A Curse Unbroken (22 page)

I rose, my claws and fangs protruding, and charged.

The wolves around me howled, one after the other, their
call
inciting one another to fight with great zeal. In the distance, another faint howl echoed, tugging at my heartstrings and making me want to cry. I ignored the emotions it stirred, desperate to stay alive and focus.

My claws raked across flesh and my legs kicked hard. I killed two more vamps and a werecheetah in beast form before Misha’s power abruptly faded, and I collapsed.

All the injuries I’d endured and the pain that accompanied them struck me in one massive blow. I screamed, certain the agony alone would kill me.

My screams worked against me, attracting a mammoth wolverine. He thundered down the hall, landing on my limp form and robbing me of air. He would have killed me had Gemini not arrived and torn out his throat. As I lay on the floor, Gemini’s twin wolves rejoined and
changed,
revealing his human form.

He lifted me from the rubble, his voice urgent. “Stay strong, Celia,” he said. “Aric is on his way….”

Chapter 17

If Gem meant “stay awake,” I didn’t manage. The next time I pried my eyelids open, I was in a patient room covered in a sheet. Emme’s face was the first I saw. Her soft healing light faded as I felt the last of my pain recede.

“Celia’s okay,” she said softly.

Aric clutched my hand within both of his. I knew it was him even before I turned to look. His sweet warmth and addictive aroma alerted me to his presence. “Hi, wolf,” I whispered.

He kissed my hand and leaned his forehead against it, worry and exhaustion darkening the circles ringing his eyes. He seemed tired, unusually tired. I scanned the room until I fixed on the wall clock. 3:00
A.M
. It was late, but Aric’s beast should have given him more energy than this.

“Son of a bitch,” Taran muttered. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. “How the hell does this shit keep happening to you?”

Aric helped me to sit. I rubbed my face. My body was weak from blood loss and from how quick Emme’s
touch
forced it to heal. My throat was also unbearably itchy, likely due to dehydration. I scratched it, for all the good it did me. “Just goes to show that hunting demons is safer than working in the Emergency Department,” I mumbled.

No one found my comment funny, especially Aric. He frowned, although I could see the fear behind his apparent frustration. “I should have sensed you were in danger.”

My hand fell away from my throat when I realized what he’d said. “You didn’t?”

He shook his head, his anger and disappointment building around him.

“But I
called
to you,” I said slowly.

Surprise smoothed away his frown. Okay, this wasn’t good. Nope, not all.

Emme and Taran shuffled nervously around us. “It’s okay,” I told Aric, unable to tear my gaze from his. “You’ve had a lot on your mind.” My excuse was pathetic at best. Throughout my fight, I kept expecting him to magically appear. He’d claimed me as his, and with my emotions running so high, he should have known that something was wrong.

Yet my mate hadn’t felt anything. And it scared me.

Edith strutted in, beaming. “The master knew you were in danger,” she taunted. “We would have arrived sooner had
weres
not been guarding the entrances.” She looked at Aric. “He returned to Europe last night and yet even from so far away he realized Celia needed him. Where were you, mutt?”

“Shut up, Edith,” I hissed. I expected Aric to lash out. Instead, he tightened his jaw and said nothing.

Edith shook her head with mock sympathy. “Poor little mongrel. Perhaps your love isn’t as strong as you thought.”

Aric stood.
“Enough,”
he snarled. “Time for you to leave.”

Edith kept her smile, though her eyes had narrowed. She wouldn’t leave just because Aric commanded, especially if Misha had ordered her to stay with me. I looked at her, my disappointment in Aric’s absence weakening the assertiveness in my tone. “Edith, go home. I’m fine now.”

She scowled. Clearly I was spoiling her idea of a fun night. She tossed back her hair and strolled out, but not before shooting me a glance with an evil gleam over her shoulder. “By the way, the master was right. You taste delicious.”

Aric straightened. “What the
hell
is that supposed to mean?”

I glared at Edith, willing her to burst into flames. She didn’t. Instead she ran her tongue over her top lip and winked before stepping into the hall.

Sometimes Edith simply sucked.

“What did she mean by that?” Aric asked more forcibly. I wrestled with whether to tell him. “Celia?” he demanded.

