The Broken Melody [malexmale]

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

A god of cursed misfortune?

I looked at Rowan, but he wasn't answering. He didn't deny or agree to the claim, just stood there, glaring at the Shifter. But he didn't need to say anything, because now I could feel it. I could feel the guilt wafting off him, feel the malevolence, feel the anger.

"Shit," I breathed. It wasn't a common curse. Like the Beast curse, it'd been around since the beginning of time and it wasn't a curse that was cast upon them by another being. They were just... born like that. It was rare they survived to adulthood either. Most of them died as children. Yet, somehow, Rowan not only survived infancy, he survived since the beginning of time.

"Good job," the Shifter laughed, clapping its hands together in delight, "I knew you weren't just a pretty face. If my plans didn't hinge on your death, I would keep you around for a while." Madison stiffened, then surprised me by flipping the Shifter her middle finger.

"Too bad my plans don't involve dying, asshole," she responded nastily. The Shifter smirked.

"Unfortunately, little girl, I'm a lot stronger than a half-fae. A lot stronger than your full fae and stronger than the primordial there. If anything, the more you try to stop me, the more his curse will activate. Tis a pity, really. Wasn't it that curse that killed--"

The Shifter was cut off when Rowan threw a blast of magic barreling down the hallway and screeching toward the Shifter, who cursed and sidestepped it, grabbing one of its men and thrusting him in the way where he was immediately incinerated into a pile of ash. The brief interruption gave us a chance to spin around and take off. We had no idea where we were going at this point, but we had to get away from the Shifter and fast.

"Shit, why didn't you say something before?" I snarled at Rowan as we sprinted. He looked like he was having difficulties keeping up, and it made sense. The blast of magic was probably one of the few things left he could do after having been beaten and starved for weeks. In fact, I noted he was starting to slow down significantly until he looked like he was gonna trip and fall on his face. I swung back around, calling out to Madison as I went to grab Rowan, but he pushed me back.

"Go," he ordered, "I'm only going to fuck up your escape. You should be able to find a way out of the castle at least. I don't think you can leave the realm, not unless someone saw your kidnapping and went to Viviana about it so she can come get you, but I doubt it, so just find a place to hide until someone comes for you!"

"Fuck you, I'm not leaving you--"

"Do it," Rowan ordered, then flashed his fangs at me, like he was daring me to touch him again and I cursed, taking a step back, "Just go! Now!" Every instinct in my body told me to grab Rowan. He was not only part of the prophecy and him being here only helped the Shifter, but Rowan wasn't a bad guy. He was just as fucked as the rest of us because of this prophecy. He needed to be saved too. I needed to protect him. I had to.

But logic couldn't argue with what he said. If the hallways turned into an endless maze because of his curse, then there was no doubt it would keep doing so if we tried to leave.

"We'll come back for you," I promised. Rowan just gave me a tight lipped smile, one that said he didn't believe it for a second, but appreciated the sentiment.

"I'll hold them off as long as I can. Go!" He ordered, turning back around to face the other end of the hall. I gritted my teeth, then turned to Madison, whose eyes were wide, like she was also debating sticking around for Rowan, but we didn't have time to debate the morality of it. I grabbed her hand and we took off sprinting down the hallway. Not long after we took off, I could hear the sound of crashing from magical attacks. I grimaced as the structure around us shook and vibrated, stones crumbling from the walls and even the ceiling. We sidestepped them and kept going until we made it into what looked like a more habitable corridor.