Cursed Hadley (Lengthened Version) (Cursed Hadley #1)

by Jessica Sorensen

  “You know, you have a really bad habit of popping up out of nowhere.” I scoot to the edge of the bed.

  “You call it a habit. I call it a gift.” She snaps her fingers at me. “Now get your ass up. I have a message to deliver to my brothers.”

  I lower my feet to the floor and stand up, stretching my arms above my head. “Are they really your brothers?”

  “They’re the closest thing I have to family,” she says as she floats toward the door.

  “Wait.” I hurry after her. “What I just saw… My mom… Was that real?”

  “It was and it wasn’t,” she answers with a shrug.

  I shake my head. “What does that even mean?”

  “It means that she was real in your dream, but outside of that, she’s not.” Shrugging, she zips through the wall.

  I sigh in frustration. Are all ghost this vague and riddle-y?

  A beat after she zooms through the wall, I hear cursing from in the living room area

  “What the fuck?” Rhyland says. “Scar, what’re you doing here?”

  “And why were you in Hadley’s room?” Blaise asks confusedly.

  “Oh chill out. I’d never hurt your little cursed fire reaper. I was just talking to her.” Scarlett says and I can practically hear the eye roll through her tone. “She seems nice. Although, a little clueless.”

  I press my ear to the door and listen.

  “Cut her some slack. She just barely learned about our world.” This coming from Jaxon.

  “She may have barely learned about it, but our world has had their eye on her since the day she was born,” Scarlett replies, no longer sounding amused but worried.

  “What do you mean?” Alex asks. When Scarlett doesn’t answer, he demands. “Scar, tell us what you know.”

  “I don’t know everything,” she says. “But I do know that one of the oldest darknesses that has ever existed is after her.”

  Silence stretches between them.

  “Why?” Rhyland finally asks. “If she’s just a cursed fire reaper, why would a darkness want her?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that the darkness wants her, but it can’t get to her itself.” She gives a long pause then heaves a dramatic sigh. “You know, it’s really hard being a ghost. I mean, we’re not supposed to talk about anything that could alter the future, yet The Essences give us all this knowledge that we’re not supposed to talk about. It’s so annoying.”

  “I’m sorry, Scar. I really am,” Jaxon says. “If we could change things for you, we would.”

  “Whatever. I don’t need your pity. I just came here to tell you what I could,” she snaps. “And now I have to go.”

  I step back right as she breezes through the door, almost floating right through me.

  “You need to be careful,” she warns, hovering in front of me, smoke funneling around her. “If this darkness gets ahold of you, all the worlds will suffer.” Then, like my mom did, she starts to fade.

  “Wait,” I call out. “Where’s my mom?”

  Her eyes turn cold. “If I were you, I’d stop looking for her. And I wouldn’t use the necklace again to bring her here. She gets punished for it.”

  “Punished by who?” I ask, but she poofs away, leaving her final words weighing down on me.

  Just where exactly is my mom?

  My gaze skates to the door. Maybe they know something.

  Squaring my shoulders, I throw open the door and march out—

  I smack straight into Alex’s chest.

  “Who taught you how to walk, Little Daredevil?” He steadies me by the shoulders.

  I ignore his question. “Where’s my mom?” When they all look at me funny, I add, “I mean, I know she died, but she’s a ghost so… Where do ghosts go when they’re not floating around?”

  Rhyland steps up beside me, confusion crinkling his forehead. “How do you know she’s a ghost?”

  I shrug, the movement awkward with Alex’s hands on my shoulder. “You’re sister told me the day I died. Plus, I just saw her in a dream.”

  “Scarlett’s been talking to you since then?” Alex questions, trading a concerned look with Rhyland.

  “Yeah, and she’s told me lots and lots of interesting things about you guys,” I lie and get rewarded when they squirm. “But seriously, where do ghosts go?”

  Alex looks at Rhyland again, who works his jaw from side to side.

  “That all depends,” Alex says, directing his gaze back to me.

  “On what?”

  “On how she died.”

