Gifted Curse (Curse Trilogy)

by C. M. Owens

  “I want to watch this with you,” I yawn out, and he gives me a faint smirk before my eyes become too heavy to hold open any longer.

  “Araya, are you coming?” Hale asks in a slightly agitated tone.

  “I am,” I huff, and I look in the mirror at the far too tight dress that almost drapes the floor. The plummeting neckline barely hides any of my secrets, and it continues on to my navel for a larger peepshow than I intended to give. “Remind me to never trust Wendy with picking me out a dress again,” I growl.

  The blood red hue of the dress makes my hair look even darker as it swishes around my shoulders. The hidden details are what make the dress beautiful, but also a little too… sexy.

  “I’m sure it’s fine. We really have to go,” he grumbles.

  He’s been ill for two weeks. I’m sure he’s ready to get me out of his apartment, and I know I’m going crazy too. We’ve been locked up together like two horny caged animals, but there’s never any sex because of me and my big mouth.

  The more I get to know him now, the more I wish I had just let him keep chasing me.

  “I wish you weren’t so cranky. As soon as there is a room available, I promise I’ll be gone,” I harp through the door.

  “I don’t want you gone, I just don’t want to be late. I’m the captain. It would look bad,” he sighs.

  “Go on without me. I’ll just come down when I summon up the courage to let everyone see me in this.”

  I twitch nervously as I spin around again, and the damn back is completely transparent through the lace of the dress. Thankfully, the transparency doesn’t extend past my rear, but it’s still pretty damn slinky.

  “I don’t want to leave you behind.”

  “Then the captain will be late.” I stare a moment longer at the dress I should toss in the trash rather than wear, and another dreadful sigh escapes. “Just go. I’ll be fine,” I grumble.

  “Very well. Come find me when you get there, and I’ll make sure Brazen doesn’t mess with you. I know that’s why you’re not ready. You’ll have to face him sooner or later. You can’t hide in my home forever.”

  “I can hide here until I have a home of my own again. I’m looking into the Hershian compound. They need a good interrogator, and I sent over my résumé yesterday.”

  He doesn’t say a word, and I feel like a fool because he’s probably already gone.

  I just roll my eyes, and then I let out a slight squeal when I hear, “You’re leaving?”

  I turn to face the pitiful eyes staring into mine, and I shrug as if they don’t affect me - even though the do.

  “I thought it might be good for me to get a fresh start… again. I can’t go back to Javeline, I hate Hartwood, and Selma has far too many people I know.”

  “Seminole could use a good interrogator too,” he murmurs sadly.

  “Seminole has you, and you’re just as good as I am.”

  “You said you wouldn’t leave if I quit chasing you, and I have. I actually prefer our new arrangement of friendship,” he says softly, and he moves to sit on the edge of the bed.

  His words almost sting me even though it’s exactly what I asked him to do. I never expected him to quit me so easily.

  “It’s just a thought. Besides, we can be friends from anywhere,” I almost huff out, and then I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “Go on down. I’ll be there in a minute. They’ll be expecting you to start the cadet selection ceremony, and I’m sure the newbies are getting stir crazy,” I say with lightheartedness.

  This is ridiculous. I’m falling for him all over again, and he’s over me now that I asked him to back off.

  “Araya, I want to talk about this more,” he sighs against the door.

  “We will. That’s what friends do,” I secretively snark.

  I hear reluctant steps pacing before they leave the room. I reemerge after I hear him walk out the front door. The apartment has been fully restored now, but my pictures are still not reframed. He’s really done, and I need to get the fuck out of Seminole.

  I very solemnly make my way out the door, and I gasp when I step outside to meet the sad eyes of an all but forgotten full blood. Brazen’s suit is pristine, fitting him with the same detail a king would be acquainted with, but it doesn’t well to mask his pain.

  “Hey,” he softly offers, and my stomach flips over and over.

  “Hey,” I mumble, and I turn to walk down the hall as quickly as I can.

