Page 96 of Heart of the Cursed
“Okay,” Selene agreed. “You can come with us.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “I’m Lacie, by the way.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lacie,” she said. “I’m Selene, and this is Arun.”
“I know,” Lacie smiled. “The others were telling us all about you two.”
Arun raised an eyebrow. “All good, I hope.”
Lacie nervously picked at her nails as she hovered from one foot to the other. Selene felt sorry for the female for being put on the spot like that. It was obvious she didn’t want to tell Arun, but she also didn’t want to appear rude by not answering.
“Um,” she blushed. “Well, it was all good about Selene, but not so much about you.”
Arun growled next to her as she smiled.
“I’m going to kill those two,” he said.
“Don’t worry,” Natalia told him. “Me and Amberly have been defending you in your absence.”
“They did,” Lacie confirmed.
Arun gave Natalia a cheesy smile. “See, I knew I liked you two.”
“Are you lot coming over here or what?” Dain shouted from across the room.
“Patience of a two-year-old,” Arun said. He rolled his eyes dramatically before shouting back to Dain. “Don’t worry, we’re coming now.”
Selene laughed along with Natalia and Lacie before following Arun over to the table.
“I sincerely hope not,” Dain said when they reached the table. “I know you’re into some weird shit, but none of us want to see you have an orgasm. Well, except for Selene, maybe.”
Arun punched him in the arm. Dain pretended to brush away a bit of lint from where Arun had hit him before turning to Selene so Dain couldn’t see his face. He winked at her as he said, “then again, maybe she doesn’t want to see it, either.”
Which earned him another punch in the arm.
“That could explain the hostility,” Taredd chimed in.
“Don’t you start, as well,” Arun said. “It’s bad enough I have to put up with his shit.”
Taredd had a massive grin on his face as he held up his hands. “I’m not looking for a beating today, but if that changes, I’ll come looking for you. Since you seem to be wound a bit tight.”
Arun rolled his eyes again. “Can we just get down to business? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would rather not die today because of poor planning.”
The atmosphere in the room instantly changed. Gone was the easy going, relaxed atmosphere. It was replaced by one of apprehension. None of them knew what was coming, not even Selene. And that scared her, but not as much as the thought of losing Arun at the end of it.
As if in tune with her emotions, he reached over to hold her hand. She looked up to see him with a reassuring smile on his face as he gazed down at her.
“You mentioned standing stones, Arun,” Natalia said. “Is there a reason we need to find them?”
“Yes,” Selene answered for him. “It says in the book that the spell needs to be performed in the middle of a circle of standing stones.”
“What would happen if it isn’t done in the middle of standing stones?” Taredd asked.
“It doesn’t say,” she confessed.
“So, can we do it without the stones?” Dain asked.
“I don’t think we should try,” Selene said. “The book is pretty adamant about the spell being performed within the circle. It might not work, otherwise.”
