Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy Belle Malory (highly recommended books .txt) 📖

“Riley gave me a poisonous bracelet,” I said. I needed to give him an explanation, even if he hadn’t asked for one. “It made everything seem more pressing. Like I needed to act fast.”

Xander stopped, turning to face me. “Does she know about the curse?”

I shrugged under his arm. “I’m not sure.”

“Damn.” He let out a breath, then started up the walkway again. “I can see how that would’ve scared you.”

Up ahead, the door opened, and out stepped Ione. Her arms were crossed over her chest, all the fury I’d been expecting from Xander in her expression. Great. Now there were two Ariuses to contend with.

“Did you find her in time?” she asked.

Xander nodded.

“How did you find me?” I said, as he helped me up the front porch steps.

“After last night, I figured you would come today. Vanisher always does his runs on the weekends. Then, I ran into Hazel at the port, and she told me everything.”

Ah, Hazel. I didn’t even blame her for ratting me out. If the situation had been reversed, I would have freaked and done the same.

Ione moved to hold open the door. “Put her on the sofa.”

Xander did as she asked, moving me into a small, beach-themed living room with wicker furniture and views of the sea outside the French doors. Propping a pillow behind me, he set me down, then disappeared into the hallway. Moments later, he returned with a blanket and a glass of ice water.

“Thank you,” Ione said stiffly. “You may leave now.”

Xander shook his head. “No way—”

“I said, leave.”

The lines in his face hardened, and he curled his hands into fists. The two of them had a mini-showdown. Based on the scary as hell look in Ione’s eyes, I kind of hoped Xander would win.

“What are you planning to tell her?”

Ione straightened her spine. “Nothing about you,” she said. “But my story is mine to tell.”

Xander frowned. After a few long, tense moments, he nodded, then left through the front door.

My stomach twisted in knots. “Look, I already feel like crap,” I said as Ione turned to face me. “Honestly, I get it. I did a really stupid thing.”

“Drink,” she ordered, nodding to the water. “The sooner you flush the toxins out, the better you’ll feel—and you don’t get the half of it.”

I did as she instructed, forcing the water down with small sips.

She sat across from me in one of the wicker chairs and folded her hands in her lap, her face totally unreadable. “Are you hallucinating?”

I flinched, wondering how she knew about that. “Not anymore. My head is pounding, but I feel more alert than I did earlier.”

She nodded. “Effects of hiberia. It’s the name of the potion the Curse Breaker gave you. Makes you lose consciousness, and then you begin to hallucinate. Usually, visions only the darkest parts of your soul could conjure.”

I shivered, remembering Riley’s chilling empty smile. “It made me see things,” I said, my voice scratchy. “Things I know weren’t real, but they felt real.”

“Hiberia forces the user to face what they’re hiding from. What you saw were your own personal demons.”

“How do you know so much about it?”

Ione swallowed. “I underwent the same procedure.”

I stared at her, horrified. That would mean—

“Except no one came to stop mine.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“I want to tell you about it,” she said, her voice entirely too steady for comfort. We could almost be discussing the weather and not curses. “But first, I need you to promise you will never repeat what’s said in this room.”

I had a feeling she was about to go somewhere she shouldn’t, and that she was about to say things she couldn’t take back. “You don’t need to explain or tell me anything, Ione.”

Her gaze sliced into me. “I said promise.”

I gulped. “Okay. I promise.”

“Good.” She looked out the glass doors, thinking. “I guess I should start with what you’ve already heard—that the Ariuses are Hollows.”

Oh God. Here we go, already on subjects we shouldn’t be on. Xander swore he wasn’t one under the ollodipher, and for me, that was enough.

“It’s half true,” she admitted. “On my father’s side. My mother was unaware when she married him. He didn’t reveal his secrets until they already had children.”

Well, damn.

She just let all her family’s dirty laundry out of the bag.

“By the way, Xander didn’t want you to know any of this. He’s ashamed, but considering your own family history, I feel like you’ll be able to relate. And for whatever reason, I trust you.”

“Why?” I was genuinely curious. We hadn’t known each other that long.

Ione shrugged. “It’s an Aphrodite thing, that sense of knowing I told you about, remember?”

I nodded.

“Anyway, my father expected my mother to fall into his way of life out of love or god knows what. When she didn’t, he had his family curse me. Either we all submitted and pledged ourselves as Hollows, or I’d be dead within a year’s time.”

I blinked. “Whoa.”

“Yes, it was no small deal. In order to create that kind of curse, a life must be taken, which is horrifying to think about…it means the Hollows wanted our pledge so badly, one of them sacrificed themselves to see it through.”

“That’s crazy.” I shook my head. “Why was your pledge so important to them?”

“Because they want the most powerful mages in their ranks, to help fight for the freedom to pursue dark magic. But Xander’s was the one they really wanted. He has certain gifts the Hollows desire. They couldn’t get to him, so they used me instead. I was young and naïve, the perfect victim. When my father brought me to the cursing ceremony, I didn’t even know what was going on. They had my blood, my hair—everything they needed.” She shook herself, curling her hands into fists at her sides. “Who does that to their own child? On Zeus’s grave, I swear that man is a psychopath.”

I’d never heard