Gifted Curse (Curse Trilogy)

by C. M. Owens

  “How did you end up with a full blood after all we went through? It’s obvious you’re not over it in the least, so why become engaged to one?” he hesitantly asks.

  I sigh out, and then I stare down at the finger that once held the black opal that had suited me so well.

  “He was different. I didn’t even know he was a full blood at first. His scent is weak because he has never been human. He was persistent, and he spent every day he could spare trying to convince me he wasn’t like the full bloods I had encountered before. He finally did, and the rest just sort of happened.”

  “When did you meet him?” he asks curiously.

  “He came to see Clay about a mission assignment the night of my birthday party you missed. He felt sorry for me when he found me crying in the bathroom, and he danced with me to keep all the sympathetic eyes from pitying me.”

  Hale looks down at the ground now, and he takes a deep breath as if he’s digesting what I just said. I shouldn’t have told him that much detail. If we’re going to move forward, I have to stop bringing up everything behind us.

  “So if I had been there, you wouldn’t have ever danced with him, and he wouldn’t have ever had you at all,” he says rather than asks.

  “I’m not sure if you’re wanting an answer or just thinking aloud,” I mumble, wishing I had never let the conversation take place.

  “I suppose both,” he mutters, and the he pulls me to be in front of him.

  “I really don’t want to discuss my past with Brazen anymore. I can tell it’s starting to get to you in an agitating manner, and I don’t want there to be conflict this early on in our recently mended relationship,” I assert, and his lips gently thank mine.

  “I love it when you speak of us being together. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear such a wonderful thing. I keep worrying it’s not real, and I dread waking up from this dream.”

  “It’s not a dream,” I murmur softly while my lips strum his.

  He smiles behind the kiss, and then takes my hand in his.

  “Let’s get back to our place,” he says so softy.

  “Our?” I muse.

  “I want to get back to the way we were. I still want to marry you, Araya,” he says while kneeling down.

  “No,” I blurt out, and pain instantly stings his eyes.

  He stands back up and looks away from my eyes carrying the blunt rejection.

  “So it really is a dream,” he grumbles.

  I smile lightly, and then I press my body against his tense one.

  “It’s not a dream, but you don’t get off the hook so easily. We just started this back up, and if you want to marry me, then at some point I want a real proposal. I’m not in a hurry to rush back in. I’m enjoying the place we’re in right now,” I explain, and a slight smile returns to his lips.

  “You deserve a real proposal,” he smolders out.

  “We need to pack,” I murmur against his deep, incredible, and I’m-about-to-get-fucked kiss.

  “Later,” he growls, and my skirt lifts back up as my back slides against the wall.

  “Later,” I breathlessly agree.

  Chapter 7

  Secret Badass

  The sand stirs behind us as we head down the dusty path. Hale’s hand has clutched mine ever since we left Seminole. I’m not sure if he’s worried I’ll get hurt at Salan, or if he’s apprehensive about Brazen making advances on the girl he doesn’t know is taken.

  Hale releases my hand to shift gears, and then he skids around to halt the car in a vast, open space.

  “This is Salan?” I ask curiously.

  “This is where we’ll stop. We don’t need them to hear our cars,” he answers, and his lips press firmly against mine before he lets me climb out.

  “I love you,” he sighs.

  “I love you. It’s just until this is over,” I promise, and then I walk over to snuggle up in his lap.

  “That was a long drive,” he grumbles, and I can tell what he’s wanting.

  “Your good-morning-wake-up-fuck wearing off?” I tease.

  He smirks while rolling his eyes.

  “I can’t get enough of you.” Then we hear the stirring of more vehicles, drawing his eyes away from me for a second. “Time to start this charade,” he mumbles reluctantly, and I huff as I stand from his lap.

  The convoy of jet black vehicles swish into place, and Hale pulls his keys out to stash them in his pocket. Brazen’s eyes fall on mine the moment he sees me, and he stalks directly to me.

