The Kyriakis Curse (6 page)

Sarah. It would take very little for him to reach around and cup her small but shapely breasts in his palms. He inhaled her scent again.

She would go into heat soon. He could smell it, and when that happened, Sarah would

have every unmated shifter within a three-hundred-mile radius sniffing around her.

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“Constantine?” Her voice brought him out of his decadently sinful thoughts.

“Do you think you’ll be able to handle the truth?”

She gulped. “I don’t know, but at least I’ll no longer wonder why I’m so different.”

She was different all right, more than she even realized.

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Why was she with these two strangers? Men who could probably snap her neck

without blinking an eye. She fidgeted in her seat under Constantine’s intense gray scrutiny and gripped the cup Aries offered her.

“Thank you.” She wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but she needed an excuse to keep

her hands busy. Hanging onto the cup and stirring the dark liquid with a spoon did the trick, but Sarah couldn’t stand the silence. “Uh, do you fellas plan on telling me what I’m doing here, or are we just going to have a staring contest?”

Aries answered. “You fainted. I though we’d already established that.”

“Yes, but we haven’t established why you’re keeping me against my will,” she

countered.

“No one’s restraining you,” Constantine interjected smoothly. “You’re free to leave

whenever you’d like... after we have our answers.”

She sighed with exasperation, putting her mug down and standing abruptly. “Why

won’t you two just kill me and put me out of my misery?”

Constantine laughed. “You seem to have quite a fascination with death.”

“Not particularly, but there comes a time when a girl has to stop running. I’m tired of living in fear,” she said wearily, pacing the floor. The more time she spent in the room with Constantine, the more her body tensed. She felt a tingling between her thighs she

desperately tried to ignore. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as he left his seat and strode to her, his intense gray eyes never leaving her face.

When Constantine placed one muscular hand on her shoulder, Sarah forced herself not

to flinch away, not because his touch repulsed her, but because it did the exact opposite.

“Look at me, Sarah,” Constantine whispered softly.

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She shook her head, not wanting to get lost within the depths of his eyes.

“Look at me.” His command was just as soft this time, but it brooked no argument.

When their gazes locked, Sarah’s knees grew weak. “Trust us, Sarah. We really mean you no harm. We only want some answers. Are you willing to talk?” He raised one thick brow.

She licked her dry lips. “And if I do, you’ll let me go?”

“If that’s what you want.”

Sarah nodded, looking away. “What do you want to know?” She took a seat again at the table.

“You still haven’t explained your actions at the gallery,” Constantine said.

“It was... I mean, it’s hard to explain. I looked at both of you, and it reminded me of...

of some very bad people or creatures. I’m not sure what they were exactly. Werewolves?

They’re not supposed to be real, I know, but there you have it.”

“They aren’t real. Not in the true sense of the world. If anything, you’re more a

werewolf than we are. My cousin and I are Canis lupis immortus, or just call us shifters, if you like.”

Sarah’s mouth twitched in derision. “Get the hell out of here. I’m not a werewolf... I can’t be.” Or could she? The need to strip and run through the forest when the moon was full had grown much stronger as she’d gotten older. Then she thought about the blackouts, her near-superhuman senses and abilities, and her love for meat so rare that it bled. Well, maybe that last was just as human a trait as any, but still it gave Sarah something to ponder. Then there was her rapid hair growth. She’d read the average rate for human hair to grow was about a half inch to five eighths of an inch per month.

Separately, these things could probably be easily explained, but together... Sarah had no choice but to reevaluate her thinking. “No,” she denied, even though the evidence seemed to be staring her in the face.

“I think you already know we’re not lying, Sarah.” Aries said.

She stood again and paced the floor in nervous circles. “Okay. I’ve known for a while that I’m not like other people, but a werewolf? That’s... this is a lot to take in.”

Aries frowned. “How is that you didn’t know? What happened to your pack?”

“I’ve already told you, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“A half-breed lone wolf,” Constantine muttered, as though considering something.

