Cursed-epub (9 page)

After a quick change, and a heavy application of makeup, Carmella picked up the phone and quickly called Branco.

“I'm here. Any special instructions?” she asked, her voice a husky rasp that brought to mind illicit pleasures done in the dark. Her arched eyebrows rose as she listened to Branco’s directions. “A foreigner…with money? Hmmm, yes, that would be a fun diversion. I know just the place too. I always have good hunting there. It's packed with desperate tourists looking for some action. And most of them still have a tan line from the wedding ring they’ve shoved in their pocket. Such a delicious feast of shame and guilt, enough to glut myself on as I fuck them to death.”

Branco’s voice deepened with anger. “You will do nothing to risk Carmella’s virginity.”

Anger crashed through the succubus as Branco’s order bound her to his will. “I know our agreement, summoner. I will not complete the seduction.”

“Soon you’ll be able to feast. We are almost finished with little Carmella and once we have what we need you can use her body however you wish, as long as it ends with her taking the blame for all the deaths. You will make sure that her guilt is guaranteed.”

The snarl faded, and in its place anticipation bordering on greed lit her eyes as her fingers stroked the phone cord. “I'll be sad to see this body go, but it will be so much fun to lose its virginity. Poor girl, she won't know what hit her when she wakes up in a pile of corpses, all men she brought to be killed. I think I'll leave one alive long enough to rape her then leave them both as soon as I'm forced out. Let's make tonight count then. I'll be waiting for the limo. Good-bye.”

She reached down and straightened the line of her thong. With a final glance in the mirror to check her makeup, she smiled at herself and turned out the lights. Finally she was going to be able to feed, and she intended to gorge herself on the soul of a sinner.

Blood red and pumpkin orange lights throbbed across the dance floor of the packed club. Two stories of patrons looked down on Sean as he neared the end of his set, his shirt long gone, sweat covering his muscled chest and shining in the lights. Behind him, Kell kept an eye on the crowd, constantly scanning for any signs of trouble. Off to his right side, their dancers performed a high-stepping Irish jig to the music in short, black metallic dresses and sparkling green tights. Sean's music note tattoo was embroidered on the back of each dress, an extra blessing for his dancers that gave them power and stamina from his music.

Each of his sets was different. During a full show, he would mix traditional Irish songs with melodies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Every song brought its own special brand of magic. It didn't translate well onto the CDs or DVDs, but during a live show he could enchant an audience and move their souls with his music.

Sean let the melody flow over him, loving the magic of its beat moving through the crowd. He was feeding their joy, their hope. The music reshaped their hearts to be fertile soil for kindness. This was part of his gift, part of the magic he’d received from his god Maponus as one of his Chosen hands on Earth. The only thing that kept him from fully immersing himself into the music was the thought of Carmella.

Monica and Whitney had tried to find her at the samba school, but she was nowhere around. They talked with a friend of hers, a man named Tian. He told them about Carmella's father and mother and the rough time she had been having lately. When Sean heard about the series of tragedies she’d endured, he couldn't help but think right away that someone had cursed her. That would explain the touch of darkness that he’d felt in her and her resistance to the natural bonding between their souls.

He kept praying she would come to his show tonight. She must have felt the same connection he did. It was in her gaze when she looked at him, her eyes sable-brown with flecks of sweet honey. Her dark hair set off the golden tone of her soft skin, and her body had the most amazing elegance. The sunlight embraced her and turned her into a living piece of art when she danced.

The song began to wind down, the high flutes standing out and independent of the cello as he pulled the low synthetic harmony away. His skin seemed to burn with energy, and a familiar aura made him eagerly search the crowd of moving bodies. There it was. That brush of her energy that rang in his soul like bells.

He turned his head to the side and mouthed, “Carmella”, to Kell, who shook his head and rolled his eyes. Rocking back on his heels, he tried to contain his excitement. He felt like a teenager on a first date with the girl of his dreams.

