The Curse Begins

by Abby James

  “I could compel you to surrender to me.”

  I swallowed. “You would be no better than Emrol.”

  “And that is why I have not compelled you to obey me. I have been honest with you.”

  “Not the bit about why you wanted me to come.”

  “And would you have come if you had known the reason why?”

  “Of course not. It’s still false pretenses. And why do you want to help me? McGilus is doing a fine job of that.”

  “Now who is lying?”

  Asshole, was he reading my mind. Could vampires do that?

  “Rumors on the streets have caught my ear. Unsettling rumors. Dangerous rumors.”

  “What does that have to do with me?”

  “The rumors are about you.”

  “Me? What do they say?”

  Not only was my blood pooling down into my toes, so was the rest of my organs.

  “Someone is very interested in you.”

  “Scullion. The skurks were chasing me before I came here.”

  “Yes, he has developed an interest in you, but only because he has heard there is another who wants to get to you first.”

  Bloody hell. “But I wasn’t anybody until a month ago.”

  “Apparently you are someone now. You’ve been lying about the first time you experienced your ability haven’t you.”

  With his eyes boring into me like they were, all flaming red and restless amber like a sea of lava, I couldn’t lie.

  “Yes.”

  “And your use of your ability has made you vulnerable to the one who has been searching for you.”

  “I didn’t know. I didn’t even mean to do anything. I still have no idea how any of it happened. Who is after me?”

  “Someone very powerful.”

  “But they can’t get me in here. Darkwells is protected.”

  “The tournament is not far away. They could use the upheaval of that to mount an attack.”

  “Not if McGilus and all the casters know, surely not? Not if they were prepared.”

  “Never underestimate the determination and cunning of many supernaturals.” Luca slid toward me.

  “Do you know who is after me?”

  “If I did, I would not need your blood.”

  So this was not about attraction. I shouldn’t feel disappointed.

  “If I had a sip of your blood, I would know what to do. I could protect you.”

  “How? What would drinking my blood do?”

  “A vampire can learn a lot about someone from taking their blood. Namely what power they possess.”

  That rang alarm bells. McGilus said I needed to keep this a secret.

  Luca placed a finger under my chin and turned my face toward him.

  “I can protect you but I have to know how. Let me have one sip.”

  “I don’t want to be an addict.”

  “You will not become an addict with one sip.”

  “McGilus wanted me to keep my mouth shut about my ability.” Why did I tell him that?

  He slid even closer. “Give me the chance to protect you.”

  I stared into his eyes and saw his smile. He pulled my hair from my shoulder and lowered his lips to my neck. Did I nod my head?

  I pulled back. “I didn’t say yes?”

  He raised his head, inches from my face. “You did with your eyes.”

  Shit he was right. I did want to feel what it was like to be bitten by a vampire. The idea was dangerously seductive.

  “You’re not going to hurt me are you?”

  “Far from it?” He placed a finger over my lips. “Shhh.”

  He stared at his finger on my lips as his pupils dilated. I’m sure my own were as well. My breathing was short as my heart beat so fast it felt like it would explode through my chest.

  “Try not to let your pulse race, Samara, it only turns me on,” Luca said just before his lips touched my neck.

  He licked a trail then pressed his tongue over where he’d licked. I closed my eyes in the anticipation of what he was about to do, breath stalled, aroused to the point of combusting.

  After seconds he pulled away, “I feel your arterial pulse under my tongue. It makes me extremely hungry,” he purred.

  I purred too. I was so wired any minute I would shoot off to the ceiling.

  He licked my neck again. “My saliva will protect you from feeling my bite.”

  “Uh huh,” was all I could moan.

  How was it being bitten by a vampire could make me feel so horny? I wanted to tell him to just get on and bloody do it, but he continued to lick my neck, which made me squirm.

  Luca lifted his head to look at me. “Are you enjoying this, Samara?”

