The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) (5 page)

Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in a rusty old lawn chair at the end of the barn aisle and sobbing with my face in my hands. Whether my mother was in Indiana or in California, the damage had been done. I felt like I did not know who I was anymore. Warm tears seeped through my fingers and ran down my hands and arms.

Had my father honestly thought that I could handle all of this? Where would he get that impression? I remembered the letter that he had written and put inside the journal that had been passed down to me from my grandfather. He had wanted me to keep the vampire thing a secret from Katie, so that had to mean something.

Though I still struggled inside, I jerked myself to my feet and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I could not let it break me. I just couldn’t. Dad had left me with something wonderful to take care of that had always been a part of my life. The Inn was not perfect. There were repairs that needed to be made. Renovations could be done to modernize the bathrooms, if I could find the money somehow to make it happen. Changes could be made to it that would make it an even greater experience for those guests who chose to stay with us. And I was needed personally to keep it running.

Unfortunately, I was also the only one who could keep the Inn itself separate from the vampires that walked around the place at night. I could not let them ruin what we had going on here. Keeping a leash on Michael and the others was
my
job. Nobody else’s.

Raising my head to walk out of the barn, I decided I was not going to let anything prevent me from doing what I was meant to do. Not my mother. Not the vampires. Not the Council. This was mine.

Later, I made some calls to get some quotes on updating the bathrooms in the main house. I thoroughly cleaned the bedrooms upstairs with Nelly’s help. She put together a beef stew in the slow cooker for our dinner, which left the house with the mouth-watering aroma of simmering beef, onions and the secret recipe of spices she used for her famous stew.

She did not ask me anything more about Alex, and we did not talk about my mother. When the shadows began to grow longer, and the last rays of the sun sent slanting golden rays down upon the yellowing grass of the front yard, I decided to meet Michael on his own turf before he could approach the house.

I told Nelly I would be back as soon as I could and asked her not to leave the house. Then I wrapped myself in a thick red wool cardigan and walked down the darkening lane heading for the meadow and the creek.

He would know in an instant that Alex and I had been together, if he was not already aware of it. However, I was not going to apologize for it. The soles of my beloved hiking boots tread silently through the night, leaving dark grooved prints in the evening dew and mud along the lane. When I reached the edge of the meadow, I looked around.

The creek was running a little slower than usual, its banks dotted here and there with gold and scarlet leaves, dry twigs laying like the bones of the damned upon the banks. The leaves of the big oak tree near the creek had begun to change colors. There were sparrows and robins calling brightly to each other in its high branches.

The grass in the meadow was trampled, bent, and battered by the footsteps of the undead who resided beneath it. I looked at it, sadness seeping in through the determination I had forged during my walk out there. I wished I could erase vampires from the face of the earth. Then, I remembered Alex.

A low growl emanated around me, seeming to come at me from all sides. It was followed by an urgent female’s voice.

“
Michael, no. Don’t do this.”

Then I saw three vampires standing across the clearing, their silhouettes rigid with tension in the early evening light. One of them turned to me, and I recognized the fierce face of Michael. Beside him, with one hand on his arm, stood Victoria. Three paces away stood my mother, looking annoyed.

Michael’s voice swept towards me like a dark wave, the timbre of it rolling with fury.

“
You let him bite you.”

Chapter 5

An involuntary shiver snaked through my body at his tone. I took a deep breath and closed the distance between us. I did not belong to him, I reminded myself. Alex had come to me and I had given myself freely. Surprisingly, I still felt no regret about it. I also wondered where Alex might be and if he might show up to give me a little support. However, I could not wait on him.

“
Michael, I know you’re upset.” I began, my eyes skipping over the other two vampires approaching us.

He came to stand directly in front of me, only a foot or so away. I could see the fury burning there, and my confidence began to ebb away.

“
You let him bite you.” Michael growled.

“
He asked. I didn’t deny him.”

Victoria moved to put her hand on his shoulder, but he jerked away with a low, rumbling laugh, “Well, then. How was it? Everything you imagined?”

Pressing my lips together tightly, I glared at him and said nothing. Victoria approached me, her long evergreen cape trailing behind her. Her serious hazel eyes were hooded beneath thick amber eyelashes and her brows were drawn together in a look of concern. I kept my eyes locked on her. Victoria was one of the few vampires I felt I could trust, and I knew she understood me. I had suspected since we had first met that she was capable of reading my mind. In subtle ways, the first night we stood face to face, she had given me reasons to suspect she was sympathetic to my position.

“
Michael, please be calm.” She said tightly, glancing at him over her shoulder.

“
Yes, please do show a bit of self control.” My mother had moved closer to the three of us and stood near Michael, one hand on a hip in an insolent pose. She returned my hostile stare with a complacent tiny grin.

“
You! This is your fault! It was you who sent him here!” Michael suddenly launched himself at my mother, fury written into his every feature. Before I could draw a breath, he had her down on the ground with his hands around her neck.

“
You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” He demanded, squeezing ever tighter against her throat. I watched, fascinated, as she struggled under him. He could not really kill her that way, could he? If he could, did I want that?

“
Stop!” I shouted, jumping towards them and grabbing Michael’s shoulder, “It’s not her fault! No one made me do anything! I had sex with Alex because I wanted to.”

Everything stopped. The hands gripping my mother’s neck so forcefully slowly came away. Selena scrambled away from him, a devious smile on her smug face. Beneath my hand, Michael’s broad shoulder stiffened. The anger radiating out from him touched me before he even turned his eyes on me. When I realized what I had done, I stumbled back from him as my mother had. Minus the smile.

“
You
did what
?”

