This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 Paranormal Romance)

by Alisha Basso

  “Not everything has to be about you, Grace.” Lucian looked at me like I was a selfish child and I flinched.

  He stood up and tossed the blanket onto the back of the couch. He was still shirtless and his golden skin was flushed from being snuggled under the blanket. He turned and offered Lydia his hand. She took it and he pulled, helping her off the couch. I was right. She stood only about five feet tall. She was rounded in all the right places and toned in all the others.

  “Well,” he sighed a bit too dramatically, “I guess, since you’re back and seem fine and all we should be leaving.” He walked to the door, Lydia’s hand in his. “I’ll give you a call sometime later. We’re tired and we still have lots of work to do.”

  What was happening?

  I followed them numbly to the door, afraid to show Lucian how I felt. He seemed to be happy and I had to admit, they made a good-looking couple. He was a perfect golden god and she was femininity personified. Suddenly I wanted to dig my eyeballs out of my head.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you later?” I asked as they stepped through the door. When no answer came, I leaned against the door jam and sighed.

  Lucian continued off the steps to the Rover as Lydia stumbled a bit and stopped. “You go on ahead, baby. My sandal strap is twisted,” she said and smiled at him. She knelt down and fiddled with her shoe as I watched Lucian continue to the Rover. When she stood, she turned to me. “Well, thanks for the couch, Grace.” She smiled at me. It was not a friendly smile. It felt cold, leaving her eyes flat and dead. I wanted to brush her mind, but if she had any power at all, she would feel it. An invasion like that would be a betrayal to Lucian and that right there was enough to force me to mind my manners.

  I frowned at her waiting face. “Welcome,” was all I managed to say as she skipped down the steps. Lucian waited, holding the passenger door open for her. He lifted her up and she crawled in giggling. He shut the door and got inside next to her, never once looking at me as I waved.

  I entered my house and shut the door behind me. Tears blurred my vision as I walked slowly to my kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. I had no right to begrudge Lucian any happiness, but something was off. He was acting like a shit-head and she might be petite and perfect, but something about her was not right. What had happened in the time I was running from the wolves? He was the same old Lucian one moment and the next he’s captain cool with a new girl and an attitude.

  I sat on one of the tall stools that surrounded the large island in my kitchen. Time ticked by as I sipped my Earl Gray and thought about everything that had happened the wolves’ alliance with Voltaire, Lucian’s crazy double personality and not to mention Lucian’s new woman. Was I just jealous or was she truly a little strange? Trying to piece together this puzzle was not an easy task, especially since I was mostly guessing my way through this whole mess.

  I set my cup down and stood. My thoughts were a jumble and I knew of only one way to clear them. I closed my eyes. A moment later, I was on my roof. The fresh air was soothing against my skin and I took a huge cleansing breath. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the sun had traveled across half of the sky, which meant that I only had a few more hours of daylight left.

  I sat on the leaf strewn bamboo mat that I used for my little meditation sessions. I loved it up here. Surrounded by the sounds of nature I could really relax and center myself. I closed my eyes and pulled the crisp air in through my nose and out through my mouth. I did this several times, clearing my mind with each slow breath.

  ***

  The vision developed slowly. A black wolf sat on a white pillar surrounded by hundreds of white roses and lying among them was Lucian. His once beautiful, golden skin was charred and bubbling while thick chunks fell away and turned to ash on the ground. The black wolf disappeared and the pillar morphed into a huge white wall. Chained to the wall with shining silver manacles was Seth. He was filthy and barely moving. His chest oozed blood from several deep slashes; it pooled and then splashed onto the ground forming a thick puddle.

  Then another figure appeared. She was beautiful with long blonde hair that flowed down her back. She was on her knees, scooping up the puddles of Seth’s blood as it covered the floor. She looked at me; her green eyes were swollen and damp from weeping. In her arms appeared a tiny infant. She was feeding Seth’s blood to the child as Voltaire tried over and over again to snatch the child away.

  The vision broke and I found myself curled on my side, crying in the darkness.