  I opened my eyes to find his within inches of my own. My answer was a kiss. I couldn’t help it. The tease was too great. I just wanted his lips on me. It didn’t matter where they went as long as they were on me.

  Luca didn’t react at first, but then he kissed me back like a man starved, hard, demanding, savage. I responded with as much need, stripped bare, peeled raw, thirsty and burning, burning for him.

  I slid sideways on the couch and Luca followed until he was on top of me. Before I knew what was happening, he’d nestled between my legs. My hands were everywhere on his body. I couldn’t get enough, under his shirt, scraping nails across his skin. He reared back with a growl when I pinched his nipple, then opened his mouth to bare his fangs.

  Oh god, yes. Do it. Jesus Christ I was going to explode? Never had I needed a guy more.

  A shot of ecstasy raced through my body the moment his fangs pierced my neck. I jerked my hips up into his groin and felt the hard jut of his cock jabbed between my legs.

  “Oh Jesus fuck,” I moaned as I wrapped my legs around his waist and ground myself onto his ridge. Waves of bliss shuddered through my body with each suck he took of my blood. God I wanted this. I wanted more. I didn’t want him to stop. Naked. I wanted him naked. I wanted him inside of me. I wanted him thrusting in time with his sucks. Did vampires do that? Fucked while they sucked. God, it would be an extreme state of nirvana.

  I tried to say what I wanted, but I was so blown away. Floating on my ecstasy, I groaned the words out while I dry humped his crotch.

  Suddenly I was cold. The weight of Luca’s body was gone. The bliss ebbing too quick. I opened my eyes, tried to sit up, but my head spun. I fell back down onto the couch. Where was Luca?

  I turned my head and found him lying on the floor, shielding his face with his arm.

  “Luca,” I said, but it came out nothing more than a whisper. I felt weak and tired.

  Luca propped himself up on his elbow, pulled his arm slowly away and stared at me. His eyes were bloodshot, a deep crimson color. Blood dribbled from his fangs down his chin and dripped to his chest. He took one look at me then snarled and dragged himself from the floor. In a mad flurry of black he disappeared.

  I tried to get up, but the room spun. My vision blurred then turned black.

  20

  I buried my face in my pillow and howled. Then for good measure I punched it with both hands. It didn’t make me feel any better. One week. That’s what it had been since that fateful day when I allowed Luca to suck my blood. One week and I’d not seen or heard from him.

  I rolled my head to the side and stared at the wall opposite. Then in a fit of shame as yet another fatal scene from that day swam into my mind, I buried my face back in my pillow and moaned. I had dry humped him. God I was grinding my crotch into his like I was wanting the friction to start a fire.

  I sprung to my knees, then leaped off my bed. Lying around on my bed wasn’t helping. The more time I spent doing nothing the more I thought about what had happened between us. When another memory of me running my hands all over his body and moaning like a whore cruelly forced its way in, I bolted for the door.

  Voices downstairs meant I was not going to be alone with my thoughts. People to talk too, good. I needed lots of distraction.

  Halfway down t
he stairs I stopped. Oh god, I forgot. Being so ashamed of the way I reacted when he bit me, I forgot that he’d said one bite and he would know all my secrets. Dammit. Did that mean he knew what McGilus had told me should be kept a secret? Shit, shit, shit. Why had I not remembered that small but drastic detail.

  Why? Because you were lost in shag-me-land.

  I’d woken so horny after that encounter. Never had I felt so turned on. God, a second longer and I would’ve orgasmed on his jeans. He’d been hard. That I remember. Real hard, so it hadn’t been one-sided. But maybe he became aroused with all the women he drained.

  And bloody hell. He said he would take a sip, not practically take my fucking blood supply. I’d woken back in my bed, limp as a dead fish. Amy had come looking for me when I failed to surface by eight. One look at how pale I was, she tried to force me to medic. I’d refused saying it was some stomach bug that would pass on its own. She’d argued with me for about fifteen minutes until the threat of being marked yet again for tardiness had her scooting out the door, promising to call on me once she had a break in her schedule. It had taken me days to feel slightly better. Even now if I spun too fast my head spun too fast too and threatened to topple me.

