The Broken Curse (38 page)

"I didn't even know we invited them. Hopefully Ollie will come, too. I really have to talk to him."

"He'll come," Ari says, squeezing my hand.
 

"There's a room just up the stairs. Go check it out; I left a gift in there for you. Hurry!" my mother says and shoves me forward. I look behind me, wrinkling my eyebrows in confusion, and Ari shrugs his shoulders, unknowing. But he points up the stairs, urging me to go on.
 

I run up the stairs just outside the large room and am left with two doors. I open the door to my left and find a coat closet, filled to the brim with furs and puffy jackets to shield from the cold New York winter.
 

When I open the next door, I see Ollie standing in the middle of the room, his back to me, his hands in his pockets. My heart stutters. Is this a dream?
 

"Ollie?" I question and step into the room. I shut the door behind me, and he turns around to face me. He looks good, happy.
 

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." We say at the same time.
 

I laugh and step towards him. Out of instinct, he wraps me in his arms and holds me close to his chest. The familiarity of his touch knocks me off guard after being separated for almost six months.

"Are you going to stay?" I pull back and look at his ice-cold eyes.

"For now."

"Are we friends?"
 

"We were always friends, Ryder. I just couldn't be around you when my emotions were so confused. It wasn't fair to me or you. I'm okay now, and I've moved on."

"And you're okay?"

"I'm a hundred percent fine. I've started seeing someone, and I'm happy. She actually loves me back."

"Wow, that was…harsh."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in that way. It's just…"

"Do I know the girl?"

Before he can answer, a knock sounds on the door, and it opens wide. A beautiful girl with red hair and crystal blue eyes steps into the room.
 

"Oh!" she says when she sees Ollie and me. "Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting."

"You're fine," Ollie says, smiling at only her. I'm not jealous, but I'm surprised. It hasn't been that long. And he already seems like he's in love with her. I want to know more about her.

"Ryder, this is Hera's daughter Honor. She's my girlfriend." Honor walks over to Ollie and places her hand on his chest, like she's claiming him. She has a catty look in her eyes that I don't quite get. If she knew our story, she'd know that he's not my soulmate.

"It's so great to meet you." I hold out my hand to her, and reluctantly she takes it.
 

"I love him," she says after dropping my hand. I watch Ollie squeeze her towards him and pull her into his chest.

"I'm glad. He's a great guy."

"I'm not going to stay around. But I thought you deserved to know," Ollie says.

"You both should stay," I say, making a point to make eye contact with Honor. "Or at least come to dinners at my dad's. Junior and Atee come. Dimitri can come."

"You hate Dimitri," Ollie drawls, squinting his eyes at me skeptically.

"But I'd suck it up to have you around. We're friends. I want us to be friends." I awkwardly stand before the pair.

"Babe, we can hang around. We have forever." Honor's voice is light and airy, like a kindergarten teacher.

"You have forever." I make an emphasis. I'm already warming up to Honor despite the cold reception to begin with.

"Fine. Are there any houses on campus free?"

"I'm sure we can find you two somewhere to stay."

"Thank you," Honor says. She closes the space between us and hugs me. I widen my eyes in shock and hug her back. I look past her at Ollie who watches the scene unfold. I smile at him and he shakes his head, smiling, too.
 

In that moment, I have hope. Maybe Honor can help Ollie get over our situation and his father. There's still hope that we can be friends. I have hope that he'll be better.

"Five minutes!" someone screams from down the stairs. Honor lets me go and giggles as she grabs onto Ollie's hand.
 

"Go back to your friends and Ari. I'm okay, Ryder." He pulls me into him and hugs me, Honor standing beside us.

"Come down and hang out." I don't wait for them to say no. Instead, I grab both of their hands and drag them out of the room. I let go when I know they're following.
 

They walk behind me down the stairs and into the large room where everyone is turned towards the empty wall. A projector points to it and has the New York City landscape across it with the large ball displayed brightly on the screen.
 

I spot Ari instantly and run to his side. Ollie and Honor stand beside us. Ari smiles at him and waves.
 

"How did it go?"

"He loves her."

"That's good." Ari says as he kisses the top of my head. The countdown begins at twenty and the entire room erupts in applause and laughter.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

I press onto my tiptoes and kiss Ari square on the lips. He pulls me into his arms and dips me backwards. I giggle as he kisses down to my breasts and bat him away.
 

"Happy New Year, love of my life."

"Love of many lives."

THE END

Thank you so much for taking the time to read The Broken Curse! If you have a spare moment, please rate, review or share this book. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email the author at [email protected]

For more information on A Curse Books or author, Taylor Lavati, check out her website,
www.taylorlavati.com
. The series is officially over for Ryder and the crew! It's a bittersweet feeling that I just haven't quite grasped yet.

Special thanks again to Laura Gordon, who designed the cover, and Danielle Rose from Narrative Ink Editing, LLC for her amazing editing skills. Check them out.

And thank to you the readers, bloggers, and fans. You make me write as much as I do. Thanks for following me on my journey. Can't wait for more! Here are some free excerpts from my other novels…

Wingless by Taylor Lavati

When Annie's wings failed to form on her sixteenth birthday, she was banished to Earth, a life-altering reality that forced her to adapt to a new race, new world, and new challenges. Armed with little knowledge, Annie descends to her new home and learns of other half-angels, those who pull her into a world of demon-fighting chaos.
 

As an Archer, Micha watches over Earth from the Veil. Sent to help Annie adjust, he finds himself drawn to her long after his orders have dissipated, and when her ruthless demon-killing ways reach an extremity he can't ignore, he finds himself questioning the very core of his upbringing: will he turn his back on the angels and save Annie, or will he remain hidden within the shadows and watch her die?

