Cursed Vengeance (12 page)

“Yes, we,” Sean said. “Dylan’s my partner in the company. Some of the guys who work for us are human. Dylan needs to go in and check up on things to keep appearances.”

“So this is the partner I always wondered about?”

“Yep.” I smirked. “That’s me.”

“Well, why don’t you two head to bed? Since I don’t have to work in the morning, I’ll get this all cleaned up first.”

Sean stood and stretched. “Are you sure? You cooked, I don’t mind cleaning up.”

“I’m sure. Go on. I’ve got this.”

Sean nodded. “Thanks for dinner, Sis. See ya in the morning.” He turned and walked down the hall.

I went to pick up a plate when Sierra smacked my hand away. “Go, I said. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

I felt bad leaving her to clean up the mess. “Okay, but only ‘cause I don’t want pink toenails for work tomorrow.”

“At least you’re a fast learner.”

“Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.”

Heading down the hall, I got everything in the room ready for bed. Exhausted from the shit storm of the day, I crawled into bed and was rewarded a few minutes later when a warm body curled into mine. Bending down, I kissed her lips.

“Go to sleep, Dylan. You can’t run on empty.”

“I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“Me, too.”

Content with her in my arms, it wasn’t long before I was pulled under into a deep sleep.

*  *  *

A strange noise woke me. Being a wolf meant you learned from an early age how to block out sounds so you could sleep. Except there were some sounds you couldn’t forget.

Jumping from the bed, I ran down the hall to Sean’s room and flung the door open.

“Fuck,” I yelled.

Sean lay in the middle of the bed in a pool of vomit. His skin had taken on the deathly pallor of the curse. Not quite the green of an upset stomach, but a yellowish green, which looked more like death.

Running into the room, I scooped Sean from the bed and ran for the bathroom, hoping Sierra wasn’t far behind me.

Sierra

Distress flowed through me, snapping me awake. Then Dylan shouted. I shot out of bed and looked around. The bedroom door hung open and he wasn’t there.

The retching started. Sean, shit, he was sick.

I was on my feet, rushing for Sean’s room. Dylan carried my brother to the bathroom. The bed was covered in vomit, the smell was rotten. Not merely disgusting, but decomposing, the smell of death lingered.

I caught myself on the dresser as my heart raced. I’d spent the whole time while they were at the funeral taking notes, making calculations, and trying to find a tie to my grandmother.

Reality slapped me in the face. I was out of time.

I heard Dylan say, “Sean, breathe. Just breathe. Sierra’s right here.”

My stomach lurched as I pushed myself into motion. My brother’s arms lay over the toilet seat, his head resting there. The start of the black shadow swirled over his heart and I had to hold back the scream that wanted out.

Dylan didn’t look back as he reached for my hand. I couldn’t resist as I moved to him, tears in my eyes. My brain didn’t want to kick in and solve the problem.

Sean heaved again, and I knelt behind him, placing my head on his shoulder. “I’ll fix this,” I whispered, unsure if I could deliver on my promise.

Earlier that night I had all the confidence in the world, and now, seeing my brother with the black sludgy substance swirling around his heart shattered it all.

Sean reached back with one hand. “Love you, Sierra. Don’t forget that.”

There wasn’t a shred of hope in his voice, and that was all I needed to flip the switch. I shot up and dashed out of the room. I slid to a stop at the stack of boxes in the living room and pulled my hair back in a haphazard ponytail to keep it out of my eyes as I flipped through the notebook.

Hands closed over my shoulders, warmth and strength infusing me. “You okay?” Dylan murmured.

“Will be. Go back to him. Need to think. Just give me a few.”   

“If you need me, say the word.”

“I will. Go.”

He kissed the back of my neck and my eyes slid shut. If I didn’t save Sean, chances were I couldn’t save Dylan. The thought spread terror through my system. Such a short time and I knew I couldn’t live without him. My whole world was out of balance, and I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to do.

He walked away and I knew he wanted to come back to help, but there was nothing he could do. I went back through my plan, reading my notes, hoping I wasn’t about to make a really big mistake.

Earlier in the evening I had found a pretty big clue. Grandma’s coven was preparing an item for some kind of ritual. They funneled dark energy into it, but I couldn’t quite see what it was because the same black nimbus swirled around the object. My mother had written about something she’d seen by accident when she was younger. She was afraid to go near whatever it was because it radiated and pulsed with evil.

