The Cursed Prince, Teresa Roman [the reader ebook TXT] 📗

“Because I know it’ll be worth the wait.”

Somehow, I managed to peel myself away from Peter and make it back home despite the daze I was in. I hung my bag up and took my cell phone out of my back pocket. Somehow I’d missed several calls and text messages from Maria. For some strange reason, the ringer on my phone had been turned off. I didn’t remember doing that.

For a moment, I thought about getting in my car and driving to the castle, but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t keep myself upright. My legs felt like lead. I sat on the couch and pressed a few buttons on my phone with the intention of returning Maria’s calls, but before I could finish dialing, I lay down. My heavy eyelids fluttered shut. I fought to open them but then told myself that a quick nap wouldn’t hurt. I could always call Maria later.

Next thing I knew, my father was shaking me.

“What is it?” I asked, sitting up, startled.

“Good grief, Willow. Since when do you sleep like the dead?”

“What time is it?”

“Nearly six.”

I’d been asleep for almost three hours. How had that happened? “I must have been more tired than I thought,” I said, rubbing my eyes.

My father looked over his shoulder. “You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?”

“Maria.” By the tone of his voice, I could tell he wasn’t pleased by her presence in our house. I wondered if he’d somehow figured out what she was.

I planted my feet on the ground and stood. My father backed away from the couch. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” He crossed the room, grabbed his jacket and headed outside.

Maria strode toward me. “Go get your books. You need to come with me now.”

Since I’d planned on visiting Nicolai anyway, I didn’t argue with her. Instead I gave her a cross look to let her know I wasn’t pleased that she was ordering me around. She didn’t seem to care. A few minutes later, I hopped into the passenger’s seat of a shiny black BMW. Watching Maria drive was a strange experience. The way she dressed almost made it seem as if she’d stepped out of a picture in a history book, yet here she was handling the curvy roads that led to the Korzhas’ castle like a race car driver.

“What’s the matter with you?” I finally asked. She hadn’t spoken to me since she’d demanded I come with her. “Why are you so upset?”

“I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”

“I don’t know how it happened but for some reason my ringer was off.”

“It was that boyfriend of yours who did it. He wanted you all to himself.”

I frowned. “That’s ridiculous. Why would Peter do that?”

“There’s something not right about him, Willow. I’m not quite sure what he is, but he’s no human.”

I laughed. “What are you saying? That Peter is a witch?”

“Not a witch, something else.”

“A werewolf, like the Korzhas?” I asked, even though I was sure he wasn’t.

Maria shook her head. “Definitely not.”

We arrived at the castle. Maria parked and we both got out of the car.

I followed her, trying to keep up with her frantic pace as she rushed into the castle, down the entryway and into the drawing room where all four brothers were gathered.

“Willow,” Alexander said, sounding surprised to see me, though I doubted he actually was. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Out. All of you,” Maria said, waving her hand. “Except you, Nicolai.”

The brothers glanced at each other as if they were deciding how they felt about taking orders from a houseguest. It dawned on me then what they were doing. Wolves were pack animals. They could communicate telepathically with each other, which, by their expressions and the way their eyes darted around, seemed to be what they were doing now. I’d always thought that was pure fiction, but I’d also thought magic was fiction too until recently. I wondered if Nicolai’s curse kept his brothers out of his head and him out of their heads.

They left with stern expressions on their faces, a message to Maria that they were displeased with the way she’d spoken to them. She didn’t seem to care.

Nicolai walked over to me, put his hand on my shoulder, leaned in, and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “It’s lovely to see you, Willow.”

“I ran into her earlier today,” Maria told him. “She was with her boyfriend.”

Nicolai’s jaw clenched. “I’m well aware that Willow is involved with someone.”

“This someone is dangerous, Nicolai. He has a dark aura about him.”

“And what would you have me do, Maria? In case you forgot, I can’t leave this castle.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Peter’s aura,” I said, interrupting them.

Maria spun around, hands on her hips. “What do you know? Until a few days ago, your powers were bound. You know next to nothing about magic or the supernatural.”

“Maria, that’s enough,” Nicolai warned.

“You must end your relationship with that man before he gets whatever it is he wants from you,” she said, ignoring Nicolai.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not going to do that. In fact, I should probably tell you that I won’t be around next weekend. Peter and I will be out of town. So instead of wasting your time trying to convince me to break up with my boyfriend, we should get moving with magic lessons. That’s what I’m here for, after all.”

Maria pursed her lips. She glanced at Nicolai, who stood there staring at the two of us with glazed eyes and both fists tightly clenched. “Fine. I suppose there’s not much I can do since both of you refuse to heed my warning.”

“You don’t need to warn me about Peter. This is a small town. People talk. If my boyfriend was dangerous, I’d know it.”

“Enough about him,” Maria said, impatiently. “It’s late. You should’ve been here hours ago, which means we have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.” She turned to Nicolai.