Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (27 page)

“Excuse me?”

“Werewolves are most active during the full moon.
It’s also when they are most likely to mate with other Weres.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I put my hand up to stop him from continuing. “Are you saying the full moon is like my time of the month?”

He barked out another loud, deep laugh. “If that is how you would like to look at it, I suppose so,” he said, chuckling deeply.

I shook my head. Yeah, sure,
I’d referred to it as such, but I’d been kidding!

“What exactly does this mean?” I questioned.

He shrugged. “It could mean many things. During the full moon you will most likely be more aggressive, especially sexually. The qualities that you have shown in this past month, your endurance, speed, and other heightened senses, will most likely be amplified, and perhaps the changes you experienced during the previous full moon will resurface. Possibly even stronger.”

My mouth was hanging open as I stared at him.
What the…

“Carter, I suggest you and Kiera join me at my place for Thanksgiving. That way I can keep a close eye on you. Restrain you, if necessary.”

Restrain me?
This brought me around. “But Kiera won’t go for that. We’re having dinner with her folks and grandmother.”

“I suggest you figure out how to convince your fiancé
e otherwise. This is for everyone’s safety. If I must, I will restrain you beforehand and send Kiera on her way.”

I glared at him and balled my fists. “You wouldn’t,” I said through my teeth.

On his little stool, he turned away from me and rolled to his table. “I will do what I must to keep you and those you care about safe. You will thank me for it.” He glanced back at me. “I guarantee it.”

There was nothing I could do. It’s not like I could prevent Felix from tying me up or locking me
in some cage or cell to “restrain” me. I had to agree, which was sure to anger Kiera.

Needless to say, Kiera and I got into a fight that night. She was pissed about having to change our plans. She ended up storming off and going home. I understood why she was mad, mostly, but I was pissed too, and mostly because she was being kinda insensitive about the whole thing.

The good news of the day was that the two hillbillies that had jumped Laney and me in the parking lot of the school a while back, well, they were being sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

Felix told me they’d been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder. This news was a relief. To clarify, I was relieved they were getting put away, not that they’d attempted to murder multiple people,
including Laney and me.

Now all we needed to do was get the rest of the vampire haters off the streets, and we’d be free and clear.
Yeah right.
It still made no sense to me why these dudes had come after Laney and me in the first place. Had someone sent them? If so, who and why? Did these dudes know about my “incident”? I could’ve sat there on the couch and dwelled on this crap all day, but I had to work. You know, dishes to clean and shit like that.

The next day I woke feeling a little jittery. I went for a run. It seemed to help, but I was starving, and I was craving meat, and not the cooked kind.

When I got back from my run, I rummaged an old package of bacon from the freezer and fried it up. It didn’t curb my appetite.

Once I’d finished a plate of bacon, I took Laney’s car and headed over to the basketball courts at the high school.

My best bud, Tate, was in town. We were meeting with the guys at the courts for a game.

Tate was only in town for two nights, and he was busy with family, so this was our only time to hang out.

It was awesome to see him! It had been a few months, and so much had happened. So much had changed… Not that I could tell him. I wanted to, but I wasn’t allowed. Plus, he’d probably think I was on drugs.

“Carter Sauce!” Tate shouted as he strolled onto the court.

“Tater Tot!” I shouted back.

We ran at each like we always did. Pretending we’d found our long lost love.

When we collided, we both yelled, all sissy-like, “I platonically love you, man!”

The other guys wooted, some shouted about how Kiera was gonna be mad that I was in love with someone else, and others chanted, “Tater Tot and Carter Sauce! Together again!”

Yeah, we were a bunch of knobs.

After our public display of
idiocy, we got the game started.

Tate and I stole the court. We played great together, just like we always had, and our team killed the other side! Twice!

After the games, Tate and I sat on the side of the court with our backs against the chain-link fence, sipping our Gatorades while watching the others leave.

“Where’s Ash?” Tate asked.

I shrugged. “We’re not on good terms anymore.” I wasn’t about to tell Tate all the theories and shit I had on Ashton.

“Aaah,” he said with a nod. “This over a girl?”

I thought for a moment. “I guess, but not like that. He’s just turned into a total douche.”

Tate laughed. “Dude, Ashton’s always been a douche.”

I got a good laugh out of that.

I downed the rest of my Gatorade. “You wanna go get some food?” I asked. “You got time?” I was starving.

“Sure. But you’ve gotta give me a ride,” he said, flashing me a big, charming Tate grin.

“Sure.” I laughed.

Tate’s parents lived near the high school, so he’d walked to the courts. His parents had picked him up at the airport when he’d flown in from Southern California, so he was without a set of wheels while he was in town.

I had parked on the street, just outside the courts. When I got to the driver’s side of the car, Tate stopped a few feet away. “Isn’t this Laney’s car?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. She’s out of town right now.”

We climbed inside. “And she lets you use her car?” he asked as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

“I guess.” I shrugged. It’s not like she said I couldn’t, and she was always having me drive her around in the damn thing all the time, anyway.

“Dude, why don’t you have your own car?” Tate joked and punched me in the arm.

It didn’t make me flinch like it used to, and that made me think of my vamp/wereness, and how badly I wanted to tell him. But I didn’t.

Stinky and sweaty, we headed to the brewery.

We both ordered burgers, fries, and a beer. I ordered my burger as rare as they’d allow, and I about drooled over the thought of the pink meat. Oh, and I ordered a glass of Brookehaven Ale, the vampire beer. Yeah, I was craving raw meat and vamp beer—vamp, blood-based beer. I was a freakin’ winner!

