The Curse Begins

by Abby James

  Ancestries made easy, my Thursday class, right after Looking to the Future: an introduction to divination, gave me no more insight than I gleaned from staring at my files. And McGilus said I would have to wait until I’d completed this load of course work before I could begin Evolutionary Genetics, which was what I was really interested in. If Luca was the beginning of a new evolution of supernatural, what was I? Where did I fall on the evolutionary line?

  I shut the file. It was time I visited the awesome library Bailey had told me about.

  I raced upstairs to put my file away, threw on my trainers and grabbed my scribe. When I came back downstairs into the common room two third year students were slouched back on the long couch drinking mineral water. I’d seen them around Nylph house, but we’d never spoken, so I nodded and said a friendly hi and left the house.

  I was supposed to be in Spell Craft, but had recently discovered no one bothered if I turned up or not. McGilus didn’t know what to do with me, so failed to enforce the rule that I needed to attend all my scheduled classes. It also appeared most of the teachers were happy for me not to turn up despite it being something that was encouraged to foster good factional interrelations.

  And I found it impossible to concentrate on anything anyone said. Sure, that had been my history to date on schooling, but I wasn’t a psychic, elemental manipulator or telekinetic. I didn’t know what it was like to feel these abilities inside of me, which made it hard to have any interest in or to understand the teachers.

  I hadn’t even left the forest when I heard a twig snap. I turned to see a gorgeous looking woman walking toward me through the bushes. She wore a long flowing gossamer dress, which she shouldn’t have bothered putting on because it hid nothing of what lay underneath. Her braless breasts would give any woman tit envy. Add in her long, strong legs and curvaceous hips and the Elert sisters would have a coronary.

  I stared as she came toward me, looking for some imperfection that would sink her to earth and make her look more human. But no, even her thick, long hair, flowing wild and free down her back was the epitome of good shampoo and conditioner.

  “Can I help you?” It seemed funny that I should ask her that, given I was the newbie to Darkwells, but dressed as she was she couldn’t be from around here. While there was no uniform, I’m sure Darkwells dress code stipulated appropriate body coverage.

  “I am looking for Emrol.”

  Of course you are, like every other girl on campus.

  “He’s not here.”

  Fae rarely bothered to attend their assigned classes. Especially any classes that weren’t run by fae teachers. I fast learned their arrogance gave them the belief they had nothing to learn, and many resented the restriction on the use of their ability. Like the vamps, the fae sent representatives more than students, at least that was their perception of themselves.

  “We were to meet at Nylph.”

  “He’s likely held up in class.” Or with one of the Elert sisters.

  “I’m Samara.” I gave her a small wave rather than a offering a handshake. The last thing I needed was to feed on her ability, which looked like it had something to do with mother nature. I’d been humiliated enough at Darkwells I didn’t want to fall under any influence that would have me peeling my clothes and running naked through the forest.

  “Lyra,” Emrol’s voice came from behind me.

  The forest nymph’s face lit up, and she ran past, or should I say glided past, such was her elegance, and into Emrol’s arms. Oh boy, if the Elert sisters were here to watch this. They would hex her with every evil thought they could conjure.

  Emrol wrapped her in a tight embrace, then bent to plant a kiss on her head.

  “You’re coming home aren’t you? Please say you are.”

  Emrol glanced over to me. “Yes, I am.”

  She pouted the cutest pout I had ever seen a woman pull.

  “Samara, I would like you to meet my younger sister, Lyra.”

  That just soothed the inexplicable flickers of jealousy festering in my stomach. She was so gorgeous any woman would be jealous of her. And besides he had made a brief promise to be the only guy to bury his face between my legs. I wanted someone else’s face there more than his, but I couldn’t help but harbor a few tinges when someone as gorgeous as Emrol made a promise like that.

  “We met before you came. It’s nice to meet you.”

  She smiled from inside her brother’s embrace. They sure were affectionate in fae realm.

  “Would you like to join us?” she asked, her beautiful smile lighting up the sun.

  “Three is usually a crowd.” Maybe not where brother and sister were concerned, but I wanted to go to the library, and I wasn’t sure I would feel comfortable in Emrol’s presence for too long. We’d had too many weird run-ins to make being around him outside of a crowd awkward.

  “We’re heading back to the fae realm,” Emrol said, a slow smile spreading across his lips.

  Bastard, he knew that would interest me. Who wouldn’t be curious about the fae realm.

  “Is that allowed?”

  “I can come and go as I please.”

  “I meant can non-fae enter.”

  “If they are invited,” Lyra said. “And I would like to take you. You look nice.”

  “She does, doesn’t she?” His voice was anything but brotherly.

  This time I wasn’t beguiled by his magic, but lured by the possibility of seeing something as close to a fantasy realm as I would ever get. I shrugged, “okay.” The library was forgotten.

  “Come, you shall be my new plaything. I think mother will just love you,” Lyra said as she let go of her brother and wrapped her arm around mine before I could back away.

