Page 96 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

“What happened after the battle?” Lake asked, his wolf ears drooping.

“After she defeated my father and King Paris took his head, parading it around on the tip of his sword as cheers rang out among his soldiers?” The bitterness in Onyx’s tone was laced with an underlying grief. “The demon army surrendered. There’s nothing else we could do.”

Unable to stand it a moment longer, I stood from the couch and walked over to him at the balcony doors. I sensed my men tense from behind me but none tried to stop me.

Much to my surprise—and relief—Onyx didn’t push me away. Instead, his arms circled my waist, and he rested his head on mine, breathing deep. As his woodsmoke scent tickled my nose, my sternum squeezed.

“Why did they allow you to live?” Maddox asked, still with that grave look in his eyes. Was he thinking of his own battles? It made me want to wrap my arms around him too and never let go. And to bake him all the muffins he could eat.

“King Paris wanted to take my head just as he did my father’s. Yet, Vera said dying in battle was too great an honor for me. That I deserved to suffer and live with my suffering.” Onyx touched the center of his chest, the middle of his brow wrinkling. “Her deep-seated rage and vengeful heart took the form of a curse, one she imbedded in my very soul.”

My gaze fell to the tattoo-like mark. He had told me once that the mark was a sign of his shame. I lifted a hand and touched it too. Like before, it seemed to pulse beneath my fingertips.

“Vera used my dragon blood as a foundation for the curse,” Onyx continued, his voice thickening with emotion. “Twisting it into something vile and dark. This mark was seared into my chest, so that one day, I would understand her pain.”

Unease prickled at my scalp. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Sadness touched his crimson eyes. “You wished to know the reason why I rejected our bond so fiercely? Why I’m so sure we’ll never be truly happy? Because accepting you as my mate wholeheartedly… allowing myself to love you… will only end in tragedy. For both of us.”

“You said she gave you the mark so you’d know her pain.” I returned my gaze to the mark. “What does that mean exactly? What will happen if you do fall in love?”

“The moment I allow love into my heart, the curse will awaken within me. And a beast will emerge.” He softly caressed my neck with the tip of his finger, trailing it along my skin. “A beast that will consume me, body and mind, until the one I love is dead at my feet.”

His words slammed into me like a ton of bricks. I sucked in a breath, overtaken by a bone-deep chill, like someone had just poured ice-cold water down my back. I had to be misunderstanding him.

“She cursed you to kill the one you love?” Maddox asked, his mind on the same track as mine. One I had hoped like hell wasn’t true.

“Yes.” Onyx watched me, the sadness in his eyes mingling with a glint of pain. “Killed by my own hand. So that I would know the pain of losing someone precious, just as she lost her betrothed the day I gave the order to attack the village.”

Onyx had tried warning me about this. Countless times. He’d told me we would crash and burn—that he would rip me apart one day. I just hadn’t realized he meant that literally.

The red mark had been a curse this entire time, one that would force him to kill me the moment he lowered the walls around his heart and let love inside.

“Wait a moment,” Briar interjected in a tone I rarely heard him use. Shock with a healthy dose of revulsion and anger mixed in. He shoved up from the couch, fists clenching at his sides. “You knew of this curse and allowed yourself to be intimate with Evan anyway? Have you no decency?”

“No, actually. I’m quite selfish.” Onyx glided his finger over my lips, his ruby eyes brittle at the edges. “I knew the risks and gave only half-hearted attempts to push him away. Because the sun felt too good on my skin.”

The backs of my eyes burned. “And you’re sure the curse is real and not just a cool tattoo?”

“It’s real, little bird,” he said, slowly pushing his hand through my hair. The soft touches seemed so… sad. Like he was saying goodbye. “The more time I spend with you, the more I feel it stirring within me. Moving beneath my skin.”

“Curses can always be broken, right?” I reached for his hand and held it against my heart, tears blurring my vision. “By true love’s kiss or whatever the fairy tales say.”

“This is no fairy tale,” Onyx responded, and there was a tremble in his hand as he held mine. “Nor can this curse be broken.”

A pensive expression crossed Briar’s face. “All magic, whether light or dark, has limits, no matter how strong the wielder may be. It can be inferred the same applies to the Hallowed Saint. Wielders of unimaginable power, yes, but not omnipotent. There must be a way to lift Vera’s curse.”

Onyx slowly exhaled. “Phantasia and I have exhausted all attempts to do so, using everything at our disposal. Elixirs. Spells. Charms imbued with the strongest of purifying properties. Even poisons that stopped my heart for a short time, hoping that would be enough to lift it. I then accepted defeat and began distancing myself. From everyone. Hoping I could beat the curse by becoming a recluse.”

“You can’t fall in love if you push everyone away,” I said, throat tight as his behavior began making more sense. The puzzle solved at last. “Then I came along.”

“Sent to me by the red spider lily.” A fleeting smile touched his lips. “It appears to be a death omen after all. Meeting you was the beginning of the end. But to whose end lies the question. I can only pray that it’s mine.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What it means, little bird, is from now on, we should…” His gaze darted toward the fire. “Keep our distance. Just as we should’ve done from the start.”

“No.” I shook my head, feeling like someone had an ironclad grip on my sternum. “You said you weren’t going to push me away anymore.”