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

Great, I huffed a breath, flipping a stray hair into
the air. I might as well stick a friggin’ Bandaid on it and call it good. I let
out a cleansing breath and concentrated on the ache in my side. “Okay, girl,
get it together.” I mumbled, closing my eyes. I focused my mind again,
releasing all my inner turmoil. Step by step, I released my memories.

He was angry. He would reclaim his power.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as it unfolded.
His
hands squeezed my shoulders, I was frozen with terror. He would take me again.
He would send me to some cave far away. The long ago threats of his Council had
sent chills up my spine. I’d be alone, chained to some rotting wall just
waiting to be pulled from the darkness. He would use my body and steal my
power.

He wanted me. His lips had been like ice on my neck,
his teeth, like white hot needles threatening to take.

Always take.

But then, a light had come on in my soul. I was
stronger. My nightmare was over because I was stronger!

I gripped the bedding in my hands as the memories
assaulted me.

I’d pulled away and it had angered him. He’d turned
me roughly and yanked the ring from my hand. I remember the joy as I used my
power to turn the precious metal into liquid, destroying the ring for ever. I
smiled then, as the precious diamond rolled away as worthless to me as a
stone.  

His smug face had changed, his smile gone, and was
replaced with a mask of fury. I tried to use my magic on him. Make him sorry he
ever saw me!

Nothing.

He was immune.

I felt my body jerk as the ghost of his fury washed
over me.
We flew at each other, his movements were meant to subdue. He was
so quick and his body so sleek that he was able to avoid my blows while still
trying to drag me from the house. I slid out of his grip at every turn.

He was so much stronger and his patience was
inexhaustible. I was not.

His grip had been solid around my middle, forcing the
air from my lungs as I struggled to scream. He was going to win, he’d gained
the front door.

Then I had an idea. My power didn’t work on him, but
it still worked on me. I filled my body with supernatural strength and tore
myself from his grip. His fingers dug painfully into my flesh and I was
suddenly free. Pain seared through my side as I flew through the air, falling
fast to land on the splintered wood of my porch.

Shock paralyzed my limbs as my blood painted the
scarred wood. A hunk of my flesh had torn clean from my side.

Seth’s wail of terror still pierced my ears
.

Horror filled his eyes as my blood soaked into the
wood. He rushed to me; his eyes had been wild as my blood flooded the ground.

White hot fear still screamed through my body as the
memory of him lifting me from the porch filled my mind.

That was when everything had stopped.

I woke in my own bed, Lucian by my side.

Where had Seth gone? How did Lucian know I needed
care?

My eyes jerked open and I looked around. I was still
sitting on my bed. The adrenaline that raced through my veins slowed as I
accepted what had happened. I closed my eyes again, forcing my body to calm
while taking in oxygen deep and slow. My mind was less troubled. Lucian never
said how he knew that I needed him or how long I had been out. When I woke, all
signs of my struggle with Seth had been cleared. The roses had vanished and the
blood I’d spilled had been scrubbed from the porch.

I took in another cleansing breath allowing my
thoughts to flow freely. Seth was no longer after me; he was now a tiny
traveler in my life. We tolerated each other because there was just no other
way to manage it. I really didn’t mind him stepping into my life every now and
again, which was strange because I knew that I should hate every cell in his
body, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t. Seth also seemed
perfectly content with our mutual tolerance, although he did always try to
press it further and further.

The reality was that fighting Seth was pointless. He
was shocked and horrified with what he had done. Spilling my blood had never
been part of his plan. I saw it on his face and that was a hard pill to
swallow. Seth, the vampire, with a heart? What a crock of crap that was.

Still, I had woken up in my own bed with Lucian at my
side and something told me that he wasn’t there by coincidence.

I rolled my head around my shoulders as more tension
fled. Peace gradually settled in my heart. My body had grown warm, almost relaxed.

I focused on the pain and my side grew warmer.
Opening my mind to what had happened was the key. The pain began to fade
replaced with even more heat. The heat grew with each passing second and then I
jumped. “Shit!” I yelled, scrambling off the bed, I yanked my robe off and ran
into the bathroom patting at my side frantically.

My reflection was laughable. My eyes were huge orbs
of panic.
God, I thought I set my damn robe on fire!
I turned, examining
my skin.
It was glowing
.

Oh hell.

I winced and spun from the mirror in a panic before
the reflection of the real me could make my day any worse. My true Madea face
was just too much for my psyche to take, so I spent every moment in a constant
glamour of my old self.

I straightened my shoulders and walked from the room,
painfully aware of the fact that I had way more issues than a simply achy side.

A knock on the door had me throwing on a new glamour
and a full set of clothes. My hair was pulled back into a braid before I opened
the door.

I hate it when I’m all smiles, ready to greet the
unexpected visitor knocking at the door and then I open it and no one is there.

“Hey?” I shouted to the vacant spot on my porch. I
looked around my front yard. My driveway was long and flanked by trees. I
searched the area, but no one was near.

I looked down. An envelope lay on my welcome mat.

Great
, I
thought as I picked it up. It smelled like sulfur and wet dogs.
This should
be good
.

I slid the shining silver blade of the letter opener
along the seam of the fine linen envelope. I didn’t want a paper cut from this
stuff it felt
tainted
somehow. The smell emanating from the letter was
worse than the envelope and I opened it, frowning as I read:

Madea,

You can stop it.
More innocents will die.

