This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (8 page)

Time was of no value to me, but when repetitions of
energy began to enter my mind, I knew my search had covered enough distance and
I was circling back. I opened my eyes and sighed.

Seth, his arms folded, was staring at me with a
strange expression on his face. “So you know the location?” he stepped closer.

“No, but that in itself is a clue as to who has the
blood.” I stood and started brushing the dirt and drywall dust off of my
clothing.

Seth cleared his throat. His arms were still folded
with impatience.

“Think about it Seth.” I stopped slapping at the dirt
on my pants. “
Me
, with all my power could not locate a simple pair of
refrigerators or who could have taken them. Doesn’t that seem odd?” I looked at
him as realization filled his eyes.

“Voltaire!” he punched the air and spun. It was a
surprisingly human reaction and had me gawking. I let out a small chuckle.

“You are laughing?” He lowered his brows. “When
Voltaire and his mewling wolves are probably making a whole race of Madea’s as
we speak?”

Seth was obviously more up to speed on Voltaire’s new
partnerships than I had realized, but then again, he was part of the Council. I
folded my arms and looked at him. “He can’t do that, Seth. There wasn’t enough
blood to change the whole wolf pack.”

“Have you lost your
senses
?” he whirled on me,
“Only enough to change
one
would be your undoing! What if that
one
person is Patrick? What do you think a Werewolf Pack Master could do with all
that extra strength? My Sweet, do you realize that since I have had your blood,
I can
feel
you? I am so tuned into you it makes me crazy when I’m not
around you! It is a constant struggle knowing I have the strength to force
you.” His voice lowered, his eyes left mine, “I respect you now.” He cleared
his throat, “so I control that urge.
Patrick
, on the other hand, or
any
of your enemies for that matter, will not be as kind. And, remember
this
,
Sweet…” He gently grasped my chin and looked into my eyes. “You have absolutely
no power over me.” He moved so quickly I was on the ground before his last
words even registered.

“Stop me, Sweet. Use your powers to stop me from
shoving inside you right here.” He kissed me hard. I screamed into his mouth
and pushed as I tried to move under his weight. His massive arms had me pinned
to the debris-strewn ground causing tiny bits of wood to push painfully into my
back. I twisted my legs and tried to smash my knee into his groin. Instead, he
shifted and slammed my legs to the ground with his knees. I knew from our past
violent encounters that I couldn’t transport him anywhere, not unless I wanted
to go along for the ride
. It was another clue to his transformation that I
conveniently ignored.
I closed my eyes and pulled on my power. Pulling the
air in through my nose, I concentrated on forming all I had into a crushing
ball of heat. When I felt I had enough to shake the earth, I shoved it into him
as hard as I could.

Seth’s eyes bled to pure silver and he bared his
white teeth as they grew long and sharp before my eyes. “Feed me more, Sweet,”
he groaned. Running his tongue down my cheek, he growled, “It feels like sex in
the sun.” His breath was hot against my cheek as he spoke.

Defeated, I dropped my head back and began to cry.
Before a single tear could fall, Seth was off of my body. He pulled me to my
feet and stood next to me, a sad look of pity marring the usual smugness that I
found there.

“Now do you understand?”

I looked at him; my shoulders slumped, “Point taken.”
I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. “Promise me something, Seth.” I
sniffed again and grasped both of his hands in mine. His expression was wary
his eyes moving from our clasped hands to my face. I sucked in a huge breath of
air and let it out in a sigh. “Don’t let them get me, okay?” I whispered.

His breath hissed in and he looked at me for a long
time. His expression ranged from confusion to shock and finally a sort of
anger. He cleared his throat and gave me look that took my breath away. “No
harm will come to you, Sweet.” His eyes flashed and I had a feeling that
something big had just happened between us. 

Resolved and yet immensely relieved, I rose up on my
toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. Now, I think we need to drop in
on Lucian. He’s the only one that seems to know how to deal with Voltaire.” I
kept one of his hands in mine and with a thought; I flashed us both to the
doorstep of Lucian’s house.

