Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) (18 page)

I held up my hand, not wanting to
discuss it. Demon blood was dirty. I already knew he thought that.
I already knew that on some level, he despised me because of it. Of
course that would be worse than death to a Martis. So I said, “I
know what you mean.”

By now Shannon was irritated that we
were having a prolonged conversation without her. She was walking
faster with her arms folded. It was a classic pissed-off Shannon
stance. She could go ahead and be mad. I didn’t care. It wasn’t my
story to tell, and he didn’t tell her. He told me. “Come on. We
better catch up with her before she starts jogging.”

Eric grabbed my wrist to stop me.
“Ivy, I feel like I have to protect you. Like it’s what I was
destined to do. But, I have no idea how.” His eyes shone bright
gold as he stared at me.

I don’t know if he thought I’d condemn
him for his bloodlust, but I couldn’t. Not after living through a
demon kiss. Not after seeing my sister turned into a Valefar. Rage
and vengeance had become my allies when there was no one else. But,
there was something else revealed in his past too. He was shattered
and hardened. He learned to control his Martis instincts for his
own satisfaction. And, he was as screwed up as I was. Those golden
eyes were locked on my face, staring at me with complete
hopelessness. Swallowing hard, I couldn’t take it anymore. This
wasn’t a time to be gentle. We had no time.

Shaking my head, I said, “Eric, you’re
not reliving the past. I’m not Lydia. I’m the most powerful being
between the Martis and the Valefar combined. The fact that you’re
here—that you and Shannon came with me—means more than I can say.
And I know I didn’t give you much choice. I got you into this.
You’re right. You’re here because of me. Hell, everyone is here
because of me!

Apryl wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t
my sister, and Collin wouldn’t be here if he…” suddenly I lost all
my steam and my eye lids felt like lead. “It’s my fault… ” My body
crashed to the ground as I felt the vision coming, but this
time—everything changed.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

My lungs burned as I gasped for air.
When the black mist cleared, I was on my hands and knees. It felt
as if my ribs were being crushed like a soda can. I shook my head,
trying to get my bearings…trying to stand and shake off the
disequilibrium that the vision brought. But, it was no use. I fell
to the floor and found my cheek colliding with cold dirt. My
fingers clawed at the earth, trying to escape, but something pinned
me. I couldn’t get up. When I finally stopped struggling, the
pressure on my ribs let up and I could breathe again. But as soon
as I tried to stand, the process repeated itself. I learned quickly
that my visions had changed. In the past, I felt like I was
watching the vision from a distance. It was something that hadn’t
happened yet and most of the scene revealed to me was lost in
shadows. I couldn’t see everything. Now it felt like I was in the
vision. My surroundings were crystal clear. All of them. I didn’t
have the impression that I was watching from a distance. No it was
more like I was living in the vision. Did that mean I was in the
present? Or the future? And things could hurt me now, and they
were. I didn’t know what happened, where I was, or what to
expect.

Heart pounding, I scanned the room for
any signs of life. It felt like I was in a closet. The entire room
was filthy and masked in shadows. The air smelled rancid, like
rotting meat. I tried not to gag on the stench. I wasn’t able to
turn my head, so I just scanned everything, trying to take in every
detail. There wasn’t much to see. The place was disgusting and
terrified me. Bad things happened here. There was a feeling of
death and decay that reeked in this place. My eyes were wide as I
looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Through the
shadows I saw his prone form, with sapphire eyes silently staring
at me.

Collin’s position was mirroring my
own. One hand was outstretched over his head, as he lay motionless
on his side. His beautiful face was slashed from temple to chin. A
long bloody gash severed his lower lip. The clothing he wore when
he came to me last was still on his body, but covered in filth
clinging to him like a second skin. The dirty fabric hid more scars
beneath. One bloody lesion was caked with rust-colored scabs that
oozed down his leg. The demons left no flesh untouched. He was
brutalized on every inch of his body. There was no part of him
unscathed, except for his eyes. His beautiful deep-blue eyes were
still perfect.