  “We’re finally on the road together,” he smolders out, and Hale has to walk away before he does something he’ll regret.

  “Brazen, we’re on the road, but we’re still not together. If my being here is going to interrupt your focus, then I’ll ask Hale to drive me back right now. I won’t put your life at risk so that I can get my field stripes again,” I grouse, his eyes burning from my tart remark.

  “Araya, please don’t keep punishing me. You know how much I love you. Don’t let one stupid, drunken, and careless mistake end what we had. I was hurting, I was pissed, and I wasn’t me that night. Just talk to me, please baby,” he pleads with a near whisper.

  “Not now. Right now we’ve got something to do, and our focus is necessary. Please stop. I’m asking you to give me time to breathe. I’ve been dying to go back out into the field, and if anything goes wrong, Clay will never let me have another opportunity.”

  I start walking toward the assembly of people, including Hale - his eyes not looking up.

  “I wasn’t there to stop them from taking you five years ago. Nothing will go wrong with me here. I’d die before I let someone touch you,” he asserts too loudly, and Hale’s eyes blaze over, finally looking in the direction he had been avoiding.

  “You don’t think I fucking tried everything I could to stop them,” he blares, and Brazen’s eyes blaze back as he stands face to face with him.

  “You didn’t try as hard as I would. She would have never been chained up and tortured for days on end if I had been there,” Brazen counters.

  Their growls grow louder, the promise of an eminent fight radiating like static between them.

  “I fucking obliterated everyone in my path to her, but there were too fucking many. It was a setup, and we walked into a trap. I tried to die to keep her safe, you arrogant son of a bitch. You have no idea what I sacrificed then and after to find her and keep her safe,” Hale screams, and I finally step in between them.

  “Stop, now,” I squeal.

  “You left her alone with her tormented nightmares, and you destroyed her when you missed every-fucking-thing you could in order to hide from your guilt. If you had done everything you could, you wouldn’t have felt guilty,” Brazen interjects.

  “You don’t know a fucking thing, you full blood piece of shit. I can swear to you that you couldn’t have worked any harder to save her than I fucking did. You think you’re so much fucking better than us. You just think you know about our kind, and you think we’re beneath you. That’s why she fucking left you,” Hale lashes, and my hand is now pressed against his chest to hold him back.

  “Please stop,” I plead.

  “I don’t think I’m better than hybrids, I just think I’m better than you. She knows I am. That’s why she fucking left Selma and went to Javeline in the first place. She didn’t want you around because she knows you didn’t fucking care enough,” Brazen slices.

  “You son of a-” Hale lunges before he finishes his sentence.

  Full blood and hybrid soldiers swish over with lightening speed to intervene before the fight can begin, and they restrain the two obnoxious men trying to escape their grasps.

  Oh good grief.

  “Let me the fuck go,” Hale screams to the men holding him back from tearing Brazen apart.

  “I swear,” Clay huffs. “Do I need to fucking separate you two like damn children?” he blares.

  “No,” I mumble. “You need to take me back. This is my fault, and I knew it
was going to happen,” I almost whimper. “They can’t focus if I’m here.”

  Clay’s lips tighten, and then he shakes his head.

  “I don’t want you too far away from Hale right now. With your episodes coming in as frequently as they have, it would be irresponsible of me. I’ll send him back with you,” Clay sighs out, and Hale breaks free from the men, his explosive anger slowly dissipating as maturity starts to settle back in.

  “I’m fine, Clay. You might need me here. That’s the reason I came. I won’t do anything else,” Hale murmurs softly. “She doesn’t need to go back.”

  “Brazen?” Clay asks softly, and I know he’ll comply because he sure as hell doesn’t want me leaving with Hale.

  “I’m fine, Sir. I swear it won’t happen again,” Brazen answers.

  “I sure as hell hope not, otherwise the two of you will go separate ways, and I’ll put you both on probation.”

