This Curse - By Alisha Basso Page 0,2

but it still worked on me. I filled my body with supernatural strength and tore myself from his grip. His fingers dug painfully into my flesh and I was suddenly free. Pain seared through my side as I flew through the air, falling fast to land on the splintered wood of my porch.

Shock paralyzed my limbs as my blood painted the scarred wood. A hunk of my flesh had torn clean from my side.

Seth’s wail of terror still pierced my ears.

Horror filled his eyes as my blood soaked into the wood. He rushed to me; his eyes had been wild as my blood flooded the ground.

White hot fear still screamed through my body as the memory of him lifting me from the porch filled my mind.

That was when everything had stopped.

I woke in my own bed, Lucian by my side.

Where had Seth gone? How did Lucian know I needed care?

My eyes jerked open and I looked around. I was still sitting on my bed. The adrenaline that raced through my veins slowed as I accepted what had happened. I closed my eyes again, forcing my body to calm while taking in oxygen deep and slow. My mind was less troubled. Lucian never said how he knew that I needed him or how long I had been out. When I woke, all signs of my struggle with Seth had been cleared. The roses had vanished and the blood I’d spilled had been scrubbed from the porch.

I took in another cleansing breath allowing my thoughts to flow freely. Seth was no longer after me; he was now a tiny traveler in my life. We tolerated each other because there was just no other way to manage it. I really didn’t mind him stepping into my life every now and again, which was strange because I knew that I should hate every cell in his body, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t. Seth also seemed perfectly content with our mutual tolerance, although he did always try to press it further and further.

The reality was that fighting Seth was pointless. He was shocked and horrified with what he had done. Spilling my blood had never been part of his plan. I saw it on his face and that was a hard pill to swallow. Seth, the vampire, with a heart? What a crock of crap that was.

Still, I had woken up in my own bed with Lucian at my side and something told me that he wasn’t there by coincidence.

I rolled my head around my shoulders as more tension fled. Peace gradually settled in my heart. My body had grown warm, almost relaxed.

I focused on the pain and my side grew warmer. Opening my mind to what had happened was the key. The pain began to fade replaced with even more heat. The heat grew with each passing second and then I jumped. “Shit!” I yelled, scrambling off the bed, I yanked my robe off and ran into the bathroom patting at my side frantically.

My reflection was laughable. My eyes were huge orbs of panic. God, I thought I set my damn robe on fire! I turned, examining my skin. It was glowing.

Oh hell.

I winced and spun from the mirror in a panic before the reflection of the real me could make my day any worse. My true Madea face was just too much for my psyche to take, so I spent every moment in a constant glamour of my old self.

I straightened my shoulders and walked from the room, painfully aware of the fact that I had way more issues than a simply achy side.

A knock on the door had me throwing on a new glamour and a full set of clothes. My hair was pulled back into a braid before I opened the door.

TWO

I hate it when I’m all smiles, ready to greet the unexpected visitor knocking at the door and then I open it and no one is there.

“Hey?” I shouted to the vacant spot on my porch. I looked around my front yard. My driveway was long and flanked by trees. I searched the area, but no one was near.

I looked down. An envelope lay on my welcome mat.

Great, I thought as I picked it up. It smelled like sulfur and wet dogs. This should be good.

I slid the shining silver blade of the letter opener along the seam of the fine linen envelope. I didn’t want a paper cut from this stuff it felt tainted