Come to Club
Seachain an Madra.

Refuse and we will
come to you.

-V

I stared at the letter for several seconds, thoughts
tumbling and spinning in my mind. More innocents will die? I shook my head,
baffled at the cryptic message. Guilt settled in my stomach like a lead weight.
Obviously, these innocents were dying in order to get my attention.

I sat at my kitchen table and sighed, tossing the
letter onto the table beside the morning paper. I glanced at the front page and
my jaw dropped.

“Son of a bitch!”
I yelled and snatched the paper off of the table.

“Third Fatal Animal Attack.”
I stared at the headline
and then read on. “A bizarre string of fatal animal
attacks has the public demanding action.” I frowned. According to the paper,
all of the victims were young women between the ages of twenty-four and thirty.
The bite marks on the bodies resembled those of several large dogs but this
couldn’t be confirmed due to the unusual size of the animal’s teeth.

I picked up the letter. Club Seachain an Madra? Somehow,
I knew that those words meant
Beware of the dog
in Gaelic. It was
strange how information like that was just sitting there ready for me to pull
out of my brain. At times, it was as if I was holding not only power but
another consciousness as well.

I tossed the paper onto the table. These freaking
assholes had managed to slaughter three women before they’d found it necessary
to let me know!

Shit!

I sat at the table feeling sick as hell. These
attacks were not the natural order of things. They were the work of a freaking
monster. My stomach swirled and I picked up the letter again. It was signed V.
My hands had become clammy. I wiped them on my pants as a chill raced down my
spine. I knew of only one V and the son of a bitch was as wicked as they came. If
I was correct, then not only was this the work of a monster, it was the work of
a demon. I smirked at the letter. At least I wasn’t walking in totally blind.

I stood, resolved. It was time to take a peek at
Club
Seachain an Madra.

Despite the two dozen drinks I’d been offered, I was
stone sober.

Any normal woman would probably eat the attention up
with a spoon, but I wasn’t normal
and
I wasn’t myself
.

The everyday glamour I wear to disguise the shocking
changes that came with my transformation was always a simple one. I like to
stick with the way I used to look before this crap landed in my lap. I’m pretty
tall for a woman at five foot nine. My skin is pale and my hair is long and
brown. Well, at least all of those things
used
to describe me.

Tonight, however, wasn’t about the issues I had with
my everyday appearance.
Nope
, tonight was about moving among my enemies
in secret.

My thick hair was pulled high and tight from my face.
Skin the color of rich coffee made me an exotic Jamaican princess. I felt
awkward walking in such an unfamiliar form and at five foot one; my gorgeous
four inch heels still couldn’t bring me to my normal every day height of five
foot nine.

I eased my way through the throng, to my goal. A
private table nestled deep in the darkest corner of the club. My Madea, eyes
sharpened filling my vision with light. The vague human-shaped shadows cleared
and I scanned their faces. Voltaire, the demon who scared the holy hell out of
me, and a key member of the Council, were absent from the group.

Damn.
I
should have known. It wasn’t that I really expected the demon to be clubbing
but I was positive that he was the
V
signed at the bottom of the letter.

I scanned the group and smiled. I wouldn’t be leaving
disappointed. Looking as handsome as ever with a plump blonde snaked around his
willing body was Patrick Camden. He was the only human looking member of the
Council. 

I sneered.
Human
was stretching it quite a
bit. When I first laid eyes on Patrick, I had no idea what he was. To me he was
just a very handsome man who smelled of the earth. Now I knew better, thanks to
some quick mind reading. I knew that Patrick was no mere human. He was a pack
master.

This was better than I could have hoped. Trying to
fool a demon was a risky proposition. Patrick seemed infinitely more
deceivable.

I paused a short distance from the group as a
cocktail waitress approached their crowded table. She smiled brightly as she
placed the various bottles and fancy glasses on the already cluttered table.
Her smile remained even as one of the men slid his hand up the back of her
thigh.

She left quickly; her face betrayed nothing even
though I knew from her thoughts that she wanted to slap every one of their
faces. I also knew that in her anger, Mr. Touchy-Feely had a little something
extra in his drink. I didn’t exactly agree with her approach, but he obviously
abused her regularly so he kind of deserved the inevitable camp out in the
bathroom later.

Music pumped from dozens of speakers, the sound so
powerful it vibrated the entire room. Too many lights flashed over the massive
dance floor as I fought my way through the jostling crowd.

A strong hand grabbed my butt and I struggled to keep
moving without murdering the idiot it was attached to.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached
the other side of the room.

As I approached the table, I mentally checked for
flaws in my disguise. Still new to my power, I often make stupid mistakes. Just
because you had the biggest, baddest weapon, didn’t mean you knew how to use
it. I’m the only one of my kind and my power had not come with an instruction
manual. 

Satisfied that I was well hidden within my Jamaican
glamour, I straightened my shoulders and sexed-up my walk, swaying my rounded
hips with what I hoped was a seductive glide. 

I had a second to form a greeting before a man
reached out and placed his hand on my ass. I jerked, sucking in my cheeks; I
bit down my irritation and smiled at him as sweetly as I could.

 He smirked and then his beady eyes took a lazy tour
of my breasts and then went south. After his blatantly sexual perusal of my
assets, he met my gaze. 

Oh yeah, he was a keeper.