  Once her ability was inside of me, I didn’t want to back away for everything was so much better when viewed through the eyes of a fae, so much richer and vibrant and exciting. I would happily hold onto a fae if it meant keeping this way of seeing the world, but I could feel the fae’s desire for mischief, their need to control and dominate through subtle manipulation and mind games. While Lyra’s passions became my own, mind games were not something I wanted to be a part of, but separating myself from her without offending her would be hard.

  “Darkwells must be such an exciting place to be.” She leaned in close, wrapping her other hand around my arm. The fae had no personal boundaries. And the weird thing was, at this moment, I didn’t either. I liked the feel of her close to me.

  Emrol walked in front of us, guiding us deeper into the forest, which looked alive like never before. I was captivated by the vivid colors and detail I now saw through my borrowed fae sight. Even more so I was captivated by the woman beside me, acutely aware of her body pressed along side my own.

  This was fae trickery. Lyra was wrapping me up in a web of attraction. I didn’t want to stick my tongue down her throat, so it wasn’t sexual, but I did want to stay with her. And I would say, judging by the way she pressed herself in close to me and ensnared my arm with both of hers, she was stuck in her own beguilement. If only McGilus would help me find a way to control my ability. I didn’t want to have to dodge everyone, fearful of what ability I would suck in and use unintentionally.

  Lyra rested her head on my shoulder, just like a lover, while she stroked a hand up and down my arm. I tried to focus on Emrol’s back to keep myself from reciprocating by taking her hand and running doodles on her palm. This was ridiculous, but enticing and near impossible to stop.

  “You’ll be my pet,” Lyra said, sounding dreamy and ready for sleep.

  When I heard the word pet, part of me tingled with joy. I wanted nothing more than to be her pet. The other half of me, the still sane half, screamed. God, I had to drop her ASAP, but the other half of me already under her spell wasn’t interested. The tug of war was going to split my head.

  “Look, Samara, this is our home. This is your home now,” she purred into my ear.

  And the saner half of me disappeared with the sound of her silken
words, and the sight of the entrance to the fae realm in front of me. I could barely breathe such was the beauty that lay before me.

  “It is magical,” I whispered.

  “Isn’t it,” Lyra purred again, resting her head back down on my shoulder.

  Emrol turned to look behind for the first time since we started walking. “We have arrived at the crossing.”

  He frowned when he saw his sister draping herself all over me.

  “Lyra.” He spoke with caution.

  “Hmmm,” she replied sounding dreamy again.

  Her voice made me feel dreamy.

  “This is a magical place,” I said.

  “You see it?” Emrol asked. It was the biggest question mark I’d ever heard.

  Oh Jesus, was I not supposed to see the fae realm until we’d crossed over? I was so mixed up with fae sight. And did it really matter? With Lyra beside me, breathing softly onto my shoulder I felt too comfortable to care. Once we were in the fae realm I would be happy to sit at her feet all day long so she could pat my hair.

  Emrol strode back to us. “Lyra, honey, why don’t you lead the way through. Let mother know we’re coming.”

  “You do it. I’m happy here.”

  What was he doing? Did he hope to break us up?

  “Why don’t you go speak with mommy dear?” I said. There was a hardness to my voice. Hopefully he got the hint. He wasn’t welcome into our world of two.

  Emrol’s beautiful turquoise eyes turned a deeper shade of green as his eyes narrowed. It was enough to kick my saner side to life. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

  Emrol jerked forward and yanked his sister away from me before either of us could hold tight and resist. I took a swing at him, but he was so tall it never would’ve reached his face and instead landed on his arm because he’d spun away to shield his sister from the crazy human.

  Oh shit, what had I just done. I was blinded by a sudden burst of rage, furious that Emrol should take Lyra from me, so furious I lashed out before I even thought about doing it.

  “Go,” Emrol spoke in an authoritative voice. It came out like a wall, no going around or over. Lyra blinked like she’d woken from a daze. Emrol shook her gently, then pushed her toward the opening to the fae realm. “Go inside.”

  “But…” Poor gorgeous Lyra looked confused.

  And by now her fae beguilement and sight had worn off, and I was looking through human eyes with a clear head. Lyra stumbled away, but I could no longer see the entrance to the fae realm. I needed fae sight for that. All I could see was the forest, back to its dull greens and browns. Even the flowers in bloom were muted compared to how the fae saw them.

  She stumbled through the trees and disappeared, leaving me to face her brother, and he didn’t look in a good mood.

  He took a step toward me. “You’re playing games with us.”

  “I’m not. I swear. It’s you fae that keep playing the games.”

  “What did you do to me the other day in the corridor?”

  “What did you do to me? I never kiss strange men in front of a crowd of strangers? You used beguilement, didn’t you. Something that is banned at Darkwells. What happens to fae who break the rules?”

  Emrol seized my two wrists and yanked me close. “Are you threatening me?”

  I felt the sudden rush of fae inside of me, smelt the fresh earthiness of the forest, saw the shimmer of sunlight like a glittering ray of stardust and the burst of color surrounding us, but I felt nothing from Emrol. He’d withheld his mind games because he knew. Maybe not everything, but he suspected I was manipulating their ability for my own gain.

  He leaned down as he pulled me close. “Don’t play with me, Samara. I am a lethal enemy.”