PROLOGUE

I never thought that I'd be here. The obvious reason being that I'm an Angel—or at least I thought I was. The Lower Veil is nothing like I expected it to be, though. Now that I've made it here, I'm starting to think that maybe I could fit in. Since it's so obvious that the Angels don't want me, maybe the Demons do—specifically the king of Demons, since he's the one who kidnapped me, dragged me down a huge, black hole, and then locked me in this dungeon-like room.

"Annie, please hurry. Dinner is waiting and you know my wives wait on no one."
 

Speaking of the Demon king…

"One minute!" I yell back as I survey myself in my chambers. I'm hiding in the bathroom, which is monstrous in size—it has more space than anything I've ever been in, including my house on Earth. There's some wear and tear on the appliances, but it is the Lower Veil after all, so I don't know what else I'd expect to see.
 

The mirror I stare into is cracked along the edge, a spider-like vein shooting across the center of the glass. Everything in this place is broken, but nobody cares. The castle isn't made to accommodate or to feel safe. It's here to house Demons.

I hear his footsteps retreat down the long, black hall I know to be just outside my door and let out a sigh of relief. Just looking at the man has my palms sweating and my body trembling. He scares me—for many different reasons. The obvious reason being that I was brought here against my free will and under very false pretenses. He took me away from my safety. At a point in my life, I thought
he
was safe. I trusted him, and he betrayed me in the sickest way possible.
 

But, I'm better now.
 

Yet, it doesn't make it any easier to be stranded here.

I glance one last time at myself and idly wonder how this all came to be. My plain, brown hair hangs lifelessly down to my waist in subtle curls. My normally green eyes are dull and tired. They ache from being in the dark for over a week now. I look old, worn down, heavy bags where pale skin used to be. I hardly recognize myself.
 

I've changed.

I touch my reflection with my pointer finger, and then leave the bathroom adjoined to my chambers. It's really just a jail cell in the highest tower in the Demon kingdom. I'm never allowed to leave without permission. I'm not allowed to do anything, unless the king allows me.
 

My only saving grace was that the king healed me from a rough Demon fight on Earth. I almost died at the hands of a monster for no reason at all, other than I thought Demon hunting was fun and my calling in life. It sounds so childish, thinking back to my time on Earth.

I was stupid, hateful. I was vengeful and carried a grudge against all the Angels from the Veil. They turned their back on me, but I turned my back on them, too. I can't blame them for their actions against me. They were warranted. But I couldn't move past it and just accept my fate.

Now look where I am? I'm stuck in the Lower Veil, a place I can honestly say I never wanted to experience. I remember my mother once read me a book as a child. It was about the Lower Veil and how scary and dangerous it was believed to be. The book claimed that there were red Demons that resided in the black castle with snake-like tongues, licking and biting with their fangs at anyone who dared to enter. It said that you could barely breathe, because the air was so thick with people's souls rotting away and contaminating the air.
 

Of course, I believed every word that tumbled out of her mouth. I believed them all.

But here I am, in the Lower Veil, breathing the air. Nobody is licking at me or attacking me. In fact, most of the Demons accept me as the king's plaything—his conquest from his time on Earth. I'm an abomination that the king found and stole.

I quickly exit my chambers, not wanting to upset the king and his court. I've memorized the way to the dining hall, so I make quick work around the labyrinth-like hallways. The dining hall is the first opening after the hall, and it's quite expansive.

I take my seat in the main dining room next to the king, across from one of his wives. I believe this one is named Percy, although they all look alike. They have long, nearly black hair that falls down to their butts. They have light eyes, with sharp noses and cheeks. They're all equally beautiful in similar ways.

They're all also equally scary. Their eyes are light, but they're anything but soft. They cut through the air and burn you with their intensity. They're cold, hard, and aggressive. They only ever speak when they're angry and their voices are like a man's—deep and throaty.

A large piece of red cake with thick, brown frosting is placed in front of me from a waiter, daring me to take a greedy bite. It's crazy how things always change. My whole life, I lived in the Veil where food wasn't ever around. We could only eat on birthdays and even then it was a sliver of your favorite cake, and we had to share with everyone. When I was banished to Earth, I allowed myself to indulge in any food I wanted since it was always available. It's one of my many things I miss.

Currently, I'm feeling very emotional, and I begin to miss it all. I miss the people, my Nephalem family from Earth, my Angel family from the Veil, my best friend, Perry, the smells, the coldness in the air.
 

But wanting and missing are such useless needs to me. I need to remember my past—all that's happened to me that led me to this point. The Veil didn't want me, I couldn't last on Earth, so the Lower Veil it is. I'm stuck in a state of perpetual abandonment.
 

I guess there was a moment when I had a glimmer of hope.
 

But that hope dripped between my fingers like water, teasing me with each droplet slowly falling between my grounded feet. I still see his aquamarine eyes at night in my dark cell, filled with worry. They will me to find happiness in this dark time. But they're always just out of my grasp.

A Reliant Love by Taylor Lavati

Nathalie Carter wants one thing: independence. She has paid her dues by living at home under her parents' watchful eyes, earning grades to give her a ticket out and joining clubs she had no interest in to get into college.
 

She plans to experience things she believes every new adult should—from falling in love to playing beer pong and pulling an all-nighter to skipping class because she's too hungover. But nothing ever seems to go as planned, and she gets pulled into a world she never imagined existed.
 

Samuel Torrington's past refuses to release him from its vise-like grip; but he has a plan, and once his senior year of college is over, he can finally move away and start anew. His addictions help him get through day-to-day life, but he's constantly battling darker demons.
 

Fate brings the two together, and chance takes them on a roller coaster ride that neither would dare hop off. Within destiny's grasp, they realize there are two things impossible to fight—addiction and attraction.