  Dry leaves crunched under my palms as I moved to sit up. I felt worse than before and my mind was spinning with the madness that the vision presented. What the hell did it all mean? Who was that woman?

  I stood and brushed the crumpled leaves off my clothing. A chill had fallen and I shivered in the darkness. Night was already here, which meant that the vision was a powerful one. The last vision I had lasted only a few minutes, but it was an easy one to read, well at least I thought so at the time, now I had some serious doubts. The vision showed me a door. On one side was a man who was tall and beautifully built. On the other was a woman; I assumed at the time that she was me. The man was shutting the door locking the woman out. Originally, I figured it was a sign that Seth and I were meant to be forever against each other. Now I felt that the vision was meant for another man in my life. Nothing made sense to me anymore. Ever since I placed that damned ring on my finger, my life has been a wreck.

  I climbed off of the roof and down the back fence. I landed on the ground with a deafening crash. I shook my head, mystified. I spun in a circle. Damn. I didn’t weigh that much?

  Another crash.

  Shit. It was coming from the back yard shed.

  Seth!

  I ran towards the sounds panic icing my veins.

  I skidded to a halt at the edge of my yard. The shed was a mass of splintered wood and twisted metal, and standing among the ruin was Seth.

  “What in the hell do you think you are doing? I yelled. “Have you gone mad?”

  Seth’s silver eyes slowly rolled up to stare at me. His body was shaking and covered in sweat, his hands were balled into tight fists at his sides. He looked completely unhinged.

  I jumped to the side just in time to dodge his lunge.

  “Seth, you ass-hat. Stop acting like a child and tell me what the hell happened.” I flew to the ground as he jumped at me again. “Damn it. Knock it off.” I grunted and then stood. “Where are the refrigerators?” I frowned, looking around in confusion. “Who the hell would haul off with two fully stocked Sub Zero’s? What the hell is going on?”

  Seth’s stare was homicidal. He paced a slow circle around me hunger making him wild. I slowly raised my hands and took a step toward him. Then slowly, I extended a hand. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me violently into the cool hardness of his body. His teeth were long and his eyes were that eerie sightless silver that always frightened me and excited me at the same time.

  “Let go, Seth.” I growled, “What do you think you’re doing?” I jerked but he held me firm. Shit, I thought. He hadn’t fed and I was sure he had been too insulted to feed from the bags last night. Who knew how long it had been. He needed blood, which would explain why he was here to begin with. Now his blood supply was gone and he was losing control.

  I took a deep breath. Relaxing my body, I slowly turned in his iron grip. His breathing was rapid and I could tell he was only holding on by a tiny thread. One move to resist him could get my throat torn out.

  “Seth,” I whispered. My long hair was messy and most of it was in the way of my neck so I slowly moved to sweep it off my shoulders. The movement caused him to jerk with awareness. I could feel his arousal pressing long and hard against my stomach. Oh, God, this was going to be difficult. It had been so long and I knew what he could do with that impressive piece of male anatomy.

  Sweat broke out along my entire body in a cool tingle. Normally, I hated to let him near my neck and insisted he drink from my wrist, but I was in a bad position and I
knew this was the only answer. He was a monster, a jerk, and all that, but he was once my lover and now, oddly enough, I wanted to help him. Weird? Yeah, I know. Why did I want to hold onto my humanity?

  “Grace,” his anguished voice was low, deep with need. “Please?” he smelled along the curve of my neck and I felt my body quicken. His cold tongue licked a path to the hollow of my throat and back up toward my ear. I felt his hands slide to the back of my pants to cup my butt. He pushed me closer and moaned as he pressed his body into mine. I let out my own small moan and my head, heavy with anticipation, fell back, exposing my neck fully for him. The pain was swift and hot. Like two white, hot needles searing my flesh, then nothing but the pull of my blood into him.

  We were outside, the air was cold, but his body was quickly heating up. I felt amazing. His firm arms holding me close, we were so connected, as if letting him feed this way was a contact I should never have denied him or myself. We weren’t even having sex. It was as if my blood knew him, liked him.

