The Cursed by Blood Saga

by Marianne Morea

  Tilting his head to one side, Sean looked at her, his eyes serious. “Which part, my marking you or sending Jack to watch out for you?”

  Lily pursed her lips, a sarcastic retort primed and ready, but seeing his expression, she realized what was truly behind his question. She reached out and ran her fingers along his cheek and their eyes met. “I just wish it was you coming with me.”

  “Me too. But it’s not forever. Only until I can figure out what Parr is up to underneath all his bluster.”

  She cocked her head. “Is that a promise or do I have to bit you back?”

  Sean chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “Difficult, dangerous, and utterly unreasonable. And people wonder why I love you.”

  ***

  Neither said a word as Sean carried Lily’s bags downstairs to the front door. With the current political climate, Sean had no choice but to stay in Maine. There was no way around it, and nothing left to discuss. Problem was, the issues at the Compound weren’t just limited to Maine. Weres across the country were riveted, waiting to see if the experiment, as they called it, would self-destruct.

  Rissa was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them by the door.

  “Good news travels fast, I see,” Lily said, as she stepped down onto the polished tile of the front foyer. Sean put the bags down and opened the door to call for Jack. A cold gust of wind followed, and Lily rubbed her arms against the chill, as she leaned into Rissa’s one-armed hug.

  “Care package?” she asked, indicating the foil wrapped dish in her friend’s other hand.

  “Toll house cookies for the ride.”

  The corner of Lily’s mouth crooked upward, but she cringed inwardly. Rissa’s eyes brimmed with worry, but there was a hint of steely indictment in their depths, as well.

  Or maybe it’s just my own guilty conscience?

  “Seriously, Ris, you’re the only person I know who would get up at dawn to make homemade cookies for a trip you’re not even taking.”

  Deliberately avoiding eye contact, Lily turned to drape her jacket over the gleaming cherry banister, leaning her backpack against the curved rails at the bottom of the stairs.

  As Sean stepped outside, it was just the two of them and the metronomic ticking of the grandfather clock on the landing was almost deafening in the tense quiet. Lily pressed both hands to her stomach as guilt bit into her gut again. Closing her eyes, she slid her hands to her hips and turned back around.

  “All right. Enough with the sonic boom silent treatment,” she said, meeting Rissa’s pointed gaze. “I guess Mitch told you what happened last night.”

  Rissa exhaled as she nodded. “Yes, he did.”

  “And?”

  “And? Lily, for Christ’s sake, why did you have to go there?” Exasperation exploded in her tone, even as her face flushed in uncharacteristic annoyance. Shaking her head, she floundered, at a loss. “You’re not stupid Lily, but sometimes I don’t understand what goes through your mind. Didn’t you think for one second that confronting the council in that way played right into Parr’s hand? And did you honestly think any of us would allow them to hold you against your will?”

  Lily opened her mouth, but then closed it again, swallowing a sarcastic reply. Rissa wasn’t the guilty party in this, and she shouldn’t bear the brunt of Lily’s annoyance. “No. I don’t. But if Mitch told you everything, then you know the situation has moved beyond that.

  Rissa threw her hands up. “But why leave? Don’t you think it’s is a bit extreme, even for you?” She was at a loss. “I mean, since when are you the type to cut and run?”

  Lily flinched, watching the conflicting emotions play across her friend’s face. This was exactly the reason she wanted to leave before everyone else caught wind of her plan. However, Rissa wasn’t the only one second-guessing her decision. Was the choice to leave truly best for Sean, for her? Or had she just convinced herself it was?

  If it was for the best, then why was Terry’s voice loud and clear in the back of her head, repeating the same two words over and over again? Selfish. Cowardly. She tried to ignore them, but couldn’t. They mirrored her doubt and the fear that she had let her anger cloud her judgment. If Rissa thought she was taking the easy way out, then others would as well and Parr would certainly capitalize on it, regardless of her little speech in the war room last night.

  “Lily…” Rissa began, but Lily held up her hand.

