Cursed, p.4
Cursed, page 4
part #3 of Haven Realm Series
I scanned the floor and seats for my bag. Where was it? Had he pulled over when we were free from town and tied it outside to the carriage, so we had more leg room? It was a tight squeeze in here. But all my curse reversal ingredients were in the bag, and maybe I could conjure something together to keep the man asleep.
Outside, the landscape blurred, but on closer inspection, snow smothered the forest on either side of us, and we moved so fast, I jumped from every hole and rock we passed over. Why were we speeding? Wait, it never snowed in Darkwoods. That meant we headed north, into White Peak Mountains. How long had I been out?
All right, I ought to celebrate, as we might be racing toward the family in need and maybe Hooded Man wasn’t a bandit. Elliana had said we’d meet someone to take me into the mountains. Was this the man?
He sure didn’t act like a guide. What if someone else had gotten wind of me entering their realm and that was why he’d snatched me first?
Hooded Man hadn’t moved.
Sweat rolled down my nape, and the tremor in my hands began. Holding my breath, I leaned forward and reached for the door handle.
“I wouldn’t do that.” His dry and crackly words filled the void between us, and a shiver crept over me, numbing my brain.
Still grasping the latch, my head battled between grilling his ass or jumping. I twisted to face him, and while the shadows concealed his expression, his eyes glistened, covering me in goosebumps.
“Give me one good reason,” I wheezed. Dread pressed against me, ticking like a bomb under my breastbone.
“I’ll give you three. You’ll freeze to death before you reach town. If the cold doesn’t get you, the bears will. But most likely, before any of those things happen, I’ll catch you first.” A snarl hung off his last word.
Lowering my hand, my veins turned to ice, and nausea claimed me. “Okay.” I gripped the blanket over my legs. “Well, you make some valid points if this were a normal scenario. But are you a bear shifter? And why did you kidnap me? Are you Elliana’s friend?”
He laughed, rough-sounding, as if he might clear his throat. “You can’t tell I’m a bear shifter?” When he leaned forward, the lantern lit up his face. Disheveled, dark hair reached his shoulders, and the uneven light made his thick stubble shine. Full lips, pressed together in an impatient expression. And lashes so long they should be illegal encased the brightest green eyes. The man wasn’t lacking in the attractive arena, but that didn’t make him any less psycho.
He turned his head to show me the side of his face. Three healed scratches ran down his cheek and neck.
“Shit.” I couldn’t cover my surprise.
I’d once heard a tale that initiation for male bear shifters happened when they turned ten years old. Pitted against a wild bear, not only did they have to survive, but they had to receive a permanent scar on their faces, necks, or chests to show the world they were true warriors. Never on the back, as that declared weakness. Anyone without one were shunned and discarded by their families. Something about bear shifters only breeding the most powerful fighters. For too long, I suspected it was an exaggeration of the truth, but the healed claw mark now turned me into a believer. Yep, no way was I facing this man in a fight, and taking this assignment to reverse a curse had been a huge mistake.
“And,” he continued. “I didn’t kidnap you. I saved you.”
“Is that what you call saving?” I pulled the blanket up to my neck because I couldn’t stop trembling. “I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies.”
His earlier words about chasing me down circled in my mind like vultures spotting a carcass for the taking. Considering he was talking and not killing me yet, I figured I ought to keep him occupied.
The land climbed upward, yet we hadn’t slowed. “And what do you feed those horses?”
“They’re dragon horses, originating from the Wildfire realm. Stronger than your average beast, they can withstand the cold and love routine. Plus, they occasionally snort fire.”
“What? No way.”
He smirked. “They’re mostly from the horse family, but there’s also dragon in their blood.”
I shifted in my seat, scanning the surrounding night. A long animal shape darted through the woods. I did a double take. Had I just imagined that?
“Dragon horses are not the smartest animals,” he continued. “But once you teach them to follow a path, that’s all they’ll know for their entire life. They’re loyal.”
