A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (3 page)

A screeching of tires followed by the furious growls of my mate had me jerking away.
“Get out of my way before I kill you
.
”
Hisses and growls followed Aric’s threat.

My sister Shayna’s urgent voice surged over the chaos as she pleaded with her husband. “Koda,
don’t
! This isn’t helping Celia.”

My other sister, Taran, also made her presence known. “I will jolt the shit out of anyone who starts a fight. Tim, where the hell is Celia?” she demanded of Misha’s bodyguard.

“She’s in the bedroom with the master,” Edith taunted. “They’re
busy
.”

Of course, since the universe hated me, Marvin Gaye now sang “Sexual Healing.” Tim, although not my biggest fan, took charge. “Let Celia’s sisters through, but no one else shall pass.”

Aric’s growls cracked through the air like static.
“Celia is my mate. You will
not
keep me from her!”

“She’s my master’s bride—”

A loud sizzle followed pained grunting.

Shit
. Taran had just fired her lightning at Aric. Under other circumstances I would have ripped into her.

Anger riled Gemini’s inner wolf and deepened his typically calm tone with an edge of anger. “Taran, I won’t allow you to release your frustrations on Aric.” Koda and Liam growled, furious Taran had attacked their Leader. “
Nor
will I allow threats upon my mate,” Gemini snarled at them.

Taran ignored all of them. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me the first time, Aric. I said I will jolt the shit out of
anyone
who starts a fight!”

“Damnit, Taran—”

“Aric, this bullshit with you and the vamps isn’t helping Celia—stay here. Shayna and I will check on her.”

“That’s right. Stay, boy—” Liz didn’t finish her insult. She was too busy screaming from whatever Taran zapped her with before she and Shayna barreled into the house.

I turned to Misha. “I don’t want to see Aric. Please ask him to leave—
nicely
.”

Misha angled his head, surprised by my request. Given that he hated Aric, I didn’t need to ask twice. My sisters stumbled into the bathroom, where he had directed them on his way out. They screamed when they saw me.

Aric’s growls returned full force.
“What’s happening?”

Shayna veered back toward the stairs. “You
have
to find Emme. Celia’s in really bad shape!”

Taran approached me slowly, like she’d never seen me before. “Son of a bitch, Celia. What did this to you?” She reached to touch my face, only to yank it back as if it stung.

Tears streamed down Shayna’s cheeks. I didn’t want to lie to them, but I had to keep them safe. “I swung by the house to get some things. A pack of wolves broke in and attacked me.”

Taran clasped her hand over her jaw. “Shit. Did you kill them?”

I lowered my head. “No. I was no match for them.”

Taran took in the mangled mess of my face. “How the hell did you get away?”

I was a horrible liar. “I didn’t, they left me there when they were done.”

Shayna’s slender frame hunched and her long, silky black ponytail seemed to droop. She wiped her blue eyes on the sleeve of her white tunic. “Why would they just leave you like that?”

“You mean instead of just killing me?” I hated scaring them, but I wanted them to stop talking. I shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess because they could.”

Sleet splattered against the window and skylights, but it did little to muffle Misha and Aric. Damn, they were both furious. And Misha carrying the scent of his arousal from his snack time with me only made matters worse.

“What did you do to her?”
Aric demanded.

I could almost picture Misha’s wicked smile. “Tending to her wounds required me to taste her, and so I did.”

There was some scuffling and growling. The wolves were struggling to hold back Aric. “Aric, listen to me,” Liam grunted. “Celia was still bleeding when we arrived.”

“I’m not leaving until I see her.”
Aric’s deep timbre rang with anger, but Liam’s words appeared to have stopped him from killing Misha. I was surprised Misha didn’t rub his feasting more in Aric’s face. Maybe he didn’t want to upset me…or maybe he preferred that Aric jump to his own conclusions.

“Celia does not desire your presence, canine. Can you fault her? How many times have you reduced her to tears?”

A stillness grew over the worsening weather. “Those times are behind us,” Aric growled. “Whether you like it or not, my future lies with her.”