  “Don’t, Ris. I understand—and I know on the surface it seems as if I’m running, but trust me, that is not the case. Sean and I already went ten rounds about this and though he’s not happy about my leaving, he agrees it’s necessary. This is how it has to be, at least for now. You know he’d never let me go otherwise. We’ve looked at every angle, and it’s better this way. He needs to focus and on top of everything else going on with the council, he doesn’t need the added worry about me, our relationship and how I fit in, or don’t for that matter. He can’t do his job properly with me here and I can’t just sit around and wait. This way, it’ll take some of the pressure off, at least politically.” She shrugged, mentally crossing her fingers they were right.

  Rissa put the foil wrapped dish on the small, corner table to the right of the door and linked her fingers over her belly. “I hope so, Lily.”

  Lily pulled her friend into a hug. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see.” She closed her eyes, silently offering up a prayer for Terry and whatever cosmic strings she could pull.

  Sean came back in, wiping the snow from his feet, a small pink bundle in a snowsuit riding on his hip. “Look what I found outside,” he said, picking frozen white lumps from the faux fur surrounding the puffy pink hood. Strawberry blonde curls peeked out from beneath the brim, and a pair of big blue eyes stared at the two women from above the scarf encircling the tiny face. “She ambushed us with snowballs the minute Jack and I opened the trunk.”

  “Stephanie! What are you doing out of bed and outside this early young lady? Where’s nanny?” Rissa scolded, taking her daughter from Sean and putting her down in front of them. She squatted down and unwound the little girl’s scarf, unzipping the top of her coat, letting the pink hood fall backwards.

  “I had a nightmare,” Stephanie said, her eyes moving between her mother, and her uncle.

  “A nightmare, huh? So you decided throwing snowballs at Jack and Uncle Sean would make it all better?”

  A flash of tiny little white teeth in an impish grin showed for an instant. “Just Jack, but Uncle Sean kept getting in the way.”

  Lily bit the inside of her cheek, watching as Rissa pressed her lips together for the same reason. But Sean laughed aloud, even as Rissa shot him a look.

  “But why did you sneak out? You know you’re too little to be walking around the Compound by yourself. Nanny was right there, you could have woken her up.”

  “I didn’t want Nanny, I wanted you.” The little girl’s face dropped. Her small body tensed, and her eyes widened with fear. Trembling, her dread was so palpable Lily’s senses went into high alert.

  “What’s the matter, honey?” Sean asked, glancing down at her.

  Stephanie looked up at her uncle again, this time her eyes like saucers. “The lady. She’s coming.”

  Rissa and Lily exchanged looks. “What lady?”

  “The lady in my dream. She hurts people and she smells bad too, like in the hospital where Lily helps Dr. Volkmann.”

  Sean leaned over and scooped Stephanie into his arms. “It was just a bad dream, munchkin. There’s nothing to worry about.” But over the child’s shoulder, Lily’s gaze caught his and locked, concern etched into her eyes. Stephanie was psychic, even more so than she. Could there be more to this than just a simple nightmare?

  Stephanie leaned back in Sean’s arms, her little cheeks pale. “She won’t go outside in the snow. I think she’s afraid of it, so that’s why I went outside.”

  “Ssh, it’s okay, honey. No one is angry with you for going out in the snow,” Rissa cooed. “As long as you’re sa
fe, that’s all that matters.”

  “No, mommy, you’re not listening! Lily was in my dream too, and the lady hurt her.” Stephanie turned back to Sean, her eyes pleading and much too intense for one so young. “She has to stay here with us, Uncle Sean! Don’t let Lily go away!” The words spilled from her lips and she started to cry, her knowing look melting with each tear.

  Rissa took her from Sean and sat her down on the stairs, wrapping her arms around her daughter’s tiny shoulders. “Lily’s fine, Stephie…see? She’s right here with us,” she said pulling her in closer. “It was just a nightmare.”

  Stephanie cried even harder. “No! The lady wants to hurt people, and she wants to hurt us! She’s coming here. I know it.” Her blue eyes searched from her mother, to her uncle and back again. “You don’t believe me, do you?” she said her eyes wet and puffy, and her nose running.