“Sarah, when did you realize you were... different?”

“Why?” she asked cautiously, stopping in mid pace.

A slight smile tilted those sensual lips. “Humor us.”

She sighed. “I think I was about thirteen.”

Aries nodded. “That would make sense. That’s around the time when half-breeds

usually first shift.”

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“Okay, hold on. You two are confusing the hell out of me. How about speaking in

laymen’s terms? First, you tell me I’m some kind of werewolf. Now, I’m a half-breed? You know how insulting that term is?”

Constantine gestured to the chair behind her. “Have a seat. It seems you have a lot to learn.”

“I think I’d rather stand,” she said a little more breathlessly than she meant to. Why did he have to look at her with such obvious lust? Remembering the kiss they’d shared sent shivers down her spine.

“Suit yourself.” He gave her a knowing smile before shrugging one broad shoulder.

“Where would you like us to begin?”

“I guess you can start off by telling me exactly what I am. Make it clear.”

“Your formal classification is Canis lupis sapiens, not an immortal, but much more

evolved than humans. You’ll live for a very long time by human standards -- probably a little over two hundred years -- but eventually you will die. On the other hand, my cousin and I will not, at least not by natural causes.” He paused. “One of your parents was a Canis lupis immortus, like Aries and me. Which one was it?”

Sarah frowned, trying hard to come to terms with what they were telling her, but it

was all a bit difficult to digest. “My parents were killed when I was young, by...”

“By what?” Aries prompted, when her voice trailed off.

Sarah wrapped her arms around her trembling body as she tried to recall the blurred

memories, the ones she’d suppressed for so long. “Wolves,” she whispered.

The men looked at each other, and a brief silence descended over the room.

“Do you remember what happened exactly?” Constantine inquired.

“Everything is sketchy. I remember three people coming to our house when I was

about five years old. Two men and a woman. My mother told me to go to my room. I didn’t want to leave her, something told me to stay, but she wouldn’t let me. My father didn’t look too happy, either. I don’t remember much after that, except I snuck back and saw my father’s body ripped to shreds... My parents’ mingled screams still haunt me. The wolves--” Sarah shook her head trying to ward off the painful images.

“Is that it?” Aries asked gently.

Sarah nodded. “It’s all I can remember clearly.”

Constantine’s gray eyes were focused on her. “What happened to you after your

parents were killed?”

“I was taken in by some neighbors, a pastor and his wife. They didn’t have children of their own, and they were very good to me. I lived with them until I was about fourteen.

Then I came home one day and the house had been ransacked. Papa Bill, as I called him, was badly mauled as if by wild animals. I had no reason to believe it then, but instinct told me that whoever had done that to him had come looking for me. You see, there was something 32 Eve Vaughn

about the attack he didn’t want to tell me, but I overheard him talking to Mama Celine, mention that there had been something supernatural about his assailants. He didn’t clarify, but I knew. They’d kept my foster father alive for one reason -- to send a message to me. No actual words were needed. I just knew. Thank God Mama Celine was out running errands when they came or they might have killed her.” She hastily wiped away a tear that slid down her cheek.

Constantine’s face was full of compassion. “And after that?”

“Papa Bill was rushed to the hospital; he barely made it. When I was assured that he’d survive, my first thought was to leave them. I felt so guilty for being there, knowing they were in harm’s way because of me. I did try to run away, but they caught me in the act. After some insistence on my part, they packed me off to a relative in Ohio. Honestly, I think they finally gave in because they weren’t sure what they were dealing with. I lived in Ohio for almost two years, but they found me again. I don’t know how. And this time they left no survivors.” She gulped in a shaky breath. “Since then I’ve been moving from place to place.

Where I live now is probably the longest I’ve been in one location. I’m just so tired of running, so sick of it. I still don’t know why they’re after me, or why they killed my parents, but when they’re near, I feel them, smell them. I’ll never forget their scent.”

Constantine looked fierce. “Did they smell like us?”

