This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (6 page)

“Lucian, I want you to run the other way. Do you
understand me? Don’t stop to check on me, just run.” I turned on my heel and
strode away from him. “Hide behind that rise and once you hear them start to
chase me, you move.” I hollered over my shoulder, pointing vaguely to a large
hill covered with dried sage and jumbled tumbleweeds. “Believe me, they won’t
follow you.” When he didn’t respond, I turned.

His arms were folded and he was frowning at me, “What
are you going to do, Grace?” His voice was hushed and laced with annoyance.

“Really, Lucian?” I shook my head. “You’re the one
who brought the woman into a dangerous situation. You were rushing here to
fight Voltaire for cripes sake. What did you think was going to happen?” He
looked at his hands as if meeting my eyes was too much. I didn’t care. He
screwed up and I wasn’t above letting him know.

“Look, it was amazing how you froze Voltaire like
that. But now because you chose to bring your helpless apprentice with you, I
have to play chase with a bunch of jerk-off wolves. Stupid move, Lucian.” I
sighed. “But thank you for helping.” He looked at me then and I tried to smile
past my irritation. “Now go, and don’t worry about these assholes, they really
can’t hurt me.” I turned my back again, ignoring his grumbles. He wanted to
save the little hussy,
okay, that was bitchy
, the little
lady.
Then
I wouldn’t let him down. No matter who he screwed, he was still my Lucian and I
didn’t want to see him hurt.

With Lucian running fast the other way, I cleared my
mind. What I was about to do was beyond dangerous and I sighed. Shoving all the
warnings in my head aside, I dropped a portion of my glamour allowing my
pheromones to run free. Energy rushed around me as I set the wolves free from
their suspended animation.

I ran through the sage and boulders toward another
large hill that rose up behind my property. The other side was open country for
another five hundred acres. If I could make it there, then Lucian and Lydia
would be safe. I could only hope that Lucian’s spell still held Voltaire.

I tossed a quick glance behind me. Damn, there must
be at least fifty wolves behind me! I jumped into a dry creek bed and raced
along its path.

They were fast and I knew that my pheromones were
perfuming the air like crazy. They would follow me forever if their stamina let
them. I had to tire them out. I slowed to a stop, turning to allow the wolves
to close in. When they were about ten feet from me, I zapped myself onto the
top of the small hill as far from the racing pack as I could safely go. They
continued in the direction of my pheromones and I ran.

My mind was struggling to work it all out. I wondered
what the hell the wolves were doing here in the first place. I couldn’t let
them lose sight of me. The whole point was to get them away from my home and
the innocent people there. Damn it. Voltaire was powerful enough to make this
little house call on his own. Why would he want the wolves?

Cool air kissed my skin as I picked up speed. Howls
and yips sounded distant behind me as my feet flew at an unnatural speed. I had
to admit it was exhilarating. With my glamour reduced, even by such a small
amount, I felt free.

The wolves were moving in closer and I slowed
allowing them to catch up, closing the distance a moment before I zapped myself
back to the top of the hill. They were slowing. I managed to zap myself back
and forth another half a dozen times as I tried to puzzle out the reason for
their presence. 

I moved to the hill, reveling in the power of my
pheromones. The scent had to be pretty strong to attract these beasts.

Wait
,
pheromones? I stumbled on the uneven ground and almost fell flat on my face.
Balancing myself, I slowed my pace as all the pieces started to fall into
place. My
pheromones
. My body was producing super charged pheromones and
now thanks to Patrick, Voltaire was using that knowledge to his advantage. The
wolves would be more than happy to run me to ground. It would mean more power
for them. I let the reality of that sink in and I stopped in the middle of the
clearing.

Holy shit!

Patrick said that I’d made it worse for myself. His
reaction had been shocking. I knew he wasn’t attracted to me personally. No,
the animal in him was attracted to the power in me. Like any creature in
nature, he wanted the best mate he could get. And now it seemed my power had
just made me lucky bachelorette number one.
Shit!