  Sean squatted down, resting his hand on Stephanie’s arm. “Of course, I believe you. But you don’t have to worry, because Jack will take good care of Lily while she’s visiting her friends in New York, and I’ll be here to take good care of you.”

  Stephanie hiccupped. “You promise?” Her eyes searched his, as if trying to decide if she believed him or not.

  Sean smiled. “Pinky promise,” he said, and held up his little finger, waiting for her to do the same. Slowly she raised her hand and linked her tiny finger with his.

  He gave her a brilliant smile. “That’s my girl!” he said with a wink, pulling her into a hug. But over her pink thermal clad shoulder, he looked at both women one glance telling Lily she was no longer the only one concerned.

  Lily hadn’t said a word through the whole exchange, instead gently probing the little girl’s mind, looking for any nuance to show her it was nothing more than a dream. Problem was, Stephanie’s dream didn’t feel like a dream. It felt more like a vision—but there was no way she was sharing that little tidbit with Sean at this point. They had enough problems to contend with, without adding tilting at windmills to the list. In the meantime, she made a mental note to keep her guard up and her senses open.

  Outside, Jack beeped the horn and Sean picked Stephanie up, tossing her into the air and catching her before helping Rissa to her feet. With both safely on the ground, he turned toward Lily. A thousand unsaid words passed between them, and he slid his arm around her shoulders. “You’re sure about this? We can always bring the bags back upstairs.”

  Lily tilted her head and glanced up at him, her heart skipping a beat in the process. He was everything she wanted and more. So why was she doing this? Indecision reigned, and she opened her mouth, but no words came, so she just nodded.

  Now wasn’t the time to let hormones and heartstrings sway what they both knew was the right thing. Lily blinked back the apprehension she knew shined alongside her determination. In the past, she may have been reckless in her decisions, either flying by the seat of her pants, or flying off the handle.

  After losing Terry, her selfishness had changed to an all-consuming anger and a need for revenge. She wanted to shred whatever it was that made her feel vulnerable. But things had changed again, and she blinked back her fear not out of denial, but so as not to give Parr the advantage.

  Fear wasn’t a weakness, and it didn’t mean she was losing her edge, it simply meant she had finally found a reason worth fighting for, even if it had to be done at a distance— for now. Sean was her reason for fighting. Her only reason.

  “We agreed. You need to probe what’s going on in the soft underbelly, remember? Besides, this is temporary.”

  “Temporary.” He shook his head. “Still doesn’t help.”

  Lily went up on tiptoe and kissed him. “We can still have shifterlicious telephone sex.”

  Sean smiled. “Just make sure you accept the charges when I call collect.”

  The two walked arm and arm to the car, as Rissa stood on the porch with Stephanie and waved. Sean stayed at the edge of the drive as they pulled away, and as she watched his face, her heart squeezed in her chest. She glanced across the gravel and grass to her friend, and the little girl she had wrapped in her arms, and prayed Sean would find a way to end this mess, and soon.

  Chapter Two

  NEW YORK CITY

  Four a.m.

  “Fuck! It’s cold,” Detective Ryan Martinez muttered, blowing on his hands. He stepped lightly, picking his way through the shattered glass and wood covering the street. Even to an untrained eye, it looked as if the bar had exploded from the inside out.

  He shook his head, his lips pressed together in a grim line, watching as CSI began their initial investigation inside what was left of the bar. Most of the victims had their throats ripped open, and there was so much blood and debris, it looked like a gangland war zone.

  Outside, three victims lay prone on the sidewalk, their bodies bent and unnatural in the dirty snow. The red glare of flashing patrol lights gave the grisly scene a surreal appearance. Nobody in their right mind wanted to be out tonight, least of all for a mess like this.

  Patrol had already cordoned off the area, but the ghastly scene attracted rubberneckers even at this ungodly hour. God bless the city that never sleeps, he thought grimly, while uniformed personnel busied themselves with crowd control.

