Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (11 page)

“
My outcome had not been good. That’s why she babied me, my mom. She knew that every day was precious, and that she was lucky I had survived infancy.” I squeezed his hand, thankful for his mother’s love and the fact he had survived. “Laney,” his eyes were intense and on mine again, and they were full of seriousness, “there is a high probability that my heart condition could be hereditary. Not only would I fear losing you if we tried to have a baby, I’m afraid the baby would not make it either. I can’t risk that, Laney. I can’t lose you.”

His words not only broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes, they made me feel sick to my stomach. I knew the risks. I knew the fatality rate was high for both the mother and the infant during childbirth. Especially for those who were not vampires. Oliver had told me this before. But it
didn’t change how I felt.

I rested my head against his shoulder and let the tears surface. I wanted a piece of us. I wanted a family. I had no doubt about this. I did not want it right then, but I knew someday this would be a fight we would have. I also feared this was something, the only thing, Oliver would not give me.

“I know what you’re feeling, Laney,” he said very quietly against the top of my head. “I know this is something you want, but please try to see this from my side. Would you be willing to lose me?”

I understood what he meant. I would not be willing to lose him, over anything. I shook my head. A tear escaped and I quickly wiped it away.

“Then no more seducing me on the beach,” he said, his tone taking on a playfulness.

I choked out a laugh.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight in his arms. I rested my head on his chest.

“I am sorry, Laney. I should have told you this before you were stuck with me forever,” his voice was soft. I knew this pained him, too.

“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” my own voice was just as quiet.

“You sure?” he questioned.

“Positive,” I said. I sat back so that I could look into his eyes. I pressed my lips to his and whispered that I loved him. He responded with the same. However, I still felt sad, for multiple new reasons, but as I said, there was nothing I could do about it right then.

While still in
each other’s arms, we settled against the headstone once more.

“What was your dad like?”

He chuckled. “Oscar.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Not like the Oscar you know. The old Oscar. They were a lot alike. Outgoing and friendly. They spent a lot of time together, doing sports stuff. I think my dad was afraid of getting too close to me.” I raised my eyebrow at him again. “My parents thought they were going to lose me from the beginning. That really scared my dad. I don’t think he knew how to deal with how it made him feel, so he kept his distance. It wasn’t until I got my first car that we finally had something to bond over. I think that really bothered Oscar though. He’d always had my dad’s attention, so when our dad started spending a lot of time with me, helping me fix up the car, I think Oscar felt left out. Jealous, even.”

“Were you and Oscar ever close?”

“Not really. Not until after we changed. Well, after he mellowed. But it was short-lived.”

“He wasn’t always the way
he is now? I mean, after you changed, anyway.”

“No. He actually took to our new lifestyle, and he was great at it, for a while. He was one of Felix’s favorites. I was too emotional, as Felix always said,” he admitted, a smirk appearing.

I raised an eyebrow at him once again. Oliver did not seem like one who was overly emotional, not the Oliver I knew. If anything, he held a lot back. But I imagined that in his early vampire years, when he was very young and his world had been turned upside-down, things were probably very different. He had been living this life for nearly two decades now—he’d adjusted.

“Oscar was great for a while. Then he just sort of
…snapped. He didn’t want the life anymore.”

“That’s a shame,” I said.

Oliver nodded.

As much as I feared and, well, sort of hated Oscar, it made me sad that Oliver’s brother was alive, yet they could not be close. I wondered if there was any other answer to dealing with Oscar, rather than killing him, I mean. I di
dn’t voice this thought. We’d had enough emotional trauma, I didn’t need to add more by bringing up Oscar’s fate. No, it was a question for another time.

Instead, I voiced a less upsetting thought. “I wish I could have seen your house and your room. It would be interesting to see what you and your home were like.” I trailed my cold fingers down the arm of his sweatshirt.

“I shared a room with Oscar.”