  How could he take so much? No one was supposed to die from a vampire bite, but I reckon I’d come close. The only thing I was grateful for was the absence of any mark on my neck. As Luca promised, his saliva healed the wound overnight.

  I continued descending the stairs. I was going to go see that asshole. Him and me needed words. No way was he getting away with what he had done without feeling my wrath.

  Nylph common room was packed. It seemed no one had class today as all occupants were here, huddled into groups, staring at pieces of paper. Amy was there. And, oh Jesus, Emrol. After everything with Luca I’d forgotten about Emrol trying to force me to fae land to be his slave.

  He glanced up as I came down, the only one to lose interest in whatever was written on those pieces of paper. Strange, but when our eyes met, he merely rose his eyebrows in a question mark. I was expecting lots of hate to emanate my way, given how furious he’d been when I left him in the forest. Seems fae didn’t hold grudges.

  “Sam, get over here,” Amy called once she finally realized I’d emerged from my self imposed bed rest.

  Harry, the hulking shifter who’d given me his scribe, dropped back to allow me to get close to Amy. He was actually a really nice guy, shy for a big bear shifter. I would often see him in the dining hall tucking into a large plate of berries, smearing the juice all over his face. Amy said he’d only been at Darkwells a few months. Prior to that he’d lived with his parents in some cottage in the back wilds of Alaska and allowed to roam free in bear form for much of his days. Hence the untidy mess at the dining table. He was finding it hard to adjust to spending so much time in human form with clothes on. And also socializing.

  “You sure you’ve finished looking?” I said to Harry.

  He nodded and hulked off to sit down on a stool away from the rest of the crowd.

  “You’re in Silver Birch. I’m in maple. It’s a shame we couldn’t be together but they make a point of separating friends. That way you are forced to mingle with those in your team more.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The tournament. It starts in a few days. Faculty has just released our teams.”

  “I never knew that was so close.”

  “That’s because you’ve been hiding in your room all this time.”

  I glanced at Emrol. He smiled at me. Actually it was more a cross between a smirk and a smile. Why was he acting so calm and friendly after how he’d treated me the last time we spoke? He’d been furious to think I was playing his sister by turning her fae magic back on her. Now you’d never know anything and happened between us.

  I glanced down at the paper and the names written under each team. I scanned down Silver Birch to see Emrol was also on my team. Just great. Oh shit, so was Mila. So much for a harmonious team.

  “I need a crash course on what to expect during these tournaments.”

  “It’s nothing to worry about. Look, Harry’s on your team as well. Stick close to him. He can get pretty ugly when provoked.” She leaned in close to me. “He can keep the likes of Mila from pestering you.”

  I whispered back. “She’s a witch. What can he do about a witch?”

  I became conscious of the resident fae who was only a seat away from us.

  “Can we go to the rotunda?” I nodded to her, feeding my look with desperation so she would get the hint I needed to talk.

  I felt so alone with all these secrets swimming through my system. I was about to be surrounded by enemies within my own team. It was time I broke my habit of keeping locked within myself and shared my fears.

  “Sure. I can meet you there at ten. I have to hand in an assignment first, and I really need to stop by student admin.”

  “Cool. I’ll see you at ten.”

  She bounced out the door, while everyone slowly broke up and either headed out themselves or up to their rooms. Emrol stayed were he was, resting an arm over the back of the couch.

  I had to say something to him. No way could I walk away without sorting out everything from the other day. If he was going to be on my team I needed him friendly, at least talking to me, so I headed over and sat at a comfortable distance.

  “We owe each other apologies,” I said.

  He owed me the apology, him and his sister, but that was not the way to start a peace keeping conversation.