Sarah nodded. “Yes, but not quite.”

“They were probably shifters. As you mature further, you’ll realize that everyone and everything has a distinct fragrance.”

“I’ve answered all of your questions. I think it’s time you both answer more of mine.

What exactly is a shifter? And if you’re immortal like you claim to be, wouldn’t people notice that you never grow old?”

Constantine chuckled. “First of all, immortals have been here longer than Homo

sapiens, and humans see only what we want them to see. The very ancient among us could tell you how we came to be, but they mostly keep to themselves. The general consensus is that we're the spawn of fallen angels.”

Sarah was incredulous. “The ones who sided with Lucifer?”

Aries took up the explanation. “No. The angels you’re referring to became demons.

There were those who didn’t take any sides in that conflict, and they were cast out of heaven to roam the earth for eternity. Some mated with beasts, some with humans; the results of those unions were shifters, vampires, and wizards.”

Were they pulling her leg? Why did she feel like she was in the middle of a bad horror movie? Sarah snorted. “Vampires and wizards? Yeah, right.”

Aries smiled at her as though he would at a small child. “Perhaps you’ll run across a few of the others one day. Among my best friends is a vampire. Like Constantine said, we’ve been around a very long time. Though some of us choose to mingle among humans, there are Kyriakis 1: Kyriakis Curse

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those who will do so only out of necessity. In fact, our network is quite extensive; we have our own businesses, hospitals, banks. With the advent of technology and Big Brother

watchdogs, we even have our own hackers and others who work in the government to keep our existence from public knowledge. If we need to secure new identities, we have people for that as well.”

Sarah digested that information. “And what about my other question? What is this

shifter business all about?”

Aries was on the verge of answering her, when Constantine spoke instead. “We

informally call ourselves shifters, because we shift at will, unlike you, who can only transform during a full moon. We have two main forms when we are young -- the human

one that you see before you and that of a wolf. As we grow older, however, we can change into more. I, for instance, am one hundred and fifty -- and I can shift into five different lupine breeds. On the other hand, my father, who’s significantly older, can transform into every known lupine breed... and some not known to humans. Then there is a pack I know of whose members have the ability shift to other animals, but that is a rare trait. Nevertheless, all of us are strongest in our original two forms, especially the wolf one.”

“Do you eat... people?” Her voice was low.

“Occasionally, we need to hunt -- the hunger for raw, fresh meat drives us -- but as we grow older, not so much.” Constantine shrugged as if that wasn’t a big deal, but the thought of him eating people terrified Sarah.

“So what you’re saying is you shifters go around killing folks.”

He shrugged again. “Some of us aren’t so nice. But there are a number of us who seek out wild animals instead.”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer to her next question, but the need to know

drove her to ask anyway. “And which one are you?”

Constantine’s eyes twinkled dangerously. “I’ve been told I can be very bad.”

Sarah looked away nervously, not finding his reply at all reassuring. “Just stick to the story, Romeo,” she snapped.

He chuckled. Why was that sound so sweet to her ears? Hadn’t he just admitted that he ate people? “Spoilsport.”

“Maybe so, but I don’t have time to sit around and play word games with you.”

“I would have thought you’d want to know about me, considering you’re a bitch

without a pack. Half-breed or not, once you go into heat, every shifter within a few hundred miles will sniff you out. Without the protection of a pack, you’re fair game. And believe me, what will happen then won’t be fair at all.” He looked grim for a moment. “By the way, exactly how old are you?”

Sarah wasn’t particularly pleased at being called a bitch any more than she had been labeled a half-breed, but then again, she had bigger problems to worry about. “What does 34 Eve Vaughn

that have to do with anything?” She tried to avoid his gaze, not wanting to be mesmerized by his intense eyes.

“Humor me.”

“Twenty-nine. Actually, I’ll be thirty next week.”

“Figures. You don’t look like you’ve been thoroughly claimed or fucked yet -- but you will be.”