“Really?” I looked
over at him is surprise.

He nodded with a nostalgic smile in place. “Yeah, it made us argue more because we could
n’t get away from each other.” He chuckled lightly.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I kind of wish I could have gotten to know that part of your life.”

“You wouldn’t have liked me,” he said playfully.

“I doubt that,” I
responded.

He laughed. “I was a total geek, Laney.”

“You kind of still are,” I said, light laughter escaping me. Then I added, “Plus, who says I don’t like geeks?”

He chuckled and kissed the side of my head. “I love you, Laney. As hard as all of this was and still is at times, I would not change any of it for fear I would not end up right here, with you, right now.”

After staring at him for a moment, I kissed him. How did that not warrant a serious kiss? That’s when we heard the eerie whistling.

In a split
second, Oliver was crouched beside me. “Get behind me, Laney.”

I scrambled to get behind him. I crouched, gripping the back of his sweatshirt like my life depended on it.

They appeared before us, Oscar and Zane, together, like they were in cahoots! They strolled toward us at a leisurely pace. A super creepy, leisurely pace. They had somehow found one another and united!

This was seriously bad news for us.

Oliver slowly rose and I rose with him. I peered around him. Oscar and Zane were closing in. My heart was beating so fast, it actually hurt.

“Bring her to meet the folks, did you?” Oscar toyed.

Oscar and Zane stopped. They were a few headstones away, but still too damn close in my opinion.

I was mentally freaking out. So bad in fact, I thought I might hyperventilate. That would not help us. I tried to steady myself. Rather hard to do actually, especially considering what I had laid out before me. I was terrified
, and Oliver’s body was tensed; his hands were balled into tight fists at his sides. I had no idea how the hell we were going to get away from them.

“You and I have unfinished business,” Zane said, his unnerving grayish-lavender eyes meeting mine.

I ducked behind Oliver, and he let out a rumble that, had I been on the receiving end, would have scared the crap out of me.

“It’s not your job to protect her anymore,” Oliver growled.

“Oh, I am fully aware of that,” Zane responded. “That is not why I am here,” his voice was strange. Demonic, maybe?

I peeked around Oliver. Oscar was leaning against a nearby headstone,
and his dark blue eyes fell on mine for a minute. His hair was slicked back with one curl hanging forward, just as it had been the first time we’d met. His posture reminded me of his brother’s, the way he crossed his arms over his chest and one foot over the other.

“Aww, did my baby brother finally lose his virginity? How sweet.” Oscar looked smug as he returned his attention to the scene unfolding in front of him.

I couldn’t imagine what his part was in this, in letting Zane take me from Oliver. Pain? Did he want Oliver to feel the pain he felt every day without Julz?

“Oliver,” I whispered.

He reached back with one hand and took mine, holding it tight. I was so freaking scared. I knew he felt it, and I knew he was scared too. How on earth would we get away from both of them? There was very little I could do to fend off either of them. Pretty little meaning nothing, there was nothing I could do! Kicking and screaming can only get you so far…

I peeked around Oliver again. Zane was pacing in front of us, glowering at us through his lashes. In a flash, he made a quick gesture to Oscar, who in turn, bolted from where he stood and right into Oliver, jerking him from my grip.

We had no time to react. Oscar knocked Oliver off balance and to the ground where they proceeded to beat the crap out of each other. Talk about brotherly love. I screamed as they went down, and Oliver shouted for me to run. I did. I spun around and headed straight for the line of trees that was behind the group of headstones near us.

There was no need to look back. I knew Zane was after me. I ran as fast as my legs would go, but he caught me.
He barreled right into me and knocked me to the ground, hard, knocking the wind out of me.

I gasped for air as I struggled to get away from him. I kicked at him and hit any part of him I could. Somehow, I was able to scramble away, but I
didn’t get far. On my feet, I backed away from him as air rushed into my lungs.