  Hale looks at me, but my eyes stare at the ground. He promised me he wouldn’t fight no matter what Brazen said. Brazen is hurting so badly right now, and Hale knows that. He has to learn to let it slide until the wounds aren’t so fucking fresh.

  “Let’s get moving,” Hale asserts to the hybrid fleet, and Brazen nods to the full bloods to imply the same order.

  They take their spot in the front, and it’s all the more awkward that they have to stand beside each other. Clay walks up shaking his head in exasperation. I keep my arms crossed over my chest and my head hanging low, my eyes casting my humiliation to only the ground beneath me. It’s hard enough to get people to take me seriously when I’ve been forbidden from field detail, and now I’m here in the middle of one fucked up triangle.

  “When we get there, you stay at the back. Don’t do anything unless I tell you to. We’re just watching and waiting today,” he softly commands. “Are you feeling any-”

  “The savage isn’t surging forth right now if that’s what you’re asking,” I grouse. “I’m humiliated, not dealing with unbearable emotional turmoil.”

  “I see,” he says while stifling a grin.

  “Fuck you,” I grumble, and he has to choke back his laughter now.

  He finds some composure, and then a man walks up to speak to him.

  “Commander Jude, Sir, what should we expect?” the man asks.

  “This place is an old abandoned compound that was left deserted due to the unstable structure and the close proximity to the lines of the United. Beyond the borders are hoards of unruly and unlawful full bloods with a savage nature.”

  “They’re not full bloods, they’re no better than the infected,” one man scoffs.

  “Sorry, soldier. I didn’t mean to offend,” Clay responds with sincerity, but I can see a twinge of smugness in his eyes.

  I stifle my grin, and then we walk toward the hill that hides the compound from sight.

  Everyone stops when Hale and Brazen hold their fisted hands into the air in unison, and they both make their stealthy crawl to the top of the hill to view the scene below. They exchange a look of disbelief, and they both stand up into the exposed air that has to be visible from below.

  “What are you doing?” Clay asks admonishingly.

  “It’s gone,” Hale answers.

  “What’s gone?” I muse.

  “All of it,” Brazen responds softly, and we all scramble up to see what the hell is going on.

  I gasp when I see the flat, destroyed area with burning embers representing the compound that once stood. Gaping mouths and hushed gasps echo out, and Hale takes my side. His hand grazes mine when he temporarily forgets we’re not supposed to be together, and I almost feel desperate to nestle into him right now even though I’m still pissed at him for arguing with Brazen.

  “What the fuck could have leveled this place in just a few hours without our knowledge? Aerial surveillance showed it to be standing just before we came out,” Hale exasperates.

  “It wasn’t a bomb because I can’t smell or taste the remnants in the air. No weapons were used at all if my senses are correct,” Clay says with distraction as he studies the ghastly landscape.

  “My men and I are going to go examine the fallen fragments to see if we can get a read on what’s going on,” Brazen murmurs when he approaches, and Hale takes a small step away from me.

  “Thank you, Captain Mordel,” Clay says in a soft but formal fashion.

  Brazen nods, and then he takes my hand to pull me away from a troubled Clay and a silently pissed Hale.

  “Are you okay?” Brazen asks softly when he has me separated.

  “I’m fine. I have no emotional ties to this place. I only ever came here once when I was in my earlier training,” I say while staring down at the destruction below.

  “I know you’ve had a lot of shit happening to you lately, and I wasn’t sure if this place meant anything or not,” he says while stroking my cheek. “I feel as though I don’t know as much about you as I should.”

  “Like I said, no emotional attachments,” I murmur dryly when I see Hale approaching.

  “We’re not far from the Metropolis district. We’re going to head there and seek shelter for a few days to see what we can learn,” he says through clenched teeth.

  “That sounds fine. I’ll call ahead. I’ve got several friends there that know where to look and who to question,” Brazen says very cordially, and then he kisses the back of my hand before disappearing over the hillside.

  “Metropolis?” I muse, and Clay steps up to answer.

