Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

it operates. I hate to admit it, but it’s a very complex charm, far beyond my abilities. I might study it for years and not fully understand it.” He pointed to my wrist. “Oh, and one other thing. It’s also connected to yours, and I believe, one other charm.”

“A third?” I turned toward Cabrina, who was watching us with interest. “Your bracelet is the third one, isn’t it?” I asked her.

Cabrina smiled at me but said nothing. She finished her braid and sat up straight, once more smoothing out her skirt. The youth finally pulled up her dress’s sleeve to show us the bracelet she had displayed earlier. “I told you already,” she said. “Take the bracelets off, and our bodies die. All three of us.”

“You too?”

She nodded.

I looked to Rourke for confirmation, but he just shrugged. “I can’t say whether she’s right or not. The princess may have been able to tell, but I have no idea.”

I shook my head and glared at Cabrina. “Why? Why did you do it?”

She didn’t answer.

I frowned and turned to Fumiko. “Were you able to find out anything?”

Fumiko snorted. “Spraggel has been a whirlwind of investigation. I think he’s called in every favor anyone has ever owed him. According to what he’s found so far, Cabrina is exactly as she appears—a girl with myst abilities attending school. Her parents are extremely loyal and noticed nothing unusual about her behavior. Same story from her friends. Nothing extraordinary, except for the substitution. The day before the girl originally chosen was to leave, she took ill and nearly died. It left her too weak to come.” Fumiko took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She was diagnosed with food poisoning. Not surprising since our supplies are in such bad shape. But it could have easily hid a different type of poison.” Fumiko turned her gaze on our captive. It was cold as ice. “Couldn’t it, Cabrina?”

Cabrina just smiled and shrugged.

I sighed. “What about Maggie?”

Fumiko frowned. “We’ve confined her to her room. She is very distraught over what happened and has cooperated with us as best she can. More importantly, she is not possessed by a Dark Avenyts.” Fumiko shook her head sadly. “No, it appears she was simply used to get close to you and the princess.”

“Maggie had nothing to do with this,” Cabrina interjected. “I’m the one that put the charms on the bracelets.” She sat up straighter and leaned forward on her stool, showing the first concern I had seen in her. “It was all me. I’m the guilty one.”

I grasped the bars of her cell and leaned against them. “You realize Maggie is technically an accomplice. She made the bracelets and carried them inside the castle. That’s enough to execute her right there.”

Cabrina sat back in thought. After a moment, a slow smile came to her face. “If you want me to answer your questions, you will release her and bring no charges. She was my tool. Nothing more. She worships both you and the princess, so there is no way she would knowingly cause you harm.”

“I’m not sure the magistrate will go along with that.”

“You’re the Cursed Knight. They will listen to you. It is the only way you’ll get your questions answered.”

“How do I know you’ll keep your word.”

She shrugged. “I will keep my word, as you will keep yours.”

“Are you sure?”

She smiled. “You’re the Cursed Knight. Maggie has told me enough about you that I have a good idea of your character.”

I sighed. “All right. I’ll speak with the magistrate to dismiss the charges.”

Cabrina sat forward. “And she stays at the school. She wants to attend very badly.”

I nodded. “And she stays in school.”

The youth smiled. “Now what would you like to know?”

I thought for a moment. “Why did you do it?”

She shrugged. “I assume it was to make it easier for my kind to take over this world, but other than that, I’m not sure. I was just given the bracelets and instructed on what to do. I am of low cothe, so they did not tell me what this was for.”

“Cothe?” I asked. “What is that?”

Fumiko answered for her. “There’s no word for it in Ellish. It’s a combination of caste and rank. She’s basically saying she’s young, low-born, and a common foot soldier.”

I glanced in Fumiko’s direction, but her face was expressionless. Fumiko had been possessed by one of their kind for a few months. She never spoke of the experience, but we knew it bothered her greatly. Not only had it taken control of her body, but it had also riffled through the knowledge in her brain as one would the books in an archive. But I hadn’t considered that knowledge may have also flowed the other way.

Cabrina smiled at Fumiko. “You must be the one whose exemplar was murdered. I bet you feel naked now with no one to whisper to you.”

Fumiko glared at her but did not answer.

I looked back to Cabrina. I had to ask the obvious question. “Why didn’t you just kill us instead of incapacitating us? Risten just the other day seemed pretty intent on it.”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it does seem strange even to me. Killing would have been more efficient.”

I considered Cabrina for a moment. “And why didn’t you just switch to a new host after giving us the charms. You could have gotten away and left the girl behind.”

Cabrina nodded. “Moving from one body to another is fairly quick, but not instantaneous. Besides, I ran out of myst when I activated the charms. They were very myst intensive. And when my kind doesn’t have enough, we lose consciousness.”

“Where are the others? Who helped you?”

She shrugged. “Last I saw them, they were headed into the woods close