Yeah, but they were still demonic-like horses.
He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles, studying me from head to toe, so I sat and pulled the blanket tighter around myself.
“So, are you friends with Elliana?”
He shook his head. “I just met her at the tavern when I went asking people for help with a curse. But a few days ago, she sent me a message saying she was tied up and couldn’t meet with you. She described you, but honestly, I was ready to leave tonight if it was no-show again.” He reclined and glanced into the wilderness. “My name is Raze Ursa.” A smile broke over his face, his sharp cheekbones perfectly accentuating his rugged features.
“I’m—”
“I know who you are. Bee Père from the Terra realm. You’re nineteen, live with your father, love to sun-bake, and Elliana speaks highly of your abilities.”
I clamped my mouth shut when I realized it was hanging open. What else had Elliana told him? And what did sun-baking have to do with the assignment? Perhaps I’d misunderstood everything. And in the bear world, “collecting someone” must have translated into shoving them inside a carriage and scaring them half to death before introducing yourself.
“Why didn’t you tell me this in the tavern, instead of acting all stalkerish?”
His thick eyebrows lowered. “I went to prepare our transport, as I’d let the dragon horses roam free in the meadow. Except the damned charges bolted, and I spent half the day chasing them. They got excited, as they rarely spend time in a green field.” His voice dipped with that not-impressed tone.
I released a long exhale. After all the earlier commotion and alarm, exhaustion washed through me as if I’d dragged myself through an ocean of mud.
“Why were you so late?” he said in a deep authoritative voice. I was glad the shadows hid his face because I imagined him scowling. And while I found the man handsome, he left me worried. I’d never met a bear shifter before. Were all of them grizzly and ready to bite your head off?
“To be fair,” I started, “I was at the mercy of a friend who had to bring me a key ingredient, and she got caught up in a mess with wolves in the Den. Goddess, you don’t want to hear what she got up to.” And considering Scarlet had brought three of the wolf shifters illegally into Terra, I definitely hadn’t heard the full story yet. But on our next catch up, she’d have to tell me every detail, especially where it involved the three shifters.
Raze tsked. “You sure you can break curses?” His patronizing voice carried the arrogance I expected from royalty.
I snorted and straightened my posture. “Magic comes from inside, not what I look like. Sorry I didn’t battle a wild animal as a child to prove my worth.”
Silence folded around us, and he studied me from his side of the carriage.
I broke the silence. “Once we get there, I’ll check the patient, then cast my breaking spell, and I should be out of your hair by morning.”
“Sure hope so. We’re all counting on you. No room for failure.” The intensity of his gaze seemed to pierce right through me. Okay, I heard the warning loud and clear: Don’t fail.
Drawing a bent leg under me, I huddled under the blanket. “As long as you keep your end of the bargain and pay up, I’ll do my best. But I made it clear to Elliana, there are no guarantees. Every curse is unique and temperamental.”
I’d only tackled a few curses in my life, and there was only one I hadn’t been able to reverse. A farmer’s cattle had stopped delivering milk for weeks on end. Nothing I’d tried worked, until I’d discovered he’d had two different spells put on him by two unrelated people. A jealous neighbor and his ex-wife. Turned out the spells intermingled and locked on to the poor cattle so tight, I had no chance of removing that mess. Instead, I added my own incantation, which bent the existing hexes to only affect the animals during moonlight.
Raze didn’t respond at first, and I waited for him to challenge me. After a pause, he nodded.
We traveled for several miles without a word exchanged. I had premade a paralyzing spell in case I needed to protect myself and run away. Though I never knew when dealing with bears if it would work. Except the ingredients were in my bag, which was probably somewhere outside on the carriage.
“How much longer ’till we get there?” I rubbed warmth into my legs.
“Not long. Once we’re over the crest, the castle is just to the right.”
I choked on my next inhale. “Castle? Is the afflicted bear shifter a royal?”
Raze nodded. “Something like that.”
