Cursed to the Bone

58. Quicksand

An incomprehensible storm brewed inside of me as we arrived to Lucien's room at the university. He carried me into the bathroom and lowered me onto the edge of the tub before glowing projection of my skeleton appeared. It vanished with a flick of his hand. Crouching, he placed a hand on my arm and my ankle and magic lit between them.

I flinched as the bones cracked into place one by one. Then, as that was finished, he took my hands and the warmth of his magic slipped into my aching bones.

"Ask all you wish. I will answer."

"You knew what would happen."

Lucien did not release my hands upon the completion of their healing. "I did. As did Haywood."

My chest burned with rage. "Then you did choose me?"

"I did."

"Why?" I asked, voice quivering as hot tears wet my eyes. The answer, I reasoned, was my curse. And damn him for how much that hurt me. "Because I was already broken?"

"You are not broken," Lucien said, squeezing my hands until I wrenched them free.

"Tell me!"

"You were the only choice. We believed you would benefit from our binding. All I had to do was make it obvious that I cared. My goal was to keep you alive no matter the cost."

"But there were other ways—"

"A marriage was the only permanent solution to keep Lauvet at bay."

Really? I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. My nails dug into my palms as my shoulders curled inward. Every subtle manipulation seemed so obvious, now. "You made me look like such an idiot. All those lies!"

"And yet, you proved to be anything but."

I flinched as I met Lucien's gaze, painfully aware that he was at the edge of his own patience. Though his eyes were a darker red, they burned with the fury of a wildfire.

"You figured it out, even with the cards stacked against you."

Maybe because it was obvious? If anything, I should have seen it sooner. I dragged my tongue across the back of my teeth and breathed deeply through my nose.

"If it had been anyone but you, Miss Morimoto, perhaps, do you think she would have survived all that you did?"

Pain gripped my heart and the remaining patience I had dried up. Glaring, I curled my lips in a snarl. "Don't you dare—"

"Anyone else could have died the night of initiation."

"Stop—"

"Every attempt on your life, you clawed your way out of because of your bonds, your anger, and your will to live." Lucien placed his hands on either side of me, lifting himself so his face was inches from mine. "I will never regret that it was you. I would choose you again and again. You are the one."

My heart raced so fast it felt ready to explode. I grabbed the collar of his shirt, intent on screaming, but the words didn't come. I stared a suffocating moment, damning those haunting, crimson eyes.

Driven by madness, I released his collar and took his face with shaking hands. Then I pressed my lips to his soft ones. A kiss. A small peck made harsh by inexperience and anger alike. Breaking the kiss, I rested my head against his and breathed.

My nerves were no less rattled, but the pressure around my lungs was gone and my heart—my heart felt light. Startled at that thought, I pulled away, and found his eyes searching. Why did I like those eyes as much as I did?