The Scarlett Legacy (10 page)

WES SHUDDERED.
His eyes were bloodshot. Everything was sore. His head thumped like a drum, so loud that Olivia could hear it. Gooseflesh covered his arms and neck. She rubbed his skin, trying to warm him.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Olivia was in tears as she sat beside him in Malka’s small cottage in the woods behind the abandoned St. Dymphna’s Convent.

“Is he going to be okay?”

Malka peered at him from her bifocal glasses. She tapped her teeth together as she thought.

“This curse is one of the worst I’ve seen,” she said in a soft voice, sitting in a chair next to the bed Wes rested on.

“What can we do about it?”

Malka shook her head. Her long red hair was a stark contrast to her dark brown skin. She looked more like a fantasy creature than a human.

From what Wes told her, Malka wasn’t exactly human. At six-foot-five, Olivia believed it.

“This curse is from the old world. Ancient power fuels it. Who did you say cursed him?”

Olivia shook her head. “I didn’t.”

She didn’t know if she could trust her the way Wes did. She wasn’t sure who she could trust.

Malka stared at her. Her skin was littered with dark moles and freckles on her high cheekbones. Almond-shaped brown eyes examined her.

“I can’t help you if you’re not going to trust me.”

“Avalon Prince,” Wes said before crying out.

Olivia took his hand into her own and stood to lean over his body. “Baby? Are you okay?”

“I see now. The Prince family. That explains it. They’re from the old world, Scotland, right?”

Olivia nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Yes.”

Malka tapped her teeth together again. Olivia cringed at the sound. She stood and went to the back of her cottage to a room that’s door was bolted shut.

The hairs on Olivia’s arm stood on end when Malka took out a long key from a jar in the cupboard. Something about that room frightened her.

When the lock clicked open, Malka pushed on the door, releasing a gust of black wind that filled the room. Olivia shot to her feet. She pointed at the wind that formed a black cloud that clung to the ceiling.

The color drained from Olivia’s face, leaving her cold. “What is that?”

The house vibrated. She could feel it in the floorboards. Gripping Wes’ hand, she fought to keep herself from running out the front door.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Scarlett. Willow here is going to help you, not harm you.”

“Willow?”

“Yes. Willow does what I tell it to. You have nothing to fear.”

“Okay,” Olivia whispered. She clutched Wes’ hand. Her eyes locked on the black mass as it flew over and hovered above his body.

Malka closed her eyes, and the mass shot into Wes’ body, making him shake and then freeze.

The chill of Wes’ hand-made Olivia’s entire arm turn cold. Still, she refused to let go. She watched his face, and yet it was expressionless as if he wasn’t there.

When she opened her eyes, the mass flew out, and back into the dark room. Malka closed the door and locked it again.

Olivia waited. Her heart raced with each passing moment of silence.

“What’s wrong?”

She watched Malka stand there with her back turned to them. Wes’ eyes were closed, and yet he breathed steadily.

Malka looked at Olivia over her shoulder. She shook her head.

“This magic is too dark. I cannot help him. He will die within the next two days.”

THE MOON CAST
an eerie glow on the empty street. No rain. No wind. Just silence.

It was a beautiful night, one that Olivia could enjoy in a way most would never experience. Tonight, however, was not about joy or peace. She wanted to watch Avalon die a slow, painful death.

She took off her clothes, leaving each article neatly folded on the passenger’s seat of her car. She parked in the parking lot of the university. Across the street stood the old Albrecht Mansion, where her target lived.

Once she was naked, she began to shift. It was instant. Her body morphed into that of a tiny black spider, one packed with enough venom to take down the man that stood between her and her family’s happiness.

One purple stripe set her apart from other spiders, along with sparkling legs that glimmered in the light.

All sounds were magnified once Olivia was in her second form. She climbed out of the window and hopped to the ground by a shimmering strand of spider web.

The road was silent as she scurried across the street and to Avalon’s mansion.

The ground was covered with dew as she made her way over the front garden.

Olivia loved the invisibility that her shifter form brought her. She could go anywhere virtually unseen.

She crept along, passing by the men that Avalon had hired to watch his home. Finding entry wasn’t difficult. She crawled into a window with a hole in the screen.

Inside all was quiet.

Too quiet.

Up the walls and stairs she went. She’d been in the Albrecht Mansion a few times in her life. The schools all used to have field trips there to learn about the town’s history. Remembering the layout of the mansion gave her an idea of where Avalon’s bedroom might be.

Olivia went up the stairs, guided by her memory, and sensing his presence, she found the master bedroom.

She paused as she watched Avalon sleep in his large antique bed.

Early sleeper.

Even as a spider she was frightened by the old Albrecht Mansion. She was a creature of the shadows, but the cold and dark of this ancient house left her on edge. All she wanted was to get in, bite him with her venom, and get out.

