The Cursed Prince by Teresa Roman (reading e books txt) 📕

I turned my head to look at him. “Maria used magic to make my father have a stroke.”

“Nonsense. Why would she do such a thing?” Frederic said.

“So I wouldn’t leave town with Peter.”

Nicolai’s eyes widened. “Maria. Please tell me Willow is mistaken.”

“Did either of you have anything to do with this?” I asked.

Frederic just frowned. Nicolai said, “I hope you know me better than that.”

Maria sighed. “Neither of them is involved.”

“But if I’d known what Maria was up to, I would’ve supported her,” Frederic said.

I gritted my teeth. “Do you really hate me that much?”

“Just tell her already,” Frederic commanded Maria, seeming half-bored and half-annoyed.

“She won’t believe me.”

“Believe what?” I was growing more frustrated by the second.

“Your boyfriend is evil, Willow,” Frederic said. “Maria was only trying to help you.”

I crossed my arms. “You’re just saying that because I didn’t fall at your feet last night after I saw you in your birthday suit. Sorry if I wounded your over-inflated ego, but I’m not interested.”

“What is she talking about?” Nicolai asked.

“Nothing,” Frederic replied with a wave of his hand.

His superior attitude drove me crazy. I turned to face Maria. “What is it exactly that you have against Peter?”

“He’s an incubus, Willow. And he’s feeding off your soul and draining your power.”

I furrowed my brows in confusion and disbelief. I’d read about incubi in that encyclopedia Maria had been so insistent I study. An incubus was a type of demon. I stared at Maria for a moment, speechless. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

I glanced at Nicolai, meeting his gaze. “Don’t tell me you believe any of this.”

“I’m sorry, Willow. But I don’t think Maria would lie. Not to us. She has been in my family’s employ for as long as I can remember.”

“So you knew about this crazy theory of hers and said nothing?”

“I tried to tell you the other day, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“That’s why you asked me to cancel my trip?”

Nicolai nodded, and something inside me broke. I hadn’t wanted that to be the reason why.

“You’re crazy. All of you. My boyfriend is not a demon,” I said, sure that if Peter was one I would’ve somehow known. “He’s a respectable man, a business owner.”

“None of that means he isn’t a demon,” Frederic said, a smirk on his face.

“You know that werewolves and witches exist. Is it that much of a stretch to accept that demons do too?” Nicolai asked.

“I can accept that they exist, but not that Peter is one,” I replied. “Or that he’d hurt me.”

“Then explain to me why he affects you the way he does,” Maria said.

“Bring him here,” Frederic said. “I’ll get him to confess.”

Nicolai shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. For all we know, he might try to hold us all in his thrall. The amount of power in this castle is enough to make him far stronger than any of us ever wants him to be.”

“Actually, I think Frederic’s plan just might work,” Maria said. “For an incubus to drain someone’s power, he needs physical contact. He won’t be able to get close enough to all of us at the same time.”

“You guys are out of your minds, you know that?” I said. “And I’m not going to stay here and listen to this madness a minute longer.”

Nicolai called out to me as I stormed out of the room and down the hallway, but I ignored him, refusing to let myself be swayed by the pleading in his voice. I got in my car and drove back to the hospital, hopeful that my father’s doctor had signed off on his discharge. That was the only thing that would save this hell of a day.

“Good news,” Dad said as I walked into his room. He was already dressed. Barry was visiting. “They’re letting me out of here.”

“I still can’t believe what a miraculous recovery you’ve made,” Barry said.

“It’s almost magical,” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that, honey?” Dad asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

Half an hour later, my father signed the discharge instructions that officially released him from the hospital. On our way out, he promised Barry that they’d go fishing in the morning.

After we got home, my father settled down on the couch, but instead of turning the TV on or reaching for his newspaper, he called me over. “Is anything wrong, Willow? It seems like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“You just had a stroke, Dad. I’m still a bit shook up about it.”

My dad put his feet up on the ottoman. “That isn’t it. Something else is going on.” He stared into my eyes, waiting for a response. When I didn’t give him one, he continued, “Am I right?”

A lie perched itself on the tip of my tongue, but I knew my father would see through it. Ever since Maria’s visit last weekend, he’d suspected that something was going on, and the time had come for me to tell him what. When I did, he wouldn’t call me crazy. My mother had been a witch, so he knew magic was real. Werewolves and demons wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

I nodded and took a seat beside him. “Sorry, Daddy. I know you didn’t want me to find out about any of this stuff. But, well, it’s complicated.”

“Delilah told you about your mother, didn’t she?”

I nodded. “Are you angry with her?”

My father sighed. “No. I figured sooner or later you’d learn the truth. What I am is curious. How do the Korzha brothers fit into all this? What is it they want from you?”

I told him about Nicolai’s curse and his brothers’ search for someone who could break it.

“So Maria is teaching you magic?”

“Yes.”

My father sighed. “I get the feeling there’s more to this story. What aren’t you telling me?”

I shook my head and pressed my palms to my temples. “I’m just so confused. I don’t even know where to begin. All I know is that I have to