  He blurs to be in front of me, and his hands grip my waist before pulling me to his body.

  “Please talk to me,” he pleads in his soft, incredible voice.

  “The last time we talked I almost killed you. I think it’s best if we avoid each other for a while.”

  Tears threaten my eyes, and his soft lips press against my forehead while his cold hand cups my face.

  “The last time we talked I said something I’ll forever regret. I’m so sorry, and I just want you to come back to me,” he coos. “I shouldn’t have assumed you did something wrong, and I never meant to drive you into his arms. You don’t belong with him no matter what Clay says,” he grumbles, and his grip on me tightens.

  “Clay never said I belong to Hale, and I’m not in his arms. We’ve mended our old scars by becoming friends. I’m just staying here because there aren’t any other rooms available right now. He’s sleeping on the couch.”

  At least he tries to.

  I’ve woken up every morning with his arms around me because I scream for him every night in my sleep.

  “You can stay with me in our room. I’ll be leaving late tonight, but I’ll be back in a few days,” he smoothly rolls out, and his lips graze mine just barely before he pulls me into a deep kiss.

  I push him back while shaking my head.

  “Brazen, what happened that night reminded me how dangerous I can be. This has never been a good idea. I know how your kind feel about mine, and I knew this would eventually happen. I didn’t want to admit it because you seemed almost too perfect to be true.”

  “I’m not perfect, baby. I really fucked up, and I know it was one of the worst things I could have said. I know what you had to endure growing up in our merciless world, and in a moment of sheer drunken fury, I used it against you. Please just come back. I want to show you how much I love you,” he chokes out, and I continue to back away, tears staining my eyes.

  “Please don’t do this right now. I’m doing good to keep myself in check as it is,” I whimper. “I need time, space, and more to drink than I’ve had.”

  I whip by him, and then I feel his hand holding mine. “I’ll give you time and space. I’m not scared of you. I need you, and I don’t want this to be the end for us. I won’t let it be,” he releases in a breathless fit. “If you can be friends with him, then you can be friends with me too.”

  “This is all still too fresh. I can’t,” I whine, and he kisses the back of my hand while turning into the main room where the cadets are lined up on the small stage on the back side of the glamorous room decorated in gold.

  “I’m not giving you up,” he murmurs against my ear. “You look amazing.”

  His hands slide around my waist while pulling me to him tighter.

  “You have to give me up,” I whisper, and his arms tighten all the more as we sway to the music.

  A tear falls free when he kisses the top of my head once more, and I push him back lightly.

  “I’m not ready for this,” I murmur, and he tilts my chin up so that my eyes are forced to meet his.

  “I’ll be here whenever you are,” he coos, and he takes a step dangerously close to me.

  “There she is,” Clay inserts, and he swishes me free from the clutches of the full blood that broke my heart. “I need to dance with the girl trying to leave Seminole when this is where she’s needed.”

  “You’re leaving?” Brazen quickly interjects.

  My eyes scold Clay for revealing the secret I’ve only told Hale, and then I turn to face Brazen.<
br />
  “I don’t know yet. All I did was send in a résumé,” I grumble.

  “To where? I’ll get transferred,” he asserts, and I feel my stomach flip once again.

  “Don’t do this right now, please,” I whimper.

  He takes a deep breath, then adjusts his tie before saying, “I’ll find out on my own then. I’ll see you before I go.”

  I huff when he walks off, and Clay shrugs innocently when I turn back to him with my admonishing scowl.

  “You don’t need to leave,” he continues.

  “You don’t get to tell me I can’t leave Seminole just because you’re the commander. As soon as my services are no longer needed, I’ll change my base.”

  “I don’t want you leaving until you’ve had a few months to recuperate from all of the traumatic incidents you’ve had to deal with,” he says with worry.

  “I’m fine. I’ve gone two weeks without a problem. I’m in the clear by now, and Hale is growing annoyed with me,” I growl.

  “They’ll have the repairs done soon, and then you can have your own room. Hale isn’t getting annoyed with you either.”

