Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (72 page)

He took a couple of steps closer to me. I didn’t move.

“A favor?” I questioned. “If you want to do me a favor, control your whore of a daughter. Put that bitch on a leash or something.”

His unnerving, gray eyes blinked at me in surprise. Avery made an indignant sound.

“I see you inherited your father’s temper,” Tobin said. I narrowed my
glare. “And your mother’s spirit.” He grinned at me.

“You can go to hell,” I seethed.

With a single shake of his head, I witnessed where Ashton had inherited his arrogance. “Honey, thanks to your mother, I never have to.”

Pure hot rage pulsed through me, and Oscar took a concerned step forward when I punched Tobin Weslin, my mother’s angel, Ashton and Avery’s dad, square in the nose. But Oscar
did nothing to stop me or to protect Tobin.

Safe to say, I still had no clue where Oscar’s loyalties were.

However, I was feeling somewhat victorious. I had never actually punched someone in the face before. Sure, I had gone after Avery once or twice, but not with a closed fist. I had no idea I was even capable. Yet, it appeared I’d done a pretty good job on my first attempt.

Tobin staggered backwards, both hands covering his nose, his eyes were watering. He called me a couple of choice words before Oscar stepped forward and kicked Mr. Weslin’s feet out from under him. Tobin landed flat on his back, the air
knocked out of him as he lay there on the concrete floor.

Okay, I was starting to believe Oscar
was favoring my side.

Avery was screeching and hurrying to her father’s side
, but she didn’t make it. I grabbed her by her skanky hair and jerked her to the ground. I pressed her face to the concrete floor while I sat on her back and pulled her arms up behind her. She screamed and struggled. Once again, I felt victorious. Unfortunately, the others in the room moved in quick. They seemed to favor the Weslin side of this twisted game.

Oliver shouted my name. I was on my feet, and as luck would have it, Oscar was on our side. He was right beside me as we backed our way toward “Carter” so that we were just in front him.

Even though there was just the two of us that were able to fight, we were ready to take on every one of them. Even if we were outnumbered. I didn’t care what it took, I would get Oliver out of there.

While I’d been occupying Avery, Oscar had tied Tobin’s hands and feet together, but his mouth was free to bark orders at the minions inching closer to us. They appeared leery. Perhaps they knew of Oscar’s craziness. It scared me too. Or, maybe my mad nose-boxing
skills had them all frightened.

Oscar and I were backed against Carter’s body. My anger was fading
; fear was beginning to grip me.

Most of these guys were big, and kind of scary looking. I knew I couldn’t take them. I was sure, no matter how much I flailed and kicked and screamed, they would easily overpower me. The only reason
I’d been able to take Avery and her dad was because I had surprised them. I no longer had the element of surprise with these…minions.

“You hold them off, I’ll get him down,” Oscar said to me.

I raised an eyebrow, slowly turned my head, and stared at him as the orchard basement full of cronies moved closer.

“How do you expect me to do that?” I questioned sarcastically, while “Carter” was shouting for Oscar to get me out of there. Yeah, that
wasn’t going to happen.

Oscar’s dark sapphire-blue eyes held mine. “You can do it. I’ve seen you do it before. Just push them back.”

“What are you talking about?” Oliver snapped as he struggled against the chains.

Oscar threw his brother a quick glance before returning his attention to me. “You really don’t know, do you?” he said. He shook his head
in disbelief while I continued to stare at him. “Push them, Laney.”

“What?” What more could I expect from crazy?

He actually rolled his eyes at me. Then, in a somewhat unsettling turn of events, Oscar lunged forward, grabbed one of the minions that had gotten too close, and he snapped the guy’s neck, dropping his suddenly lifeless body to the floor in a heap.

“Unless you plan on doing that, I suggest you get with pushing these worthless deadbeats away from us.” He spun around and started prying at “Carter’s” shackles. He was a hell of a lot stronger than
I’d expected, and I had a newfound respect for that crazy bastard because of it.

However, there was a shitload of crap going on. Not only were
the creepers inching toward us, there was a huge commotion going on behind some stationary shelves that were in the middle of the room. I didn’t know what the noise was, and I was desperately hoping Oscar could get the other three shackles off before we found out.

Glancing back to see how Oscar was doing, I caught sight of Avery on the floor. She was untying her dad. Beside her sat some sort of wooden case. Immediately, I knew what it was. It was a vampire slaying kit. Amber had shown me photos of them. Only a few still existed, and one of those few was within my reach.

Lunging for the case, I shoved it toward Oscar, yelling for him to keep it safe. Then I grabbed Avery by the hair, once again, and I jerked her off the floor before she could finish her task of setting her dad free.

We were outnumbered. She was my leverage. Unfortunately, she was super squirmy, plus there was the small fact that I had no clue what I was doing.

Screeching, she pulled free of my grip and was out of my reach and running straight into the crowd of bodies. They let her pass and she ran to the other side of the shelving. She was out of sight. I was sure we would soon be finding out what was back there thanks to my lack of grip on that bitch.

“Push them, Laney!” Oscar shouted. He had two more shackles free and was struggling with the last wrist cuff while trying
to hold Carter’s body up at the same time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I yelled.
I was scared and frustrated.

Two guys, dirty, and hairy, probably werewolves, came at me. Without thinking, I put my hands out, as if that would stop them. But the crazy thing is, it worked. Every single one of those losers took a step back.

What the…

Carter’s body dropped to the floor behind me. I glanced back to see Oscar helping
him to his feet and propping him against the wall. Returning my attention to whatever it was I was doing, I just focused on keeping everyone in the room away from us.

