This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (11 page)

“If I show you my true form, Seth,” I shouted across
the distance, “things between us may never be the same. My true form does crazy
things to men. I don’t know if it’ll be safe for me to show you. I seem to send
men,
particularly very powerful men
, to their knees writhing in sweaty,
horny knots.”

“Grace, my sweet, I have to test it.” His arms fell
limply to his sides, “I have to know. Please? Just trust me?”

“God, this is stupid.” I growled and dropped my
glamour.

The air tingled deliciously along my glowing skin,
raising goose bumps. My hair lifted, tickling along my neck and shoulders to
begin its unnatural dance. I kept my eyes closed as the exhausting feeling of
holding onto my glamour fell away. When I was myself, I felt free. I felt as if
my worries were nothing. Nothing mattered because it would all be all right in
the end. My Madea soul was so much larger than my human soul had been. As if it
was stuffed with so much more life. It filled me with love and strength. I
always closed it off when I hid in my glamour. I closed so much of myself off.
God,
maybe Seth was right?
I was no longer human. I was a walking lie.

When I opened my eyes, Seth stood before me; tears of
silvery blood ran freely from his eyes, Stripes of liquid metal soaked into his
clothing.

“Oh, my God!” I reached out, “You’re crying blood!” I
sucked in my breath as fear hit me.

Seth laughed and shook his head and he gazed tenderly
at me. “All vampires cry blood, Sweet.”

“Oh. Okay, but, um…
Why
are you crying?” I
felt a moment of tenderness, and then I
really
looked at him, “Hey, why
aren’t you writhing on the ground like a pathetic, sex crazed animal?” I
frowned, completely confused.

He continued to smile. It was the most beautiful
smile I had ever seen on him and couldn’t help smiling back. “What?” I wondered
out loud. “Explain?” I laughed nervously.

“I’m not writhing on the floor, Sweet, because as I
had hoped, I
am
a Madea. Maybe more now than vampire. I feel intense
attraction to you, yes, but in the manner that a male of your species is
supposed
to feel. I am the only male who can control it, because I am the same as you.”
He grabbed me in a hug and spun me around. Kissing me all over my face and
hair, Seth was acting like a giddy school boy. “If you ever doubted that I am
Madea, this is your proof. Forget that I am still part vampire. I have to
believe that more changes are sure to come. I
have
to believe that.” He
sat me on the ground and stepped back.

“So?” I smoothed my clothing and took a few steps
away from him. I was shaken, but determined not to show it. “Now that I’ve
shown you mine, you need to show me yours. What secrets have you been hiding?”
I folded my arms and used glamour to tame my hair and skin. It would never do
for some well meaning neighbor to pay a visit and see me in my natural form. I
had some decisions to make, but right now in the middle of my front yard was
not the time or place to make them.

“As you wish, Sweet.” Seth stood next to me, and then
a second later he was on top of my roof.

“You’re a vampire. You could already do that with
speed.” I yelled. “Show me something you couldn’t do before.” I yelled louder.
“Impress me,
Madea!”

A second later, he was back on the ground standing
across the length of my driveway. A strange look entered his eyes as he focused
his gaze on me. After a moment, I could feel his hands caressing my arms. His
touch was unmistakable. I caught my breath as my shirt disappeared from my
body, followed by my jeans. I stood in shock, as our gazes remained locked.
Then, a strange tickle began low in my belly as I suddenly felt his hands slide
along my skin. I knew what sex with Seth was like, and he was doing it, right
here in my yard!

I stared wide-eyed at him. Our eyes still held from
across the driveway. His smile was crooked, making him look mischievous and
wicked. When I felt his warm touch at the back of my bra, I cried uncle.

“Okay, enough.” I was fully clothed again. “Cute
parlor trick. So now that you have proven you have the magic of a Madea, what’s
with the apple?”