“What is wrong, dear Delaney?” He grinned wickedly as he stood just a few feet away, watching me rub the back of my hand.

My hand got scratched in our struggle. It looked like he had dug his fingernail into my skin and taken out a small chunk. It was bleeding, not bad, but it burned like crazy.

“What did you do?” I hissed.

He paced before me, closing in, his head low and his eerie stare on me. “That is merely a taste of what I am going to do to you.” He looked at me through his lashes, menacingly. Then he pounced. Zane knocked me to the ground, and he was on top of me and had me pinned.

Over my screams, I heard him, “I do not care who you belong to, you are my ticket home!”

He grabbed my arms and slammed me against the ground as I struggled. Zane wasn’t that big of a “man,” but he was unnaturally strong for his size. I screamed and tried to pull myself free of his grip, but it didn’t matter how hard I struggled, he was too strong, but that wouldn’t keep me from trying.

I don’t know what his ultimate goal was, and thankfully my boyfriend wasn’t going to let me find out. Fully disheveled, his sweatshirt ripped at one shoulder, and his face marked red where his brother had hit him, Oliver grabb
ed Zane by the back of the hair and jerked him off of me.

I scrambled away, and then I hurried to my feet as I watched, somewhat horrified, but mostly impressed, when Oliver slammed Zane’s head into the nearest headstone. Freaking hard
too! The thick headstone actually cracked. As my hand continued to burn, I felt satisfied that the bastard felt what Oliver had done to him. However, he was only stunned, not out.

Oliver dropped Zane to the ground, grabbed my arm, and jerked me to him.

We raced to the car. Oliver shoved me in on his side and climbed in after me as I scrambled over the console.

I watched out the back window as we sped away. I didn’t see them.

“Where’s Oscar?” I asked.

I had a
growing fear that Oliver had taken his brother’s life. I knew it was what needed to be done, I just didn’t think Oliver should be the one to do it.

He glanced in the
rearview mirror. “He’ll be back,” he growled.

I turned forward in my seat and pulled my seatbelt tight. Oliver was angry, and probably hurt, emotionally. His brother had just led my angel right to us. He had to feel betrayed.

“Oliver?” I questioned, quietly. I touched a red mark on his cheekbone.

He pulled away
, and I dropped my hand.

“Don’t, Laney. Don’t worry about me. Right now, the only thing we need to do is keep him away from you.”

We sped back to the cottage with enough time to get inside and get the security system set. Unfortunately, there was no landline, and we’d left our phones in the car. Oliver was going to need to call for help.

As the house went into lockdown, Oliver punched another code into the control panel and the front door unbolted.

“No, Oliver. Don’t go out there,” I pleaded, grabbing his arm, hoping to hold him back.

“I’ve got to, Laney. We can only stay in here so long, and stay safe.” His anxious green eyes tried to reassure me. He kissed my forehead. “I can do it,” he said, and then he flung open the front door and ran for his car while I anxiously watched from the doorway.

He slid to a stop at the side of the car and jerked the door open. I saw him dive in and reach for the console. I scanned the area for signs of movement. Other than a cool, sea breeze rustling the branches of the surrounding trees, there was nothing.

Oliver was sprinting back to the house and straight for me when, out of nowhere, he was tackled. Oscar had come at him from the side.

“No!” I screamed. I started out the door and down the front steps toward them. “No!” I screamed again as I hit the bottom step.

Oliver and Oscar were tumbling around on the ground, full on beating the crap out of each other again.

As I was about to leap off the last step, Zane caught from behind by my hair. I screamed and fell back. He jerked me up the steps and dragged me across the porch as I kicked and screamed.

Zane jerked me to my feet as he got to the door. He held
me with my arms pinned, so I would stop hitting him. I had my back against him, and all I could do was scream and stomp my feet like a child. And I did.