Terror shot through me. I tried to
move, but I was still pinned to the floor by an unseen crushing
force. The pressure on my ribs increased to an unbearable degree. I
couldn’t breathe. Dread surged through me and shot up my spine like
ice. I sucked in a small gasp of air, trying to get to Collin when
his consciousness brushed my mind.

Ivy
. A tear rolled down his cheek, as he gazed at me.

Collin, I thought I could
save you. I thought….
A warm trail of
tears spilled from my eyes and I couldn’t stop them. They pooled on
the ground, under my face turning the dirt to mud.

Suddenly, a screech filled the air and
a single grackle flew into the room. A demon that I didn’t notice
before jerked me upright and hauled me away like a rag doll. Tears
streamed down my face, but my limp body was no longer under my
command. The demon’s talon’s cut into my flesh, as he lifted me
over his shoulder.

“
Kreturus is ready for
you, again, Ivy Taylor. This is the last time, so there is no more
use having trash lying around.” The demon whistled one sharp
note.

The black grackle swooped past me, and
slowly landed in front of Collin’s unmoving face. It let out an ear
piercing shriek, as its razor sharp bill parted. I watched in
helpless horror as it cocked its head, and fixated its cold black
eyes on Collin, slowly moving toward his face. Collin’s steady blue
gaze ignored the bird, and locked eyes with me until the grackle’s
black feathers obstructed his view. With one swift movement the
bird darted its shining head straight down. Collin’s voice cried
out as the beak sliced through his eye.

The demon stopped before leaving the
room. His voice rasped deep from his chest, “Watch Ivy Taylor.
Watch the pain you created.” Tears welled up in my eyes, as I tried
to turn away. The demon’s fingers grasped my skull and forced me to
watch as the bird pecked at Collin’s eyes until there was nothing
left but bloody sockets. Sobs shook my body as I dry heaved onto
the creatures back.

He laughed saying, “This is your
fault. All of it. Remember that as Kreturus takes you as his bride.
Remember you could have prevented this fool’s fate. But you chose
not to.”

A scream ripped from my throat as my
chest felt like it was torn in half. My back arched in a quick
movement, and the demon dissipated into black mist, and the vision
ended.

The sound of a shrieking scream filled
my ears before I realized that it belonged to me. My back arched as
I shot up off the cave floor and slammed into Eric. He staggered
backward, and sat down hard. I shut my mouth, trying to swallow the
rancid fear that was making my heart explode. Gasping, I finally
slowed my breathing and got control over myself. Shannon sat next
to me, with an odd expression on her face. Eric was across from me,
where he sat with a bloody nose.

Shannon spoke first, “What was that?
What happened, Ivy? It was like a vision, but…it
wasn’t.”

Wide eyed, I stared at her, too
horrified to speak. I bit my bottom lip until I tasted my own
blood. Eric’s voice made my head dart in his direction. He held a
handkerchief to his nose, and dabbed as the last of his nosebleed
stopped. The white cloth, covered in crimson made my pulse shoot
higher. My breaths came in fast shallow pants, as I clawed
backwards into the dirt. I had to leave. I had to get away. I
didn’t know what I just saw, but my body was telling me to run. Run
now!

“
Ivy,” Eric reached for
me, but I shook him off. Wide-eyed, and shaking, I backed away from
him. Nothing he said registered. The only thing I could hear was my
heart pounding in my ears. The only thing I could see was the look
on Collin’s face as the bird…

Terror shot through me in a relentless
wave, and at the same moment Eric threw his arms around me. I
screamed, and kicked trying to break away from him. His soft voice
slowly broke through my panic, “Ivy. Calm down. Breathe. You’re all
right, Ivy. You’re all right.” He repeated the words over and over
again until the fight went out of me and I hung limp in his arms.
He lowered me back to the ground and sat next to me. Shannon
approached slowly, but wouldn’t come closer.

My eyes stung and my face was damp. I
wiped at the tears with the back of my hand. When I finally
collected myself enough to sound sane, I asked, “What happened to
me?” I couldn’t look up at Eric. From the look on Shannon’s face,
it wasn’t good.