She hopped from the ceiling; a single strand of the sparkling web carrying her to the chandelier above his bed.

What she thought would be an easy task shifted in an instant. She screamed inwardly as he sat straight up and captured her in a mason jar.

Olivia panicked. She had two choices; stay in her spider form which would make it easier to kill her, or transform and fight. She chose to fight. She shifted into her human form, shattering the glass all over Avalon’s comforter.

He grabbed her by her naked waist, slamming her into his lap the instant she was human again. “What a surprise. Wes sent out his whore wife to do his dirty work.”

He shook her. “Did you know your husband was a coward? You must have realized it when he sent you to kill my father.”

Olivia cried out as his large fingers pressed into her flesh. An intense heat shot through her flesh and into her muscles, paralyzing her with pain.

As hard as she tried, she could not shift back into a spider again. She was trapped, and too weak to free herself.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Stop!” She pleaded in between gasping cries of pain. She was defenseless against his wizardry, but that wouldn’t stop her from fighting for her freedom.

“Let me go!” Olivia jabbed him in the throat with her elbow and he pulled her arm back, pinning it to her side as he flipped her over his head and onto the bed.

Her eyes widened with shock at his speed and strength. He was more than a wizard.

The maniacal look in his bright green eyes frightened her more than any fear she’d ever known. She’d never stared death in the face before.

Avalon wrapped his hands around Olivia’s throat, a snarl morphing his face into one of wicked pleasure. As his grip tightened she knew that his face, so full of that sadistic look, would be the last thing that she’d see.

She just needed enough leeway to bite him, but his grip on her throat was too strong. She gasped for air.

Tears filled Olivia’s eyes.

Her mother had warned her about marrying a Scarlett, and she had done it anyway. Still, she would love him to the end.

She held her final breath for as long as she could, scratching, clawing, and struggling in every way she knew possible.

Someone banged on his bedroom door. “Everything okay in there, Avalon?”

Avalon didn’t lessen his grip on her throat as he shouted over his shoulder.

“Everything is fine. Get back to your post, and tell the men to keep watch.”

Olivia felt his hold on her abilities falter and shifted back into a spider in half a second. He growled with anger as she shot out another silk strand to his headboard and soared across the bed to the wall.

Freedom was once again hers and she frantically tried to put as much distance between her and Avalon as possible.

He scrambled across his bed to catch her, muttering curses as he did.

That last chance for escape ended abruptly. Heat shot through her body as Avalon illuminated the entire room with wizard’s fire. Her body seemed to glow against the backdrop of such a blast.

Olivia’s scream was muffled by the roar of the fire and was cut off when the darkness claimed her.

“EVIE,” ADELAIDE SAID
over the phone. “I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

Alarmed, Evie stopped at her car door. Her hands shook. Her mother’s voice sounded strained, rushed.

Terrified.

“What’s wrong?” The panic in Adelaide’s voice put Evie on edge.

Evie’s cheeks reddened as she imagined everything that could possibly go wrong.

“Dinner tonight is canceled. I’ll tell you everything soon. Just stay away from Scarlett Hall… and stay away from Avalon. ”

“What the hell is going on? Tell me now.”

“I can’t right now,” Adelaide said. “We are taking care of it.”

Dial tone.

Evie’s hands shook when she pulled her phone from her ear.

“Everything okay?” Parker stood by her car door, a bag of Tupperware filled with leftover jambalaya from lunch with his parents in his hand.

The sky seemed a little darker that night as the clouds moved to cover all traces of the stars and moon.

Something was not right, and even nature seemed to send her warnings.

“I have no idea.” She stared at her phone, wishing it would ring again and that she’d get some answers.

She glanced over at his parent’s house. His mother and father still stood in the doorway, watching them leave. They’d been thrilled to hear the news of their engagement.

That elation quickly dissipated as fear gripped her.

Evie put her phone in her cross-body purse. “Something isn’t right.”

“Can I do anything?”

“I really don’t know,” Evie said. “She just told me to stay away from Scarlett Hall.”

She left out the part about Avalon. Parker still had no idea what was going on with the newcomer. She really didn’t know either.

“That’s weird. Is everyone okay?”

Sighing, Evie leaned her back against her door. They were just getting ready to leave and tell her family the good news. Now she didn’t know what to do.

“I hope so. I don’t know what to do now,” she said. She held her hand up to look at her ring. Despite the worry simmering in her gut, she smiled. Only a few more hours and they would head to the airport, pick a place, and leave.

“I know what you can do,” Parker said.

“What?”

He tilted her chin. “Go and tell Quinn the good news.”

Evie’s smile faded. She wanted Quinn to know that she and Parker were engaged, but she couldn’t stand to tell her the news of her departure.

“Oh boy,” Evie said. She pursed her lips and nodded. “You’re right.”

She stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. “Okay. I’ll go and tell her.” She waved at his parents again. “I’ll come back after I see her and we can figure things out then.”

