Curse Marked: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Rinna Ford

  The next new moon was only a few hours away, and I was getting nervous. Devlin fully believed that this new moon would be the one to complete my mark, and I was equally scared and excited for it to happen. I was scared because the unknown was always scary. We didn't know what my life would be like once the mark finished, we had absolutely no clue and that terrified me. What if I had no casting abilities whatsoever? What if I only partially shifted into a dragon and couldn't change back? Mixing of the races was strictly forbidden, and maybe it was for a good reason, like the offspring of such a union would be defective. What if I was defective?

  So many thoughts were running through my head as night approached, and my moods were all over the place because of them. It got to the point that my uncle and Ainsley didn't want to be around me. They never said anything about it, but they seemed to always be in a different room than the one I was in.

  I was sitting alone in Dev's study, going through a book of spells when my uncle walked in with a rectangular box in his hands. "Want to take a break?" he asked and set it down on the desk in front of me.

  My brows drew together as I considered his question. Yes, I was ready for a break, but I wanted to be prepared for whatever would happen when night completely fell revealing the new moon.

  "You're not going to learn everything in that book in the next few hours," he chuckled and lifted the lid off of the box. "Besides, you could consider this research as well."

  "What is it?" I asked and peered into the box. The box contained a bunch of papers with the odd picture thrown in the mix.

  "This was your mom's," he told me. "I found it hidden under a floorboard in the house you lived in with Lucia when you were a child. There are some notes that your mom made about spells, as well as some pictures." My pulse pounded in my ears as I froze, staring at the box. "It could help jump-start your memories. Well, when the curse is lifted, that is."

  "Okay," I whispered, my hands shaking. "Thank you, Uncle Devlin."

  He smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "You're welcome, Firecracker," he told me before leaving me alone to sort through my mom's box.

  I slid it off of the table and into my lap so I could see inside of it better. Everything was stacked haphazardly, and although I considered it to be a treasure, I wondered why my mom took care to hide this box under a floorboard.

  I began looking through the papers, piece by piece, and they were just as Devlin said, spells and handwritten notes my mom made about something she was working on. I put all the sheets of paper in a pile off to the side and decided to go back through them later, the things I really wanted to see were the things about my family.

  The first picture I found was of a man walking across a yard, toward the person who was taking the photo. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking up at the camera with a slight smile on his face as if he were laughing at the person taking the picture. The man had jet black hair cut short with a black beard and kind blue eyes. They danced with joy in the picture and I hoped this man was my dad. I looked on the back to see if there was anything written there, but it was blank.

  I gathered up all of the photos and went in search of my uncle, knowing he'd be the only one to help me with this task. "Devlin!" I called out as I walked into the open living room.

  “In here!” he replied and I turned toward the kitchen. He was standing over the kitchen table flipping through pages of what looked to be another spell book.

  "Dev, I need your help with these pictures!" My hands were still shaking as I dropped them onto the table and picked up the one I had been looking at earlier. I examined it for another couple of seconds and gulped. “Is, is this my dad?” I asked.

  He carefully took it from me and held it in front of him. The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. “Yeah, that’s Eric,” he told me. He put it down and began looking through the rest of the pictures. He picked up one and held it in front of his face for a few seconds. Tears glistened in his eyes as he handed it to me. “That’s you and your mom.” He quickly wiped the tears away as he searched through the rest of the pictures.

  I took in a deep breath as I looked at the image in front of me. I had to be around three or four years old in the picture. My mom and I were sitting in a field of flowers, the sun shining off to the left. She was looking down at me and smiling. It was a smile filled with love and wonder. I took in her auburn hair and freckled cheeks feeling my eyes well up with tears. I looked just like her.

  Devlin and I looked through the pictures for the rest of the afternoon. We laughed and cried as we both went over every picture, him telling me stories about my parents, and even mentioning some of the funny things I did as a child. It was exactly what I needed to take my mind off of the big night.

  Ainsley came home as we were putting the pictures away, his arms loaded with take out for dinner. “What have you two been up to?” he asked with a grin as he took in our puffy tear-stained faces.

  “Oh, you know. Just digging up the past for a little while,” Devlin told him.

  Ainsley shook his head as he took containers out of one of the bags and set them on the counter. “You know, she needs to be on top of her game tonight in case the big change happens, not emotionally drained,” he gave Devlin a pointed look saying he should know better.

  “I’m fine Ainsley,” I told him. “I needed this. I’ve been so stressed out the last few days, I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  “Pshh. Naw.”

  “Nope.”

  Both men denied it at the same time making me smile.

  “You’re both really sweet, but I know I’ve been hard to be around. I’m sorry about that.” I picked up the stacked photos and rose from my chair. “I’ll put these somewhere safe.”

  I got to the bottom stair when Ainsley called out, “Emelia, you forgot one.” I turned around to see him holding another photo between his long fingers. I turned my head to look at it and noticed that it wasn’t a picture of my parents. It was someone else.