  A tiny buzz began in my head as I gloried in the feel of him. The buzz persisted in my mind, forming a thought so obvious and terrifying at the same time that it caused me to jerk and spin away from his warm embrace.

  I produced a blade in my hand and slashed at Seth quicker than he could react. His eyes bulged as my blade sliced into his left arm, sending a stream of blood out into the air as he twisted away from me.

  I stared, horror stricken, as my suspicions and fears ran freely in silver ribbons down Seth’s arm. His wild hair was a tangled mess around his face and shoulders; his wild eyes stared out at me through the mass of midnight locks. Then slowly, a knowing smile spread across his full mouth.

  SEVEN

  Knowledge is power. Well that statement was just dumb. Knowledge is a bitch, and the more of it I acquired, the more fucked up my life became.

  We stood for what felt like hours. I hated that something this obvious was staring me in the face for so long and I never realized it. Well, not the full extent. No wonder my powers were useless on him. I always knew that my blood had altered him, but I assumed his eyes had changed merely because his diet had changed. The blood was no longer red it was silver. No biggie.

  The blood he took from my body not only made him stronger, more powerful. It also made him a Madea.

  I swooned. Gripping my sides, I stared at him as he walked along the shattered wood of my shed.

  “We must recover that blood, you realize?” He was back in control. Cool and practical as ever. “As you can see, I did not create this ruin,” He licked his thumb and wiped the dried blood from his perfectly healed arm. “You don’t want any more silver-eyed monsters following you around like starving puppies now do you?” He smiled as though nothing had changed.

  I had been staring slack jawed as he calmly lectured me. Recovering myself, I closed the small distance between us. “You knew. You knew you were changing this whole time!” I balled my hands at my sides, my nails cutting into my palms.

  He chuckled and pulled his hair away from his face, binding it into a low knot behind his head. “I had my suspicions, make no mistake. From the moment my eyes stopped bleeding black, I knew you had changed me. But, I am still a vampire. Fear not.”

  “Wait, you’re still a blood sucker, which means you can’t be a Madea?” I stated with confusion.

  “It always amazes me, Sweet, your tact and mastery of the obvious. Yes. I still require blood, your precious exclusivity in Club Madea is safe,” he sneered. “Normally, I am never so out of control, but I’ve been a bit busy and my energy is not infinite.” His manner was too casual for the state I found him in. I realized that it couldn’t have been only hunger driving his madness it was something else. What was he hiding?

  “Have you tried to do magic?” I was having a hard time not picturing Seth standing on a hill pointing a stick yelling, “Expecto Patronum!”

  He noticed my smirk. “Have your fun, Sweet, but you need not worry.” He was all seriousness, “At any rate, this new information is not important. We have other things to deal with. Your blood is in the open.”

  “So you have no power?” I persisted. “No extra anything?” I folded my arms and watched his face. I couldn’t read his mind like I could everyone else’s. That in itself was a power in my opinion. If he had that, he had to have more.

  He walked over to the wreckage of the shed without meeting my eyes. “We need to get a scent or a track for whomever or whatever took your blood.” He kicked a board with his boot and knelt down to inspect the ground beneath.

  I narrowed my eyes in frustration, knowing I had gotten all I was going to get from him on the subject. “Well, fine then.” I huffed out my breath in frustration. “Can you determine who did this?” I stomped over to where he knelt, kicking boards and bits of drywall along the way. “Can you get a scent?” I bent close to his side and looked at him. His expression was the kind a person would give to a complete idiot. I cleared my throat. “What?” I snapped.

  “I am not a trained hound, Sweet. I can no more scent the thieves than any other vampire. Would it be possible for you to stretch your magical legs and give us some answers?” He stood and folded his arms.

