by K.N. Lee
Early sleeper.
Even as a spider she was frightened by the old Albrecht Mansion. She was a creature of the shadows, but the cold and dark of this ancient house left her on edge. All she wanted was to get in, bite him with her venom, and get out.
She hopped from the ceiling; a single strand of the sparkling web carrying her to the chandelier above his bed.
What she thought would be an easy task shifted in an instant. She screamed inwardly as he sat straight up and captured her in a mason jar.
Olivia panicked. She had two choices; stay in her spider form which would make it easier to kill her, or transform and fight. She chose to fight. She shifted into her human form, shattering the glass all over Avalon’s comforter.
He grabbed her by her naked waist, slamming her into his lap the instant she was human again. “What a surprise. Wes sent out his whore wife to do his dirty work.”
He shook her. “Did you know your husband was a coward? You must have realized it when he sent you to kill my father.”
Olivia cried out as his large fingers pressed into her flesh. An intense heat shot through her flesh and into her muscles, paralyzing her with pain.
As hard as she tried, she could not shift back into a spider again. She was trapped, and too weak to free herself.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Stop!” She pleaded in between gasping cries of pain. She was defenseless against his wizardry, but that wouldn’t stop her from fighting for her freedom.
“Let me go!” Olivia jabbed him in the throat with her elbow and he pulled her arm back, pinning it to her side as he flipped her over his head and onto the bed.
Her eyes widened with shock at his speed and strength. He was more than a wizard.
The maniacal look in his bright green eyes frightened her more than any fear she’d ever known. She’d never stared death in the face before.
Avalon wrapped his hands around Olivia’s throat, a snarl morphing his face into one of wicked pleasure. As his grip tightened she knew that his face, so full of that sadistic look, would be the last thing that she’d see.
She just needed enough leeway to bite him, but his grip on her throat was too strong. She gasped for air.
Tears filled Olivia’s eyes.
Her mother had warned her about marrying a Scarlett, and she had done it anyway. Still, she would love him to the end.
She held her final breath for as long as she could, scratching, clawing, and struggling in every way she knew possible.
Someone banged on his bedroom door. “Everything okay in there, Avalon?”
Avalon didn’t lessen his grip on her throat as he shouted over his shoulder.
“Everything is fine. Get back to your post, and tell the men to keep watch.”
Olivia felt his hold on her abilities falter and shifted back into a spider in half a second. He growled with anger as she shot out another silk strand to his headboard and soared across the bed to the wall.
Freedom was once again hers and she frantically tried to put as much distance between her and Avalon as possible.
He scrambled across his bed to catch her, muttering curses as he did.
That last chance for escape ended abruptly. Heat shot through her body as Avalon illuminated the entire room with wizard’s fire. Her body seemed to glow against the backdrop of such a blast.
Olivia’s scream was muffled by the roar of the fire and was cut off when the darkness claimed her.
“EVIE,” ADELAIDE SAID over the phone. “I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
Alarmed, Evie stopped at her car door. Her hands shook. Her mother’s voice sounded strained, rushed.
Terrified.
“What’s wrong?” The panic in Adelaide’s voice put Evie on edge.
Evie’s cheeks reddened as she imagined everything that could possibly go wrong.
“Dinner tonight is canceled. I’ll tell you everything soon. Just stay away from Scarlett Hall…and stay away from Avalon. ”
“What the hell is going on? Tell me now.”
“I can’t right now,” Adelaide said. “We are taking care of it.”
Dial tone.
Evie’s hands shook when she pulled her phone from her ear.
“Everything okay?” Parker stood by her car door, a bag of Tupperware filled with leftover jambalaya from lunch with his parents in his hand.
The sky seemed a little darker that night as the clouds moved to cover all traces of the stars and moon.
Something was not right, and even nature seemed to send her warnings.
“I have no idea.” She stared at her phone, wishing it would ring again and that she’d get some answers.
She glanced over at his parent’s house. His mother and father still stood in the doorway, watching them leave. They’d been thrilled to hear the news of their engagement.
That elation quickly dissipated as fear gripped her.
Evie put her phone in her cross-body purse. “Something isn’t right.”
“Can I do anything?”
“I really don’t know,” Evie said. “She just told me to stay away from Scarlett Hall.”
She left out the part about Avalon. Parker still had no idea what was going on with the newcomer. She really didn’t know either.
“That’s weird. Is everyone okay?”
Sighing, Evie leaned her back against her door. They were just getting ready to leave and tell her family the good news. Now she didn’t know what to do.
“I hope so. I don’t know what to do now,” she said. She held her hand up to look at her ring. Despite the worry simmering in her gut, she smiled. Only a few more hours and they would head to the airport, pick a place, and leave.
“I know what you can do,” Parker said.
“What?”
He tilted her chin. “Go and tell Quinn the good news.”
Evie’s smile faded. She wanted Quinn to know that she and Parker were engaged, but she couldn’t stand to tell her the news of her departure.
“Oh boy,” Evie said. She pursed her lips and nodded. “You’re right.”
She stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. “Okay. I’ll go and tell her.” She waved at his parents again. “I’ll come back after I see her and we can figure things out then.”
His ice-blue gaze was hooded with worry. “I wonder what’s going on.”
“Me too. We might not get to tell them in person.”
“Wow,” he said, his eyes widening. “That would be crazy. We can’t leave without telling your folks.”
Evie shrugged.
I’m over it.
“We’re leaving no matter what,” she said and got in the car.
“Damn, Evie. You’re really manic about this. Do we really have to leave Woodland Creek in such a hurry?”
Evie closed the door once she was in the driver’s seat. She quickly sent Quinn a text to meet her at Geek Beans in an hour.
She looked up at Parker as he stood outside, reaching a hand out the window to him.
He took her hand, stroking her knuckles before he kissed the engagement ring.
“Yes,” she said. “We do.”
Her eyes darkened as if shrouded by shadows. “And you’ll understand why soon enough.”
EXTENDING HER ARMS above her head Evie began to transform. Every fiber of her body trembled, her skin stung, and lights flashed before her eyes as feathers took over and bones bent to a new pattern.
A Gryphon.
A creature of myth.
Evie’s second form.
Now her arms were wings and she stretched them outward for optimal grace during her takeoff. She soared to the top of the mountain, thrilled by the freedom she felt.
The look on Quinn’s face when she told her the news ate at her. She hated to hurt her best friend, but she had to go. There was no choice. Somehow she knew that once she left Woodland Creek that life would be better. The stigma of her family’s past would be lifted. The danger she felt around every
corner would dissipate.
Still, she needed this time alone to collect her thoughts. Quinn had been hurt, but she’d also been surprisingly understanding.
The mark of a true friend.
The news of her engagement had overshadowed the fact that Evie and Parker were leaving town.
Now that that part of her life was tied up nicely, Evie wished her mother hadn’t been so cryptic in her phone call. Evie could only pray that her mother and brother were okay.
A loud screeching sound caught her attention as she stood on a boulder facing the town side of the mountain. Her senses were sharpened by her shifted form. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
She was strong, powerful, and free.
Evie flew back down to the clearing where she’d left her clothes. When she returned to her human form, her phone had thirteen missed calls and eight text messages.
Her heart lurched as she scrambled to check the missed calls. They were all from Adelaide.
Good. I could use some news. Any news.
Sighing, she stepped into her boots and made her way through the forest to her car.
She called her mother back, dreading what news she would hear.
“Evie,” Adelaide said.
“What is it? Is everything okay? Where is Wes?”
“It’s not good, Evie. Have you heard from Olivia?”
“No,” she said.
“Come home now,” Adelaide said.
“Why? You told me to stay away.”
“It doesn’t matter what I said earlier. I just received a message, and we need to talk in person.”
Evie was afraid to ask. “About what?”
The pause made Evie’s pulse quicken. She had to know.
“Olivia is missing.”
EVERYTHING WAS WRONG. Evie could tell the instant she entered her mother’s office. The smell of a eucalyptus candle wafted into her nostrils.
The lights were dim, just how Adelaide liked it. It helped her wind down when she was stressed. Evie noted the bottle of wine in the waste basket and an empty glass on the bay window seat.
“What’s going on?”
Adelaide turned around, her arms folded across the front of her black dress. Her face was pale, her eyes glistening with tears.
Evie’s face twisted in worry. Every nerve was on edge. She shook as she stood there, not ready to hear the worst. Yet, she had to know.
“What happened? How do you know Olivia is missing?” She stepped forward and Adelaide lifted a hand, stopping her.
“She hasn’t been home, and I have an idea of where she is. We can make this right. Together.”
Evie tilted her head, lifting a brow. The tension in the air was thick, making her palms sweat with anticipation.
“What do you mean?”
“Have a seat.”
“No,” Evie said, shaking. “Just tell me what’s going on for Christ’s sake.”
Adelaide’s shoulders slumped, her bottom lip trembling as she looked at Evie with glossy eyes.
“It’s Wesley.”
Evie’s stomach fell to the floor.
“No,” she gasped. “Please tell me he isn’t dead.”
“He’s alive,” Adelaide said. “But barely.”
Evie nodded, a small shred of hope filling her heart.
“He was cursed, Evie.”
“Cursed?”
“Yes,” Adelaide wrung her hands. “We tried to protect you. We did everything we could to keep you out of this, but it is now clear that you are the only one that can save this family.”
“What do you mean? Tell me everything.”
“Olivia went after Avalon to save Wesley’s life.”
Alarm filled Evie’s eyes. Olivia was the closest thing she had to a sister, and now she and her brother were in danger.
“Listen,” Adelaide said, moving a step closer. She lowered her voice as if someone else was listening in. “We sent Olivia out to kill Hugh Prince.”
Evie’s face turned ashen. That was the last thing she expected to hear.
“She was successful…”
“But, Hugh died from a spider bite.”
“Yes. He did.”