  “Yes. It’s the closest place with members outside the United. They still follow our laws, and they need our protection, but they don’t agree with species integration.”

  “Yeah, I know. How are we going to walk into a city where only full bloods are allowed to roam the streets? They’ll fucking try to kill us,” I growl.

  “No they won’t,” Hale sighs out. “They can’t touch members of the United. Like Clay said, they need the protection of the United. They have more full blood enemies than any other city, compound… well… anybody really because of their unlimited blood supply given to them from the humans they offer protection.”

  “Savalle? They take care of Savalle?” I murmur in disbelief.

  “Yes, and the humans there reward them by donating and diluting the blood just enough to kill the blood fuck need. It’s stronger than the blood we keep on hand for that reason, and many full bloods journey here just to delight in it. The problem is, it’s pretty damn risky. If you’re a fraction off, the full blood could go mad trying to find the vein it belongs to,” Clay says softly, and then his eyes turn back to the rubble still trembling in aftershock. “We’ll need hotel rooms, as many as they can spare. I assume you’ll be sharing one,” he says to Hale.

  His eyes cut toward me before answering, “I wish. Araya is trying to spare Brazen the distraction of our reunion. I’m complying, but he doesn’t seem to want to stop fucking touching her.”

  I roll my eyes, and I’m surprised when Clay says, “I think that’s actually a good idea. Brazen is going to be crucial to this. He’s damn good with the full bloods outside and inside the United. He is an excellent leader, and the less distracted he is, the better. I think the two of you back together would mentally fuck him up.”

  Hale rolls his eyes, and then he walks over to his car to hold the door open for me.

  “I’m riding with Clay,” I snark, and he narrows his eyes at me.

  “So now you can’t even ride with me?” he scoffs.

  “Now I don’t want to,” I growl.

  “What the fuck did I do?”

  “You know what you did. I’ll see you there,” I grumble, and then I turn to get into the oversized, black hummer.

  Hale starts to shut the door, but a man runs up and joins him in the car. He stares into the darkly tinted window I know he can’t see through, but now I’m wishing I wasn’t mad. We could do a lot of really hot things in that car on the way to the Metropolis. Fuck.

  “You ready?” Clay asks as he a
nd three others join me.

  I crouch down in the front seat and stare at the car spinning out in front of us as Hale speeds toward our destination.

  “Yeah. How far is it from here?” I grouse.

  “About two hours, less if you want me to drive like Hale,” he jokes, and the pun is actually sort of cute.

  “Please,” I mutter.

  He smirks a little, and then he steps on the gas to mimic Hale’s crazy ass driving. We had left after everyone this morning, and we were the first ones on scene. He’s so fucking hot when he drives so damn fast. I should have just ridden with him and fucked him like the damn crazy bitch I am until we made it there.

  I’m officially psychotic all over again because of him.

  The gates to the Metropolis are incredibly intimidating, and the wild scene behind them holds a whole different world. It’s not the rigid, militant air I’ve grown accustomed to. It’s how the carefree members of the world outside the United live. The streets are using far more energy to light them than necessary, and it reminds me of old world books I’ve read when lights, dazzle, glamour, and fun was the way of life.

  There’s a gallant hotel that looks straight out of one of the old magazines I found once. It stretches tall into the sky, and the balconies overlook the chaotic laughter and dancing all around as each person guzzles their intoxicating drinks.

  “They do a lot of drinking here,” I speculate.

  “Very much so. Besides blood, alcohol is the only thing a full blood can appreciate. It’s their way of letting loose, and they do a hell of a lot of it in places like this. Until we have made our presence known, stay close.”

  “I will. Don’t worry,” I grumble, and then I see Brazen has already gotten here when we pull into the hotel parking lot that is actually paved. “How the fuck did he beat us, old man,” I grouse.

  “I drove like Hale for part of the way,” he chuckles out.

  “You drove like Hale for three minutes, and then you about shit yourself,” I tease, and he gives me a smirk complemented by a shrug.