AERYN'S POV

I sprawled onto the splintering strips of wood and cursed as my hand landed in a sticky substance, coating my palm with the sharp smell of iron. I recoiled, swiping the blood on my pants as I jumped to my feet. Penn and the demons were gone, but small puddles of the Cursed demon's blood were spattered across the ring, sizzling as it scorched the flimsy wood.

I could only hope that Penn had used her Insignia's ability to heal infections to rid herself of the Curse before she turned into one of the brainless demons. I refused to consider the other options; the ones where it was already too late, or she was dead.

The door opposite me creaked as it was lifted and a single Cursed demon rushed from the opening, sprinting at me on all fours as its greasy hair flew behind it. I unsheathed my dagger as the demon launched itself at me, flashing its pointed incisors as it sailed with its arms outstretched. When its serrated claws were mere inches from tearing into me, I ducked and rolled out from under it. The demon coasted above me and crashed to the floor, getting a leg caught in one of the many holes littering the area.

I transferred my dagger to the hand covered with the fresh blood of the previous victim I refused to think about as I brandished a throwing star and whipped it at the trapped demon, grazing the translucent skin on its back. The star sliced through the thin layer of skin, drawing the black blood. The demon shrieked and pulled its leg free, gathering itself on all fours as I took out the other star. The demon pounced with a horrific snarl, and I released the weapon, making it spin in a curved path for the advancing demon. The star struck its throat, knocking its body sideways.

I ran over to the demon and threw myself at its legs. Wrapping an arm around its flailing limbs, I jammed my dagger into its slender thigh and reached for a knife as the demon tried to fling me off it. It kicked its legs and struck the base of my chin with its pointed kneecaps, causing me to bite my tongue and lose my grip. The bitterness of my own blood flooded my mouth, and I spat a wad of the gore onto the ground as I gingerly got up on my hands and knees, dragging in greedy breaths of stale air.

The demon's red pupils among its entirely black eyes zeroed in on me and it bowled right into me, knocking me flat on my back. My head hit the uneven flooring and dark spots floated in my vision as I willed myself to remain conscious.

The demon wrapped its hand around my neck, constricting the airflow to my lungs. My eyes bulged and my chest burned as terror overtook me, making me freeze as the demon's fangs closed in on me.

I strained to crane my neck out of the way, but the demon was surprisingly strong for its feeble appearance. A harsh sting pierced the sensitive spot where my shoulder connected with my neck as the demon sunk its fangs into the skin at the tender location. My back arched as fire burned a blazing trail into my veins, heating my blood in excruciating agony. 

I couldn't hear the blood-curdling scream tearing out of my throat as my heart pounded, trying to pump out my pure, oxygen-enriched blood to dilute the venom invading my body. I bucked as the demon's bite discharged a toxic amount of poison into me, filling me with the blistering matter.

Darkness draped across my vision, obscuring my view of the demon as it completely drained its toxin into me. My body stilled, losing the battle to the demon's venom as the terminal realization of my terminal fate devoured the last of my consciousness.

I was Cursed.

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I couldn't tell if I was screaming or drowning, or both. My eyelids were compressed together, enveloping me in a permanent blanket of darkness as a searing trail charred its way down my throat, burning the flesh raw. My entire body felt like it was nearing combustion as liquid fires sparked through my veins. I writhed in agony as my body convulsed, back bowing as I fed the flames with the oxygen I sucked into my lungs. Another screech tore up my throat as my neck blazed in torture and I collapsed, twitching on a solid surface.

I couldn't think beyond the insufferable torment I was experiencing. I just needed it to end. Delirium clouded my mind as I clawed at the rough material under my cheek, trying to drag myself out of my own body.

"Take...me..." I bit out between spasms.

"I'm not going to do that, Glastos."

I sucked in a sharp breath between my teeth. "Garrenth...cure me," I begged.

"It sounds like her brain is still intact. She's not going to turn into one of those fiends," an unfamiliar voice inferred.

"Leave us."

"But she's unstable, Your Highness. She could still – "

"Leave."

I groaned, hugging the narrow platform I sprawled upon.