My stomach felt as if I had swallowed a vat of
squirming eels. I was almost ill just thinking of Lydia and Lucian together as
a couple. I frowned and dropped Seth’s hand. My world was turned onto its head.
In what messed up universe, was
Seth
my protector and Lucian the reason
for physical unease? I straightened my spine and strode to the front door.

“This should be fun,” Seth mumbled as he stood beside
me on the threshold. “Any chance you mentioned to your little golden boy that
you and I are on speaking terms?” He folded his arms as I knocked on the door.

“Um, well…” I stammered. “No. I never really
considered us on speaking terms until tonight. Sorry, but I’ll explain
everything to Lucian first thing. That is,” I pounded on the door with the side
of my closed first, “if he ever opens the damn door.” I pounded again, putting
a bit more force into my efforts.

“Well, let us just hope that he does not shoot first
and ask questions later. I would hate to tear his head off before we get any
answers.”

I elbowed him in the side. “You keep your hands off
of him, Seth. I mean it. Let me talk to him. Nothing will happen, believe me.”
I gave up and twisted the doorknob. It turned and I pushed the door open.

“Lucian?” I called as I stepped inside. “You home?” I
had a strange feeling as I entered the large living room. It no longer felt
welcoming. The friendly atmosphere was gone and the air was almost suffocating.
I stepped over a pile of clothing and onto a small stack of newspapers. “What
the hell?” I looked around his spacious living room in total shock. Papers were
strewn all over the beautiful furniture. Letters and unopened bills were
stacked around the fireplace hearth. The fire was out of the ordinary. It
roared in the brick enclosure, heating the house to stifling.

Normally Lucian’s home was immaculate and the fire
was always kept at a gentle glow. Something was so wrong. “Stay here, okay.” I
ordered Seth as I walked down the hall toward Lucian’s room.

Strangled sounds traveled through the door and I
froze, thinking back to a time when opening another friends bedroom door was
like opening the door to a slaughter house. At that time, Lucian was by my side
and we were afraid that my best friend Ann had been hurt. Her bedroom had been
a scene from a horror movie. Her furniture had been a wash in blood and thick
chunks of mutilated meat. It was as if something had exploded! It all turned
out to be a ruse in the end, but the horror of that day will never leave my
mind for as long as I live.

The sounds continued and I strained to hear. It was
as if someone was in horrible trouble. My stomach clenched in fear and I burst
into the room. My breath caught and I slammed my hand over my mouth to stifle
my scream.

Lucian’s room was nothing like it had been the last
time I had been in it. Gone were the fluffy white bed coverings and masculine
touches. The golden skinned god I called my friend was no longer home.

I didn’t know who this was.

He was drenched in sweat. His long blonde hair had
been slicked back from his face, the ends hanging in tangled blood tinged
chunks to his shoulders. His once flawless chest was covered in welts and angry
looking scratches. The scratches ran along the side of his abs and down to his
thigh. The look on his face as he drove himself into Lydia was terrifying. His
lips were pulled back, exposing his teeth in a silent snarl. His jaw was
clenched so tightly that it looked almost painful.

I was shocked, he was so focused that he never
registered my presence.

I stared in horror. From what I could see, the sides
of his tight buttocks were savagely scratched and seeped blood as he gripped
Lydia’s hips pounding himself ruthlessly into her. She was face down on all
fours. The mattress muffled her screams and moans of pleasure.

 She was making all that noise.
I felt a tear glide down my cheek.

His flesh continued to seep blood as I stood in
shock. I always figured Lucian would be a gentle and sensual lover. Not this.

This was twisted!

Lydia lifted her head and turned to look back at
Lucian. I jumped as a loud slap registered in my ears. I felt my eyes flood as
I watched him punish her for moving. He pulled her hair hard and slapped her
again. I almost screamed.