  “It was in a car accident. Or well, she was drag racing.” I force down the lump welling in my throat.

  “Are you sure?” Alex asks, his hand sliding down to my sides.

  I nod. “I was there… I saw it… I saw the reapers…” I clear my throat as tears burn in my eyes.

  Alex traces circles on my sides with his fingertips. “If you want the truth, I can tell you the truth, but it’s going to be hard to hear.”

  I imagine my heart would be racing by now if it weren’t dead in my chest. “I want the truth.”

  Disappointment and worry masks his features. “The truth is that if your mom died in a car accident, her ghost wouldn’t be able to visit you.”

  “But she did die in an accident,” I say. “And she did visit me… I know it was her.”

  “Then she didn’t die in an accident.” Blaise rises from the chair and crosses the room to stand by Alex.

  Jaxon steps up beside Rhyland, forming a sort of a hot guy, grim reaper wall in front of me, which makes me question if whatever they’re about to tell me makes them think I’m going to try to flee.

  “Only ghosts whose lives were either stolen or who had tainted souls can roam the world,” Blaise explains cautiously. “And as far as we can tell, your mother’s soul was pure.”

  “She is… She was a really good mother.” I smash my lips together as tears well in my eyes. Alex wears a sympathetic expression as he starts to reach for me, but I turn, hiding my face while I collect myself.

  I need to keep it together, like I always do. Another deep breath then another.

  Come on, pull yourself together.

  “Baby, it’s okay to hurt,” Alex says, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

  “I’m fine.” Once my tears are dry, I go right back to the conversation, pretending like I didn’t just nearly crumble in front of him. “How do you know my mom was a good person, unless you’ve met her before?”

  Alex doesn’t answer me right away, assessing me with a hint of worry. “We already told you we can look at people and see the aspects of how death affects them. Since your mother has died, we can get a pretty good read on her through your eyes. And from what we can tell, she seems pure.”

  “Then you should know that she died in an accident.” My legs tremble. I’m starting to break, but I try to hold onto what little strength I have left.

  Suck it up, Hadley. You’re tougher than this.

  “From what we’ve seen through you, she did.” Alex treads carefully. “However, if her ghost did appear in your dream, then how you thought you saw her die isn’t accurate.”

  “So you’re saying someone murdered her?” Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick.

  “I don’t know,” Alex answers honestly. “But there are ways of finding out.”

  “Can’t you just ask Scarlett?” I sound pathetically desperate.

  Alex shakes his head, pain flooding his eyes. “Sadly, ghosts can’t talk about much of anything other than mundane nonsense.”

  “It’s why Scarlett always gives such vague fucking answers whenever we ask her questions.” Blaise steps back, yanking his fingers roughly through his hair, sorrow reflecting in his eyes.

  Something else dawns on me then.

  “You said that ghosts who can roam around had their lives stolen,” I say, my chest pressurizing. “Does that mean your sister did?”

  Alex pales while Rhyland walks toward the bar.

&
nbsp; Jaxon turns around, lowering his head into his hands.

  “It’s okay.” Blaise pats Jaxon on the back.

  “Sorry.” I feel like an asshole. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

  “It’s fine. If Scarlett’s talking to you, you should probably know her story.” Alex takes my hand and leads me to the sofa, sitting down and pulling me with him. “Scarlett isn’t really our sister,” he says as Blaise takes a seat across from us.

  I glance over my shoulder as Jaxon dashes out of the room. Rhyland sighs, hurrying after him.

  “Then what is she to you?” I look back at Alex.

  “The five of us grew up in an orphanage,” he explains. “But we were close.”

  “A reaper orphanage?” My chest twinges again.

  Alex nods, sinking back in the chair and turning to face me. “It’s actually not that uncommon amongst our kind to be parentless.” He tries for a smile, but fails miserably. “Reapers make terrible parents.”

  “I’m sorry.” I place a hand on his arm. “Whether your parents were horrible or not, I’m sure that had to be hard.”

