This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (7 page)

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.

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.