"What's in Garrenth?"

Another wail escaped my cracked lips as my limbs turned to mush, unable to budge as the infernos raged even hotter inside me. Sweat poured down my face and seeped into my eyes, stinging them with the salty liquid. I pushed onto my hands and knees, eyes flying open as I quivered unsteadily.

"Penn," I murmured, staring down at the rough blue cot underneath me as I turned my hands into fists. "Get me to Penn. She can save me." 

I wasn't sure if that was even true because if it was, then every Draconian with Penn's infection-healing Insignia would have been protecting us against the Curse. But none of that mattered when I couldn't think beyond the suffering I was experiencing. All I knew for certain was that I needed it to end one way or the other.

"Penn is dead."

My head whipped around in a daze as my eyes floated around the room. I squeezed them shut to clear the fog and focus on the speaker. Shade sat with his elbows on his knees, leaning mere inches from my narrow bed as he rested his chin against his knuckles. I failed to comprehend his statement as a thick haze muddied my thoughts.

"No, she can heal infections," I reasoned as the fires extinguished. "She can take the Curse out of her."

"The Curse isn't an infection. It's an insatiable termite that scours the brain and turns its victims into atrocities as its blood poisons its host. Your friend was too weak."

I collapsed against the cot as all the air whooshed from my lungs in undulated grief and shock. The room spun around me, causing nausea to roll around in my stomach. I turned onto my side and pitched my head over the edge of the mattress, heaving up the gluttonous amount of food I'd consumed onto the tiled floor of the infirmary.

Another one of my friends was gone.

And I'd be next if I didn't my hands on some anti-venom. 

Zoran's life would come to an end when the Curseinflicted death on me. From my raging exhaustion and ravenous appetite, I knew with absolute certainty Armaeda still hadn't severed our bond. The distance between me and my Champion was still affecting me since we were still bonded. That meant if I died, Zoran would, too.

I was desperate.

I hefted myself into a seated position and stared Shade in his evil eyes, saying, "You caused the first war by sending the Cursed bomb that exterminated the Phoenixians, and you're going to do it again if you kill the Nyrial Emperor's daughter with the same substance. Emperor Nepheus won't let the deaths of his wife and his daughter go without retaliation."

Shade's eyes softened for a fleeting second and he was quiet for a few moments until he said, "You lost your mother."

I bit my lip as I pictured her beautifully kind face, failing to keep the tears at bay. "Yes, during a demon ambush within our walls," I disclosed, mind still distorted by the venom traversing my system as I opened up to my enemy. "Your kingdom has taken the lives of so many Draconians from me, and now it's about to take mine."

"You aren't the only one in need of an antidote," Shade countered. "I've been plagued with inhumane powers that are slowly driving me to insanity. I am the ruthless, unforgiving Shade Cross because I cannot get close to anyone without killing them. The fear of the Demon Prince among my own kingdom is innate. It is pure instinct not to come near me. And the only one brave, or should I say naïve, enough to ignore that boundary paid the price for it. Decades before you, the Ravos Princess ruling at my side fell right into my death trap, and I could do nothing to stop it as I drained her life source with the vile power your sinister empire damned me with."

"Your kind did that to yourselves when your father decided to betray the Traeverian Emperor," I refuted in disbelief that he was trying to place the blame on me and make my empire appear to be at fault. "King Kristos deserved to be punished for his desire for more power, and so did his supporters. Your essences needed to be extracted. Not to mention, you caused the extinction of our Phoenixian Guardians so we'd become vulnerable without their sacrificial protection. You constantly terrorize our empire with your demons and murder us in cold blood. I've watched too many friends die by a demon's fangs and I will never see my mother or my friends again."

Shade tensed and his eyes dropped to the ground as remorse flickered across his menacingly handsome features. He stood, chair scraping across the floor from his sudden movement.

"Those wounds will never heal," he sympathized, "but you would have turned weeks ago if you were a pure-blooded Draconian."

Weeks ago? How long had I been out for? 

And who had been making sure I had food in me all this time?

Reading the look of confusion on my face, Shade declared, "You're one of us now, half-breed."

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