I knew the pieces belonged together, but I couldn’t make them fit, yet. What was the item? How did it cause the curse? And why did they do the ritual monthly?

In the meantime, while Dylan and Sean were at the funeral, I came up with a theory I prayed would work. Sean told me he tried to counter the spell countless times. Mom’s journal showed she’d tried doing the same. But the curse was its own entity. I could see it swirling around, like a foreign object in a wound.

Instead of countering the magic, I needed to remove it. Question was, what to do with the curse once I pulled it free.

I had a solution for individual wolves. Later, I could solve the bigger problem. Finding the page I needed, I walked back to the bathroom.

Something was different. After nearly an hour, the curse hadn’t spread farther than when I first saw him. It wasn’t getting worse. Wasn’t going away either, but it wasn’t destroying him from the inside out like it had with Christian.

“Sean, have there been other werewolf/witch hybrids in the pack?”

“Uh-uh,” he groaned.

Dylan’s shook his head. “Wolves aren’t very fond of witches, remember?”

“Right.” I sighed and set the book down.

“And the curse always acts the same in every wolf.”

Dylan frowned at me but nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“It’s not spreading in Sean. I think it’s something to do with witch blood. The curse only affects wolves, right? Not the human men in town?”

“Only wolves.” Dylan shook his head. “So you think Sean’s other side is keeping the curse from spreading?”

I nodded. “He’s the only one who stopped getting worse, right?” Then it hit me. Maybe I could turn it around and give it back to Grandma’s coven. Spinning on my heel, not waiting for a response, I grabbed the crystal I had put back in the bag when I got done trying to figure it out.

From everything Sean had said, and Mom’s journals, it didn’t seem like anyone had tried to remove the curse like I might remove bone fragments from a bad break. And yeah, they weren’t doctors, but maybe what we needed was a whole new approach.

When I got back to the room, I set the crystal on the dresser and stripped the ruined bedding off the mattress. I carried it out back so I wouldn’t have to deal with the stench. Later, I could figure out what to do with it, though burning seemed the best solution.

Back in the room, I managed to heave the mattress on its side and push it over with a thud. It took a minute to get it shifted back on the frame right.

“What are you doing?” Dylan asked with wide eyes.

I looked up with a half-hearted shrug. “The bedding was ruined, but I couldn’t exactly haul the mattress out back. What would we put him on then?”

“Um…” He stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Help me get Sean on the bed. I know what I need to do.” Or I hoped I did, but I wasn’t going to let doubt win.

I started for the bathroom, but Dylan scooped Sean into his arms and carried him back to the bare mattress. I gave Dylan a tight smile. “Lay him down and get a pan or something in case he’s sick again.”

He didn’t question me as he followed the direction. I climbed onto the bed and knelt beside Sean.

His eyes were closed, his breathing labored. He was pale, greenish even. The wheezing in his lungs pulled at my heart, but I shut that off. I grabbed the bag and laid the crystal on the bed, ready to grab it once I got a hang of the spell I found in a book from my attic.

I placed my hands on Sean’s chest and started the chant, drawing the dark magic out of his body. Dylan gasped, but I ignored it as I lifted my hands. The dark swirling mass followed as I grabbed the crystal and reversed the spell, pushing the energy into my grandmother’s gift. Black sludge seemed to swirl in the clear depths, radiating through the smooth surface with a hum. I dropped it into the bag and tied it off.

Silence filled the room as I looked at Sean. His color was coming back, his chest rising and falling in even breaths. The last trace of the substance had disappeared. I didn’t feel any unnatural magic when I passed my hands over him, no negative energy left.

“Sean, hey, talk to me?” My voice was hoarse, ragged. I didn’t care. Didn’t even mind feeling lightheaded. I needed a response. “Sean, wake up.”

Nothing.

I ran my fingers over his forehead. “Sean. Talk to me.” Tears started to form. He was breathing but not answering.

Dylan’s hand closed over my shoulder. “Give him a minute. He looks better already.”

Brushing Dylan’s hand off me, I gripped Sean’s shoulders and shook him hard. “Wake up, Sean!”

He sucked in a breath, his eyes flying open. Then he wrapped me in his arms, pulling me on top of him. “You did it,” he whispered. “You really did it.”

I relaxed against him, letting the tears come. “Couldn’t lose my big brother.”

“What did you do?”

“Pulled it out. Don’t touch that bag or the crystal for anything.”

