This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (12 page)

I sat down on my bed and looked at him. I knew that
holding anything back at this point was counterproductive. I just didn’t know
how to tell him that in both of my visions he pretty much dies a horrible,
bloody death. I sighed and flopped backward onto my bed so I could look at the
ceiling. I could feel his stare boring holes into me.

“Okay,” I sat up. “I don’t’ know the woman.” I held
up my hand when it appeared that Seth was going to start roaring again. “I’ve
only seen her,” I hurried on, “in my visions.”

“You have been having
visions
and did not feel
the need to share them with me?” He leaned forward in the chair, his fists on
his knees.

Oh boy, this was not going well
. 

“Whose side are you on?” He frowned at me accusingly.
“You still doubt my loyalty?”

“No,” I shrugged. “But you have to admit, Seth, you
and I don’t have the best history. You
do
remember that whole kidnapping
thing?” His brows drew together in a frown and he sat back. I felt a little
more vindicated at the shamed look on his face. “Besides,” I continued, “I
didn’t tell you because I honestly didn’t think of it.” I stood and began
pacing. “I don’t really know how to describe what I’ve seen,” I confessed.
Remembering how horrible it was to see him lying there, bleeding to death, I
sighed. “You’re not going to like it either way.”
The fact that I cared
about that at all was infuriating!

I began to relate the visions as they had come to me,
sparing no detail. Seth listened patiently, his expression hardly changing even
as the gruesome details of his death were laid out.

“So?” I asked, once I finished explaining. “What do
you think?”

He stood and began pacing. Then he turned and looked
at me, “In each of these visions,” he began pacing again. “I am bleeding and
presumably dead or dying?” He waved my response away when I opened my mouth. “
And
…”
He linked his fingers and rested his hands on his head. “It appears that Lucian
is badly burnt and flaking away to nothing. But then, the second vision shows
the same ruined Lucian apparently strong enough to joyfully carve me up like a
pumpkin?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I looked at him, “Does any of
that make sense?” I asked, wincing at the memory of this beautiful man lying
broken and bloody.

“And this woman,” Seth continued, completely ignoring
me. “You have never seen her, yet she appears in both visions?” He glanced at
me and I could tell he wasn’t really seeing me as he rattled on. “…But,” he
continued, as if finishing a thought. “Why is she holding an infant in her
arms?” He put his face in his hands. “This isn’t good.” He turned.

“So you know what it means?” I watched him closely.
“What?” I tilted my head in question.

“I have a theory.” He looked somber. Then his eyes
filled with pity as he looked at me. “But it’s
just
a theory.”

My gut clenched and I felt a huge sense of unease as
I tried to decipher the look. “I’m afraid to ask.” I looked into his eyes and
he tried to dodge my gaze. “You just ripped me apart for keeping things to
myself. Seth, now spill!” I demanded despite my reservations.

He looked at me. I could almost see the wheels
turning. “I can not be certain, but the fact that Lucian appeared to be burning
and flaking away leads me to believe that he is no longer the same man, the old
Lucian has been destroyed, replaced by something else.”

I felt my eyes grow huge. “What the hell does that
mean?” Bile rose in my throat.

Seth shook his head and ran his hand gently down my
hair. “Tell me about your plan.” He moved towards the door. “We have only six
more hours of darkness left.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me from the room.

“Your plan has promise, but I do not like it, Sweet.”
Seth sat at my kitchen table snapping silver bullets into the magazine of his
Beretta. “You are not thinking of the danger you place yourself in. You cannot
predict these creatures. They are dogs, Grace. Nothing more than violent,
mindless animals.” He sneered and lifted his chin, as if it were beneath him to
even speak of them. “You should not go in alone.” 

I sat across from him. My mind wandering as I watched
him load his weapon. He was dressed in solid black. Velcro, Kevlar, and Gortex
were wrapped around every inch of his gorgeous form. His long silky hair was
pulled back and tied securely to the base of his neck; its length folded and
tucked away for the first time in weeks.

I smiled as he continued to criticize my plan. I
watched his masculine form and felt a pang of sadness. Lucian wore an almost
identical outfit the last time I found myself storming the castle,
so to
speak
. At that time, he and I had suited up in order to save my best friend
Ann from, oddly enough,
Seth
. Lucian had been so incredibly handsome
then, so noble and unselfish as he rushed into danger by my side.

God, I missed my friend.

I felt tears spring into my eyes and I quickly wiped
them from my cheeks. Standing, I sniffed and moved away from the table as Seth
continued to insult my intelligence and throw doubt into every facet of my
plan.

“You know,” I interrupted his tirade, “you really are
a big fat hypocrite.” I turned, folding my arms. I stared down at him.

He threw his head up and glared. “
What
?”

“
I’m not a child, stop underestimating me, stop
treating me like a dumb-ass, I’m really old and stuffy so I already know
everything and blah, blah, blah
. This is what I’ve had to put up with.” I
snapped. “But the second I show a little independent thinking and try to do
something alone,
I’m not prepared, I’m just a wimpy girl
. So, yeah,
hypocrite!
”

Seth stood, his chest puffing up, no doubt ready to
roar.

I threw my hand up to silence him. “Forget it! We’re
going forward with this plan, Seth. Now, I’m going to get ready.” I turned on
my heel and stomped from the room.

“And I do not believe I have
ever
used the
words
dumb-ass
, in my entire existence!” I heard him shout as I walked
away. I laughed and shut my bedroom door.

****

Red,
it
was the color of power, lust, and fire. I looked at the dress again. It hit
just above my knees, making me fell sexy but not slutty. I turned to examine
the back. It plunged so low that it had me doing a double take to make sure I
wasn’t exposing anything that would embarrass me later. I re-thought the slutty
part of my assessment and smiled.

