question was that?”
Hopefully, if she played dumb, he might forget what he’d asked her. But her hopes were dashed when he repeated the question a moment later.
“Why don’t you live with other Humans?”
“For the same reason, I don’t live with one of your kind,” she admitted. When he looked at her with confusion clouding his face, she relented and explained in more detail. “I tried living with some Humans after my mother died. It was all going well. I was pulling more than my own weight. I was always the first to offer to do jobs that nobody else wanted to do, and I was making friends. At least, I thought I was making friends. The second they found out I could do magic, everything changed. My so-called friends instantly turned on me. Before I had a chance to explain my situation, they all attacked me. I had no choice but to defend myself.”
“What happened?”
“They backed me into a corner. The only way I was going to make it out alive, was by becoming the monster they thought I was,” she confessed.
It still hurt whenever she thought about that day. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to get hurt, but they had left her no choice. It was her or them, and she picked her.
Selene closed her eyes as the pain and guilt she had buried so long ago came rushing back to the surface. No matter how many years had passed, she could still hear their screams. Men, women, and children. She killed them all to save her own life.
“I used my magic against them,” she confessed. “And killed them all.”
The vice around her heart eased a little with her confession. It was the first time she had spoken the words out loud. She had been too ashamed to admit her sins to anyone else. Not that she had anyone else to admit her sins to, but it felt good to finally tell someone what had happened. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
“Did you not try again with a different group?”
“What would have been the point? They would have only done the same once they found out.”
Selene couldn’t go through the same horrors again. It had nearly broken her the first time.
“Who’s to say they would find out?”
She gave him her best ‘are you fucking kidding me’ look before replying. “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t actually like hurting people.”
“I didn’t think you did,” he said. “But as I said, they might not have found out.”
“People always find out, eventually,” she told him. “It might be fine at first.” She shrugged. “But there’s no telling how long it would last. And as I said, I don’t like hurting people, so I try to avoid getting into situations where I might have to.”
“I understand,” he said. “You never know, it might be different after you’ve done the spell. They might accept you as one of them.”
“That relies heavily on two things.”
Arun frowned. “What are those?”
“One, that the spell is real and actually works like it’s supposed to,” she said. “And two, that I don’t get kicked out of the realm at the same time as you.”
Selene didn’t know if that would happen, but she had to be prepared, just in case.
“We’ll find out soon enough if the spell is real,” he said. “And hopefully, it won’t be long before we know if it works.”
It didn’t escape her notice that Arun didn’t comment on whether or not she would be kicked out of the realm. It was one of the few things that worried her.
She didn’t know if her mixed blood meant she was under the same rules as those she was trying to get rid of. If it did, the question was, where would she end up?
She wasn’t like any of the creatures she’d come across. Her magic was completely different from anyone she’d encountered in the past. It wasn’t as potent as some creatures, but even if it was, it still wasn’t like theirs.
She would have thought she was a witch, but her magic was nothing like theirs, either. Even Arun, who was a lot older and had seen a lot more than she had, didn’t know what she was.
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Arun seemed to be deep in thought, but she was just enjoying the peace because it wasn’t going to last for long. Sooner or later, there was going to be another attack. She just hoped she was ready for the next one. She didn’t fancy getting the shit kicked out of her again.
Why not? Doctor Arun made all your boo boo’s go away. I’m sure he would do the same if it happened again.
