The Curse

by Ts McKinney

  When he’d told Nico that he could freeze time, he’d stretched the truth just a bit. He’d said he was successful about fifty percent of the time. In reality, he’d been successful one time.

  He felt like such a fucking loser.

  The elevator dinged, indicating that he’d reached his destination. Never in his life did he think he would have to face Riker Keegan again, but here he was, ready to swallow his pride and pretend like there wasn’t an ugly past between them. He could do this, right? Tell Riker and Roman that Corbin was alive and needed them back home. End of story. How difficult could it be?

  The doors slid open, and he saw Riker standing there, propped up against the wall and watching him like a cat watched a mouse before pouncing on it. Riker looked as fucking beautiful as Alastair remembered. He literally felt the little bit of confidence he’d gained over the past few years melt into a messy puddle as he stepped off the elevator.

  “Well, well, well,” Riker said with a smirk that twisted his handsome face into something incredibly ugly. “The rumor mill said that Roman and I would be getting a visit from naked-boy, but I didn’t believe it.” He stepped closer, closing the distance between them and getting right into Alastair’s personal space. “I would have sworn that you would have been too big of a pussy to show your face around here, Alastair Harlowe. Don’t you have a shred of pride in that cute little body of yours?” he asked as his eyes traveled down Alastair’s body in a way that made Alastair feel like he’d just been stripped naked and fucked rough. Not in a good way, either.

  “Shut up, Riker,” he hissed as he took two steps back in an attempt to put some distance between them. Something felt off about Riker. He…smelled different. “I see you haven’t changed a bit—still an asshole.”

  “Ooh, that really hurts my feelings,” Riker teased. “Hey, do you remember that time I fucked you senseless and then ditched your pretty ass in front of the entire school?” He burst out laughing. “Ahhh, those were good times right there. Good, good times.”

  He hated Riker but hated himself more because his ex-lover’s words and hateful attitude made him want to break down and sob. It was so fucking hard to believe that he’d once fancied himself in love with this man.

  He sniffed the air again…and frowned. Riker’s magic had always smelled of toasted marshmallows. The magic aura around Riker now reeked of something rotten. Had he gone dark? He’d absolutely refused to follow Riker’s life in any way, so there was really no way for him to know what the last hundred years had brought to the other man’s life. He wrinkled his nose, smelling…warlock.

  He took another step back. “What…what have you done, Riker?”

  “Whatever do you mean, love?” Riker asked with a shit-eating grin. “Do I smell funny to you?” He raised his arm and sniffed his pit. “Nah, just a bit of masculine sweat,” he laughed. “You used to love it when I’d been working out. Not so much now?” he asked.

  Accusing Riker of turning dark was out of the question. Actually, he didn’t give a fuck what Riker was. The other man meant nothing to Alastair. He was there to perform a task for his high witch and nothing more. “Corbin is alive, Riker. He wants you and Roman home as soon as possible. The other members of the coven have already returned to Marblehead. You and your brother can rejoin the coven or fuck off. I don’t much give a shit.”

  There that sounded like he could care less about their past or their future. He was quite pleased with himself and his display of indifference. His heart was being ripped out, but Riker would never need to know it. He turned to get back on the elevator, but Riker blocked his escape. The other man wasn’t much larger than him, but his magic was powerful.

  The magic was black. Riker was a warlock.

  “Get out of my way, Riker,” he demanded.

  Riker didn’t budge.

  “Corbin wants us home, does he?” The warlock asked with a sinister smile. “That’s funny. You’ve got a message for me, and I’ve got a message for you.”

  Alastair’s eyes jerked up to look at Riker’s, and when they turned black, he turned to run. What the fuck? Riker was an asshole, but Alastair would’ve never thought he would have turned into a warlock. Of course, he hadn’t thought he would strip him naked in front of his entire class either.

  “Don’t run, my sweet Alastair,” Riker said in a voice laced with black magic.

  Alastair felt his feet freeze as the black magic worked its way inside of him, rendering him helpless against its power. In desperation, he pulled up his own powers and tried to fight against the darkness. Nothing happened. It was as if his power never even existed.