A hint of discord came from the area where she stood and he tensed. Reaching out with his energy, he gently brushed against her soul and got that impression of something being wrong again. Maybe she was sick, and that was why she couldn't be found at the school today. While he’d like to believe that a simple illness kept her away, he couldn’t help but worry that it was something more. His interactions with her had been quite public and it was possible that whoever had cursed her was aware of his interest and that put her in danger. He vowed that tonight he would find a way to save her, to convince her to trust him enough to come home with him.

Searching the dance floor, Sean scanned the crowd until he found her again. She wore a tight red dress that was built for sin. One slender arm curved around the shoulders of an older, sunburned man in a salmon-pink shirt. She appeared to be laughing at whatever he was saying, smiling at him as he moved his hand down her back and over the plush curve of her butt.

With clenched teeth, Sean bit back an oath. What the hell was going on? Was that fat old man her boyfriend? Was she his mistress? He barely remembered to finish the song, waiting a couple beats too long. His dancers turned to give him a worried look, but he mustered a smile and bowed to the audience as the applause rolled over him.

Grabbing a towel and a bottle of water, he stalked to the back of the stage by Kell. “Carmella is here, but she's letting some fat man grab her ass like he owns it,” Sean shouted over the music from the club DJ beginning his set. He wiped the sweat from his face and chugged the water, trying to get a hold of the anger and hurt.

“What? Are you sure? She didn't seem like the type to do something like that.” Kell frowned as he tried to spot Carmella among the flashing lights and writhing bodies.

Sean took a deep breath as his dancers filed past. He nodded and thanked them with a forced smile, trying to keep everything as normal as possible.  Craning his head, he found her in the crowd again, still rubbing herself against the fat man and twining her slender fingers in his thinning hair. She didn’t even glance Sean’s way, and he wondered if she even knew he was here. Was she trying to play some kind of game to make him jealous? His stomach clenched as he had a terrible thought, something even worse than watching a sweaty bastard grope his harmony.

Half closing his eyes, he opened his mind and looked at the auras in the crowd. It was like shifting his vision to look at something far away and then up close. He scanned the crowd again, trying to find her familiar violet glow. His teeth snapped with an audible click, and he grabbed for a sword on his back that wasn't there. Now that he was looking for it, the answer as to what was wrong with Carmella was as clear as an oil slick on water. Rage filled him at the thought of someone, or something, harming his harmony.

Kell grasped his shoulder, holding Sean back as he tried to leap into the crowd. “What's going on, Sean?”

Not taking his eyes off Carmella simpering and tracing her fingers over the rotund man's sweaty face, Sean spat out, “Something is using her body. I can see bits of purple shining through, so she's still there, but her body is possessed.”

Kell swore in a long, low breath. “Any idea what it is?” He tried to see over the crowd.

Sean shook his head. “I'm not familiar with the psychic scent. It smells like…cheap perfume…and decay…and guilt, if guilt had a scent.”

“Succubus,” Kell replied simply.

“What?”

“Succubus, cheap perfume, decay, guilt. That's a succubus.” Catching Sean's incredulous expression, Kell said in a defensive tone, “Don't look at me like that. I've never slept with one of them. I'd sooner stick my dick in an electrical socket than fuck with a succubus. They prey on married men, the better your marriage, the more they want you to break your vow of fidelity. That's what they feed on, the guilt of your sin. I read about it in my
Demonologists Today
magazine.”

“And here I thought the only thing you read in the bathroom were dirty magazines.” Sean grinned and then sobered as Carmella tipped her head back to allow the fat man access to her neck with his thick tongue. “We need to get her out of this club and back to the hotel. I can get the spirit out of her, but we're going to need to get her to contact whatever god she's a favorite of and ask for his or her help.”

Kell nodded and spoke into his cell phone, asking the limo driver to pull around back and wait for them.

Sean cracked his knuckles. “Then we are going to find out who did this to my harmony and make them pay.”

“I'll go get her. As much as I love my wife, I have to be like crack to a succubus.” Kell gave a too-innocent look. “If she throws herself on me, you can tell Mary it wasn't my fault. I was just taking one for the team.”