Aric wasn’t leaving. I had to make him go before Misha did. The wolves were deadly, but so were the vampires. And Misha’s house was full of vamps ready to kill anything that threatened their master. I clutched the towel against my chest, shaking from what I knew I had to do. I moved away from my sisters who carefully worked to dig the shards of glass from my back. I barely felt the tugs and pulls. Fear and regret had numbed me to any physical pain.

I cleared my throat when I reached the open bedroom door and tried to speak as loudly as possible. “I don’t want to see you, Aric. You need to leave.”
And if you don’t, you’ll die.

There was so much pain and astonishment in Aric’s voice my stomach churned in painful rumbles. “Celia…what—”

“I told you, I don’t want to see you!”
I croaked. The tears that had stopped just moments before returned full force. Being cruel to
anyone
—especially Aric—was unthinkable.

The seconds of stunned silence passed with brutal thumps to my insides until Misha broke through the horrible quiet. “Celia wants nothing to do with you. Go lick your wounds elsewhere, wolf. You are not welcome in our home.”

No one spoke. No one moved. No one breathed. For what seemed like an eternity, time stood still. “Come, Aric,” Gemini finally said. “Our efforts are better suited in finding Emme.”

Liam’s growls reverberated against the windows. “You’re an asshole, Misha. I know you’re influencing her somehow.”

Koda sounded more pissed than Liam. “Tim, if you don’t wipe that goddamn smirk off your face, I’ll tear out your throat and leave it for the crows!”

Shayna rushed past me, pausing only to shoot me a pained glance over her shoulder. Her presence would help facilitate the wolves’ departure, despite the confusion and disappointment shadowing her pixie face.

Taran waited with me with her arms crossed. I couldn’t face her. Hell, I couldn’t even raise my head. Yet I felt her taking me in and scented the sharp aroma of her shock as it pierced through my damaged nose.

When the last few snarls faded and the roar of the engines disappeared along the lengthy stretch of Misha’s driveway, Shayna returned and clasped my hands. “I know Aric doesn’t look the same, but he’s still the same wolf. He loves you, Ceel. You have to see past his injuries….”

Shayna’s voice faded when my sobs overtook me. She thought I was abandoning Aric because of his deformities. And I had to let her believe it was true. Despite how much it pained me, it would keep him, her, and everyone else safe for now.

Taran maneuvered her way between us and led me toward the sink. “Leave her alone, Shayna. Now’s not the time. Come on, we need to get this fucking glass out of her back.”

Chapter Three

A glimmer of silver light flashed beneath Shayna’s white tunic and traveled along her arm. Koda had given her a platinum belly ring for her birthday. Using her special gift, she transferred the alloy into the tweezers she held to lengthen and thin the tips. She hoped the more precise tool would help her remove the shard of glass embedded in my shoulder blade. The pain sucked. I didn’t understand how something so small could have pierced so deeply, but then I remembered Anara’s show of strength. I’d never encountered magic so powerful.

I gritted my teeth and worked to bury my pain, but Shayna’s unrelenting burrowing into my muscles had me writhing beneath her touch. It was all I could do not to
change
and bolt from the room.

Shayna’s grip remained firm, despite the shakiness in her voice. “I’m so sorry, Ceel. I’m having a hard time reaching it.”

Misha knelt before me and lifted my chin with his fingertips. “My darling, meet my eyes and I can help you endure the pain.”

My sisters and I were immune to the hypnotic powers vampires have over humans. Misha alone could connect with me, given he’d pass me his
call
…and because he almost killed me once, feeding from me. I nodded. After the day I’d had, I was ready for a “Misha high.” The moment our eyes locked, a soothing wave of peace filled me. The last time he’d calmed me I felt mellow and content—similar to when I woke in my warm bed to gentle raindrops pitter-pattering against my window. Not this time. Images appeared in my mind, full of vibrant colors and complete with surround sound.

Yellow finches chirped and flew happily across a vast grassy field where Misha and I sat on a soft brown blanket. A thick white sweater swathed the muscles of his arms and chest. I smiled. He looked amazing, although it was strange to see him in jeans rather than the designer slacks he preferred to wear. A soft breeze blew against his long blond hair, draping it over his shoulder while the blue sky illuminated his gray eyes like pools of melted silver.

A long white cotton dress covered my thin frame and a matching lace wrap draped over my bare shoulders. Misha’s gaze wandered down my body, softening when he fixed it on my chest. I glanced down, curious to see what held him so captivated.