  I moved the load to one arm and took the picture from him and studied it. One of the people in the photograph was me around ten years old, and the other was the boy I had been dreaming about. He looked around twelve or thirteen, and he had me on top of his shoulders. We were both laughing as I reached up to pick an apple off of a tree.

  “Who’s this?” I turned the picture around so Devlin could see. “I feel like I should know him.” I didn’t want to tell them that I had been having dreams about him for the last several weeks. I’d assumed that he was just a figment of my imagination, someone I’d dreamed up to help me cope with the sudden loss I felt when I realized how much had been taken away from me. I never considered that he was an actual real person.

  Devlin knit his eyebrows together as if he were trying to remember. Then, suddenly he bellowed, “Oh! That was your best friend growing up. His name is Xander Liu. He’s a dragon shifter.”

  “Wait,” Ainsley snatched the photo out of my hand making me almost drop the rest of the pictures. I scowled at him as I tried to take it back, but he held it up over my head and moved away. “Is he related to Chei Yun Liu?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Devlin took the photo from his boyfriend. “That’s his son.”

  “No shit?”

  Devlin nodded his head and handed the photo back to me. I peered closely at it again. “I forgot he was your childhood friend. You two were inseparable. Your mom was really worried when you two started spending time together, but you always seemed to sneak away to be with him.” He chuckled at the thought, but then his face turned somber. “Chei Yun was the one to see your first shift and reported it to the Council.”

  “He’s on the Council,” Ainsley corrected and pulled some plates out of the cupboard. “He’s the head shifter Councilman, actually. You know, I always assumed he was one of the good guys, not someone who would sentence someone to death for being different.” He never looked at us, but I knew the thought made him sad. It made me sad too. My best friend’s father t
urned me in and set off the chain of events that led to this point. I wondered how Xander took it if we were really as close as Dev said we were.

  “I’m sure he thought he was just doing his job,” I quietly replied. I put the last photo on top of the stack and turned back toward the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

  I ran up to my room before they could respond and carefully laid the photos on the dresser. But before I went back downstairs for supper, I picked up the top picture and examined it one more time. Xander and I looked genuinely happy in that moment. I never imagined myself happy with anyone like that. I couldn’t. Smiling, I lowered the picture back on top of the stack and went to join Dev and Ainsley.

  Chapter Eight

  Ainsley grumbled through our whole dinner about how betrayed he felt by Councilman Liu turning me in. Apparently, he had really looked up to the councilman. He was also a little peeved that Devlin never told him about it, letting him go on looking up to the councilman for all those years. Dev and I sat in silence through it all.

  Eventually, Devlin had enough. “I’m sorry you’re hurt by this,” he told Ainsley as we were clearing the table, “but I honestly didn’t know that you looked up to him so much.” Ainsley started to speak but Dev cut him off. “But think about how Emelia is feeling about all of this. It was her best friend’s father who did it.”

  “I understand that Devlin, but I’m a shifter! He represents me and my kind on the Council!”

  As they argued back and forth, I looked out the window and into the front yard. The sun was going down, leaving the sky in pinks and oranges where it met the horizon. Night was coming.

  “Gu, guys,” I stammered. Both men immediately stopped bickering and turned toward me, noting the panic in my voice. “It’s almost nighttime. When it’s completely dark outside the mark will add to itself, so if you have any parting words for me about what could happen, you might want to do it now. I’ll be in too much pain to register anything you tell me when I’m in the middle of it.”

  Devlin put the plate he was holding down on the table and hurried over to me. He led me to the couch and sat me down, him taking the spot next to me. Ainsley joined us in the living room, looking worried.

  “You never told me, how long does it usually take for the mark to finish for the cycle?

  I sighed. “From sundown to sunup.”

  “Okay, Firecracker, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make you as comfortable as possible through the night. I imagine that any powers that were suppressed will come once the entire mark is complete, so we’ll take you outside just before sunrise.”

  “Why would you do that?” I asked.

  Dev looked to Ainsley then back to me. “We don’t know what will happen when your powers come, and we just want to make sure nothing is in your way when it happens.”

  “You just don’t want me to smash the house if I turn into a dragon,” I lightly smiled.

  “That too,” Ainsley replied with a grin. He knelt down in front of me and put his hand on my knee. “I’m sorry for my behavior earlier,” he told me. “I’m here for you Emelia. You’re part of my family now too.”

  “Thank you, Ain…” Before I could get his name out, my entire back lit itself on fire, making me scream in pain. I knew in the back of my mind that I wasn’t really on fire, but it felt that way every time the mark added to itself, and this time was worse than the many times before it. Way worse.

  I surged off of the couch making Ainsley fall back and began ripping the clothes off my body. Devlin caught me as I got my shirt halfway off.

  “I need to get this off!” I screamed. “Help me Dev! Please, help me! It’s burning! My back is burning!” Tears were rolling down my face as I continued to try and get the clothes off and away from my skin.

  “What do we do?” Ainsley cried from beside Devlin. I kept trying to get away so I could try and find some relief.

  “Ainsley, help her with her clothes and see if you can get her to lay down on her stomach,” he told him. “I’ll be right back.” He then took off out of the room and Ainsley took his place, helping me with the rest of my clothes.