In the yard, Oliver was on his knees. I saw both terror and anger register across his face as he caught sight of me trapped in Zane’s grip. Oscar didn’t have a chance against his brother, and he knew it, and when Oliver was focused on me, Oscar took his chance and scramble
d across the ground and out of Oliver’s reach.

Oscar was fast, but Oliver was stronger, and Oscar was well aware of this fact. Plus, with Oliver’s added desperation to get me away from Zane, Oscar had no hope. Oliver lunged for his brother, jerked him back by his ankle, and with one blow to the side of his face, Oliver confirmed who the stronger brother was.

A moment later, Oscar scrambled to keep himself upright as he high-tailed it into the surrounding tree line and out of sight. Oliver probably could have caught him, given Oscar’s current struggle to stay on his feet and all, but Oliver was after Zane right then.

“Mine!” Oliver growled as he barreled toward us.

Zane hauled me into the house and slammed the door before Oliver could reach us. Oliver crashed against the door and Zane let go of me, so I ran. Zane was preoccupied with the door and the measly deadbolt that was surely not going to keep Oliver out for long.

There was nowhere for me to escape. The entire house was in lockdown, except the front door. I ran to the kitchen. With a fairly good-sized kitchen knife in one hand and really heavy frying pan in the other, I was as ready as I could be. That son-of-a-bitch was not taking me away from Oliver. Ever
!

I crouched down behind the kitchen island and waited. Oliver was roaring my name from outside while pounding his way through the front door. Zane had somehow secured the door, and it was taking longer for Oliver to get to me than I had thought it would.

While I hid, Zane called my name several times in that creepy movie-killer kind of way, getting closer each time. My heart was pounding, thudding in my ears.

When
he came into the kitchen, he said, in the most menacing voice, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

The back of my hand burned even more, distracting
me, but I readied myself. I was crouched with my back against the island, waiting for him to come around either side. I was not prepared for him to come at me from over the top.

I dropped the knife when he grabbed my hair, but I double fisted the pan and swung. I clocked him upside the head and knocked him off balance. He fell off of the island and onto the tile floor with a heavy thud, a groan of pain and surprise escaping him.

I bolted from the kitchen.

Oliver was still shouting my name. It sounded like he was throwing himself against the door. I ran to the front of the house as fast as I could. Somehow, Zane was there before me. It startled me and I screamed. Oliver pounded even harder and roared my name. The steel door groaned with every blow—the hinges would soon give. Would it be soon enough?

I still had the frying pan grasped in my hand. I readied myself for Zane to come at me. Unfortunately, he had the knife.

His eyes bore into me as I watched him. He paced. I could see that he was evaluating me
and getting ready to attack. He was also bleeding from the side of his head, and I knew he had to be hurting. I got some satisfaction out of this fact, however, I wasn’t sure if the blood was due to me hitting him or Oliver slamming his head against the headstone. Either way, there was a spark of satisfaction in me. And I bet Zane was wishing right then that he had never touched me.

Stupid freaking demented angel!

He lunged at me with the knife, obviously afraid of my mad skills with a frying pan. I jumped back and he missed. He paced again, his grayish-lavender eyes on mine, the knife lowered at his hip. Another blow to the door and it groaned. The top hinge gave way.

Zane lunged at me again, knowing his chances to complete our connection were coming to an end, and fast. The middle hinge was barely hanging on. I swung the pan once more, but I missed and he knocked me to the ground. The knife pierced my shoulder. It hurt like hell! I cried out, screaming in pain as he sat on top of me, pulling the knife free of my shoulder and tossing it just out of reach. He then proceeded to
attack me, clawing and pulling at my clothes as I struggled.

Oliver roared my name then hit the door one last time. The hinges gave, the frame splintered, and the door fell inward, hitting the wall and then the floor.

I have to say, Oliver looked more frightening at that moment than the demonic angel who was suddenly wielding the kitchen knife, yet again.

“Mine,” Oliver snarled. He tackled Zane, knocking him right off of me.