  “What’s this about me being annoyed?” Hale’s smoldering voice asks from behind me.

  His hands slide around my sides as he turns me to face him, and Clay smirks as he steps to the side.

  “Araya is apparently worried you’ve grown agitated with your living arrangement,” Clay interjects, and then he runs off to leave me dangling under the cloud he has just created.

  “I told you I enjoyed being friends,” he murmurs softly as we dance to the soft song.

  “I know, but friends don’t usually have to live together after having been engaged.”

  “I don’t mind it, and your feelings for me have changed. I think this friendship has endless possibilities,” he chuckles out, and I just roll my eyes at how casually he’s taking all of this.

  He takes a step back when a man quickly approaches, and Hale’s smile dissolves the moment a whispered conversation erupts. He takes my hand before following the man at a wicked pace.

  “What’s going on?” I bark in worry.

  “I need your help,” he replies very vaguely with his voice incredibly low.

  “With?” I prompt.

  “An interrogation.”

  Great. He set this up so I would feel needed in Seminole rather than feeling like an imposition on him.

  “Hale, this really isn’t necessary. I’m a big girl,” I sigh.

  “This is very real,” he scolds, and we disappear behind the glass to view the interrogation room holding a very obnoxious, disruptive, and rebellious human.

  “A human?” I muse.

  “This human is one we’ve seen before,” he says very coldly.

  “Who is we?”

  “My men and I saw this man just before the strike at Hensen,” Brazen interjects, and I turn to face him as he stalks toward me.

  My heart pounds and then drops to my stomach for a second at the startling presence I wasn’t prepared for. Despite everything going on around us, Brazen’s eyes still find only mine, and his pain finds its way to my soul.

  “Oh. You think he had something to do with the unorganized ambush?” I ask while shaking free from my own guilt.

  “I think he knows something. He’s probably a scout trying to work his way up the ladder. We would like to know what we’re looking for before we head back out tomorrow,” he asserts.

  “She’ll find it,” Clay growls as he walks into the room. “I’m sick of them being so many steps ahead. Let’s see if we can jump in front of the next attack.”

  “I need a gun,” I murmur, and one of the uniformed men hands me a gun loaded with uranium dipped bullets.

  “For a human?” Brazen speculates out loud.

  “Sit back and enjoy the show, boys,” I say to answer his question without actually answering.

  The red dress I’m wearing has a very high split that journeys up the leg, and I strap a holster to my thigh. The split leaves the gun in view, and I walk out of the glass box to head into the cold, sterile one holding my pissed off human suspect.

  “You bitch. You had better tell them to let me go if you want to live,” the man barks the moment I walk in.

  “Good evening to you too,” I chuckle out, and I confidently strut over to the man violently rattling the cuffs that bind his hands.

  “You have no fucking clue who you’re dealing with,” he snarls out, acting more and more like a rabid wolf than a human.

  “Then tell me who I’m dealing with,” I murmur very softly, and I take a seat on the edge of the table and while crossing my legs - acting very uninterested and unimpressed.

  “You don’t really act like you want to know,” he spouts.

  “Sorry,” I say with a fake yawn. “It’s been long couple of weeks. It’s been packed full of blood, sex, and epic battles where I’ve been the victor. Seeing a mere human doesn’t exactly strike fear into my bones,” I provoke, and his snarling worsens.

  Suddenly, he stops. He leans back into the chair with a little more calmness shining through, and then he tries to flip the tables early in the interrogation.

  “You’d be surprised,” he murmurs with a menacing grin.

  His chilling attitude has piqued my curiosity, but I keep my nonchalant attitude intact.

  “I doubt it. Humans stopped being surprising before I even hit the change,” I huff out, and then I stretch out so that I’m lying on top of the cold, steel table in front of him. “You can keep talking, I’m just going to rest my eyes,” I murmur while acting as if my eyes are too heavy to hold open.

  “You’ll be sorry for overlooking me so easily. I know Sherry felt the same way,” he murmurs, and in that instant, chills consume me.

