The Curse
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon,Dianna Love
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
‘Rise of the Gryphon’ Excerpt
Fire Bound
Don’t miss the short story
FIRE BOUND
A BELADOR STORY
By Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
Following THE CURSE and an Exclusive Sneak Peek of THE RISE OF THE GRYPHON
We’d like to dedicate this book to Mary Buckham,
who is generous to a fault with her time and expertise
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FROM SHERRILYN AND DIANNA
Thank you to our family, friends, and fans. We love you all and couldn’t do this without you! You are the best!
A special hug for our husbands, whose endless support means the world to us … and we so appreciate the great food! A special thanks go to Cassondra Murray and Mary Buckham for beta reads and terrific feedback, plus being major support at any time, day or night.
A major thank-you to Louise Burke, a publisher whose enthusiasm is only surpassed by her genius, and thank you to our talented editor, Lauren McKenna, who is a joy to work with because of her commitment to publishing a great story. We want to send another high-five to the Pocket Art Department, which has once again outdone themselves on giving us a fabulous cover and for the great banner ads, and we appreciate Robert Gottlieb’s outstanding guidance and managing of our projects.
Last, and never least, we want to thank the readers who come out to see us in every city, send encouraging messages that touch our hearts, and read our stories so that we may continue doing what we love. You mean the world to us.
We look forward to hearing from you anytime at
[email protected]
, or stop by
www.SherrilynKenyon.com
and
www.AuthorDiannaLove.com
, and make sure to visit the “Reader Lounge” at
Dianna Love’s Fan Page
on Facebook, where you’ll find free Belador items and scavenger hunts.
Cathbad the Druid doth bind Queen Medb By vow thus struck with blood and blade Birth afore death and death afore birth The last shalt rise afore the first That by fair child of Findabair Medb queens shalt rule the tower lair Twenty score years and sixty-six days Not one more breath shalt they take Until such time the beast doth rise Of ancient blood and flame green eyes And bring to power a queen once more Immortal to rule as none afore.
—Prophecy of Cathbad the Druid
ONE
A
nswer me or accept death,” a female demanded.
The smooth texture of her voice was familiar to him, but not the dangerous edge in her tone. Storm floated in a timeless cocoon of peaceful darkness, content to stay here if not for that disturbing ultimatum.
“This is your last chance,” she snapped at him, fury powering her words. “I would never have thought you a coward when it came to facing pain, Storm. Speak now or prepare for eternity.”
Time. Pain. Death.
Understanding crept into his wavering consciousness. He focused on his body, or lack of one now that he identified this murky sensation as being suspended between life and death. He’d been here once years ago, as a teen.
Threads of awareness pulled together, weaving a tapestry until an image formed of the woman speaking. Kai.
Storm forced his heavy eyelids open to find her. His guardian spirit sat with crossed legs, surrounded by her favorite meadow, where he always met her. He sat in the same position across from her. Acres of wildflowers swayed gently in a soft breeze that swirled with the fresh scent of outdoors. Sunshine blazed overhead, showering golden light across Kai’s honey-colored skin and coal-black hair that fell past her waist, sliding over the butter-soft deerskin dress. She sometimes took the form of a shriveled crone. He preferred this younger Kai.
Still fighting his way through a haze of confusion, Storm found comfort in seeing the Southwestern Native blanket she used as a shawl. The colors of a sunset woven in the wrap reminded him of one he owned.
His thoughts bumped into each other, knocking loose a memory here and there. Such as, that this realm was always a sanctuary, a welcoming place.
It didn’t feel like that now.
Kai existed only in the spirit world. Storm didn’t recall initiating this visit. That was not normal. Something had happened to him, to his physical body.
He wasn’t here by choice.
She folded her delicate arms. Worry lingered in her doe-brown eyes. “I have given you all the time I can.”
Though simple, her words were weighted with a finality that washed away the last of his mental fog. He asked, “Am I dying?”
“Yes.”
“But I have a choice?”
“You do.”
“Good.”
“Perhaps,” she amended.
Less good. “How damaged is my physical body?”
“Your human form is close to expiring. I have fought to prevent your spirit from crossing over for three weeks, but—”
“Three weeks? Am I in a coma?”
“You were, but no longer.”
He searched his mind, poking at dark corners to open doors to his past. Nobody
wanted
to die, but he had a strong sense that he had a duty to stay alive, odd as that sounded. Why? “What happened to me?”
“You were attacked, mortally injured. Your spirit burst into my realm, pleading for me to keep you alive, shouting why you
must
return to the human world. It has been a battle to grant your wish to this point.”
Images sheared past the inside of his eyes. His body crashing into a brick wall. Bones shattering. Internal organs exploding from the force.
But not in his human form.
He’d been a black jaguar.
Strange. He’d refused to shift into a jaguar for many years. Why now?
A new image surfaced. Glowing green eyes on a woman who sent his senses into overdrive. An Alterant.
Evalle Kincaid.
He’d used his Skinwalker gift to shift into animal form for Evalle. To help her find other Alterants … before Sen came to take her … to the Tribunal trial. Sen. Liaison to VIPER.
More images. Sen grabbing Evalle. Storm leaping at Sen.
Sen attacking, wielding kinetic power. Slamming Storm into the brick.
A heartbreaking last look at Evalle’s horrified face. One brief rush of her emotions across his empathic senses … Desperation. Misery. Had the Tribunal locked her away forever?
He had to find her.
One thing at a time.
First he had to live.
He nodded, letting Kai know his memory had begun to surface. “Where’s my body?”
“Safe and hidden.”
“How did you manage that?” He didn’t think a guardian spirit could physically move bodies around in the human world.
“I shielded your body from view until I could find help. Then I called upon one you trust. She moved your body to a place where she could tend your wounds. She has kept you alive, but you are not fully healed and now your body is weakening by the hour.”
Evalle
. She’d be frantic about his dying, but if she was taking care of him, that meant she had walked free from the Tribunal. Finally, something positive. “But I still have the choice to live?”
“You have the choice to go back. Living will depend upon whether your Skinwalker gifts can complete your healing.
If
you choose to return, you must do so now.”
“There is no if. I
have
to go back.” He paused, to figure out exactly why he absolutely had to return. To fulfill a task—no, a commitment he’d made. “Something … about Evalle, right?”
“Yes, you had dreams that the Ashaninka witch doctor who searches for you has followed you to Atlanta and intends to harm her.”
That’s right. The bitch who’d killed his father back in South America. His last dreams had shown her threatening Evalle.
Everything rushed back to him with a vengeance.
He would
not
let that insane bitch touch Evalle. “Can the witch doctor find my body where it’s hidden?”