Completing a spell for a normal bear shifter, I could handle. But arrogant royalty demanded the impossible. Plus, guards could toss me into prison for not healing the royal member. Back in Terra, they surrounded the priestess every moment of the day, treating her like a goddess, and the only time she spoke to ordinary folk was when she dished out punishment. How the hell would bear shifters behave? Irritation buzzed through me, as I wasn’t ready to meet some snooty king or queen. I hadn’t even brought my best clothes or a dress, opting rather for thick, layered clothes to handle the freezing weather in White Peak.
Centuries ago when Haven had been divided into seven realms, a family had taken control of each territory and called themselves royalty. Some places had lost those bloodlines, but others still controlled their kingdoms with iron fists. Was that how it was in White Peak?
My breath fogged the window, which had tiny piles of snow along the sill. I cleared the pane with my sleeve, not confident in the slightest this was a simple job because of how turbulent it had gone so far. And what if I couldn’t cure the hex? Would they imprison me for life? I needed to return to Dad and look after him. My next inhale rattled all the way to my lungs.
“You seem worried?” Raze asked.
“I’m fine.” A blur flitted between the trees, moving almost in pace with our carriage. I squinted for a better look. My thoughts flew to wolves, except they mostly resided in the west side of White Peak due to an agreement they had with the bear shifters.
“Your perspiration gives you aw—”
Another dark shape raced through the night, and my heartbeat sped up. “Hey, what are those things out there?”
Raze shuffled in his seat to sit across from me, our knees touching, and scanned the wilderness. His sudden intake of frosty air had my pulse speeding.
“Do exactly as I say.” His words rushed, and I hated the way he said that. “Stay in the carriage, no matter what happens or what you see. The horses won’t stop and will deliver you to our home.”
“Am I in danger? Where are you going? And where’s my bag? I need my stuff.” I gasped for air, drawn out of my comfort zone. I gawked as another dark form leaped behind a few trees.
“Oh, my goddess. Is that a bear? Why are they running with us? I-Is it an escort?”
Raze toed his boots off, shrugged out of his coat, and unbuttoned his black shirt.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I hissed and curled in on myself on the seat, my gaze swinging from the brown bear that now raced alongside us, so huge, I could die from a stroke, to Raze, half-naked and pushing himself toward the door.
My attention lowered to the most incredible flat stomach, the planes of which were pure muscle. Strong, powerful and—
A growl bellowed from the woods, and I flinched.
“I’ll buy you time to arrive at the castle.” His words rushed and his brow perspired. Was he worried I wouldn’t make it? He undid the buttons on his pants, and Goddess, any other time I’d be gawking, but now I couldn’t pull my gaze from the window. The bear twisted its head in my direction, snarling.
“Those bears aren’t our escort, are they?”
“Nope!”
Numbness owned me as I pictured my death—being torn to shreds. “Why are they attacking us if you’re from the royal palace? Will you be okay?”
“There are some royal issues right now.” In a blur of movement, the door slapped open, and icy winds flooded the carriage. Raze jumped out, butt-naked, transforming midair so fast, I could have missed it if I’d blinked. His body expanded, his legs and arms thickened, and fur exploded across his skin. He changed so swiftly, it reminded me of an eagle batting against a gust with ease.
Raze hit the ground on all fours, wearing golden, brown fur. He lunged at the other bear. Both rolled across the snow and slammed into a tree.
The carriage kept racing forward, the door flapping open and shut, and the night stealing the battle from my sight.
I reached over and yanked the door shut. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit! What now?”
Raze had said to stay inside, yet my knees kept bouncing. The horses would take me to the castle, he’d insisted. My teeth chattered as I conjured images of my death. If bears attacked their own kind, what in the world would they do to me? And what issues was the royal bear shifter family having? Had I walked into political drama? Or was this about the curse?
A sudden crash slammed into the side of the carriage, and my heart froze. I jerked around in time to see a massive bear darting out of my line of sight as the carriage trembled out of control, lifting upward on its side.