I sighed. “Edith kissed me when I was hurt. Somehow, she temporarily transferred Misha’s power into me.” Aric regarded me like I’d been unfaithful. “I didn’t exactly let her, you know,” I added defensively. “She caught me in a moment of weakness. I was hurt, bleeding, and almost unconscious.”

I stopped speaking then. In his light brown irises, I caught a flicker of anger, but his most prominent emotion was shame. As my mate, Aric should have been at my side, giving me strength. Instead, Misha had come in his place. While I could forgive Aric’s absence, the guilt shadowing his features told me he’d never forgive himself.

“The master has been concerned for Celia’s safety since Shah bound himself to her,” Tim said. He’d walked into the room without knocking, of course. “Before he left, he transferred some of his power into Edith. He wanted her to have his strength in case Celia needed it in his absence.”

“It would’ve been more if you’d just let me fondle you,” Edith yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Tim smirked at Aric. “Good thing Celia has someone looking out for her.”

Aric’s jaw clenched, but when he took a step toward Tim, I clasped his arm and held him back. “Do you need something, Tim? Or did you just stop by to be a prick?”

He laughed, seemingly pleased with himself for getting a rise out of Aric. “I just wanted to know if you needed anything else before we left. All human witnesses have been hypnotized into forgetting the experience. But if you prefer we stay to guard you, that’s completely understandable given your own mate won’t even protect you—”

If I hadn’t been holding Aric, and Emme hadn’t shoved him back with her
force,
Aric would be flossing Tim’s remains from his fangs. “Just go, Tim,” I ordered.

He turned to leave, but not before offering one last dig. “I’ll be sure to tell the master you’ll be coming back to work for him.”

From the room next door, Koda howled in agony, making me jump. Through his torment, Shayna’s reassuring voice remained soft. “It’s okay, puppy, I’m here,” she said. “I promise it’ll be over soon.”

“What’s wrong—what’s wrong with Koda?”

Aric pulled me to him. I didn’t realize how fast my heart was beating until I tried to slow my breathing. The night had sucked, but it wasn’t over. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching and waiting to strike. “Don’t be scared, sweetness,” Aric said. “Koda was shot in the eye. Martin is just digging the bullet out of his brain.”

Oh. Is that all?
My stomach did a flip-flop, and I felt faint. I could have done without that visual
.

Aric eased me back down. Next to me, Emme and Taran were fumbling with some packages. Taran straightened my arm. “Hold still, Celia. I’m going to start an IV. You need fluid.” She shuddered when she took in my face. “And considering your face is as white as Emme’s butt, you’re going to need some blood.”

Aric rubbed his sternum. “You’re giving her your blood?” he asked, sounding oddly pleased.

Taran stopped what she was doing. “Aric, look at her. I don’t have to check her labs to realize her hemoglobin and her hematocrit are low.”

He rubbed his chest. “No, you’re right. Do what you can to help her.”

I flinched when Taran started my IV, but it was nothing compared to the pain Koda was experiencing next door. I was glad I was horizontal when I heard something crunch, followed by the howl of a furious beast.

—

The small amount of blood Emme had drawn from Taran was running into my vein when Gemini prowled into the room. He’d found scrub pants to wear, but hadn’t bothered with a shirt. His dark almond eyes fixed on her. “Hi,” he said quietly.

Her shoulders tensed. She’d heard him yet she refused to glance in his direction. She busied herself drawing Emme’s blood to give to me. While she appeared to be concentrating, I knew her enough to sense her sadness. Gem stared at her for a moment longer before speaking to Aric. “Genevieve, Delilah, and Betty Sue are here.”

Taran scowled and tugged the cuffs of her long gloves upon hearing Genevieve’s name. I couldn’t blame her for getting upset. Her failing power, the condition of her arm, and the end of her relationship with Gemini had fractured what remained of Taran’s confidence.

It also didn’t help that Genevieve had the goods to make Miss Universe question her hotness. Genevieve’s fair skin, large blue eyes, and long wavy black hair bordered on perfection. She reminded me of a life-sized ceramic doll, if the doll came complete with a perfect figure, elegant mannerisms, and power so strong you could taste it. We’d only interacted a handful of times, including this last time in Malaysia. But each time, her beauty gave me pause, and each interaction had been uncomfortable and memorable.

Aric’s attention briefly passed to Taran before he kissed my bare shoulder. “Ask Genevieve in. I don’t want to leave Celia,” he said.