“Now this is more like it.” Seth announced loudly as
he came into the room. “Bravo, old fellow.” He leered at the couple.

Lucian’s eyes flew in our direction, his gaze
sharpened on me and I flinched, taking a step back. The look on his face was
utterly savage. His lips curved into a slow smile and he let his eyes move
slowly down my body in a blatantly sexual way. It was a look that I’d never
seen on his face before and it filled me with shock and confusion.

“Hello, Grace.” His voice was mocking, “I don’t
suppose you’d like to give this one a break?” He laughed and shoved Lydia hard,
face first into the bedding and then with his hand on her rump, he withdrew
from her slowly, all the time watching my face. I was frozen and couldn’t seem
to look away. My feet were rooted to the floor unable to move.

Lucian stood from the bed, his manhood thick and
jutting up. He took several steps towards me, the tip of his erection tapping
the skin above his belly button.

I turned my head and noticed that Lydia watched him
with wary eyes. She looked at me and glared with total hate.

“Excuse me?” She snapped, standing she began twisting
a sheet around her body. “Why don’t you get the
fuck
out of here?” Her
lip curled, “Can’t you see we’re busy?”

 “Oh, God!” Was all that I could say as Lucian took
another step closer to me; his cold eyes devoured me in a way that made my skin
crawl.

“Oh,
God!”
I whimpered and scrambled back,
away from Lucian’s naked body; I pushed a gawking and far too pleased looking
Seth out of the room and slammed the door shut behind us.

***

“Well that was new.” Seth laughed as he leaned back
on Lucian‘s suede couch. We weren’t able to leave like I wanted. We hadn’t
gotten the information we needed. “I never figured
Saint Lucian
for the
violent sex sort. Was he that adventurous with you, Sweet?”

I was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, my
head in my hands. The strangeness of Seth’s question did little to snap me from
my horrible thoughts and the looping reel of violent porn we had just
witnessed. Christ, I’ve had sex with a
vampire
and have never been
covered in that much blood. 

“Well, Sweet? Cat got your tongue?” Seth sounded
amused.

I looked up. “Alright, Seth was he like
what
with me? What are you asking? Have I ever slept with Lucian?” I shook my head.
“
Nice
.” I stood and moved over to the small office chair by Lucian’s
desk.

“I’m just trying to snap you out of your shock,
Sweet. I know full well that you have never given yourself to him. If you had,
he would have been dead long ago.” He folded his hands behind his head. Papers
slid off the coffee table as he propped his large booted feet onto the
cluttered surface. “I do not share what is mine.” He looked a challenge at me.

I chuckled mirthlessly. “I’m not yours, Seth. Sorry
to remind you for the millionth time. And anyway, if I ever wanted to have sex
with Lucian, that desire has been pretty much squashed for all time.”

I was suddenly plastered to the floor
. If you have any doubts as to how truly fast a
vampire can be all you would have to do is piss one off. He was growling low in
his throat. His eyes had gone solid silver in less than a second. His jealousy
would be flattering if it weren’t so psychotic.

“How long have you wanted to
fuck
him, Grace?”
His breath felt moist on my cheek as he spoke. His face was pressed close to
mine.
Oh, he was pissing me off!

Seth panted and glared daggers at me as I pushed my
face back into his, “Stop playing jealous lover, Seth! It’s getting old!” I
spat.

Seth pushed off of me and stood, straightening his
clothing he sat on the couch.

I moved to sit next to him, my anger boiling over.
“You want to know if I ever wanted to
fuck
Lucian as you so elegantly
phrased it? Well, guess what? I have. Lots of times. I’ve wanted to strip his
clothing off with my
teeth!”
I stood and turned to face him. “I’ve
fantasized about having sex with him on this very couch. I’ve wanted to
fuck
him so hard we’d need a contractor to fix the damage!” My face was inches from
his as I screamed. “I’ve wanted to have Lucian sliding between my thighs since
the first time I saw him, so how do you like that?”