Page 100 of Gilded Curses

His lips nuzzled her hair before settling near her ear. “How are you here?”

She lifted her head to meet both of his swollen eyes. Despite his battered and bloodied countenance, Sahira smiled as she told him, “Pip and I found the stones. We beat Sheree at her game.”

His swollen lips tugged into a smile. “That’s my girl.”

Before she could say anything more, he rested his hand against her cheek and kissed her. Sahira lost herself to that kiss, but though only a few guards were left, their presence pulled her from Orin far quicker than she would have liked.

Lifting her head, she took in the carcasses littering the ground as the last guard fell. The immortals from the Cursed Realm gazed around the hall before moving closer to her and Orin.

A few of them approached Alda, who stood with a sword dripping blood off the blade. Her shoulders heaved as she gazed at them, but she kept her feet planted and didn’t back away from them.

“Don’t harm her,” Orin said. “Desmond is dead because of her. The other one, though, she’s fair game.”

“Aurora’s dead,” Alda stated.

With those two words, she stepped aside to reveal the white dress and headless body of a servant. As she moved, she stabbed her blade through Aurora’s head and lifted it off the ground.

Alda twisted the head before her. “Stupid bitch.”

“I agree,” Orin muttered.

Sahira would find out what happened later. For now, they had more pressing matters to deal with. There were still a lot of guards and Elite left in Epoch.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

“Now what?” Puth, the leader of the brownies, inquired.

“Now, we can either leave or finish what we started,” Sahira said. “We can make all those who caged us pay for it. In doing so, we can also set free the rest of the immortals they’ve imprisoned in this place. They’ve trapped the servants here so completely that I’m not sure they know how to open a portal.”

When their attention shifted to Alda, she lowered her blade, and Aurora’s head thudded off the ground. “We never had a reason to learn how, so no one taught us.”

“Shit,” Boris muttered.

“I’m not leaving here until all these fuckers are dead,” Belda said. “I won’t sleep until then.”

“And we’re not leaving you,” Boris said.

Behind him, Belda’s pack of lycans nodded their agreement.

“Can we really open a portal out of here?” Orin asked Sahira.

“Yes. I haven’t opened one out of Epoch yet, but we can open portals again.”

He closed his eyes as a rush of relief washed over him. They were free; they could finally leave.

Ignoring the pain in his battered body, his arms constricted around Sahira. Nothing had ever felt as good as she did, and now that he was holding her again, he wouldn’t let her go.

He could get her out of this miserable place and back to the freedom and safety she deserved. They could finally start to build a real life together.

But as he thought it, he knew she wouldn’t walk away and leave all these servants to fend for themselves. They’d destroyed their two worst oppressors, but there were many more to go.

As much as he wanted to get her away from Epoch and back to the happiness and love she deserved, he wouldn’t walk away and leave them either. At one time, he would have opened a portal and never looked back, but not anymore.

He couldn’t leave any Elites alive and free to spread into the world. And he wouldn’t abandon the servants to a tyranny they didn’t deserve. Alda had helped him, and he couldn’t return the favor by leaving her now.

He was beaten and battered but he would get Sahira out of here and ensure her safety, but it would have to wait. Until then, he’d kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

“We’re only going after the guards and the Elite,” Sahira said. “Once they fall, we can teach the servants to open portals, and they can take care of themselves, but the Elite and guards have to die.”