  He felt Riker move to stand behind him, thrusting his cock against Alastair’s ass and then laughing when Alastair hissed in frustration. Hissing was all he could do, though. Alastair felt fury and shame burning inside of him. He knew his powers weren’t strong as Riker’s. Never had been and never would be. He thought he’d accepted that he would never be like many of the other witches in his coven…or from the training school. Being humiliated by Riker, again, made all his insecurities blast to the forefront of his mind.

  “Morgan wants to see you, love,” the warlock whispered against his ear. “She needs you to do a job for her.”

  “She’s a fool! You both know I’ll never help Morgan do anything!” He yelled. “Anyway, Morgan is so dead, Riker. Corbin won’t allow her to live. Not after what she did to Nicodemus and to him. You’ve chosen the wrong side, Asshole.” Sure, calling him names was childish and accomplished nothing, but it was all Alastair had at the moment.

  “Sorry, doll-baby,” he cooed and then swiped Alastair’s earlobe with the tip of his tongue. “I wasn’t really asking if you’d help Morgan. I was telling you that you were going to help Morgan. You’ve always made dumb-ass decisions, Alastair. Always.” His hand reached down to cup Alastair’s limp dick through the denim of his jeans. He squeezed hard enough to make Alastair whimper in pain. “First you used this gorgeous body of yours to lure my brother into your bed. I was so disappointed in his infatuation with such a pathetically weak witch.” He chuckled softly at Alastair’s frown. “Yeah, I was so disappointed that I had to find a way to humiliate you to the point that you’d never want my twin again.” He started kissing the side of Alastair’s neck, nibbling and sucking. “You had no idea that was me who cast that lovely spell on you that day, did you, Alastair? Me, Roman.” He laughed out loud. “That, my dear boy, was one of the first spells I learned to cast. I always knew I’d need to be able to make other people think I was the high-and-mighty Riker. The thing is, sweetheart, you’re the only one that falls for it every time. You know what I think? I think you like to believe the worst about my brother, don’t you? You loved thinking Riker was an asshole and you were his victim.”

  Roman? He was talking to Roman? It had been Roman all along?

  No, that couldn’t be the case. This had to be Riker, playing a trick on him. He wouldn’t have been foolish enough to not to be able to tell the difference between the twins. Oh fuck, who had he made love to? Had it been Roman that he’d given his heart and body to that night?

  “Nah, baby-cakes, that was my brother that you let fuck you,” Roman answered. “But, you know what? Morgan has promised that she’ll give you to me once you’ve fulfilled your part in her plan. Won’t we have loads of fun? Trust me, if you enjoyed my brother’s cock in your ass, you’ll really moan for mine,” he boasted.

  Alastair felt his magic start to boil over. He hadn’t felt so strong in years. “Fuck you, Roman,” he hissed as he found the power to move again. “I’ll never help Morgan or you!”

  “Well, look at that,” Roman whispered. “My brother gets close, and your magic suddenly runs amuck. What about that?” he said with a laugh. “Oh well, we’ll have time to analyze what that means later. For now, we’d best hightail it out of here before Riker makes it up to the penthouse.” Roman leaned and stole a kiss from Alastair’s mouth. “I think he still has a bit
of a crush on you, Alastair. Even after all these years. I think it’s best that we get out of here before he shows up.” His eyes glowed red. “Take a nap, Alastair, and when you wake up, it’ll almost be over.”

  Alastair felt the warlock’s magic wash over him like hot lava and then felt nothing. No, he felt Riker right before he slipped away. His ex-lover was close. Riker’s presence stoked his magic, but not enough to fight off whatever Roman had just zapped him with.

  Chapter Nine

  Nicholas

  The crackling and popping sounds of Corbin casting spells woke me from my exhausted slumber. The lower part of my body, especially the ass area, ached in the most delicious of ways. It had been three days since Corbin had laid claim to my body for the first time, and to say that we were practicing under the premise of practice makes perfect might be an understatement. We’d had days and days of it and we couldn’t seem to get enough.