He pushed me back gently. “Why? What the hell did you do?”

I managed to sit up. “Drew it from you and put it in the crystal. It changed it to black.”

“I saw it,” Dylan admitted.

I turned slowly but had to grab his arm to steady myself. “You saw the curse?”

He nodded, a frown pulling at his face. “Like you said, black swirling goo. You pulled it out of him and trapped it in the crystal. The second it was out of his body, his color started coming back, his breathing evened out.”

“How? I don’t understand,” Sean asked.

I turned to him. His brow was furrowed as he looked at the bag, but he sat up on his own, and looked better already. “It was like a cancer or infection. I took it from you and got rid of it. We still need to find a way to stop the curse. It’s not over yet.”

My heart squeezed tight. I need to figure out what the damned coven was doing and soon. Full moon was in a few more days and Mom said something about a ritual every full moon in her journal, which led me to believe they would be renewing the curse soon after the full moon. And now I didn’t have a crystal to spy on them.

The buzzing started in my head and I rubbed at my temples. My eyes started to slide shut.

“I knew you could do it, baby girl.” Mom smiled at me. Her auburn waves were loose, falling around her white dress.

Staring at her, I shook my head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wanted to protect you as long as I could. My mother, your grandmother, she wanted to use my magic for her own plans. I never understood until it was too late.”

“Understood what?” I pleaded, needing more than a few cryptic words.

“You’ll find the answers in the books. You’re missing one piece. Find the wooden box Seamus carved for Sean.”

“What?”

“Your brother has it hidden. You’ll understand when you find it.”

She faded away, leaving me alone in the swirling mist.

“Wake up, baby. Wake up,” Dylan murmured, stroking my face with gentle fingers. I lay curled in his lap, warmth surrounding me, and so much concern it could drown me.

I sat up, looking around. Sean’s living room. Breakfast was cooking.

“He’s still okay?” I asked. My voice was stronger this time.

“Yeah. You scared me, though.”

“I told you, she used a lot of energy. She needs food, then we can figure out who goes in to take care of the project.”

Dylan studied my face, his hand drifting down my neck, then collarbone, settling over my heart. He took a deep breath and finally smiled. “You okay, love?”

“Better. Sorry. Guess I was drained. How long was I out?”

“Half an hour. Long enough for Sean to shower and start breakfast.”

“Okay.” I tried to climb out of his lap, but Dylan pulled me tighter. “What is it?”

“Proud of you.” He kissed me softly, but it quickly turned hungry as his hand slid up my side, then over my breast.

I pulled back, stilling his hands. Tempting as it was to get lost in Dylan, I needed to be sure Sean was okay. “Later, I promise. But Sean was just dying and I need to be sure he’s okay.”

He nodded, his golden eyes lined with the color of his beast. “First, are you really okay?”

“I am. But he’s right, I’m hungry. Tonight you can have me to yourself.”

He stood, cradling me in his arms with a defiant smirk. “You took care of my best friend, let me take care of you.”

Giggling, I dropped my head to his shoulder. “You going to feed me too?”

He looked over at Sean and back. “No. Sean might kick my ass if I get carried away.”

“You’re already there,” I teased. “Put me down, and I’ll prove I’m fine. Then you can both go to work, and I can try to figure out how to stop the curse once and for all.”

Sean brought plates to the table and squeezed my shoulder. “Thank you, Sierra. I really thought it was over.”

I squeezed his hand. “Teach you to doubt my awesomeness,” I jested and he leaned down to kiss my head and give me a quick squeeze.

“So you can’t do that for everyone?” he asked.

“I’m sure I could. I’d have to find something to trap the curse into, but I’m worried what would happen if it breaks, or something goes wrong.”

“True. So what do you think is causing it?”

I shifted in my seat and drew a breath. “While you two were gone, I looked into the crystal. They have this thing, I couldn’t see what it was, but they funnel dark energy into it. Seems like they are always adding to it. One of them said something about delivering it. And the journals mentioned a ritual every full moon. So, maybe they’re renewing the curse every month.”

“How?”

“Don’t know yet.” I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of the dream I’d had. If they both left, I could search for the box. I could have sworn I’d seen something like that when I was growing up.

Dylan’s eyes narrowed, concern clear on his face. “And if I don’t want to leave you alone?”

I shrugged. “You both have work. Which reminds me, Monday I’m going to have to go back home.”