Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (77 page)

“Oh, honey,” Carter’s mom gushed. She took a seat beside me and very gently hugged me.

It took me a moment to return the gesture, probably because I was surprised by her affection. It was so…genuine. Kiera was always very dramatic…I guess I just assumed Carter’s mom would be, too. This was a welcomed change.

She released me, her hands moving to my upper arms. She smiled, warmly,
but sadly. She was concerned for her son.

She kissed my cheek, right near where my own brother had cut her son’s face, then she kissed the scar over my eye. It was something my own mom
would’ve done… Choking up at the thought, I tore my eyes away from her warm stare.

“I saw Kiera on my way in. She said you’re okay. That true?” She ducked her head, trying to get me to look at her.

I nodded. Looking back to her, I said, “No biggie. Just a couple of scratches.” I raised a wrist. She took my arm, gently kissing the bandage… Something else my mom would have done…

She offered another warm smile, clearly not believing me. I looked like hell. Well, Carter looked like hell. But most of the damage
was my own doing, and it had been Carter in my body who’d busted my lip and blackened my eye.

She kissed my cheek again and then she turned away, opening her purse that
was sitting on the bed on her left side. She pulled out a container and turned back to me, lifting the plastic lid, and releasing a wondrous aroma.

“If it wasn’t so late, I
would’ve brought Harrison.” She held the container out to me. Very gingerly, I took one of the cookies she was offering me. “So,” she said, setting the container on the bed just behind us, “what happened to you?” She gently touched my wrists again. Her son’s wrists.

Not knowing what to say, or how to respond, I took a bite of the cookie
I’d taken from the container—a bite of “Carter’s” chocolate chip cookie made by his mom.

While she waited for me to answer, her gentle fingers brushed Carter’s messy hair out of his eyes. Her concern, her love, her cookies, it was all just too much. I missed my own mom, and I broke down.

She held me while I cried. “It’s okay, Carter. Honey, it’s gonna be alright.” Her words were perfect.

She rubbed my back and reassured me. It felt good, even in my mid-thirties, to have a parental unit hold me, comfort me, and tell me everything would be okay.

I was orphaned as an adult, but I had been nowhere near ready to be without my parents. Especially my mom. I missed her. I missed my whole family.

“Sorry,” I said, very quietly as I pulled myself free of her arms. I wiped at my eyes.

“Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for.” She smiled.

This woman was killing me. I wondered if she would adopt me. Granted, she was probably only five, maybe, ten years older than me
…

“The full moon is tomorrow,” she said. “Do you think maybe we can get together on Christmas Eve? Your brother misses you.” She brushed my hair away from my eyes again.

I nodded. I took another cookie and shoved it into my mouth.

I was surprised how casually
she’d mentioned the full moon, as if this was just another normal part to her son. Which it probably was, and she’d just accepted it, like it was nothing.

She truly was amazing.

I was also startled at her mention of Christmas being so close… Would this nightmare never end?

“Great,” she said and flashed me another warm smile. Felix was back to walk her out. “I’ll call you, okay?” She stood, hefting her purse onto her shoulder.

I nodded as I gazed at her.

She leaned over and cupped my face, kissing the scar over my (Carter’s) eye. “I love you,” she said, her eyes meeting mine as her hands dropped from my face.

“I love you, too,” I told her. I think I might have meant it.

She gave me a wave as Felix escorted her
from my room so he could walk her out of the hospital and to her car.

I sat there, shoving another cookie into my mouth,
with tears still swimming in my eyes.

Carter’s life sucked in most aspects, but not in this one. With all the crap he had to deal with, his mom made it all worth it. I think I understood how he was still sane.

The Witch Must Die

The vampire hospital had a cafeteria, which stayed open at all times. This made sense considering it was a vamp hospital, and all. However, it was fairly small, but it did have a variety of food that didn’t look too bad. Carter bought me a sandwich and a chocolate milk. It was the closest thing to a milkshake they had. I could’ve really used a milkshake. A big one.

Wandering through the halls of the hospital, Carter held my milk for me while I took bites of my turkey and cheese sandwich. It wasn’t the best sandwich
I’d ever had, but considering I was starving, it was pretty damn good. Mostly. It didn’t matter, I devoured it, and then I guzzled my chocolate milk.

We made our way to Felix’s office. The door was open, so we went inside and waited for Felix and Oliver to find us.

As he took a seat next to me, Carter texted Felix to let him know where we were. My eyes were already closed. My head was resting against the back of one of the chairs that sat in front of Felix’s desk, and my legs were stretched out in front of me. I was
so
tired. I couldn’t even recall the last time I’d actually slept.

A
lthough I was totally exhausted, my mind was spinning. I was relieved Helos was dead, but a bit disturbed Phen had been the one to take his life. I wondered how, and if it had been Helos who’d screamed that awful, chilling cry.

I
couldn’t figure out why the hell Zane had been there, and on a leash, no less. I wondered where the Weslins had gone? What would’ve happened had I gone with Ashton instead of Oscar? Where was Oscar? Had he fled like usual? But most importantly, I wondered why this nightmare wasn’t yet over. Why were Oliver and Carter still in each other’s bodies? A week was nearing, a full week of them being each other… What the hell were we going to do? Could we live like this?

No. I
wouldn’t let myself think about it. Not yet. Not until we knew otherwise and had no other choice.

To try to forget everything, and hopefully calm myself, I focused on memories of the ocean. Of waves crashing, the sun setting, sand between my toes…Oliver,
my
Oliver…

The sound of the door closing caused me to open an eye. Felix and Oliver were there. I pushed myself up and watched Felix, a stern expression on his face, as he took a seat behind his desk just across from me and Carter. The desk was a bit too small for him.