  I stared into his eyes, which had taken on the wild undercurrents of an angry dark green sea. “I don’t want to be your enemy.”

  “Then leave my sister alone. You can play your games with me, but you will not harm my sister.”

  “I don’t want to harm anyone.”

  His stare pierced through mine looking for the lie. “You are not welcome in our realm.”

  “I didn’t want to go in the first place.”

  “You didn’t let me finish. You are not welcome in our realm as a guest. You will come as my prisoner.”

  “What?”

  “I will set you before the fae queen and see what she thinks of you. Mind, she doesn’t take to humans very well. You’re all inferior creatures.”

  “Didn’t you say you wanted to be the only one with his face buried between my legs not so long ago?” It was the only thing I could think to get myself out of this.

  His brow furrowed. There was no calming that stormy sea inside his eyes.

  He let go of one wrist, but used the other to yank me forward. Now with his sight I could see the entrance again, see the other side with its fairy tale like scene. Color burst into my eyes, the brightest greens of the forest, the deep hues of red, blue and yellow. Small lights flittered through the forest. Strange eyes from even stranger animals glared out at me.

  “McGilus is expecting me, Emrol. You can’t take me in there.”

  “Fae can do what we want.”

  “If you kidnap me, they will kick the fae out of Darkwells, bar your race from ever entering again. This is not in line with the Darkwells ethos of building bridges between factions.”

  Emrol spun to face me. “Do you think we need this place? Do you think that we care what you humans say or do?”

  He yanked me toward the entrance again.

  “It’s not me, honestly. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t control it.”

  Emrol stopped and looked down at me. “Human’s do nothing but lie.”

  “That’s true, but this is not a lie. I honestly don’t know what the hell is going on with me. Neither does McGilus.”

  His eyes narrowed again. This time I got the sense he was dissecting me. “McGilus has had you attending mixed classes these last few weeks.”

  “He doesn’t know what my ability is. He thinks it will help wake up whatever is blocked inside if I attend different classes.”

  Emrol shook his head. “That was a lie.”

  Dammit. Fae were lie detectors?

  “No, it’s not. He’s struggling with me.”

  “Why would Ms Lane think you were an empath?”

  “I don’t know. She made a mistake though. McGilus is sure of it. But he doesn’t know what is going on.” That was as close to the truth as I dared go.

  “You used my sister’s ability against her. You had her acting like a love sick puppy,” he all but spat the accusation.

  “No I didn’t.” I tried for an innocent face. “Was that what she was doing? I didn’t notice. I thought all you fae acted like that.”

  I crashed into his body as Emrol swept me close. In different circumstances pressing this close to a hot guy would fire the heat in my nether regions and set good feelings afloat. Instead I amped on adrenaline.

  “I give you none of my ability, and I feel unaffected in return.”

  “How did you expect to feel?”

  He peered down at me. “So what is it you do, Samara? What tricks do you play?”

  “I don’t know any tricks.” He was not going to let this go.

  There was no way out except to confess, but to a fae? They were perhaps the last supe who should know about me, alongside Luca. This was a shit mess. And the only escape I could think was to beguile Emrol into letting me go. Sure he wasn’t feeding his magic into me, but McGilus said I could suck a supes ability from them, which meant Emrol didn’t have to give me his ability for me to be able to use it. I could take it from him. God that would piss him off, and expose me, I guess, but I wasn’t going to the fae realm, where they could hold me hostage and dissect me.

  Problem was I didn’t know how to take another’s ability, especially when they were barring it from me, like Emrol was now. I had his fae sight, but there was no hint of anything flowing from him to me
. I didn’t know any bloody thing about my ability. I couldn’t make it work when I wanted it to.

  Emrol’s eyes flicked over my head in surprise. His eyes narrowed, this time with more menace than they had held when he looked at me.

  I spun out of Emrol’s grasp to find Luca standing behind us. I inhaled a sharp breath filled with a combination of relief and anxiousness. Christ not the two supes I felt the greatest need to keep my ability hidden from.

  “You’re treading dangerously close don’t you think?” Emrol said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

  “I’m willing to get closer while you have something I want.”

  “The mighty Luca has come down from his tower to chase a girl”

  Luca remained unruffled by the taunt in Emrol’s voice. “She’s coming back with me.” His eyes did not waver from Emrol’s.

  “Do you know who you are protecting?”

  “A student of Darkwells.”

  “She is more than that.”

  “As a student of Darkwells’ she is under my protection.”

  “You’ve never bothered with students before.”

  Luca released Emrol from his unrelenting stare and shifted it to me instead. It was better when his dark eyes were drilling into Emrol.

  “Return to Nylph, now.”

  No need to get bossy with me just because he and the fae hated each other.

  “You don’t know who you’re protecting.”

  “I’m sure your mother is waiting,” Luca said as he turned his back and walked away.

  I scooted after him, not daring to look around to see the evil eye Emrol was no doubt giving us.

  Once along side Luca, I said, “close one. Thanks for that.”

  “What were you doing with him this close to the fae realm?” He sounded accusatory.

  “It wasn’t my choice.” Oh geez. It had been. “I ran into his sister and she invited me to visit them in fae land. I didn’t see the harm in going.”