  He did flip the tables, and I very slowly fight off the savage trying to emerge, knowing I’ll rip his head off no matter what phase I’m in. His eyes smile as my wide ones connect, and then he shrugs as if he has been victorious in this game.

  “So you know about Sherry, and you know about my connection with her,” I pry.

  “I know the two of you were partners, and I know that bitch never thought a human could make her squirm.”

  “So you were there… Javeline. Why destroy it?” I ask gingerly while trying not to implode from the anger I’ve been forced to bottle up.

  “There’s a reason for everything, Ms. Crush,” he spews, and more chills consume me.

  I never said my name, but then again, he knows a lot about me.

  “I see you’ve been studying my kind,” I murmur while scooting my legs a little closer. “Is that because you’ve been turned down for the blood change or is it because you just have nothing fucking better to do?” I growl.

  “It’s because we were told to,” he answers ominously. “There’s something big coming, Ms. Crush, and I don’t think you’re ready for it just yet. Pretty soon your filthy kind and the full blood trash will be nothing. Hybrids will be mere half breeds with a tan, and full bloods will be living in the darkness in fear.”

  “That’s a big task for a human,” I murmur leadingly.

  “Not just humans - true hybrids,” he counters, and his eyes glisten with excitement as if he’s desperate to share his gloating secret with me.

  “I’m as true a hybrid as one can get,” I say to play dumb.

  He’s talking about a new species, but he has to be delusional.

  “No. True hybrids will one day walk the sunlit earth without the tinted sky darkening their path because there won’t be anymore full bloods to protect from its glorious rays. Their blood will allow them to change others, unlike your sterile blood now, and unlike the far too fertile blood of the full bloods, they’ll be able to choose if the person is changed or not. They’ll see at night as you do in day - like the full bloods, but it’ll be better. They’ll have gifts as you do, but they’ll own more control. Humans will line up to stop being at the bottom of the food chain, and full bloods will cease to e
xist all together. Your blood will be used to heal their bodies until the last of your kind is gone,” he rattles out, and I turn to face the glass harnessing the numerous sets of eyes I know are wide even though I can’t see them.

  “That sounds a little farfetched. You’re saying an evolution is about to occur without a lapse in time. It seems like a rather large undertaking. Not all humans have blood types compatible for change, and if they lack that specific gene, then they will simply become infected rather than move into our world.”

  “That was the old virus,” he murmurs vaguely. “What we can do now… It’s surreal.”

  “Then why come here? No humans have been changed in any of the compounds you’ve destroyed. Everybody has been accounted for. If this wonderful world you live in offers such an immense joy, then why not change people to build an army?”

  “Because it’s not completely ready. We need one more thing, and then it will be time. Then we’ll take down so many more… just like we did Sherry and all those hybrid scum too young to change,” he says without an ounce of heart.

  I feel my pupils starting to dilate now, and I’m worried I won’t have time to finish before I have to sedate the beast within. I feel the burning as the savage tries to run free in my veins, and I shake my head to steady my emotions.

  “If such a thing existed, there would already be prototypes. Hell, you look the type to charge into such a thing without any regard for safety, but here you are… still human. Your blood runs through your veins and begs to be milked now that you’ve been proven to be part of a more powerful threat. You’ll be sentenced to death row and drained of all your blood to feed the full bloods. You’ll walk among the living long enough to taste death. You’re no more a threat than a fly - a simple buzzing annoyance at best. I don’t need this,” I murmur while tossing the gun I had brought in as a prop onto the table.

  It clanks against the steel while the holster still clasps to my leg. His eyes stare at the opening of my dress, and I smirk when I lean over to him.

  “It’s hard to be human when everyone else is enjoying a good blood fuck. It makes you curious, excited, and aroused, but you can’t do anything about it because my kind doesn’t usually find any need in tasting your blood. We prefer our own or that of the full bloods because it’s so much more powerful,” I chuckle out, and then I turn my back on him to prove how completely unafraid I am.