  Martinez caught sight of his dour faced superior. Detective Sergeant Michael Shaw flashed his badge and crossed the police barrier, nodding to the uniformed officers operating the perimeter. He crouched under the yellow police tape, stepping carefully to avoid the frozen footprints dotting the sidewalks like potholes. With a grunt, he stood up, straightening his coat. “Whadda we got, Martinez?”

  The young detective flipped his notebook open, his breath puffing out in clouds of wet smoke. “Multiple homicide, Sergeant. Nine bodies, six inside the club and three out on the sidewalk. Injuries appear to be severe with possible D.O.A.s. Triage paramedics are still calling it.”

  Wind gusts cut down the street like a razor, slicing into the back of his neck and setting his teeth to chatter. He turned his collar up and brushed the snow from his hair and shoulders, leaving his shearling suede coat dotted with damp splotches. Melting snow had mixed with freezing rain, turning most of the East Village into a gray, slushy puddle. Plummeting overnight temperatures had left the normally vibrant streets coated in black ice. If the cops weren’t careful, some of their own would head to the hospital along with the victims from this latest bloodbath.

  Inside what was left of the bar, the CSI unit sifted through the rubble, recording evidence, and a thick tension pressed down on everyone while they waited for additional ambulances to arrive. It was a sure bet, a call was put out to more than one EMS Corps based on the look of things.

  “Any witnesses or statements yet?” Shaw asked, stepping over broken glass and bodies, careful not to step in any of the blood. Dark smudges were evident under the Sergeant’s eyes, despite wind-reddened cheeks and at least a day’s worth of stubble. His mud brown hair looked as if frustrated fingers had raked through it a hundred times.

  “No, not one, and the bartender’s dead too. No security camera either. It’s as if someone came in and went postal on the whole damn place, then disappeared without a trace. Inside, it’s tore up pretty bad as well, blood everywhere except in each vic…” Martinez stopped short.

  At Shaw’s raised eyebrow, Martinez cleared his throat. He wasn’t being a wiseass, nor was it mere speculation. He knew the victims had been drained dry. The young detective frowned, wincing a bit at what Shaw would think after the medical examiner’s final report confirmed what he let slip. How would he explain himself? A good guess? He didn’t think so.

  Martinez’s hand went to his mouth, and he gagged slightly. Christ! What the hell was that stench? He knew it was more than just the blood and gore. It was happening again. There was something underlying all this, something beneath the obvious that didn’t seem to register with anyone else.

  Hunches were nothing new in police work. Most detectives had a blue sense, a gut feeling
when it came to solving difficult crimes, but Martinez’s uncanny abilities went way beyond hunch. Things had been curious on and off for the last six months, ever since he made detective. He had been one of the youngest officers promoted to the squad in quite some time, and from that point, his sixth sense, or whatever it was, had shifted into overdrive. Sometimes it was a blessing, like when his squad located that missing six-year-old last month. Other times, not so much.

  Either way his extrasensory revelations made certain members of his squad a bit nervous. They already thought of him as half a freak, referring to him as the dog behind his back because of the things he could sense. However, unlike bounty-hunter and reality TV star, Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman, it wasn’t out of respect for his skills.

  The hair on Martinez’s neck and arms stood on end, but there was no way he was saying anything else to Shaw about what he sensed. He’d heard it all before. “Hey, Martinez, maybe you should put in for the canine unit… we heard they add a lifetime supply of dog chow to your bennies when you retire!” Ha. Ha. Ha. No, thank you.

  Remarks like those taught Martinez to keep his cards close. Tall and handsome, with piercing green eyes and dark wavy hair, he carried himself as if he could own the world if he wanted, but the truth was, he was a loner, and preferred it that way.

  The shrill sound of sirens shook him out of his passing reverie. The ambulances had arrived along with the Medical Examiner. As the man stepped out of the car, Martinez’s eyebrows shot up. Their Duty Captain had clearly called in the big guns. He watched as the man greeted the chief M.E., calling Shaw over to give the brass a run through of what they had found so far. The M.E. nodded, before heading inside with his team. As per protocol, the injured were assessed and then transported to the nearest hospital, with D.O.A.s going directly to the main morgue at Bellevue. Of course, Martinez already knew there were all dead.