His face fell and he folded his arms. The playful man
was gone. “I can eat very small amounts of food.” He shrugged. “Nothing much,
though. I think that maybe, if I slowly introduce more solid food each day, I
might be able to process more and more until the day comes when I no longer
need your blood.” He shrugged again and that devilish smile was suddenly back.
“Until then?” he winked and nodded toward my house.

“Oh, brother.” I shook my head and walked past him,
into the house. He followed, much happier than when we had left.

I was more comfortable with Seth than I had been with
anyone before in my life. He had opened up to me in a way that shocked me to my
core. Could the Madea in him be causing this rapid change in his personality?
In the changes, I
felt
for him? When he first began to drink my blood,
the transformation to his eyes was obvious and almost instant. Then I escaped
his hold and he no longer had access to my blood, so the change must have
stopped in its tracks. But he didn’t revert to his former self. Then after his
return into my life and his steady diet of my blood, he could now do magic and
eat small amounts of food.
I wondered.

“Seth, have you tried to walk into the sun?” I asked
as we sat at my kitchen table.

“Ah, the sun.” he smiled sadly. “I’m afraid I can
not, Sweet. I must sleep when the sun is out. Whether I want to or not. I have
not been granted the opportunity to test it.” He sat up straighter, “At least
the shutting down of my system has prevented curiosity from frying me alive.”
He laughed mirthlessly, “No, I have yet to meet the sun, Grace. Not even to
soothe my curiosity.” He stood and walked around the table.

***

After I gave him my blood, we studied my
brainstorming efforts and tried to come up with a plan. The fact that Seth was
part Madea was our ace in the hole. I was sure no one else knew.

We were trying to devise a plan of attack that did
not involve Lucian or his new whore, I mean
girlfriend
. The salt and
pepper shakers were used to represent the both of us, and Seth had turned my
entire glass jar of dried beans out onto the table to represent our enemies.
That move filled me with dread and I told him he was a total fatalist. All he
did was shrug and grumble about reality.

“So, dearest Grace, now that you have a better idea
of what our numbers look like, perhaps it would be a good time to admit that
you are being far too timid with your powers?”

Seth was being kind, rational, and making sense. My
feelings for him were beginning to confuse me. I stood up and moved closer to
him.

“You realize,” he continued, capturing my full
attention, “that you could cut through these creatures with a thought while
sitting at this very table? It would increase our chances mightily.” 

And he’s back…

“No, Seth! I’m not killing several hundred people
from my breakfast nook! What kind of horrible creature do you take me for? Not
all of them are bad.” I turned from him, to take my seat again.

“I assumed as much.” He turned to look at me and I
glared. “
Well
? You were so eager to listen.” he defended. “I was feeling
like my warrior self again. Protecting the woman I lo…” He abruptly stopped
speaking and sat down. “Well.” He cleared his throat as I tried to process what
he almost said. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he turned
and made a fuss over a small wrinkle in his already filthy, bloodstained shirt.
“At least tell me what you plan to do with your magic.” He continued as if
nothing was amiss. “You are going to at least
use
it, correct?” He
folded his arms and looked down his nose at me.

“Seth,” I leaned forward, happy to let it go. I
stared into his eyes, “I’m not only going to
use
it;
I’m going to
bring them to their knees!
” I smiled and leaned back, mirroring his earlier
movements.

He laughed loudly and stood, a frightening light
entered his silver gaze. “Finally.”

I sat on the end of my bed with my legs crossed. I
tried to keep my eyes closed, but with Seth staring at me from across the room,
it was almost impossible. “Why are you having such a hard time with this?” I
was ready to just chuck the whole idea out the window.

“What makes you think I can do this?” It was odd to
see him so unsure. “I do not like this, Sweet. What if, for some reason, I can
not come back?”

“You’ll come back, stop worrying. It’s really not
that hard, Seth.” I closed my eyes, “Besides, you have enough Madea in you now
that you could do this on your own. Cripes, you’ve probably had enough power as
a vampire to do it. Now stop stalling and light the damn smudge stick.” I
huffed out a frustrated breath and tried to relax.