  “Fine.” I sat on the ground among the ruin. Folding my legs, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Concentrating was a bit hard. I could almost feel the irritation and anger radiating from the pissed off Master Vampire in front of me. “You’re going to have to chill out or leave, Seth. It’s hard to function when you’re emotions are taking over the atmosphere.” I opened one eye and watched as he straightened and walked over to the furthest end of the disaster I used to call a shed.

  “Will this do?” He spoke as if it was an effort for him to form the words. “I hope you realize,” he looked down at me with menacing eyes, “that all of this could have been avoided if you had only listened to me. I should think that the degree of foolishness you have displayed in the past would have given you more sense in forming decisions in the future.”

  “Kiss my ass, Seth. Stop stalling me. Do you want to find out who took your dinner or not?” I shot him a glare and closed my eyes again.

  The air had become icy outside and its chill was almost painful. I centered my power and wrapped myself in a warm pocket of flowing air. As I relaxed, my focus sharpened.

  I sent my power out into the city. They were thin tendrils of awareness searching, feeling, and tasting the air. My power licked along the ground and everything on it. People, plants, animals, and structures were all a part of the search. The air was pulled in through my lungs, each molecule tested, tasted. I savored the feel of spreading out among nature. My mind seeped into the moments that ticked by. My body swayed with the wind, my skin tingled with the current of so many lives.

  Time was of no value to me, but when repetitions of energy began to enter my mind, I knew my search had covered enough distance and I was circling back. I opened my eyes and sighed.

  Seth, his arms folded, was staring at me with a strange expression on his face. “So you know the location?” he stepped closer.

  “No, but that in itself is a clue as to who has the blood.” I stood and started brushing the dirt and drywall dust off of my clothing.

  Seth cleared his throat. His arms were still folded with impatience.

  “Think about it Seth.” I stopped slapping at the dirt on my pants. “Me, with all my power could not locate a simple pair of refrigerators or who could have taken them. Doesn’t that seem odd?” I looked at him as realization filled his eyes.

  “Voltaire!” he punched the air and spun. It was a surprisingly human reaction and had me gawking. I let out a small chuckle.

  “You are laughing?” He lowered his brows. “When Voltaire and his mewling wolves are probably making a whole race of Madea’s as we speak?”

  Seth was obviously more up to speed on Voltaire’s new partnerships than I had realized, but then again, he was part of the Council. I folded my arms and looked at him. “He can’t do that,
Seth. There wasn’t enough blood to change the whole wolf pack.”

  “Have you lost your senses?” he whirled on me, “Only enough to change one would be your undoing! What if that one person is Patrick? What do you think a Werewolf Pack Master could do with all that extra strength? My Sweet, do you realize that since I have had your blood, I can feel you? I am so tuned into you it makes me crazy when I’m not around you! It is a constant struggle knowing I have the strength to force you.” His voice lowered, his eyes left mine, “I respect you now.” He cleared his throat, “so I control that urge. Patrick, on the other hand, or any of your enemies for that matter, will not be as kind. And, remember this, Sweet…” He gently grasped my chin and looked into my eyes. “You have absolutely no power over me.” He moved so quickly I was on the ground before his last words even registered.

  “Stop me, Sweet. Use your powers to stop me from shoving inside you right here.” He kissed me hard. I screamed into his mouth and pushed as I tried to move under his weight. His massive arms had me pinned to the debris-strewn ground causing tiny bits of wood to push painfully into my back. I twisted my legs and tried to smash my knee into his groin. Instead, he shifted and slammed my legs to the ground with his knees. I knew from our past violent encounters that I couldn’t transport him anywhere, not unless I wanted to go along for the ride. It was another clue to his transformation that I conveniently ignored. I closed my eyes and pulled on my power. Pulling the air in through my nose, I concentrated on forming all I had into a crushing ball of heat. When I felt I had enough to shake the earth, I shoved it into him as hard as I could.

  Seth’s eyes bled to pure silver and he bared his white teeth as they grew long and sharp before my eyes. “Feed me more, Sweet,” he groaned. Running his tongue down my cheek, he growled, “It feels like sex in the sun.” His breath was hot against my cheek as he spoke.