But, wait a minute, what was in it for Voltaire?

I paced in the dirt, puzzling out my thoughts as the
wolves closed in on me. I zapped onto the top of the hill again and looked over
my shoulder toward the advancing pack. The answer was starring me in the face.
Voltaire would use the wolves to kidnap me. He probably already had Lucian and
Lydia. I felt overcome and began to run again. I could feel the blood in my
body cool. “Oh. My. God! Not again!” I cried and then in a daze, I zapped
myself to the top of the hill and right into the path of a huge black wolf. The
air left my lungs as the massive animal smashed into my chest.

Being a Madea, you would think that getting knocked
unconscious would be a thing of the past, but sadly, it was not. I woke to the
smell of wet dog and the horrifying feeling of being tied up.

I was pissed. My shock at the realization that
Voltaire was helping Patrick’s pack abduct me had put me in a state of
momentary paralysis.
And holy hell,
I coughed, that wolf packed a punch.

I rolled over and tried to examine the ropes from the
awkward position they had me bound in. They were spelled, which would explain
why I wasn’t being guarded. I felt along the ropes with my mind and smiled. It
was a small matter to untwist the spell. Damn if this was all they had, then
they really had no idea what a Madea could do.

I stood, rubbing my chest as the useless ropes fell
away from my body. The fact that they bothered to tie me up at all was
puzzling. Could they truly be that ignorant? Who knew? I wasn’t going to stick
around and find out. I still had the huge problem of Voltaire. If Lucian was
hurt, I was going to kill him.

 I stumbled along the filthy clearing that my inept
abductors chose to dump me in. There was a smoking fire pit and several empty
bottles of Jack. I stopped short. I had almost put my foot into a pool of
blood.

“Gross. What the hell?” I mumbled to myself as I
maneuvered over rocks and debris. Bits and pieces of mutilated rabbits were
strewn here and there. God, what a bunch of animals. I shook my head. Oh,
right, they
were
animals. But the question was, where did the wolves go
and why did they leave me all alone? I didn’t feel the need to question things
further. I had a friend to save. I couldn’t afford to confront my bungling
kidnappers and risk wasting time that could be precious to Lucian’s safety.

With a thought, I was back in full glamour and
landing in my driveway.

Lucian’s vehicle was still parked in front. I held my
breath and looked around. All evidence of our encounter with Voltaire and the
wolves was reduced to some scattered rocks and a few trampled plants. I walked
up the drive to my house. The sound of a female laughing slapped me in the face
as I opened the door. I straightened my spine, he was safe, I told myself, as
her giggles grew louder.

They were snuggled together on my grandmas’ couch,
covered up with my favorite blanket. The sight shocked me to my core and it was
all I could do not to run from the room while bawling my eyes out. Instead, I
plastered a smile on my face and entered the room.

The cocky smile Lucian sent my way was completely out
of character for him. I cleared my throat causing Lydia to look my way.

My face fell and I knew I was in deep trouble. She
was stunning. Her short pixie cut hair was a glossy, mahogany, brown. It stuck
up here and there as if she had just woken up. Her pale skin was free of
blemishes and her full pink lips could only be described as ‘pouty’.
Well,
this sucked.
 

“How’d it go?” Lucian asked as he stretched his
massive body and stood up from the couch. I just stared at him.
Was he
kidding
?

“How’d it go?” I struggled to rein in my annoyance
and as usual, I failed. “What the hell do you mean, ‘How’d it go’?” I walked
further into the room, ignoring the scared puppy dog expression on Lydia’s
stupid, angelic face. “I just led a pack of over fifty werewolves away from
here so that you could stay safe. It wasn’t a trip to the Quickie Mart for a
slushy!” I glared at him. He was acting odd. This chick was definitely not good
for him.