  He quirked an eyebrow. That same quirk that I had always thought sexy. “How so?” At least there was a faint smile on his face.

  “Luca told me what happens when a non-fae is invited into the fae realm.”

  “Did he now? So the two of you managed to get some talking in?”

  My jaw hung. I had to snap it closed.

  “I beg your pardon. What are you insinuating?”

  He turned to face me so he was sideways on the couch, keeping his hand slung over the back of the backrest making the conversation feel more intimate. “Don’t insult me, Samara. It does you little justice.”

  “Are you implying that Luca and I had sex?”

  “Sex?” he nodded. “Now that would be interesting. I wasn’t aware that he could get it up.”

  Huh? “What are you implying.”

  “Tell me, why have you been hiding out in your room for most of this week? I’ve seen you a few times in the dining hall, looking all pale and sickly, not the usual spark you have in your eyes.”

  He snared me with his turquoise stare. Today they were light, vibrant and inviting like the welcoming cool of a luxurious swimming pool.

  “I’ve had a stomach bug.” God damn the perceptive ass.

  He ran a finger along his jawline as he half smiled at me.

  “That’s not what I wanted to discuss. I’m not sure what I did wrong the other day, but I am sorry. I had no intention of hurting your sister. Besides, what could I do even if I did want to hurt her?”

  Emrol relaxed back into the seat, stretching his legs out in front of him. If this was a normal scene back home in my old world and this gorgeous guy stretched out next to me in my lounge room like Emrol was, I would have a hard time stopping myself from climbing into his lap. But this was not my old world and Emrol had proved he wouldn’t play nice. He was a tasty treat, but not a treat I would sample. Even if he wanted me too.

  “You must understand, Samara, family are very important to fae. My sister most of all. She is very young. Too innocent to the outside world.”

  God, he made it sound like we were the bad guys and the fae were harmless creatures.

  “She beguiled me. That’s not an innocent girl.”

  “She is from the fae realm. She does not understand the laws of this world. She doesn’t understand boundaries.”

  “She wanted to make me her pet.”

  “That is what fae do. They see no harm in collecting things they like.”r />
  “That’s fine, but not when you’re talking about people. And not when they are collected against their will.”

  Emrol sighed as if I was an annoying student that would not understand a simple concept. “She has spent her whole life beyond the veil. You cannot judge her for knowing not how the outside world exists.”

  He was right. The fae were an arrogant race, who believed everyone inferior. Having grown up knowing nothing but that life, I couldn’t blame her for thinking she had a right to collect whatever she liked without consequences.

  “If it is any consolation, I never would have let her keep you.”

  “Hmm…you seemed pretty intent on forcing me to cross.”

  He sat forward, shaking his head. “At that moment, I was furious. I thought you’d done something to her. I’m very protective of my sister.”

  “Protective enough to break Darkwells’ law.”

  He glanced sideways at me. “Enough to do that.” He exhaled and sat back. “I never would’ve kept you there. I’m not such a fool I would risk the wrath of the Council against the fae by forcing your slavery, and mother would never have permitted it. I wanted to teach you a lesson.”

  “Lesson learned. I will keep away from your sister.”

  He stared at me. Those luscious eyes locking me in place.

  “What?” I said after enough time had passed to make me squirm under his stare.

  “What did you do to me? What did you do to my sister?”

  Oh boy. Of course I knew this would be a part of the conversation and I didn’t have a good answer. “I’m being honest when I say this, but I have no clue. McGilus has no clue. I’m a freak he can’t work out.”

  “But Luca can.”

  “No. Why would he? I don’t understand why you would say that.” Oops, I sounded way too defensive. And I was. Emrol had hinted to the fact he knew Luca had taken my blood.

  “He never shows any interest in anyone. Luca would never have rescued a student from the fae, not like he did you. That leads me to suspect he either sees the value in keeping you safe, or he sees the value in keeping you for himself.”

  “It’s definitely not the latter I can assure you. He’s avoided me all week.”