  He covers his hand over mine as I start to withdraw. “You’re life hasn’t been easy either.”

  “Yeah, but I had my sisters.” I swallow hard. Had, in the past tense.

  “And I had my brothers and sister. “ He gives my hand a squeeze. “We may have only met in the orphanage but we bonded deeply over our mutual interest in causing havoc.” His lips quirk.

  “Sounds about right,” I quip, trying to lighten the mood.

  “That’s why you fit so well with us.” An artful smirk carves across his face. “You little havoc bringer.”

  I roll my eyes so hard they nearly get stuck in my damn head. “Please don’t start calling me that.”

  “Oh, I won’t.” He winks at me. “I much prefer Little Daredevil.” His humor fizzles. “Sadly, though, it was our interest in havoc that caused Scarlett’s life to end before her time.”

  I swallow audibly. “What happened… You know what? Forget I asked that. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  His gaze glides to Blaise, who’s dazing off into empty space, the portrait of misery. “We decided to play a little trick on our Master.” Alex returns his attention to me. “Unfortunately, our Master didn’t find it funny and decided we needed to be punished.”

  My chest starts to throb, as if my heart is begging to come back to life and ache for them. “She killed Scarlett.” Pain winds through my veins, twining through my bones.

  He gives a small nod then reaches for a glass on the table that’s filled with a golden liquid. “We made a vow that day to find a way to bring her back to us.” He takes a long drink before setting the glass down. “Unfortunately, so far, all we’ve been able to do is bring her ghost to us. And while it’s nice to see her whenever she can visit—”

  “She’s hardly the Scarlett we knew,” Blaise says, his eyes overflowing with so much pain that when he locks gazes with me, I feel as though I’m drowning in a sea of anguish. “You should remember that if you see your mom again. That she’s only a shadow of the person she once was.”

  “Scarlett said I shouldn’t try to see her again,” I say, swiping a tear away that manages to escape. “She said my mom would be punished if I did.”

  Blaise glances at Alex, worry written all over his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I straighten, pulling my hand away from Alex’s arm.

  Alex swiftly shakes his head. “It’s nothing. We’re just wondering how your mother could’ve died.”

  “That’s not what’s wrong,” I sniffle, tears streaming down my cheeks. “You’re keeping something from me.”

  What the shit? Since when do I cry and how do I turn it off?

  “Baby, don’t cry.” Alex’s fingers skim my cheeks, wiping away the tears. “Everything’ll be fine. Just give us some time to get some answers.”

  “Everything’s not going to be fine. My mom’s a ghost and probably was murdered. My sisters are happy without me, and some sort of old darkness is after me, whatever the hell that is. Plus, I have, like maybe three days tops to find another way to save myself without drinking from a bunch of reapers.” More tears pour from my eyes and drip down my cheeks. “And I don’t even know why I’m crying. I never cry, but it’s like I’m fucking broken.”

  “You’re not broken,” Alex promises, splaying his fingers around the back my head and urging me toward him.

  I collapse against him, burying my head into his shirt. “Yes, I am. Because I’m sitting here crying against your shirt and highly aware that you smell like magical curses and wonderful darkness, which doesn’t even make any sense,” I murmur. “Those things aren’t supposed to have a scent.”

  He kisses the top of my head. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re not an ugly crier.”

  I lift my head and narrow my eyes at him. “I wouldn’t care if I was.”

  “Now, now, we both know that my opinion is the most important thing to you,” he teases with a grin.

  “Bullshit.” Blaise rises to his feet, winds around the table, and plops down onto the sofa beside me. “She likes me way better.”

  I snort. “Okay.”

  Blaise haughtily grins. “Oh come on sweetheart. Admit it. You liked me the moment you told me to go fuck myself.”

  I pat his head. “Hate to break your little grim reaper ego, but that’s not a term of endearment.”

  Blaise rubs his jawline. “Maybe so, but you definitely started liking me when I saved your ass in the library.”

  I roll my eyes again, on the verge of smiling, my eyes nearly dry. I realize what they’ve been doing, distracting me from my pain. But how can they know me so well? How did they know just what to say that would get me to stop crying?