Oh, God. I should have kept my mouth shut. He threw back his head and roared. The sound was unlike anything I’d ever heard. The leaves on the trees trembled with the force of it. I slapped my hands over my ears, trying to mute the haunting sound of his rage. Everything around me seemed to shimmer slightly, blurring and shuddering.

Hands grabbed for me, rough on the bruises beneath my cardigan. I winced and took a quick look to see who was manhandling me. Alex’s concerned eyes met mine. When I looked over at Michael, I realized that both Victoria and Selena were physically holding him back from Alex and me. His fangs were bared, glittering like diamonds in the night. Alex’s fingers tightened on my arms, pulling at me and then pushing me away from the meadow. Panic sliced through me, because I knew they could not hold him. No one could hold him.

Nelly was standing by my truck as we hurried back to the house. She apparently had started the truck and stood waiting with my faded leather wallet in her hand. Tossing the wallet into the truck, she gestured at both of us to hurry. I dove into the passenger seat, landing on the little black toolbox I usually carried around with me in the truck.

Alex wrenched the gearshift into drive, and the gravel under the tires flew up behind us as we made a U-turn in front of the house and went flying down the driveway. I kept turning around, expecting to see Michael rushing at us. My heart was pounding wildly, and each breath felt like it might be my last. When we came over the hill, I saw the gate was closed below us.

“
Shit!” I turned to Alex, but before I could say anything else, he put his foot on the brake and stared straight ahead, his golden face dark with determination. I turned to see what had stopped him and choked back a sob.

Michael was in front of the gate, standing there with clenched fists and his head lowered. His anger was a physical force of its own, due to the fear he induced. Looking at him as he stood down there blocking our way out, I felt helpless. I had to get Alex out of there. Michael would destroy him. I was certain of it.

“
He doesn’t realize.” Alex murmured softly. The terror that had dominated him only a moment ago had evaporated. He was entirely calm. I could only stare at him. I briefly considered the idea that this beautiful blond vampire sitting so still beside me could be losing his mind. When he reached over and gripped one of my hands, I felt a wave of uneasiness sweep over me.

He bowed his dazzling face down close to mine, his eyes clear and full of some dark, unknown purpose.

“
Listen to me. I’ve got this.” He trailed two fingers over the line of my jaw, leaving a trail of chills that spread from my face into my neck and down the curve of my spine. God, I did not want to lose him. What did he think he was doing? Michael was centuries older than he was.

“
No, no. Alex, you can’t fight him. You don’t know his power.” I gasped.

He gave me a level look with narrowed green eyes, and I watched a forbidding half smile curl up one side of his mouth. It was devious and something wholly unexpected. When he spoke again, his words were low and ripe with violence.

“
He doesn’t know mine
.”

“
But…” He opened the door and got out. I saw him start striding down the hill towards Michael at the end of the driveway, “Shit!” I sputtered and pushed the passenger-side door open. I could not think straight. Shouldn’t I have anticipated this moment? I should have had a plan. However, no solution presented itself as I stumbled along after Alex, grabbing at his arm and begging him to stop.

A flash of motion in the corner of my eye alerted me to the fact that we were not alone. Victoria and Selena were standing by the truck; both of them looking like Michael had given them quite a fight. Victoria’s hair had fallen almost completely out of its elegant chignon and was blowing loosely around her in tawny tangles. My mother was holding her right arm at a strange angle, and her outfit was splattered with dirt and blood. I assumed it was her own, but I saw no open wounds.

Alex glanced coldly over his shoulder at the other two vampires, “Stay out of this. I’m not going to keep running from him. It ends here.”

A dark chuckle came at us from Michael. His eyes were entirely black under those exquisitely arched eyebrows. Every ounce of power he was holding back had gathered there in the fathomless depths of those eyes, and they were taking in the scene with hard calculation.

“
On a suicide mission, Golden Boy?” Michael said.

“
Alex, please. Don’t try to fight him.” I begged, casting furtive glances over my shoulder at Victoria.
Do something
, I shouted at her in my head.
For God’s sake, Michael’s really going to kill him
!

Victoria shook her head and then her gaze swiveled back towards Michael.

“
I’ll only warn you once, Michael.” Alex advised in a shallow hiss of sound, “Things are different now. My powers have evolved far beyond what you might think.”

His dark opponent laughed, and he lowered himself into a predatory crouch. There was an explosion of sound, like a hard breeze whistling through a narrow doorway. Then a flash of yellow light, so bright in the center it hurt my eyes. I felt a massive shift in the energy around me—some odd vibration that penetrated the layers of my skin and struck me numb for a moment. I could not tell what happened. I only knew that Michael had moved to attack.

When I was finally able to see again, it was only in dull outlines. I rubbed at my eyes, hoping desperately that it was only temporary. The sounds around me were rough and indistinct, but I recognized the light timbre of Victoria’s voice.

“
Michael, talk to me. Can you hear me?” She said.

There was a low, mumbled reply. Then I felt Alex’s familiar arms around me, holding my trembling body. I needed something to keep me together in one piece. It was dreadful not knowing what was happening, imagining the worst, and dreading the images that might eventually penetrate into the fog I was living in.

I reached up and grasped Alex’s face in my hands. “I can’t see.”

“
You’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

A weary groan rose up a few feet in front of me. Michael.

“
What happened?” I demanded, turning from Alex and trying to refocus my vision and my thoughts.

“
Sit down for a few minutes until your sight clears.” With gentle hands, he lowered me so that I was kneeling on the grass. The moist earth beneath me felt real and thoroughly familiar. I drew a few desperate breaths and blinked.