My glamour was the
real
weapon tonight. I had
altered it so that only pure humans would see me as a normal woman. Anyone with
even an ounce of power would see right past it. Well, with the exception of one
thing. My pheromones were tucked safely away. It was an easy thing to achieve,
because all this time I was so focused on hiding my entire appearance, it had
never occurred to me that I could reveal my true self while hiding select bits
and pieces. I wanted the wolves, along with any other creatures in Patrick’s
employ to see what a real Madea was and what one could do. No more hiding just
for hiding's sake.

 I was done and Seth was right. I was all but asking
to be a victim. I was a fool for thinking that I could secret myself away and
live peacefully. I was the biggest kid on the playground, magically speaking,
so everyone wanted a piece of me just to prove that they were bigger and
badder. Well this kid was taking off the gloves and throwing down.

I slid my feet into a pair of nude, platform
stilettos and strode to the door of my bedroom. I knew my makeup was flawless
and I could feel the metallic locks of my hair brush along my shoulders and
neck in its strange and unnatural dance. I shook it out and for the first time
I felt my beauty radiating from my skin. I felt amazing, I felt powerful, and
finally, I felt like myself.

A true Madea.

Seth was fastening a row of silver throwing knives
onto his bicep when I entered the kitchen. The knives fell to the floor with a
clatter.

Pleased, I approached him.

His eyes and teeth vamped out instantly as he stared
at me. A low growl rose from deep in his throat. 

I felt a tingle race along my skin. The danger he
kept leashed just under the surface always thrilled me and I felt a sigh
escape.

I never saw him move, I just found myself in his arms
as he crushed me to his body. He smelled my hair and another low growl rumbled
from his chest.

“Seth?” I mumbled into the rough fabric of his shirt.
I wasn’t scared. Even with the show of teeth and hunger in his eyes, I knew he
wouldn’t hurt me. 

“Grace,” he spoke slowly. “My sweet. How can I let
you endanger yourself?” He stepped away; keeping a hold of my arms, he examined
me closely. “You are astonishingly beautiful.” His grip on my arms tightened.

“Seth,” I shook my head, “it isn’t up to you. You
aren’t
letting
me do anything.” I stepped out of his grasp.

He turned and picked up the fallen knives. “Of
course,” he said as he struggled with the straps. Then out of frustration it
seemed, he closed his eyes and the straps fastened magically around his
muscular arm. I just shook my head in wonder at all he had been hiding.

“I know you do not belong to me, Sweet.” He sighed
and picked up the remaining items on the table. Shoving them roughly into
various pockets hidden in his suit, he looked up and met my eyes. “Your blood
calls to me in so many ways. I try to ignore it, to turn the hunger away, but,”
he ran his hand down his face, “it hurts.” He shook his head then turned away
from me and left the room. 

Power surrounded me in the form of a stolen
Mercedes-Benz
SLS
. Well,
stolen
was a strong word. I merely borrowed it. The
second I stepped into Seachain an Madra the car would return to the show room
floor and no one would be the wiser.

I shifted and pushed the accelerator to the floor.
The thrill of flying through the city in such a sexy vehicle made my feminine
heart go pitter-patter. 

Our plan hadn’t really included this little treat,
but, as I explained to Seth, I was an all-powerful Madea, and I had to make an
entrance. After all, distraction was a big part of our plan. Seth, on the other
hand, needed stealth and secrecy.

I went over everything in my mind. I would act as a
distraction while Seth snuck in. We would kill several birds with one stone.
Get the wolves off my back, rescue the woman, and recover the blood. At one
point during our plan, Seth thought he was being smart and suggested I just
magically zap the stolen blood back to my house. I wish it could have been as
easy as that, but Voltaire was master in this game and his powers were just too
hard for me to decipher. His evil taint was a confusing puzzle to my Madea
power and I just couldn’t get past it.

So, we had to stick to my plan. It all seemed easy
enough, which, now that I was thinking about it, had me questioning its success.

The line leading from the entrance to the club was
impressive. The wolves certainly knew how to draw in a crowd.

I pulled into a spot close to the Valet. I watched in
amusement as several young men fell all over themselves to get to my silver
beauty. I sighed and ran my hand over the steering wheel. Thanks to the money I
inherited from my best friend, I had the ability to get one of my own. But so
far, I had chosen to live a very frugal and restrained life. Inhaling the
wonderful scent of leather and luxury, I thought that it was finally time for a
change. I shook my head and opened the door. The young wolf standing close to
the car stumbled back in shock when I stepped from the car. I had control over
my pheromones as part of the glamour, but no one had ever seen a true Madea in
the flesh. As far as I knew, they had no idea what I was.

Pleased at his reaction and safe in the knowledge
that my pheromones were in fact locked safely away, I dropped the keys into his
hand. “Take care of her,” I smiled and then with a laugh, I slipped my index
finger under his chin and shut his gaping mouth.

I strode with purpose towards the double doors of the
club. Past the serpentine, line that snaked like a living river around the
building. Humans and sups crowded together, all clamoring for a chance to rub
elbows, drink, and possibly make a connection that they could wake up to in the
morning.

I scanned the crowd as I approached, noting the
number of supernatural creatures. There were more in this line then I felt comfortable
with. I nodded to the bouncer. His eyes widened as I approached and I was
struck with sudden recognition. He was the dirty tattooed man.
The scout.

Well, well, well.

“Nice to see you again,” I plucked his name from his
head. “
Nickola
.” I whispered close to his ear, my breath fanning his
cheek as I brushed passed him. My energy was humming tonight. Not only from the
rush of exposing my true form, but from the rush I was experiencing at the
shock of my presence.