  “Feel better?” Alex asks, drying the last of my tears away with his fingertips.

  “Maybe a little bit,” I admit. “But I feel like my moods are all over the place.”

  Alex plays with strands of my hair. “It’s because you haven’t fed properly.”

  My gaze dances between him and Blaise. “I thought you guys said eating the artificial souls would help?”

  “Yeah, about that.” Blaise gives me an apologetic look as he scoots closer. “Apparently, you’re body doesn’t react well to fake souls.”

  “So I really am broken?” I pout.

  He smiles, guiding my lip back into place with his finger. “No, just different.”

  “Different from what? From other cursed fire reapers?”

  They trade an unreadable glance from over my head.

  “We think you might be,” Blaise says, looking back at me. “And that’s why this thing is after you.”

  A frown tugs at my lips. “You mean, the darkness. What is that even? Because I picture it as some giant, dark storm cloud, but I’m betting that’s not how it looks.”

  Blaise’s throat muscles work as he swallows hard and Alex’s fingers go still in my hair.

  “For now, lets just let you picture it as that,” Blaise says in a quiet tone that sends a shiver up my spine.

  I shake my head. “No, I want to—”

  He brushes his lips across mine.

  “Hey, stop that,” I start to protest, but he silences me with another kiss.

  “Every time you talk, I’m going to punish you with a kiss,” he warns, spreading his hands across my legs.

  “No, you’re not—” Again, he quiets me with a kiss. I try to lean back, but my head bumps into Alex’s chest. He chuckles and I elbow him in the side, but he only laughs. “Assholes—” Another kiss. “Goddammit Blaise—” As his lips seal to mine again, I growl in frustration and sink my teeth into his lip.

  “Don’t start that again,” he groans, his fingers digging into my thighs. “You’re going to get me all riled up.”

  “Then stop kissing me.” I nip at his lips again.

  My anger on the outside might be a façade because deep down, a p
art of me is enjoying this.

  “I will, but only if you relax,” Blaise murmurs with his eyes shut.

  “I’ll try to.” I gently push him away and his eyelids flutter open. “I just want some answers.”

  “We know.” Alex grazes his lips across the back of my neck. “So do we.”

  Fear seeps into my bones at the revelation that they might be seeking answers just as much as I am.

  “So what do we do next?” I ask as Alex kisses the back of my neck again.

  “Now, you go take a bath,” Alex says. “It’s been over four days since you’ve washed.”

  “Yuck.” Blaise shudders. When I crack a grin and smack him in the chest, he laughs. “Don’t worry, you still smell lovely.”

  “And you look as beautiful and delicious as ever,” Alex adds, rotating me around to face him. “But it might help you relax if you went and soaked in a bath.”

  Why do I get the feeling they’re trying to get rid of me?

  Part of me wants to be stubborn and stay, but I could really use a time out from all the kissing and flirting and worry….

  Well, at least the latter. The other two I’m not so sure.

  Chapter 21

  Okay, so this is probably going to sound super strange, but I haven’t taken a bath since my mom passed away. Not because I don’t like baths, but most of the homes we lived in over the years only had showers. And if they did have tubs, they were stained with years of filth and grime.

  The bathtub in the Porterson brothers’ hotel room is so clean it shines. It’s also surrounded by steps and curtains and is huge, probably even bigger than my old bedroom.

  Old bedroom? There I go again, thinking in the past tense. I need to stop that. Everything will eventually go back to normal soon.

  Will it, though?

  As I soak in the tub filled with magic scented bubble bath, I can’t help but wonder if the life I once knew is never going to exist again. And maybe it never did exist, if Alex and Blaise are right, and my mom was murdered. Did anyone suspect her death might’ve not been an accident? My dad was a detective back then. It seems like if she was murdered, he’d have suspicions. Perhaps, though, that’s why he’s been acting like an asshat since she died. Or maybe he’s clueless and just turned into a bad guy without my mom around.