Arms flaying for balance, I slid along the seat, hitting the wall. The snowy ground rushed toward me, and I screamed.
Chapter 5
Shock jolted through my body. I screamed as the carriage tilted sideways on two wheels.
Out of nowhere, a shadow slammed into the falling cabin’s side, sending it rocking back onto four wheels. The sudden move tossed me across the compartment. I hit the opposite seat hard, my hip screaming with a short, sharp pain, then I slid to the floor with a groan. The world swayed, and I scrambled to my feet, wobbling when I came to an abrupt stop. The carriage stayed in an upright position. Thank you, Goddess.
The wind whistled outside, shaking the carriage, and I now stood diagonally across the road. A fierce blizzard battered the night.
Stay put, Raze had said. Not as if I could outrun the bears. But sitting here meant waiting to get butchered, and what if Raze lay somewhere injured? Maybe the dragon horses just needed a little nudge to get them running again. They must be spooked from the carriage almost toppling over. But I couldn’t hear them struggling.
Pressed up against the window, I searched the woods, then did the same on the other side. All clear, except for the impenetrable dark woods, but if two bears had knocked over the carriage, why would they have taken off? Unless Raze was fighting them. Okay, I had to get the carriage moving. He might need a quick escape, or for me to go get help.
I pushed open the door and froze as a gale hit me. “Goddess, please help me. Don’t let me get eaten,” I muttered under my breath.
Once I jumped out, I rushed to the front, where both horses were upright, neighing, and snorting short flames from their nostrils. Okay, that was new.
A tremendous snarl erupted from farther up the road, and I flinched so hard, my head spun.
I plastered myself against a skittish horse. A scream bubbled on the forefront of my mind. Trembling, I peeked out and stared at the biggest mother of a bear on hind legs, snarling, drool seeping from long fangs.
My stomach churned. Goddess, I don’t want to die this way! I scrambled alongside the horse toward the back of the carriage, searching for my bag. I needed my herbs.
Breaths came too fast. At the rear, I found my bag tied up with rope. Adrenaline soared through me, muscles taut. I tugged at the knots, my chest aching. Hell! The ropes weren’t loosening. I might as well have been trying to rip the cord apart with my bare hands. Shit!
A thundering roar came from the bear, and the horses backpedaled, driving the carriage backward and into me. I shuffled aside, peeking around to the front. The grizzly hadn’t budged, maybe put off by the flame-snorting horses. Rushing back to my bag, I kept pulling at the rope knotted tighter than a dead bug in a spider’s web. Fucking ropes. Come on!
The wind howled in my ears, ripping at my hair and clothes, icicles chilling me to the bone. When the crunch of snow came from behind me, I snapped around.
A huge bear the color of timber on all fours, fifteen feet away, and it wasn’t Raze. Was this a wild bear or a shifter? Tales painted them as brutal and unforgiving, carrying grudges for life. So that explained the death stares coming my way, and Raze had said royals had issues right now. What did that mean?
Facing the bear, I fumbled with the buttons on the bag behind me. My hands shook so hard I fought the restraints to pry the bag open so I could get my hand inside.
The animal inched closer, and when it unleashed an ungodly sound, a strangled cry fell from my throat.
It’s going to attack!
My hand slid into the bag. I fumbled about, past clothes and pouches of ingredients, for spells. Except what I needed was a small, velvet sack. My fingers touched the fabric. I pulled it out and tore open the tiny purse.
The bear charged toward me.
I trembled and dropped the bag to my feet, herbs and powders spilling onto the snow.
“No!”
The insistent gale tossed them around my feet, and yet I stood there, fear sitting over my mouth and nose, suffocating me. The beast flew at me.
Another figure lunged out of the woods and slammed into the attacking bear. They both smacked into the ground, snow thrown in every direction hitting me in the face.
My stomach lurched, and I snatched up my pouch of herbs.