  I fell to my knees, the pain suddenly overwhelming me, Ainsley gently pulled me all the way down to the floor on top of some soft blankets. Once I was situated, Ainsley carefully moved my hair away from my back and gasped.

  “Devlin!” he called out. “You better hurry up!” I began to get the chills and a light coat of sweat coated my body.

  “I’m here!” Devlin yelled, and I heard him drop some things onto the coffee table to my right. My head was turned away so I couldn’t see what he was doing. Even if I could, I was in too much pain to fully register anything that was happening around me.

  “Oh heavens,” Dev muttered as all the clanking suddenly stopped.

  “Help me. Pppplease,” I whimpered and closed my eyes. “Please, Dev.” I knew my mark had only started its change, but I was already to my breaking point. The pain was so intense that I prayed for any relief he could give me.

  I’d endured the mark burning my body for the last one hundred seventy-nine new moons, but it was going to be the one hundred eightieth that would be the one to make me give in, the one to make me give up and hope for death. It was the same as all of the other times, but different. This time, it wasn’t just a spot on my back, it was the entire surface.

  As I lay there, wishing for the end, I suddenly felt the burning intensify on my right shoulder. I arched up off the floor and cried out until the pain returned back to the level it was at before.

  “I can’t touch her mark without hurting her even more,” Devlin said softly. “I won’t be able to apply these salves, and even if I did, they probably wouldn’t help. Curses have to run their course before the one cursed can ever find relief. I don’t think there’s anything I can do.” I felt the floor move as Dev settled in next to me.

  Ainsley shifted so he was sitting above my head and out of my eyesight, and began petting my hair. He talked to me in a soothing voice, telling me that it was going to be all right and how amazing I would be when it was all over with. I just needed to hang on for a little while longer.

  I slipped in and out of consciousness as the night wore on. The burning remained consistent on the back of my body through it all, until finally, it began to lessen. Just like the many times before, it was finishing its assault on my skin as the sun began to rise.

  “Devlin,” I whispered hoarsely. My throat was completely raw. “Ainsley.”

  Before I could say anything else, both men were in front of my face with matching looks of concern.

  “What is it?” Devlin asked.

  “The pain is going away,” I quietly replied. “It’s finishing, so if you wanted to get me outside, you need to do it soon.”

  I pushed up on my forearms and reached with one arm for my shirt. Realizing what I was doing, Ainsley reached over and grabbed it for me. He helped me get to my knees and pulled it carefully over my head, and buttoned it up. Devlin lifted me by my armpits to stand so Ainsley could pull my leggings up my legs. Still wobbly, I leaned over Ainsley’s shoulder and he picked me up and carried me outside.

  Devlin was right there with us, carrying a few blankets with him until we were about fifty feet from the cabin. Ainsley lowered me to the ground and backed away to stand beside Devlin. My uncle was chanting, having dropped the blankets at his feet. He raised his arms slowly above his head as the sun slightly peeked over the horizon.

  The skin on my back continued to ache, but a new sensation became apparent as a pulse repeatedly ran all over my body. Unlike when the mark added to itself, this wasn’t a bad feeling. In fact, all the energy that seemed to be drained from my body during the long night suddenly returned.

  I noticed a light shining from the ground, but when I looked, it wasn’t the ground that was shining it was me. I pulled my hands up in front of me, and the light became brighter. It changed to a gold color as I felt my body begin to slowly rise off of the gr
ound.

  Panicked, I looked toward my uncle to see if he knew what was happening. Devlin continued to chant, his expression determined, and for a moment I wondered if he was doing this to me. My gaze shifted to Ainsley who stood there watching the whole thing in complete awe, and I knew that this was something they didn’t expect. Whatever was happening to me, Devlin wasn’t causing it. He was trying to help me through it.

  I levitated off the ground for several more minutes as the pulsing became more rapid, and my skin began to hum in rhythm to it. Then suddenly, the bright golden light burst from my chest, shooting into the sky. My mouth opened in a silent scream, as I dropped to the ground.

  Ainsley ran over to me and fell down to his knees in front of me, helping me into the kneeling position. “That was intense!” he exclaimed. I stared off toward the ground, feeling as if I had just run a marathon. “Emelia! Are you okay?” he asked, shaking my shoulders.

  I cut my eyes to his face. “Yeah, I think so,” I replied. But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I doubled over in pain once again. I groaned loudly and it felt as if all of my bones were bending and breaking. “What’s happening to me now?” I moaned and slid back to the ground in a fetal position.

  “I think you’re shifting,” Ainsley told me with wide eyes as he let go and backed away again. “Don’t fight it, Emelia. Try to relax, and it’ll be over soon. I promise.” He continued to tell me to relax in his calming voice, making me want to comply.

  My arms that were just glowing with light only minutes ago were covered in large golden, shimmery scales. I got up onto all fours and I felt my body stretch and elongate, my bones changing positions. The transformation lasted almost a whole minute until I was a fully shifted dragon. I lifted my head and realized that I was bigger than the cabin and huffed out a laugh.