Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (69 page)

My stomach turned at the thought of my mother and Ashton’s dad being together.
Ugh.

“One more thing, Delaney,” Amber said. Both of us stared at her and Felix. “Your angel, Zane, he is Tobin Weslin’s nephew.”

You have got to be shitting me!

Pretty sure my mouth was hanging open as I stared at Amber. Carter’s was.

“For unknown reasons, your families are connected,” she added.

Speechless, I rubbed the back of my hand where Zane had scratched me, and I just stared across the room at these two pureblooded vampires who had known my mom, my grandma, and I had no doubt that they knew my dad. Not even one. But this was not the time for another question and answer session, it was a time for results. I needed my Oliver back.

“You know all that you need to know,” Felix said. “We will not speak of any of this again. Not to each other, or anyone else. Do you understand?” he said, his voice scary serious.

We nodded.

However, I was under no contract…

I was chained to a wall. My legs were sprawled at an uncomfortably awkward angle, and my arms were raised over my head—they felt numb and dead. As if this were not enough, Oscar had a sizable pocketknife in my face, and he was grinning like the lunatic he had become.

He slid the knife under the gag, cutting my cheek as he sliced the
fabric away. He shook the knife, and a small spray of blood splattered the floor. He wiped the knife clean on his jeans, a strip of crimson smearing across the faded fabric.

“Why, little brother?” he quietly questioned, his eyes fixed on my own.

I was younger by less than ten minutes, but he would never let me forget he was the eldest.

“Why what?” I questioned. I kept my eyes on him
—on his every movement.

I could feel blood trickling down Carter’s face. If
Oscar bit me, the blood coursing through Carter’s veins would probably make him sick… This could work to my advantage… However, if he was going to do so, I was pretty sure the moment he cut my face would’ve been that moment.

The smell of fresh blood should have sent my crazed brother into a frenzy.
But Carter’s blood was probably repulsive or confusing to those who didn’t know he was a hybrid.

Oscar stepped right in front of me. His eyes stayed on mine.

I stared back at my brother, desperately hoping another way out would present itself. And soon.

“Why did you take her from me?” Oscar questioned, his voice actually softened.

“You know why,” I told him. But did he? Could he even understand that I did what I did to save her? To save Hayden? It was unlikely.

“She is my mate,” he said as he took a step closer.

“And you treated her like a possession.”

“I can do that because she is mine!” he shrieked in my face, spittle flying from his mouth. His actions very much reminded me of those of the Dark Lord’s level of crazy. Yeah, that’s right, I’m a total Potterhead. Always have been,
always
will be.

“You had no right,” I calmly told him.

He paced. I made a mental note to stop doing it myself. It was creepy.

I kept my tone calm
and low, hoping to keep him calm, as I said, “I had every right, Oscar. She was in danger, and I did what was best for her.”

He laughed, mockingly. “What was right, you say,
Ollie
.”

My body tensed in response to his words. I hated when he called me that. Ollie
was the nickname Olivia had given me. Oscar knew it upset me when others called me by it.

Sensing my sudden irritation, he
stopped pacing to face me. He smiled, also mockingly. “She was carrying my child,” he said slowly.

Oh, no.
He seemed too lucid and was suddenly in my face again.

“How would you feel if I did the same to you? If I took your sweet, precious Laney from you?”

I literally swallowed vomit. It was nasty.

He was still right in my face. I had to think fast, and
I’m not proud of what I did next.

“If you get me out of here, if you swear to me that you will leave Laney alone, I will arrange for you to meet with both of them, with Julz and Hayden.”

His eyes lit up. He stepped back, giving me some space to actually breathe. “But I want to keep them,” he said, as if this was what you did with those you loved. Yeah, I know, super creepy, even creepier that I was related to this person.

“Oscar, you
can’t keep them.”

In a flash, he was at my throat with the knife. “Do not tell me what I can and cannot do,” he said very fast. “They are mine. She is my mate, my wife!” he shouted, and I was glad Laney had informed me of that last part, otherwise I
would’ve argued, and been wrong…

He continued to shout, “We made the child. Therefore, she also belongs to me!”

In his crazed mind, it was sound reasoning. And yes, part of me felt for him, because he was my brother…my twin. Part of me even hoped that my brother might resurface from within this madman, but I knew there was a slim chance of this ever happening.

“Give them back,” he whispered, slow and super freaking creepy. My skin crawled.

I did not possess many skills when it came to bartering with crazies, but again, not proud of what I pulled from my hat in the next moment.

“I will call her, Oscar. As soon as you get me out of here, I will call her and have her meet us.”

He was pacing again, but at my words he stopped. He turned his head and observed me from the corner of his eye. “You will take me to them,” he said.

“What?” I moved my body,
and the chains rattled as I tried adjusting myself. The cuffs were beginning to dig into my wrists. My discomfort was meant as a distraction, another way to weaken me. I needed to remain focused.

“To their home with…Isaac,” he spat Isaac’s name. They too had their history, but it
wasn’t Oscar who should be angry with Isaac, it was by far the other way around. But Isaac was a better man than that.

“I will do it,” I said.
In the hopes Oscar wouldn’t know I was lying, I did my best to convince myself that I would actually do as I was saying.

Oscar turned his back to me as our attention was drawn to others coming down the stairs from the shack above.

I watched Avery and several others, including the witch, Madam Habitha, descend the steps.

“Ah, the little mutt with the fae girlfriend,” Habitha said, her eyes
falling on me. She smiled evilly. She even cackled as she took the last step. She had lipstick on her teeth; it killed the sinister effect she was going for.