Eric’s hand rested on my shoulder, but
I couldn’t look at him. “I don’t know. You fell asleep, like you
were having a vision. But you started writhing, and screaming. It
was like something was crushing you. Shannon and I couldn’t do
anything. We couldn’t wake you up or call you back. I dumped the
rest of my water on you hoping it would work and reset things, but
it had no effect.” He paused. “Eventually, you stopped struggling.
That was when it got weird.”

I looked up, “What do you mean?” His
face revealed nothing of how he felt about the last few minutes,
but Shannon’s spoke with utter certainty. Her green eyes were wide,
and her sun kissed skin was white.

She said, “Your mark burned on your
skin. It was like someone lit it on fire. Then the color started to
shift, and glowed bright red. As soon as that happened, black mist
circled your body and you began to fade. It was like the mist was
taking you.”

I shook my head, clutching my face.
“This can’t be happening. It can’t be. The visions were the only
Martis ability I had. It can’t be gone. It can’t turn into this! I
don’t even know what that was! And what I saw, where I went…” I
couldn’t finish. Tears streamed down my face as my throat
tightened.

Eric spoke after a few moments. “Your
shadow is back. That’s a good sign.” He tilted his head looking at
me.

My eyebrows arched in confusion,
“What?”

“
It disappeared with the
mist,” he said. “Shadows are tied to the living. Valefar and demons
don’t have them. Valefar manifest shadows on the surface to hide
themselves and blend in, but it’s fake. Being stripped of your
shadow is part of the curse of the Valefar. They tried to take you
in this vision. I don’t know how Kreturus did it, but he must know
he can. How did you come back? After your mark burned, your shadow
faded and your body began to dissipate. You were nearly gone. How
did you get back?”

My eyes burned as I stared at him.
This was too much. I couldn’t take another step. I couldn’t risk
that happening to Collin. How did I think I could save him? I was
risking everyone’s lives. Sobs choked me as they tried to bubble up
my throat, but I swallowed them whole refusing to cry. Crying
couldn’t help me now. Nothing could.

Shannon’s slight hand touched my
shoulder, making me jerk. “What did you see?” It was such a simple
question, but there was no way I could answer. When I tried to draw
the words to my lips, the sorrow in my chest sucked them back down.
Eventually, I just shook my head at her. “Ivy, we can’t help you if
we don’t know what you saw. Come on. Tell us. Anything.” Her pale
face pleaded.

I swallowed hard. My voice was faint,
“There’s no way out. The prophecy comes true. Collin is tortured
and dies. And there is nothing I can do to stop it.” Hysteria crept
up my throat, choking me, as tears stung my eyes. “Can’t you see?
This was all for nothing! I risked everything and it won’t matter
in the end! It didn’t matter at all. It’s as if this was all
planned and I walked straight into it.” Eric and Shannon stood next
to one another watching me. It felt like I was shattering and the
tiny pieces that were left of me were being blown away. Every inch
of my body stung as grief dug its nails further into my stomach. I
smiled weakly at Shannon. “You were right all along. I wasn’t
supposed to come here. You said there’d be this guy and he’d damn
us all. You said I’d do horrible things because of him. And here I
am, Shan. Standing in the Underworld, throwing away everyone I
cared about to save one person. One person who’s already been
tortured and beaten beyond recognition…because of me.”

Shannon’s mouth fell opened. I waited
for her to say something that matched the shocked expression on her
face. But she said nothing. When Eric’s face contorted into the
same expression, I knew they weren’t looking at me anymore.
Something was behind me. Warm breath cascaded over my shoulder,
lifting my hair in the process. Neither Eric nor Shannon said a
word. They remained perfectly still. I closed my eyes and knew what
it was before I opened them again.

The dragon.

It had to be. That thing was following
me the entire time I’d been down here. I just didn’t know what to
do if it was really that close. When I opened my eyes I swallowed
hard. The enormous maw filled with rows of pointed teeth loomed
inches from my face. The dragon’s red eye was the size of a tractor
tire, and fixated on me.