Page 127 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

The pained note in his voice draws my attention, but Anders continues to stare outside.

“What do you mean?” I prompt quietly.

The muscle in his jaw ticks. “It’s the ailment that’s ravaging the Fae lands on the continent. The taint all Virendrellians fear will one day reach our shores.”

Hard eyes flick to mine, and I suck in a breath.

Darius.

“W-where did the curse come from? How did it start?”

How do I fix it?

Anders snorts. “That’s the ironic part. Calla enacted the punishment on her traitorous uncle, not knowing that doing so would likely doom all Faekind to the same fate.”

Wait… What?

“The princess created the curse?”

“The queen did,” Anders says. “Yes.”

My blood runs cold. “How?”

The drab, gray dungeon from Darius’s memories fills my mind.

I was so sure the vial’s contents were the start of his curse…

“No one knows the details.” Anders’s hands ball into fists. “But Calla used her light magic to burn the souls of all Fae who betrayed her family. She shrouded their magic, binding it, leaving behind nothing but shadows.”

I lean back in my chair. Shock ripples through me.

Calla had light magic?

She created shadows?

“Shadows are the curse?”

He nods. “It’s referred to as the Shadowbound Curse. Queen Calla extinguished her enemies’ magical abilities, only leaving behind darkness. But Marek found a way to turn that darkness into the deadliest weapon the world has ever seen.”

The power in my chest flares while my hope plummets to the floor.

This isn’t the same curse Darius suffers. Of that, I’m sure.

But it’s so much worse.

“Can nothing be done?” Surely there’s a way to counteract the queen’s actions—to deprive Marek and all Shadow Fae of the ability that enables them to dominate the continent and every soul living on it.

“No.” He jerks his head. “Now that all Light Fae are extinct, the world is at the mercy of Marek’s darkness.”

Indescribable heat burns in my chest.

I gasp as my power roars to life, thrashing, protesting Anders’s claim, trying to communicate something to me.

It’s…angry?

I don’t understand why.

Anders holds my stare.