“So, how’s she doing?” Tate asked.

“Who?” I couldn’t think about anything but my food, which had yet to arrive.

“Laney,” Tate said. “How’s she doin’? I heard about her aunt.”

My attention focused on Tate. “How?” I asked.

“Dude, it’s not like it’s a big town. My parents told me.” From across the table, he grinned at me. His blond curls were hanging down close to his brown eyes, both of which always had him fighting off the girls.

“Ah,” I said. “She’s doing alright. Was hard at first.” I got distracted by a waitress walking by with someone else’s burger order. I could actually identify the items on the plate by smell.

“You alright, dude?”

“Huh?” I returned my attention to my friend. “Sorry, just super freakin’ hungry.”

“So, where’d you get that scar?” he asked as we waited. His eyes had settled just over my left eye.

“Oh, uh, fell off a bike. I was drunk.” I tried to play it off, but he gave me a weird look, like he knew I was lying. But he didn’t press. I was thankful, ‘cause I hated lying to him.

Our beers arrived about then
, and I all but gulped the entire thing down before I noticed the look on Tate’s face.

“That good, huh? Can I try? I haven’t had that kind before.”

I reluctantly handed him my pint glass. After a gulp, he made an awful face as he handed back the glass.

“Dude! That shit’s foul!”

I laughed and then finished my beer. “Acquired taste, I guess.” I grinned.

“Sure, if you enjoy the taste of ass,” he said. He gulped down his beer, trying to get the taste of my Brookehaven Ale out of his mouth.

When the waitress brought out our food, I ordered another beer even though I knew I shouldn’t. Tate did, too.

“So, what’s going on with her?” Tate asked.

I looked up at him from hovering over my plate, my mouth full of almost totally raw burger. “Who?” I asked over a mouthful of food.

“Laney,” he said like I was supposed to just know.

I swallowed my food. “Dude, you know she’s got a serious boyfriend, right? Like he’d-kill-you serious.”

Tate laughed.

He wasn’t taking my warning seriously. It would be his funeral if he thought he had another chance with her. I went back to my food.

“So I heard,” he said. “But I also heard that you two hooked
up.” He waggled his eyebrows and flashed me a pervy smile.

I was floored. And pissed. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I all but growled.

He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “Rumor has it, you and Laney hooked up not long ago.” He sat back. “Who’d have thought she’d make the rounds through all three of us.” He laughed to himself.

I was not finding this shit funny. At all.

By “all three of us,” he was referring to himself, Ashton, and me. I was fuming. I was gripping the edge of the table, and I was ready to pounce across it and beat my best friend’s ass.

“Dude, whoever you get your information from is full of shit,” I growled.

Tate’s eyes widened. “Dude, sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He looked concerned. “Calm down, Carter.”

I took a deep breath and released my grip on the table. “We didn’t hook
up,” I said, knowing we kinda had.

“Sorry,” he said.

I said nothing.

When our second beers arrived, Tate nursed his and avoided eye contact with me for a few minutes.

I was still working on my temper and enjoying my burger when Avery slithered up to our table. We both looked over at her like she was plagued.

She pretended Tate wasn’t there. She looked like hell, more so than usual. Dumpy and washed out. I figured she was still on something. I felt like maybe I should call her brother and tell him…

“Have you seen Oliver?” she asked, a frantic pitch to her voice.

Tate looked from Avery to me as he ate his fries.

“Why the hell do you want to know?” I asked. I’d lost my need to be helpful and call her brother. Instead, an overwhelming desire to push her away had consumed me. Or bite her… I wanted to bite her? Yeah, that one surprised me. It also made me gag.

She narrowed her catty blue eyes on me. “That’s my business,” she hissed.

I laughed. “I think not.”

She stomped her foot, huffed, and then stormed off.

We both watched after her for a few, then Tate turned to me. “Kinda sickening that I dated that.”

“Yep,” I said as I went back to
what food was left on my plate.

“Who’s Oliver?” Tate asked.

“Laney’s boyfriend,” I answered over a mouthful of fries.

“Why the hell is Avery asking about him then?”

I shook my head. “Long story. You don’t want to know.” And I had no intentions of telling him even if he did.

He shrugged then started talking about school and life outside of “Treeville.” I have to admit, I was a little envious that he’d escaped. There were times I felt I never would.

*****

After lunch, I dropped Tate off outside his parents’ house then headed home. I was surprised to find Kiera waiting for me on the top step
at the complex.

“I’m sorry for leaving the way I did last night,” she said as I sat down beside her. “I should be more supportive.”

She looked over at me. I could see that she was troubled. I didn’t interrupt or agree with her, I just let her talk. She told me we were still doing Thanksgiving with her parents and her grandmother, just earlier in the day. “I told them that your uncle invited us over. They argued, but I reminded them that I have two families now, and we needed to be fair.”

“Thanks,” I told her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled and all was well.

After I took a shower, Kiera went grocery shopping with me.

Once we were back at the apartment, she made me a quick snack, just a quesadilla, and then she headed back out to her parents’.

I had a hard time sleeping that night. The moon was only a sliver away from being full, and I could feel the shift it caused in me. I had an overwhelming desire to run, but I forced myself to stay in bed. I needed to be functioning on all cylinders to deal with Kiera’s parents and her grandmother. I needed to be rested, but I tossed and turned ‘til the sun rose, and then I jumped out of bed and went for a run until I felt like I was going to pass out.