  Ah, yes, life was good. Well, except for the whole birthday, aka death-by-suicide, looming just around the bend--in twenty-four hours, to be exact. Corbin kept assuring me that I had absolutely nothing to fear from Morgan, that her powers are virtually nonexistent in Marblehead and that as long as I stayed here, with him, I’d be perfectly safe. I’d mentioned to him that Morgan had managed to force my other descendants, including Nico who was right here in Marblehead at the time, to commit suicide, but he explained that with all the others, with the exception of Nico, Morgan hadn’t been intruding on another coven’s territory. With Nico, which was really me, since I finally had Nico’s memories, Corbin hadn’t known he would need to have protective spells to block Morgan from using her magic while projecting her image. It had never happened with another witch before. This time, he was prepared. Protective spells were woven around every inch of his territory. She might be able to project her image to me, but she would have absolutely no persuasive powers to use over my mind.

  It all sounded perfectly safe and simple…but there was still a nagging fear that wouldn’t allow me to feel completely at ease. I supposed I wouldn’t feel any real peace until after my birthday hour tick-tocked over tomorrow night.

  I slid my legs into some jeans and then sprinted down the steps to see what naughty magic Corbin was currently up to. His magic grew stronger by the hour, and he assured me this was due to him putting his cock in my ass. I figured that was just some mumbo jumbo nonsense he was using to get me on my knees with my ass in the air, but I was good with that. Hell, I was totally good with that.

  When I didn’t find him in his study, where he usually worked his magic, I checked the front yard. Sure enough, he was out there, totally naked and looking fucking awesome. Fire flew from his fingertips as his hands waved seductively in the air. I felt my cock harden just from watching his graceful display of power. As I stepped closer to him, I wished that I hadn’t bothered with the jeans--I didn’t plan on keeping them on very long.

  “Hey, sexy,” I said when I was standing mere inches away. “Wanna mess around?”

  When he whipped his head around to face me, I gasped at the furious look marring his normally beautiful features. Taking a step back, I realized that the only other time I’d ever seen Corbin look this angry was when Nicodemus had told him about the pregnancy.

  “What’s happened, Corbin?”

  He looked away for a few seconds before answering, “I’ve lost touch with Alastair. We’ve been so busy and happy together I’m afraid I didn’t think of him at first, and now I’m worried about him. When we last connected, he only had the Keegan twins left to visit. That was days ago. There’s some bad blood between Riker and Alastair, but I certainly wouldn’t have thought it was enough to interfere with Alastair’s duty to the coven.”

  Those words didn’t settle well with me. Alastair was my friend, and I’d witnessed, first-hand, the affection and loyalty he felt for Corbin. I was one hundred percent certain Alastair wouldn’t have allowed anything to prevent him from fulfilling Corbin’s request. I frowned at Corbin, thinking that we were probably about to have our first fight. Well, our first fight with me as Nicholas. Shit, this Nicodemus and Nicholas thing got confusing really fast inside my head.

  “If there’s a problem, it’s with Riker,” I answered as calmly as I could. “Not Alastair. His loyalty to you is unquestionable.”

  Corbin crossed his arms over his chest. “Easy, sweetheart,” he ordered softly. “Alastair is a member of my coven, which makes him a member of my family. The safety of my coven comes second only to your safety. I said I was worried about him, not that I thought he wasn’t performing his task.”

  “No, you said that you didn’t think the bad blood between Riker and Alastair was bad enough to prevent him from fulfilling his duty to the coven. It sounds a hell of a lot like you think Alastair is shirking his responsibility all because of an old lover’s spat. Alastair isn’t like that.” I took a step back when I saw his magic bubble to the surface. I wasn’t afraid of him by any means, but as when another wolf shows an alpha its belly, I felt the immediate need to show Corbin my respect.

  It pissed me off, but I couldn’t stop myself from feeling submissive.

  “Send another member after that Riker guy and see what they find. I assure you, Alastair didn’t shirk his duties.”

  “I’ve already done that, love. I sent someone out yesterday and Riker visited the house this morning while you were…resting. He told me that he’d thought he sensed Alastair’s presence a few days ago, but that he’d never materialized.” Corbin smiled softly. “A witch can usually sense when their beloved is near, as I can with you. Even trapped in Morgan’s mirror, I knew the exact moment you entered Marblehead.” He leaned in and kissed my lips, which were probably forming a pout. “My heart started beating again, and magic that I’d thought had died, awakened with a yearning that gave me the power to escape the mirror to join you in your dreams.”

