Page 86 of Heart of the Cursed
Chapter 34
Excitement flared inside Selene when she met Natalia and Amberly for the first time. Both females were incredibly friendly and made her feel like part of their group straight away. She wasn’t sure if Arun had told them about her previous experience with Humans, but if he had, they didn’t mention anything about it.
The females from Agnarr’s harem on the other hand, were more wary around her and the males. They either didn’t know that Amberly was a halfling as well, or they didn’t care.
She leaned against a wall as she watched them interacting with Natalia and Amberly from across the large dining room. Occasionally, they would look over at her with suspicion in their eyes. If it wasn’t for the warm smiles she received from Natalia and Amberly, Selene would have walked away and returned to her room.
It stung a little when they didn’t treat the other two females the same way as her, but she understood their reluctance where she was concerned. Natalia and Amberly hadn’t been held captive like she had, or been subjected to the same level of torture as she had been, so they hadn’t seen either of them survive what would normally kill a Human.
Natalia wouldn’t have survived what Selene had been through. She wasn’t being mean and saying that Natalia was weak or anything. It was purely because she was Human. Amberly, on the other hand, would have been fine. With her mixed blood, she would have been able to survive a lot more damage to her body, like Selene could.
It was one of the things Agnarr had liked most about her. He could damage her body as much as he liked, and she would heal. He didn’t care if the mental scars never healed. As long as he could ‘play’ with her body over and over again, he didn’t care how far he took things.
Selene mentally shook her head, trying to clear the memories away. She didn’t want to think about him and what he had done to her. He was gone. Dead. Never to return, and she had Arun to thank for that.
She couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling after killing his brother. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know how. He showed absolutely no emotion where his brother was concerned, so she could tell how he was feeling about. And every time she tried to bring up the subject, he would change it by turning the conversation on to her or the spell.
“Are you alright?” he asked as he walked up behind her.
Selene looked at him over her shoulder. “Yeah, just thinking about everything.”
“Anything I can help with?” he offered.
“No.” She shook her head. “You and the others are already doing more than enough.”
“You don’t have to do this on your own,” he told her. “I can help with the spell.”
“We don’t know that,” she said. “There’s a reason you haven’t heard of the spell before, and I think it has something to do with why I have to do it.”
“But we don’t know if it has to be you,” he pointed out. “And we won’t know until we find the spell.”
Logically, she knew he was right. But something deep down inside her was telling her that he wasn’t right. In fact, it was all but screaming at her in its insistence to do the spell.
“When do we leave?” she asked, turning back to watch the females interacting.
“As soon as you’re ready,” he said.
Selene took a deep breath. She’d put it off for as long as she could. The uncontrollable, all-consuming need to find and perform the spell was growing stronger every day. It was getting to the point where she couldn’t think of anything else. It was even haunting her dreams.
The only other thing that consumed her mind with as much vigour, was Arun. It didn’t matter if he stood right next to her or off speaking with his friends, he consumed her mind just as much as the spell. If not, more so.
She wanted to stay in the bunker with him for the rest of her life, but she knew that was impossible. As soon as the spell took effect, he would be expelled from the realm, and she would never see him again.
Just the thought of losing him sent pain shooting straight through her heart and made her lungs constrict until she thought she would pass out. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, but she couldn’t find the right words. Even if she could find the words, it didn’t mean she should tell him.
She had never felt the way she did for him, for anyone else. It was a weird feeling. They barely knew each other, but that didn’t seem to stop her heart and soul from yearning for him. With just one look, one touch, her body melted for him. All he had to do was be near her for butterflies to take flight in her stomach.
Selene didn’t know if Arun felt the same way. He kept his emotions so tightly hidden, he gave absolutely nothing away, and she was too scared to ask.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, dragging her out of her thoughts.
“Yes,” she said automatically. “I’m fine.”
It had become her go-to response whenever anyone asked her that. How was she supposed to explain that she was so far away from fine, she wasn’t sure she had ever actually been fine?
Her life had never been normal, but it seemed to be spiralling out of control at an alarming rate. Since Arun walked into her life, she finally felt like she had an anchor to hold on to, but even that was going to be ripped away as soon as she performed the spell.
She was torn between wanting to keep Arun in her life, and the all-consuming need to do the spell. Unfortunately, as much as she hated to admit it, the spell was winning.