Sean gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “Keep your hands to yourself if you like them attached to your body. I'll be out back in the limo. If the succubus within her catches a glimpse of me, she's going to run.”

Nodding to the bouncers keeping the crowd of fans away from the stage, Sean toweled himself down and prepared for a fight.

****

Smooth, deep voice…like fine cognac…rolling over her soul. The world around her rocked with motion, and the arms carrying her tightened their grip. Carmella tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't obey. Her heart raced as she panicked, mind fighting through the darkness, smothering it into sleep. The man's voice interrupted her terror, melted it away. There was nothing but his song, an unfamiliar melody that relaxed her like a thousand warm baths. It was better to sleep now. She was safe, she was warm, and the man singing to her would protect her.

Deep voices tugged at her conscious mind, dragging her up from the comfortable darkness of sleep. An unfamiliar green patterned bedspread came into focus then the side of a polished wood table that wasn't hers. Lifting herself from the soft bed, disoriented, she found herself looking into Sean's face as he sat in a chair next to the bed.

“Sean, I missed you,” she murmured as she put her head back down on the pillow. It was good that Sean was here; he would watch over her while she slept.

Wait, what was Sean doing here?

Sitting straight up, she clutched her hands over her chest. He watched her with a careful expression on his handsome face. They appeared to be in some kind of plush bedroom. A vase of fresh orchids stood on the small table before the window. Expensive prints hung on the walls, and thick brocade curtains flanked the sparkling lights of Rio, but the large screen TV was bolted to the dresser. The small room service menu next to the phone confirmed that she was in a hotel room.

A hint of red caught her attention, and she looked down to see the red dress from her nightmares covering her body. With a piercing scream, she leaped out of bed and tried to tear it off. He was up in an instant, holding her arms against her sides as she fought to pull the dress off. “Let me go! I have to get this off! What is going on?” Carmella screamed into his face.

He held her easily in his grip. The smell of his clean shirt was comforting, as was the soft, magical tune he hummed. She stopped fighting for a moment and started to shake. Terror and confusion battled with delight at being held in his arms.

“Kell, grab a T-shirt and a pair of my jogging shorts from the dresser,” Sean yelled into the sitting room of the suite.

“Got it,” came a rough voice from the other side.

“Carmella, please listen to me. You have to hear what I'm saying. Are you with me? Do you want a drink?” Sean asked in a gentle voice.

The way he softened his tone and crooned out the words rubbed against her skin like fur. If this situation weren't so absurd, she would have been giggling behind her hands at the idea of a furry voice.

“Yes,” she managed to stutter out through chattering teeth.

“Yes you're with me, or yes you want a drink?”

“Yes to both. Sean, what is going on?”

“I'll explain everything in a minute. I know this sounds utterly bizarre, but please trust me. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

The conviction in his voice helped quiet the panic swirling through her mind.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead against his chest. Barely coming to his shoulders, she was grateful for his size. It seemed like nothing could touch her when he was near. Almost against her will, she relaxed against his warmth as he hummed and ran his hand down her hair. This felt so familiar, being held in his arms and losing herself in his touch. She tried to grasp at the memory, but it kept just out of reach.

A throat clearing loudly made her try to pull away from Sean and she opened her eyes. He held her tight and turned them both to face the doorway. The shaggy man stood there with some clothes in his hand and an uncomfortable expression on his bearded face. Her mind dreamily noted his name must be Kell. Come to think of it, all of her thinking was dreamy and unconcerned. She must be in shock, and if she was, she didn't want to come out of it. Not thinking was really relaxing.

“Toss it on the bed, Kell. We'll be out in a second,” Sean said against the top of her head.

She closed her eyes again and tried to focus on his heartbeat. She didn't want to see anything right now, especially that hideous flash of red covering her body. Living in this perfect moment of not thinking sounded wonderful. Moving slowly, he lifted the weight of her hair off her back with his hand and ran it through his fingers.