“Cool down, Grace. You and I both know you could
handle those stupid dogs. What’s the problem?” he sat back down and wrapped his
strong arm protectively around Lydia. She snuggled into his side and cast her
wounded eyes toward me as if I were some sort of frightening monster. I looked
down at my jeans and soft leather boots. Yeah, my glamour was in place. I guess
she was just sensitive to yelling.
Wonderful
, all I needed in my life
was a coddled little princess that Lucian, with all of his white knight
chivalry, felt he needed to protect. What hurt the most was that it looked like
he was protecting her from
me
.

I forced my thoughts away form that territory and
held my hand out to her. “Sorry for being rude, Lydia.” I smiled as she looked
at me. “I was just worried. Hi, I’m Grace.” Her delicate hand grasped mine in a
weak, floppy grip that made want to smack her. Instead, I shook her hand gently
resisting the overwhelming urge to squish her fingers. I felt like an Amazon.
She was so petite my hand practically swallowed hers. I couldn’t help the small
twinge of jealousy. Lucian could really be the man with her. The kind of man he
could never be with me. I didn’t need protecting.
Oh, man. Suddenly I wanted
to puke.

“Well, it looks like you two made it away from
Voltaire just fine.” I tried to smile and felt my lips barely twitch. “Your
spell really worked, huh? How’d you come up with it so quickly? I thought you
said a demon was too powerful for any of your spells.” I sat across from them
in my creaky rocking chair. I was having a hard time seeing them together. I
mean, Lucian and I had never been a couple, but the thought was there. I guess
I just never thought that he would actually find someone. I guess I always just
assumed that I was the one he wanted and it was a safe bet that he would always
be there. What an ass I was. As if I was the ultimate prize that he had to hold
out for.

“The spell was actually Lydia’s.” Lucian’s voice cut
through my inner turmoil. “Even though her magic isn’t what it could be, she
has a real knack for writing spells.” he beamed at her. “We’ve been working on
it for a couple of days now and needed an opportunity to try it out. When I was
scrying and saw Voltaire, I knew it was the perfect time to use it.”

All right, now I was offended. “You mean you weren't
really coming to the rescue at all? You said you went nuts. Do you mean to tell
me you were just taking your spell out for a test drive?” Irritation and hurt
threatened to spill from my eyes at any moment. I bit the inside of my cheek to
stem the flow of tears.

“Not everything has to be about you, Grace.” Lucian
looked at me like I was a selfish child and I flinched.

He stood up and tossed the blanket onto the back of
the couch. He was still shirtless and his golden skin was flushed from being
snuggled under the blanket. He turned and offered Lydia his hand. She took it
and he pulled, helping her off the couch. I was right. She stood only about five
feet tall. She was rounded in all the right places and toned in all the others.

“Well,” he sighed a bit too dramatically, “I guess,
since you’re back and seem fine and all we should be leaving.” He walked to the
door, Lydia’s hand in his. “I’ll give you a call sometime later. We’re tired
and we still have lots of work to do.”

What was happening?

I followed them numbly to the door, afraid to show
Lucian how I felt. He seemed to be happy and I had to admit, they made a
good-looking couple. He was a perfect golden god and she was femininity
personified. Suddenly I wanted to dig my eyeballs out of my head.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later?” I asked as they
stepped through the door. When no answer came, I leaned against the door jam
and sighed.

Lucian continued off the steps to the Rover as Lydia
stumbled a bit and stopped. “You go on ahead, baby. My sandal strap is
twisted,” she said and smiled at him. She knelt down and fiddled with her shoe
as I watched Lucian continue to the Rover. When she stood, she turned to me.
“Well, thanks for the couch, Grace.” She smiled at me. It was
not
a
friendly smile. It felt cold, leaving her eyes flat and dead. I wanted to brush
her mind, but if she had any power at all, she would feel it. An invasion like
that would be a betrayal to Lucian and that right there was enough to force me
to mind my manners.

I frowned at her waiting face. “Welcome,” was all I
managed to say as she skipped down the steps. Lucian waited, holding the
passenger door open for her. He lifted her up and she crawled in giggling. He
shut the door and got inside next to her, never once looking at me as I waved.