Avery walked straight for me. She stopped in front of me, her catty eyes searching mine. She was looking for something. Perhaps a clue to see if I was really Carter?

My mind was racing. What was her game? Her goal? Why did she try to take me from Laney? Why was she still trying? It wasn’t because she simply wanted me. There was something more. Was it something she was doing for someone else? If so, who and why?

She stepped closer. I couldn’t get away. The chains rattled as I struggled against my restraints.

With her eyes still on mine, she ran her hand up my body, starting at my crotch and moving up to my face. “Nice shiner, loser,” she said, in a slutty voice.

I cringed and jerked away, struggling to get out of her grasp. It was the first time
I was thankful not to be myself.

She grabbed my face and kissed me, tongue and all.

Nasty! Nasty! Nasty!

When she pulled away, her hand still gripping my face, I spit several times
, and even once on her chest. It landed on the exposed skin where her sweater scooped down. The spit slid down her chest and between her breasts.

“You sick fuck!” she shouted as she desperately tried to wipe it away. She slapped me. Hard. Harder than Avery
should’ve been capable of.

Her cat-like eyes studied mine for a good, long, uncomfortable time. I tried to look past her. I tried to see who else was in the room. But she was blocking my view. I think on purpose.

Her head tipped to the side, her eyes narrowing, and she said, “The switch didn’t work. This isn’t Oliver.” She turned away from me and waved a hand as if to dismiss me. “Kill him,” she said.

“No, wait!” Oscar shouted just as I was about to protest and announce that it was actually me inside Carter’s body.

Avery slowly turned her head and glared at my brother. “What did you say?”

“Wait, I have an idea,” Oscar said
while rubbing his knife against his thigh. I don’t think he knew he was doing it, and if he didn’t realize it soon, he was going to cut himself, jeans and all. But that was how he worked now—brain and body not fully connected.

“I’m listening.” Avery shifted and rested a hand on her boney hip.

Was she leading this group of “people?” How?

I searched the faces in the room
, which was much larger than the shack above. There were big, metal shelving units centered in the middle, just on the other side of the stairs. They were loaded with cardboard boxes and plastic tubs, and they were bolted to the floor. There were others, more people in the room that I couldn’t see. On the other side of the shelves.

“If I bring Laney
.” Oscar said, snapping my attention back to him. “If I capture her and bring her here, he will follow.”

I was not happy
with what my brother was saying, yet I stayed silent, calculating my escape.

“Are you sure of this?” Avery questioned.

“Positive.” He sure did sound it.

“Then why not just bring him in the first place?” Avery questioned.

“I cannot catch him,” my brother admitted. “He is too strong, but if you have her, he will do anything you want.”

Avery smiled, her eyes moving from Oscar’s to mine. “Then we shall keep Carter alive. For now. Laney has a soft spot for him. Maybe she’ll freely hand Oliver over to save you,” she said, her eerie smile still in place as she stepped closer to me.

I swallowed, hard.

We were supposed to act like life was good. While in reality, we were waiting for Oscar to come for Laney. Or worse, her grandfather. And what happens when one of them does get her? Well, that’s where we were relying on Oliver’s magnetic pull to her.

Felix and Amber both claimed that the fact Oliver and Laney were bonded would draw them to each other. They said that if I listened to Oliver’s body, it would lead me to Laney. A tracking device in her skin might help, too. But nobody seemed to like that idea.

In silence, I drove her back to the apartment. The sun was rising, and on a regular day, I would’ve appreciated the warm glow rising over the distant hills, but it was no regular day.

Climbing the stairs to our apartment, Laney’s arms were wrapped tightly around herself. She was in her star covered pajama pants, as she had been when we’d rushed out of the house the night before
, and she was wearing a pair of flip-flops and one of Oliver’s hoodies, which hung loosely on her.

Finding out she was only half human was…odd.

Laney had always been different. Not in a bad way, but in an alluring way. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and there was something else that I’d never been able to put my finger on. Like there was this draw to her. Was this because she was “different?” Was that weird power she’d used a while back a power she’d inherited from her grandfather? If so, why hadn’t Felix spoken up about it?

It was all so freaking crazy! I couldn’t even imagine how she was feeling. I mean, I could feel that she was confused, scared, tired, hungry, sad… The list could go on and on. I just couldn’t imagine…

I mean, when my granddad told me I was a quarter vampire, I thought he was crazy. Laney knew Felix and Ambrose weren’t crazy. This was the truth. Her mother wasn’t from our world. She wasn’t technically related to Lilly. Her whole world was being turned upside down, and Oliver was missing, or worse.

Oh, and let’s not forget that Ashton, someone
I’d known most of my life, was half angel. A goddamn nephilim! And his dad was Laney’s mom’s angel! Holy. Fucking. Shit. Yeah, that was the only way to explain it.

“Will you make me some toast
?” Laney asked as we walked through the apartment door.

“Of course,” I told her while I watched her drop onto the couch on her back.

I was quick to pull the toaster—AKA: Sir Hopsalot—down from the high cabinet where I’d stashed it. I also made her some scrambled eggs, which made me gag. Apparently, Oliver didn’t like the smell.

With the toast and eggs on a plate, I filled a glass with orange juice and took it into the living room, only to find Laney crying. How the hell had I missed that? The sound, the feeling…nothing.

I set the plate and the glass on the coffee table, and I sat down on the couch, quickly gathering her into my arms and holding her in my lap. With her head against my chest, she sobbed. It was hard for me not to cry with her. Her emotions were intense. Plus, I felt really bad for her.