  My lips were still tingling from the sweet kiss. That, of course, pissed me off even more. I wasn’t at all comfortable with the fact that he could turn me into a puddle of testosterone just from one seductive kiss and a few sweet words…but he could.

  “Stop…stop changing the subject, Corbin,” I argued. “You aren’t playing fair.” I took a step back to put some distance between us in hopes that the head on my shoulders would start working and the one between my legs would stop. Another thought crossed my mind and I felt the jealousy bug bite me straight in the ass. “First of all, were you, my beloved, out here talking to Riker while you were completely naked? Secondly, what did the asshole have to say for himself?”

  I didn’t know much about this Riker dude, but I knew that if Alastair didn’t like him, then I didn’t either. I also knew that the thoughts of anyone seeing Corbin naked, except for me, pissed me off.

  A cute grin tugged at the corners of Corbin’s full lips and I knew the bastard was trying not to laugh at my jealousy. Oh, yeah. I needed to fuck his ass again and it needed to be real soon. My being on my hands and knees for the past three days had turned him into a cocky bastard.

  Why did that shit turn me on? I should be mad.

  “I wasn’t naked when Riker visited--I save that for you, Nico,” he answered, but that damned smile was still fighting to take over his mouth. I pictured me shoving my cock between those puffy lips and it helped calm me down…somewhat.

  “Fine,” I hissed between gritted teeth. “What about the asshole part? What did he have to say for himself?”

  His eyebrow arched. “I wasn’t aware that you knew Riker enough to make the asshole judgment on him. Did you meet while I was mirror-trapped?”

  “Didn’t have to meet him,” I retorted. “If Alastair doesn’t like him, he’s an asshole. End of story.”

  “You’re loyal, anyway,” he answered.

  “One thing you need to know about me, Corbin. I grew up without a family, so friends are really important to me.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I was only teasing, and I’m really glad y
ou and Alastair made a connection. But as I was saying, Riker said that he could have sworn that he sensed Alastair’s presence in his apartment building, but when he got there--nothing. No Alastair. No note. Nothing. The next day was when the other coven member visited him and Roman at their home. He came home immediately. Roman has business to attend to, but will be here by tomorrow night.”

  I frowned. “Where’s Alastair, then?”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to find out. I’ve reached out to him with magic, but there’s nothing there. I have connections with all my coven members, but it feels like my connection with Alastair has been severed.”

  A gasp escaped my lips. “He’s…he’s dead? You think he’s dead?” I asked softly. “You think Morgan killed Alastair, don’t you? Oh, fuck. I’m going to kill that bitch. Corbin, there has to be something we can do.” I wasn’t one prone to panic attacks, but I felt one coming on.

  “Calm down, babe,” Corbin whispered as he wrapped his arms around me. “Alastair isn’t dead. I would know if he was--I would feel it in my soul. He’s hiding from me, though…or someone is hiding him.”

  “Someone’s hiding him? Why would anyone hide him? I don’t…”

  Horror slapped me in the face. Morgan had Alastair. She’d taken him because of me--because she couldn’t get to me. I felt Corbin’s arms tighten around me when he realized I understood what happened to my friend. They say your entire life flashes before your eyes when you’re faced with a life-threatening experience, and in my case, I could say that two lives flashed before me, mine and Nicodemus’s. Morgan was going to win. Again.

  My decision to go after Alastair was made instantly, but I knew that convincing Corbin that I had no such intentions wouldn’t be easy. My lover would never agree to allow me to enter Morgan’s territory, especially with my ‘death’ looming over us in the next few hours. It was more than going after my friend…so much more. It was about all the shit that Morgan has pulled on the Bailey men over the years, starting with my very own forced suicide as Nico, and ending with her plans to continue ruining lives and hurting innocents. It had to do with the fact that she’d kept Corbin trapped in a mirror for hundreds of years, forcing him to suffer alone and blame himself for something that wasn’t his fault. It had every fucking thing to do with how much I hated that bitch, Morgan and how much I wanted payback.