Evie’s brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“Olivia is a shifter. A Spider shifter.”
It seemed that everyone had a secret. What was next?
“Go on,” Evie said, her legs feeling weak. “Please.”
“We thought that killing Hugh would end the war between our families.”
“How could you do such a thing?”
“We do what we have to. We are Scarletts, and no one threatens us,” she said, slamming her wine glass into her desk, shattering the glass into a hundred pieces.
Adelaide’s face reddened. Her chin tensed. Evie was stunned by the hardness of her mother’s voice. She watched her mother raise her hand, blood dripping onto the mahogany wood. Within seconds, the gash in her palm closed seamlessly, until her skin was smooth once again.
“You’re not a child anymore,” Adelaide proclaimed. “I’ve done all I can, but it’s time you step up and do your part. For Wesley…before it’s too late. He has less than two days left in his curse.”
She came from behind her writing desk and knelt before Evie. Her eyes filled with tears as she laid her head in Evie’s lap.
Evie hadn’t seen such tenderness from her mother in ages. Seeing her so vulnerable saddened her. She held back tears of her own and caressed her mother’s head, running her hand over her soft blond locks.
Such sadness tugged at her heart.
Evie was afraid to ask the question, but she had no choice. Her chances of leaving Woodland Creek were slipping from her fingers with each moment that she lingered in that office.
“What do you need me to do?”
Coming to her feet, Adelaide tucked her hair behind her ears. Her hands clutched into fists. “Go to Avalon Prince.”
“What does Avalon have to do with this? How can going after Avalon save Wesley.”
And so it’s revealed. What was Avalon’s deal?
Adelaide turned to the window and spoke to the storm. “He cursed your brother and gave him an ultimatum.”
“What ultimatum?”
“Avalon will let Wesley’s body deteriorate from the curse…unless Wesley kills himself or gives you over to him. What he really wants is you.”
Evie shot to her feet. “You want me to freaking give myself to him? What the hell does that even mean?” Evie was livid. Her heart rate kicked up speed, just thinking of Avalon’s nerve.
“Yes. That’s exactly what you must do.”
Evie’s jaw dropped. She shook her head, appalled. Evie hadn’t cursed since she was a child and her father told her that ladies did not let filth come out of their mouths.
“Fucking unbelievable,” she said, grinding her teeth. Through tears she glared at her mother. “I’m engaged. Did you know that? Do you know what this whole mess will ruin everything?”
Adelaide didn’t skip a beat.
“I’m sorry, Evie. But none of that matters right now. Olivia risked her life for you, and now she’s missing.”
She sniffled, her heart breaking every time her mother opened her mouth. She loved her family, but all she could see was Parker’s sweet face smiling at her when he proposed.
Broken, she pushed that image aside. Adelaide was right.
This was life or death.
“How do you know that?”
“She volunteered to do to him what she did to his father,” Adelaide said. “And she failed.”
“But,” Evie stuttered. “How do you know?”
Adelaide closed her eyes. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a folded up piece of cream-colored stationary.
Evie stared at it when Adelaide held it out to her. “I’m sorry, Evie. If you don’t go to him, Wesley will not survive this curse.”
She snatched the paper from her mother. She opened it, glaring at the words written in s
ome of the best cursive handwriting she’d ever seen.
The words however, made her blood turn cold.
Time’s up.
Evie swallowed. “What does it mean?”
“It means we no longer have any options. You have to go to him by morning.”
“What are you sending me to? What’s to say he won’t kill me?”
“He won’t. He’s smitten, Evie. Just go to him and win his trust. Then do what a good Scarlett does.”
“What’s that?”
A wicked grin came to Adelaide’s pale face. “Make him pay.”
Evie crushed the paper in her hand.
“Now, will you be a good girl and do this for me?”
Evie wiped tears away. She nodded.
“Good girl.”
Evie closed her eyes, her entire world crashing down around her.
Parker will never forgive me for this.
WES SAT UP in bed. The world was a bleak place.
Everything hurt. The skin on his face started to peel off. His legs were paralyzed.
His power had failed him.
Olivia was missing.
What else was is there to live for?
Footsteps broke him from his thoughts.
“What did she say?”
Adelaide stepped into his room and walked over to his bed. She sat on the edge and gave his leg a pat.
“She’s going to do it, sweetheart. She may be selfish at times, but I never doubted she’d do anything for you.”
Tears burned Wes’ eyes.
“I can’t believe that even Malka couldn’t reverse this curse.”
“I know,” Adelaide said. “I can’t believe it either. Avalon is the most powerful wizard I’ve even heard of in the last thirty years.”
“And we sent Olivia out to kill him…knowing he was too dangerous for her.”
“You didn’t know what would happen, Wesley.”
Wes shot a glare at her. “He was waiting for her. How is it that he’s so far ahead of us?”
Adelaide shook her head, pursing her lips. “I don’t know.”
“And now we are sending Evie to him like a gift. What’s wrong with us?”
Adelaide sighed. “Stop thinking so negatively. In about a day or so you will be free of this curse.”
