"Don't scream."
The words came from right beside me, and I did scream. I couldn't help it. My hand flew to my chest, where my heart was trying to pound its way out of my body.
Prince Kael was somehow inside the carriage again, though I never saw or heard him enter. His dark clothes were torn in places, and there was blood on his hands. I couldn't tell if it was his or something else's.
"I told you not to scream," he said, but there was no anger in his voice. If anything, he sounded tired.
"You told me not to scream before you appeared out of nowhere like a ghost!"
I pressed myself against the far side of the carriage, trying to put distance between us.
"How did you even—"
"We don't have time for questions." He moved to the window, peering out into the darkness. "We need to leave. Now."
"The horses—"
"Are gone. Dead or scattered, it doesn't matter which." He turned back to me. "Can you run?"
I stared at him. "What?"
"Can. You. Run." Each word was careful, deliberate. "In that dress. In those shoes. Can you run?"
I looked down at my wedding gown, beautiful, elaborate, and completely impractical. "I... I don't know. I've never tried—"
"Take it off."
My eyes went wide. "I will not!"
"Princess." His voice was sharp now. "There are three shadow beasts circling us right now. My men are either dead or dying. The carriage won't protect you. Your modesty definitely won't protect you. So either take off that dress, or I'll tear it off you myself, but either way, we're running in the next thirty seconds."
I'd never heard anyone speak to me like that. Part of me wanted to slap him. Part of me was terrified. And a very small, very unexpected part of me was... impressed?
"Turn around," I demanded.
"Princess"
"Turn. Around."
He sighed but did as I asked, facing the opposite window. I stood, difficult in the cramped, shaking carriage and struggled with the buttons at the back of my dress. There were dozens of them. Hundreds, maybe. And my hands were shaking too hard to work properly.
"Problem?" Kael asked without turning around.
"The buttons. I can't, Mira always helps me"
"Who's Mira?"
"My handmaid. My friend." My voice cracked on the last word.
Mira was so far away now. Everyone was far away. "I can't reach all the buttons."
Another heavy impact rocked the carriage. Something roared outside, so close I could feel the vibration in my bones.
"We're out of time," Kael said. Before I could respond, he turned and closed the distance between us in one fluid movement.
"Hold still."
His hands were on my back, at the buttons. I felt him grip the fabric of my dress.
"Wait—"
He tore the dress open from neck to waist in one violent motion. Buttons scattered everywhere, clicking against the floor like hail.
"Are you insane?!" I clutched the remains of my bodice to my chest, trying to keep it from falling completely.
"Yes," he said flatly. "Now take it off. There should be something underneath you can move in."
There was a thin white slip, more for modesty under the sheer parts of the dress than actual coverage. But it was lighter, simpler. I could run in it.
I turned away from him and let the ruined wedding gown fall. The air in the carriage was cold against my bare arms and shoulders. I felt exposed, vulnerable. But I was still alive.
"The shoes too," Kael added.
I kicked off the delicate slippers my mother had chosen. They were beautiful and utterly useless.
"Ready?" he asked.
"No."
"Good enough."
He reached for the door handle. "When we go out, you stay close to me. Don't stop running, no matter what you see or hear. Head toward the treeline on the left, there's a ravine beyond it. If we can reach that—"
"If?"
He looked at me, and in the dim light of the carriage, his gray eyes almost seemed to glow. "Princess, I'm not going to lie to you. We might die tonight. But if you trust me, if you do exactly what I say, we have a chance."
Trust him. Trust the cursed prince. Trust the monster.
Did I have a choice?
"I trust you," I whispered. I wasn't sure if it was true, but it was what he needed to hear.
Something in his expression softened, just for a moment. "Then let's go."
He kicked the carriage door open and jumped out. I followed, barefoot and terrified, into the nightmare.
The forest was chaotic.
Bodies lay scattered on the ground—guards in my father's colors, their weapons still clutched in dead hands. The carriage horses were gone, like Kael said. Blood was everywhere, black in the moonlight.
And there were the things.
Shadow beasts. That's what Kael had called them. They looked like wolves, but wrong. Twisted. Their bodies seemed to be made of smoke and darkness, constantly shifting, never quite solid. Their eyes glowed red, and when they moved, they made no sound.
There were three of them, like Kael said. They circled us, watching. Waiting.
"The treeline," Kael reminded me quietly. "On my signal, you run. Don't look back."
"What about you?"
"I'll be right behind you."
That was a lie. I knew it was a lie. He was going to stay and fight these things to give me time to escape.
Before I could argue, one of the beasts lunged.
Kael moved faster than should have been possible. He met the creature mid-leap with his bare hands, no weapon, no shield and they collided with a force that shook the ground. The beast snapped at his throat with jaws that looked capable of severing stone. Kael twisted, avoiding the bite, and brought his fist down on the creature's head.
The beast dissolved into smoke. Just... vanished.
But the other two were already moving.
"Run!" Kael shouted.
I ran.
I'd never run like that before. Not in my entire pampered, protected life. I ran like the world was ending. Like death itself was chasing me.
Which, I suppose, it was.
My bare feet hit the ground hard, stones and roots cutting into them. My slip caught on branches, tore, came loose. I didn't care. I could hear the fighting behind me—growling, cursing, the sound of impact. I could hear Kael's voice, saying something I didn't understand in a language that sounded old and dark and powerful.
And then I heard footsteps behind me. Running. Getting closer.
Don't look back, Kael had said. Don't look back.
But I did.
I looked back, and I saw something that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
The shadow I'd seen before, the one shaped like a man was fighting the remaining beasts. It moved like Kael moved. Fought like Kael fought. And where the real Kael was struggling, bleeding from a dozen cuts, the shadow was winning. Destroying. It tore through the creatures with claws made of pure darkness, and when it opened its mouth, nothing came out but silence and death.
The curse. This was the curse.
The shadow was part of him. Or he was part of it. Or they were the same thing, and Kael was just the human face of something far more terrible.
I stumbled, nearly fell, and forced myself to keep running.
The treeline was ahead. The ravine beyond. If I could just reach
it
Something slammed into me from the side.
I hit the ground hard, all the air leaving my lungs. Pain exploded through my shoulder, my hip, my head. For a moment I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't think.
When my vision cleared, I saw red eyes inches from my face.