I caught a whiff of a familiar scent.
Cookies.
Julie’s chocolate chip cookies. My attention shifted, my eyes zeroing in on the container in Oliver’s hand.

“Oh, man,” Carter said, still sitting in the chair next to mine. “She brought you cookies?”

“Ooh, I want one,” I said, reaching over and snatching the container from Oliver’s hand.

Taking a cookie and immediately devouring it, I offered one to Felix, holding the container out to him. He reached across the desk and dipped his big fingers in, taking two and grinning as he took a bite of one of them.

“You guys suck,” Carter told us as I happily took a bite of my second cookie.

As I began my third cookie, I caught the guys watching Oliver. He was pacing behind Carter and me. He was irritable, that was clear. Fidgety, even.

I caught Felix and Carter sharing a nod, and most likely some private words.

Super. More secrets.

Before I could ask my own private questions to the massive man sitting across from me, he spoke, “We have your brother in custody.” He directed his statement to the pacing-Carter-version of my boyfriend.

Oliver stopped pacing. His focus fell on Felix.

“He surrendered himself. Said you two have some sort of deal,” Felix said. He folded his oversized arms and rested forward on them on his small, metal desk.

“Oh, yeah,” Oliver said as if
he’d just recalled what Felix was talking about.

“‘Oh, yeah’?” I questioned, turning in my seat. Carter’s blue eyes moved to mine, holding me in place as I faced him. I felt my heart pick up a beat as he looked at me like that. “What kind of deal?”

Felix spoke again, saying, “A fact to keep in mind, your brother has taken many lives, including the lives of Gwen and Vance. You need to remember what he is capable of before you offer Julz and Hayden over to him.” Felix was not pleased, that much was obvious. I wondered if it was just because of Hayden, or if he cared about Julz’s wellbeing, also.

“
To meet with them, that’s all he wants,” Oliver said. “I think it’s the least I can do considering…well, considering what he did for me, by keeping Laney safe tonight when I could not.” He looked down at his fidgety hands, as if examining the nails. It was a very Oliver thing to do.

“You know it will be more than that,” Felix added, his voice grave. “In addition, your brother is
the one who put Delaney in danger in the first place tonight.”

Now, I wasn’t quite sure that was true. I had chosen to go with Oscar
, and it was Felix and Amber’s idea to use me as bait. So, if you wanted to get technical… Yeah, you get where I’m going here.

“On another note,” Felix added when no one spoke, “Habitha is in custody. With the revelation
that Helos was the mastermind behind this fiasco, and Habitha being at his side, several pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place.”

“Oh?” all three of us questioned. I was relieved Habitha had been captured.

Felix steepled his fingers as he looked at the three of us, his sky-blue eyes developing a little glimmer. “The evidence would suggest that the vampire Oscar commanded, the one Hayden had referred to as a ‘shadow’ several months back, well, I believe that was the work of Helos. This is just one example of his dark magic.” He paused as he waited for this information to sink in. “However, right now my focus is on Habitha. She has been a bothersome wretch for many years. Until now, she has never done anything worthy of being incarcerated. That we know of. She is clever and sneaky, but now she has been caught red-handed. She will not go without punishment…” trailing off, he put his face in his hands for a moment.

We just stared at him. Silently. Oliver had moved closer while Felix had been speaking. He was just behind my chair, one of his hands
resting on the back of it.

Felix inhaled deeply
, and then he exhaled very loudly as he rubbed his eyes and then ran his hands down his face. When he looked at us, he said, “I want to kill her.”

I felt my eyes grow wide.

Felix sat back in his chair, and it groaned in protest. “Helos is dead, yet you two remain in the wrong bodies.” His sky-blue eyes shifted from Oliver’s to Carter’s. “Unless the curse is lifted, I fear you will stay as you are.” My heart felt like it stopped as the words came from his mouth. “Since Helos is gone, he cannot undo what he has done. However,” he said as he sat forward, returning his elbows to his desk, “now that he is gone, all those who were involved in the curse must die. It is the only way.”

Nothing. We said nothing for a long uncomfortable moment.

“How will you know who was involved?” I finally asked, my voice sounding very small.

Felix sighed. He shook his head ever so slowly. “I honestly do not know.”

Uhh…what? Did he plan to just off everyone in sight until Oliver and Carter were back to themselves? I mean, it’s not that I wasn’t opposed to doing whatever it took to get my Oliver back, this just seemed too…extreme, and not very…definite.

The Torturous Moon

I woke to Oliver and Carter shouting at each other. Well, I woke
because
Oliver and Carter were yelling at each other.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, sleepily, as I pushed myself up from where
I’d crashed on the couch in Amber’s office. The guys were standing. Well, Oliver was actually pacing.

“Dude, calm down!” Carter yelled.

“I can’t calm down!” Oliver was scratching, or more like rubbing at himself like his entire body itched or was seriously uncomfortable. “What’s happening?” he shouted again, his voice distressed.

Felix and Amber rushed in just then, and Felix
was quick to question the situation.

It turned out we’d
slept the day away, and night was approaching, which meant so was the full moon. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that Oliver would have to experience Carter’s monthly…thing… I really had no word for whatever it was Carter now experienced on a monthly basis. But whatever it was, Oliver made it obvious that it wasn’t pleasant.

As Felix, Amber, and
Carter stepped out of Amber’s office for a moment to privately—or possibly just get a quieter setting—discuss what to do about my agitated boyfriend in someone else’s skin, I tried to comfort him.

“Hey,” I said very softly as I stood and crossed to where he was pacing. I gently took his hand.