Oscar stepped up beside me. “Told you,” he said,
flashing me a grin that somewhat resembled his brother’s. Then he was quick to gather the pieces of the slayer kit that had fallen out or been removed. He put them back in the case and closed it, snapping the buckles closed. “Okay,” he said, “let’s go.”

My focus
was on whatever it was I was doing. The minions couldn’t get to us. I had created some sort of invisible barrier. Was this the power my biological grandfather was worried about? Could I use it to keep us safe and get us out of there? I sure did hope so, and I sure as hell could think of many, many other times this power would’ve come in handy.

“How do you
suggest we do that?” I questioned Oscar, glancing back at him and Oliver.

Oliver was staring at me in amazement. His gaze made me feel uneasy
, so I quickly returned my focus ahead of me.

The creepers were still unable to step forward. It was the craziest thing! I had no clue what I was doing, but it seemed completely natural that I do it.

Then once again, a whole shitload of stuff happened at one time. This seemed to be the law of my life, so I wasn’t overly surprised.

A wave of exhaustion pulsed
through me. My “magical power” wavered, and I staggered back.

Oliver steadied me. “You okay?” h
e asked. He was concerned, and thankfully standing on his own.

I didn’t know if I was okay or not. I felt the power failing, but there was something else going on
… The pull I felt toward Oliver’s body wasn’t as strong. I was scared that something might’ve happened, but I didn’t think that was it… Maybe he was close. I hoped. Although, I would’ve rather escaped before the evildoers could get their hands on him.

The out-of-sight commotion had returned, and somehow Avery’s dad
was free. He was quickly making his way through the minions and toward the commotion on the other side of the shelves. He kept glancing back at us, looking somewhat horrified. Then the door from inside the shack, the one at the top of the stairs, flew open.

Carter, in Oliver’s body, came rushing down the steps just as a crippling pain shot through my lower abdomen and then coursed through the rest of my body. I doubled over in pain and then fell to my knees.

My “magical power” was gone and the minions came for us, taking all four of us to the floor, but not without a fight.

I found Oscar’s motorcycle parked on the side of the road, next to an orchard. I pulled up behind the bike and killed the engine of the Challenger. I sent Felix a text to let him know where “the pull” had led me, then I got out of the car.

I knocked over the bike when I walked by it, heading into the orchard.

I could feel her. She was close. I hadn’t gone that far into the orchard when I discovered a shack. It reminded me of an outhouse, and it smelled like one. But I think that was because there were Weres nearby. They really smelled bad.

Inside the shack, I could hear people shouting and a bunch of fuss going on
, I just couldn’t figure out where the hell it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from below.

It took me a few minutes, but when I finally got over the shock of the blood cooler in the corner, which I also knocked over, I found a handle in the floor. I threw the door back and rushed down some stairs that led below.

I heard a scream just as I hit the bottom step. I saw Laney fall. My heart was hammering in my chest. I had no clue what happened, but I had one objective: get her the hell out of there.

I tried to make it to her before the room full of Weres, vamps, and others did. I fought off several
from the first wave of jackasses that came at me, and I was closer to Laney, but they took me down just before I reached her. Oscar and my body were also being held. Confusing. Why would they be holding Oscar?

“Are you okay?” I heard my voice call,
the words directed at Laney.

All four of us were face down on the cold
, concrete floor, our arms being held behind our backs. With my cheek pressed to the concrete, I could see the three of them. Oscar was the only one who continued to struggle.

With her face pressed to the
floor, Laney nodded in response the other me.

I focused on her, trying to zero in on only her emotions. It was hard to do with so many bodies in the room, but Oliver’s body had a special connection to Laney’s which made it easier.

She was angry and scared. I also sensed pain.

Had they hurt her?

I was pissed, and I knew I could take out most of those asshats, especially with Oscar’s help. I knew he was strong and quick. I’d encountered him before. But would he help? I was pretty sure he would, if not for his own chance to escape. My own body would probably do alright helping, for a while…

“You have her?” a man’s voice
shouted. He was behind me a ways, but coming closer.

Then I heard voices I recognized
… Avery and her dad.

There were some words shouted, some commands ordered, then the four of us were jerked to our feet, and eventually, each one of us was shackled to the wall by one of our wrists.

Convenient that there were four separate medieval-looking cuffs attached to the wall by chains. But they weren’t all at the same level, and considering how worn my body looked, and the fact my wrists were cut and bloody, I figured Oliver had probably just spent some time stuck to the very wall I was currently attached to. Other than that, my body appeared okay and alive. Alive was a very good thing. Unfortunately, we were in a shitty situation, and surrounded by a shitload of asshats.

Oscar and I were standing. We had to. The way we were shackled, there was no other option. Laney and Oliver were sitting on the floor, shackled at a lower level.

I watched as he scooted closer to Laney.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he
told her.

She looked over at him. She looked exhausted, which didn’t surprise me considering she hadn’t really slept in
past few days.

“I knew he’d find me this way,” she said. “He has your pull to me
…your instincts.”

“Still,” he said, his eyes staring into hers. He was about to say something else, but Laney stopped him
because someone was moving closer, pushing through the wall of Weres and vamps and other idiots that were making sure we stayed put.

That witch lady Laney had warned me about, the one from the street fair that told Kiera’s fortune, pushed her way toward us, jingling as she walked, like she had bells on her somewhere. I
couldn’t see any bells… I did
not
wanna know where she was hiding.