My body jerked and I almost dropped the small bundle in my arms. A baby nursed at my breast. A
baby
! He squirmed a little before settling down and cuddling closer against me.

Taran’s swearing and Shayna’s panicked voice echoed in the distance. “What’s wrong with her, dude?”

“Her pain is more than I predicted. I will attempt a stronger hypnosis….”

The scene repeated itself before quickly morphing into another equally mind-blowing image. Misha and I held hands, walking along the same field, wearing the same clothes while three small children ran toward us with open arms. There were two boys and a little girl, their cheeks bright pink from running and laughing. They all appeared happy.

And they all resembled Misha.

Long blond hair swept away from their faces, revealing their twinkling gray eyes. The two boys jumped into Misha’s welcoming embrace. The pretty little girl skipped to me with a smile as warm as sunshine. “Mommy!” she cried.

I awoke abruptly, huddled on the bathroom floor with several towels wrapped around me. Cold sweat chilled my body. Misha lay sprawled at the opposite corner. Judging by his pallor and bulging eyes, he’d seen everything.

Okay…clearly the “Misha high” was the wrong way to go.

For the first time since I met him, Misha’s voice actually cracked when he spoke. “What…happened?”

Shayna and Taran crouched on either side of me. Their attention alternated between us, and confusion angled their small brows. Shayna adjusted the towels around me. “You were holding Celia’s face in your hands. Everything was fine at first, but then you started shaking.”

Taran’s eyes narrowed. “Not just shaking, but freaking glowing. Damnit, I don’t know what the hell happened but it looked like you both went into shock.”

Misha said nothing, stunned into silence. So not a good sign.

Thank God Emme arrived…although I wasn’t thrilled to find Hank at her side. Her eyes brimmed with tears the moment she saw me. “Oh my goodness, Celia.”

Shayna’s deep blue eyes widened as she took in Hank. “Em…where have you been? We left you a bunch of messages telling you Celia was in trouble.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.” Emme reached her hands out to heal me, encasing my trembling form with her soft yellow light. “We hurried back as soon as we knew.”

We?

Every menacing stare shot toward Hank. A spark of white and blue fire sizzled over Taran’s head. “Oh,
hell
no.”

Hank ignored us and focused solely on Misha. “Emme has been with me, Master. We wanted some privacy so we silenced our phones.”

Misha had Hank by the throat before we could blink, dangling him several feet off the ground and shaking him with every word he hissed. “Do you find me so beneath you, you may disregard me at your leisure?”

My larynx may not have been completely crushed, but Hank’s sure was. He could barely spit out an apology. “Of course not, Master. Please forgive me.”

Misha’s eyes flickered to Emme before returning to Hank. “Did you harm her?”

Emme’s palms shot up and her fair skin darkened to red. “Of course not. Please let him go, Misha.”

Taran rounded on her, blue and white flames sizzling in waves along her arms. “Forget that asshole and worry about your sister. We’ve just spent the last hour removing glass from her back. Now for shit’s sake work your mojo and heal her!”

Emme’s soft green eyes glistened with unshed tears. I’d never seen Taran so angry or aggressive toward Emme before.

Hank snarled, a rare feat considering the purple tinge working its way up to his hairline. “Don’t talk to her that way.”

Misha didn’t seem happy Hank could still speak. He gave Hank’s throat another squeeze, ignoring Emme’s audible gasps.

Air fizzed out of Hank’s nose. Shayna glanced nervously at him. “Hank, I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you.”

I cleared my throat. “Um, Misha, I’d really like my face back. Could you stop choking Hank so Emme can concentrate?”

Misha flung Hank out the door. Emme clasped her hand over her mouth as Misha stalked past her. He cranked the hot water into the bath. “I will have clothes and food brought to you. Later this evening, if you are well enough, I would like a word with you.”

Sure, can’t wait.
“Okay, Misha.” He kissed my head and left without further incident, although I couldn’t fail to notice the hesitancy in his steps.

Emme approached me under Taran’s watchful glare. Taran’s fire had died down enough so the mansion wouldn’t burn to cinders, but the tension around her curvy figure was hot enough to scorch.