I scrambled to sit up and move away.

In the next second, Oliver had Zane pinned to the floor beside me. Oliver was so enraged that he
didn’t see the knife in Zane’s hand. I screamed when the angel plunged it into Oliver’s side. The knife slipped between his ribs, and Oliver let out an awful bellow, but he didn’t loosen his grip on Zane. If anything, his grip around the angel’s neck tightened.

“Laney, pull it out,” Oliver growled. I hesitated. His dark eyes met mine. “Do it now!”

I moved closer and gripped the knife with both hands and yanked. It made this sick, wet sound, and I thought I might throw up.

Oliver cringed and a pained sound escaped him. However, in a flash of movement, he jerked the knife from my hand and plunged it into Zane’s heart. I shrieked in surprise, covering my mouth with both hands to stop myself.

Zane screeched and grasped at the knife, unable to get ahold of the handle. He couldn’t seem to control his limbs.

Oliver rolled off of the angel and onto the floor beside him. He lay on the floor and held his hand over the wound in his side. Blood was trickling between his fingers, darker and thicker than regular blood.

I scrambled over the suddenly still body of Zane… My angel. My crazed and demonic, dead, guardian angel.

Little did I know, the angel was not dead—
angels weren’t so easy to kill.

“What do I do?” I frantically asked, putting my hands over Oliver’s.

“Call Felix,” he groaned.

I pulled
his phone from his front pocket and found myself touched when I discovered a picture he had taken of me on the beach was his new background. I mentally shook myself and called Felix. It was not the time to get all mushy.

Felix was quick to answer. I rushed through an explanation of what had happened.

“Oliver needs blood to heal. If there is none, he will need yours. Assuming you two have bonded, it will be safe for him to feed from you. It will also help him heal faster,” Felix’s booming voice said from the other end of the line.

My face burned. I knew everyone would know that we had bonded, but I didn’t think anyone would be so blunt as to point it out. Maybe Zoey.

“Zane is not dead,” Felix continued. He is only immobilized.”

I glanced at the still angel beside us, dark blood soaking the front of his shirt.
With terror consuming me once again, I scooted closer to Oliver.

“I am on my way, Delaney. It will take me a couple of hours to get there. In the meantime, I will send a local team to collect the angel.”

“‘K,” I quietly responded, my eyes fixed on Zane’s motionless body. I was afraid he would just sit up and come after me again.

“It is okay, Delaney. Help will soon be there.”

While keeping a watchful eye on Zane, I locked Oliver’s phone and put it in my sweatshirt pocket. I tried to help Oliver, but he refused to take my blood. I didn’t understand his refusal, and he wasn’t offering an explanation. The only blood he took was from my shoulder, and that was just to heal the place where Zane had stabbed me. It still hurt. He had really only gotten the outside of my shoulder, but still, what kind of bastard guardian angel stabs the person they’re sent to protect? Yeah, I got that he was crazy, but when Oliver had been…off, he wouldn’t have stabbed me.

Oliver pushed himself up and leaned against the wall beside me. He held his side until the team of vampires arrived. While we waited, he put his head back against the wall, breathing slowly
with his eyes closed.

I stared at him. I was silently freaking out because he was bleeding, and because he was refusing to let me help him. Oh, and I was totally freaked over the fact Zane was not dead.

This wasn’t over.

While shifting my eyes between the still unmoving Zane, and the bleeding Oliver, Oliver coughed, once, into his hand, and I totally flipped out when he wiped blood on his jeans.

“Are you coughing up blood?” I was on my knees beside him in that moment, not knowing what I could do, but desperately needing to do something.

“I’m fine, Laney,” he said, his voice weary, his head back and eyes closed once again.

I stared at him, feeling as if I was going to either start sobbing or screaming.

If he would just take my blood…

He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head toward me, still leaning against the wall. “Please stop worrying about me. I will be fine.” He forced a smile, trying to reassure me.