Gemini nodded and stepped into the hall, beckoning Genevieve forward. “He’s waiting for you,” he said.

She entered the room. Tonight, she’d chosen a deep purple velvet gown that brought out her eyes and delicate skin. Gold ribbons crisscrossed at the bodice, making her breasts appear fuller despite her lithe frame. Part of her hair was up in a twist, while the rest dangled in perfect waves around her cheeks. The yellow talisman typically affixed to her long staff dangled from a chain around her neck. Save for Halloween, most people would have looked ridiculous in this getup. But most people weren’t Genevieve.

I rubbed my face and tried to smile.
Good thing I don’t look like hell or anything.

Genevieve’s eyes widened when she caught sight of my oh-so-attractive and blood-smeared appearance. “Hey, Genevieve,” I muttered. “What’s new?”

She smirked at me as Delilah and Betty Sue filed in. “Not much,” Genevieve said. “But it seems like you’ve had quite the evening.” To Aric she said, “How can I help?”

“You’ve seen the mess outside?” he asked. Genevieve nodded. “I need you to clean it.”

Genevieve smiled. “Considering you wouldn’t permit my coven to guard Shah, it’s going to cost you.”

“You’ve already made it clear to me and the Alliance that you’re not in agreement with this decision. But for the time being, that’s where he’ll stay….” His voice trailed off when I stiffened against him. “Celia, what is it?”

I was hoping he wouldn’t ask me, especially in front of everyone else. “Shah’s here,” I admitted.

“What?” everyone asked at once, although Taran threw in a few swearwords for emphasis.

I pushed my hair from my eyes. It was then I realized it was caked with body fluid. I dropped my hand away and tried to wipe it on the sheet. “I don’t know. He just appeared.”

Genevieve raised an elegant brow. “Why do you keep referring to Shah as ‘he’?” she asked.

It seemed Genevieve, like many others, continued to see Shah as an “it.” “Because that’s what
he
is,” I answered, growing impatient.

I watched her, Delilah, and Betty Sue as if someone had nudged me to pay attention. “He appeared in my hands when the first group of vamps arrived. They seemed to think I had him—or at least seemed to feel he’d appear to me if called.”

“And did
he
?” Betty Sue asked, although it seemed more like an accusation.

“Yes. He did.” There was no sense in lying, but I wasn’t loving Betty Sue’s presence all of a sudden.

Delilah glanced nervously between me and Betty Sue. “Where’s Shah now, sugar?”

I adjusted the sheet against me, wrestling with whether to disclose his whereabouts. I had no claim over Shah, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of duty to him.

“Celia?” Aric asked, his eyes scanning the group. “You have nothing to be afraid of, just tell us where he is.”

That’s what Aric thought, except I couldn’t ignore the strange unease that filled me and whispered a warning. I finally spoke, mostly because I didn’t think I had a choice just then. “I shoved him into a drawer at the nurses’ station. He should still be there.”

“So you were the last to touch it?” Genevieve asked. She didn’t sound as accusing as Betty Sue. That didn’t mean I liked her question.

“Well, yes, but it wasn’t intentional. He appeared in my hand—” And like magic, Shah materialized in my open palm.

The witches, wolves, and my sisters gathered around me. Instinctively, I pulled my hand back as if any one of them could snatch him from me, including Aric.

Genevieve met Aric’s stare. “It would seem Shah remains bonded to Celia. How is that possible?”

Aric lifted his chin. “Good question, especially since Makawee was the last to touch him.”

“Are you certain?” Delilah asked.

Aric squared his jaw, but it was Gemini who spoke. “Yes, both Aric and I were present when Makawee held him and placed him in a special stronghold.” He tilted his head slightly. “Or are you questioning my and my Leader’s integrity?”

There was an underlying growl to Gemini’s tone, but considering Delilah was a non-
were,
she seemed to bare her teeth despite her smile. “We would never question Aric’s loyalty, shug.”

“Good,”
Gemini answered, meeting her stare and forcing her to drop her gaze.

Genevieve cleared her throat. “Perhaps given the circumstances, Shah should reside with me.”

Taran scoffed. “Oh yeah. Brilliant idea. I’m sure you can’t wait to get your hands on him, too.”

Emme groaned as Taran’s magic sizzled around her. Genevieve surprised me by smiling gently, yet her surging power told me she wasn’t far from acting.