His ice-blue gaze was hooded with worry. “I wonder what’s going on.”

“Me too. We might not get to tell them in person.”

“Wow,” he said, his eyes widening. “That would be crazy. We can’t leave without telling your folks.”

Evie shrugged.

I’m over it.

“We’re leaving no matter what,” she said and got in the car.

“Damn, Evie. You’re really manic about this. Do we really have to leave Woodland Creek in such a hurry?”

Evie closed the door once she was in the driver’s seat. She quickly sent Quinn a text to meet her at Geek Beans in an hour.

She looked up at Parker as he stood outside, reaching a hand out the window to him.

He took her hand, stroking her knuckles before he kissed the engagement ring.

“Yes,” she said. “We do.”

Her eyes darkened as if shrouded by shadows. “And you’ll understand why soon enough.”

EVIE’S HANDS TREMBLED
as she adjusted her glasses. Her heart beat so quickly you’d think she’d just completed a marathon. If only she could take Quinn with her.

Closing her eyes, Evie tried to take deep breaths and calm herself. She couldn’t take everyone with her. She just wished Woodland Creek wasn’t the dangerous place she knew it to be.

She looked up when she felt Quinn’s small hands on her shoulder. A hesitant smile came to her lips as she turned to Quinn, putting a hand above hers.

Quinn’s eyes grew wide. “No freaking way!”

Evie snatched her hand back, hiding her engagement ring behind her other palm. She bit her lip, looking up at Quinn sheepishly.

“Why are you trying to hide that boulder on your finger? He proposed? When?”

Quinn’s eyes were still wide, and so was her smile.

Evie nodded. “This morning.”

Quinn squealed, tossing her arms around Evie in a tight hug. “I am so happy for you. Congrats, girl. When can we start looking at dresses, and venues, and cake makers, DJ’s, the whole shebang?”

A half-hearted giggle escaped Evie’s lips as she looked at her friend’s genuinely pleased face. Quinn was beautiful, kind and loyal. She’d miss her more than anyone in her family.

That was a sad truth.

“Have a seat,” Evie said, motioning to the empty chair across from her at a red table in the back of Geek Beans.

Quinn raised a brow. “Uh-oh. I know that tone.” She sat down, smoothing her pink sweater dress. “What’s up? Adelaide give you shit about marrying Parker? If she did, I’ll set her straight for you.”

Evie couldn’t help but smile as she looked Quinn in the eye.

Loyal to the end.

She knew that Quinn was dead serious. She didn’t care if Adelaide was her mother or not. Evie knew all of Quinn’s secrets as much as Quinn knew hers, and the girl could take care of herself.

“It’s not that, Quinn. I wish that was the only thing bothering me.”

Quinn picked up the mocha latte that Evie had ordered for her, hooking her thumb through the green ceramic mug. “Then what is it? I know something is wrong,” she said, sipping.

Evie sighed, folding her hands on the table before her. “Quinn, Parker and I have decided to leave Woodland Creek.”

“Big surprise,” Quinn said, shrugging. She took another sip. “You’ve been saying this for years. When are you leaving?”

“Tonight.”

Quinn set her coffee mug down. For a moment, there was silence between the two as Quinn took off her glasses and wiped her eyes.

Evie felt tears sting her own eyes as she watched Quinn. She reached a hand out for Quinn’s, stroking her soft skin. “I’m sorry.”

Quinn shot her a pained look. “You’re keeping something from me. What is it?”

“I just need to leave. Woodland Creek is not the place for me.”

“Why don’t you stop lying to my face?” Quinn pulled her hand back, tucking it under her arm as she folded her arms across her chest.

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth,” Quinn hissed as she leaned across the table.

Evie sat back in her chair. She sighed as she took out her ponytail and shook her head. “Fine. I’m tired of this war between my family and the Prince family. I’m tired of all of the death. I want Parker and I to start fresh, somewhere that no one knows me or my father and all of the terrible things he did. I want live somewhere where no one gives me dirty looks or whispers about me because they think I’m evil or cursed. I’m tired of fearing if someone is following me or out to kill me.” Evie wiped tears from her cheeks. She glanced up at Quinn to see her do the same.

“I just want to be free,” Evie said, her voice cracking.

Quinn leapt from her seat. Ignoring the looks from the only two other people in the coffee shop, she wrapped her arms around Evie and held her tight. “I know,” she said, stroking Evie’s hair. “I know. You deserve that life, Evie. I’ll do whatever you need to help you get it.”

Evie closed her eyes against Quinn’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Quinn. Thank you for being my
only
true friend.”

Quinn sucked her teeth. “Silly girl. I’m your friend, but Parker is your soulmate, and I trust him to take care of you.”

“You’re right,” Evie said.

“You’re going to be fine,” Quinn said. “I can feel it.”