“This smells horrible,” he coughed and choked
dramatically, “and it tastes worse.” He set the smoldering herbs on a stone
plate in front of my legs.

I opened one eye. “Listen, vampire, you have no right
to bitch about how things taste. Now please, stop whining and get up here with
me.” I placed my hands on my knees and inhaled the pungent smoke as it circled
me. It filled my lungs and I tried again to relax my mind.

The bed dipped with Seth’s weight and I opened my eyes
again. “Now, remember, you have to release all sense of self.
Any
self
awareness and Voltaire will latch onto it and all this sneaking around will be
nothing but a huge waste of time. Just do what I told you and it’ll go fine.”

“Alright, I understand.” He folded his long legs and
placed his hands on his knees just as I had.

“Breathe in the smoke and let yourself go. Remember,
no shard of self can remain.” I kept my eyes on him.

“You are doing it again, Sweet.” He closed his eyes.

“What? What am I doing?”

“You can not push me with your assurances one moment
then act as if I am made of nothing more than pride and stupidity the next. I
am not a child. Now,” he nudged me with his foot, “relax, Grace. Free your
mind, I will follow.” 

I sighed. He was right, that was exactly what I was
doing. I spared him one last glance. He inhaled the smoke and coughed. I
laughed and then closed my mouth when he opened one eye and frowned at me.

After only a few moments, Seth’s powerful essence
surrounded me, filling me with his strength and the comfort of his blood,
our
blood. I let go of the last shard of my physical being and together we sent out
our collective consciousness. We were no more than invisible threads,
searching, and feeling, seeing with our minds.

I gloried in the feeling of winding throughout the
desert over homes, inside buildings and out into the city. We crossed dozens of
miles with a single thought. And then finally after searching deep into the
pits of downtown we were able to find what we were looking for.

The room was dark and musty. I sensed my blood a mere
second before Seth did. His awareness rippled through mine and I tried to
project calm. My mind filled with his rage causing my essence to waver for a
moment. I gathered myself and tried to strengthen my mind, cursing the loss of
my physical body.
He really needed a kick in the ass. 

“Who’s there?” a weak voice spoke from deep within
the gloom of the room.

Startled, I searched the room until I came upon a
figure chained to the wall. She was filthy and clearly hurting. I looked at her
haggard face. Her shaggy blonde hair was a rats’ nest of tangles, her body was
thin, and a sickly pale color.

Energy sang through my being as I realized that this
was her!
This was the woman from my vision.

She was here?
 

I was instantly on guard. I spread my mind out among
the surrounding area. I knew the wolves were close, I could sense them.

When I found Patrick and his pack, I felt like a
complete idiot. Club Seachain an Madra.
I should have known
.

I scanned the wolves mixed throughout the growing
crowd of human clientele.
This had to be their den.
Excitement filled me
as a plan began to grow.

***

Light filled my vision and I coughed, sucking in
great gulps of air. I was on the floor, my legs tangled with Seth’s. I rolled
onto my side and sat up. Seth stood in a swift, fluid motion. He smoothed his
rumpled clothing and then pulled his wild hair back from his face.

I continued to grapple with my breathing as I
organized my thoughts. “Voltaire wasn’t there,” I panted as I pulled myself to
my feet. “But he has to be near. Damn! Where the hell does he go?” I approached
Seth. His shoulders stiffened when I touched him and I snapped my hand back.

“What’s wrong?” I folded my arms, waiting to discover
what had pissed him off this time.

He turned and sneered angrily at me. “Tell me, Sweet,”
he spoke through his teeth, “Who was that woman and why the
fuck
are you
still hiding things from me?” He turned and stalked to the chair by my window.
Sitting, he propped his ankle on his knee and folded his arms. He was so sexy
when he was pissed
. Hell, he was sexy when he wasn’t pissed.