This Curse - By Alisha Basso Page 0,3

somehow. The smell emanating from the letter was worse than the envelope and I opened it, frowning as I read:

Madea,

You can stop it. More innocents will die.

Come to Club Seachain an Madra.

Refuse and we will come to you.

-V

I stared at the letter for several seconds, thoughts tumbling and spinning in my mind. More innocents will die? I shook my head, baffled at the cryptic message. Guilt settled in my stomach like a lead weight. Obviously, these innocents were dying in order to get my attention.

I sat at my kitchen table and sighed, tossing the letter onto the table beside the morning paper. I glanced at the front page and my jaw dropped.

“Son of a bitch!” I yelled and snatched the paper off of the table.

“Third Fatal Animal Attack.” I stared at the headline and then read on. “A bizarre string of fatal animal attacks has the public demanding action.” I frowned. According to the paper, all of the victims were young women between the ages of twenty-four and thirty. The bite marks on the bodies resembled those of several large dogs but this couldn’t be confirmed due to the unusual size of the animal’s teeth.

I picked up the letter. Club Seachain an Madra? Somehow, I knew that those words meant Beware of the dog in Gaelic. It was strange how information like that was just sitting there ready for me to pull out of my brain. At times, it was as if I was holding not only power but another consciousness as well.

I tossed the paper onto the table. These freaking assholes had managed to slaughter three women before they’d found it necessary to let me know!

Shit!

I sat at the table feeling sick as hell. These attacks were not the natural order of things. They were the work of a freaking monster. My stomach swirled and I picked up the letter again. It was signed V. My hands had become clammy. I wiped them on my pants as a chill raced down my spine. I knew of only one V and the son of a bitch was as wicked as they came. If I was correct, then not only was this the work of a monster, it was the work of a demon. I smirked at the letter. At least I wasn’t walking in totally blind.

I stood, resolved. It was time to take a peek at Club Seachain an Madra.

THREE

Despite the two dozen drinks I’d been offered, I was stone sober.

Any normal woman would probably eat the attention up with a spoon, but I wasn’t normal and I wasn’t myself.

The everyday glamour I wear to disguise the shocking changes that came with my transformation was always a simple one. I like to stick with the way I used to look before this crap landed in my lap. I’m pretty tall for a woman at five foot nine. My skin is pale and my hair is long and brown. Well, at least all of those things used to describe me.

Tonight, however, wasn’t about the issues I had with my everyday appearance. Nope, tonight was about moving among my enemies in secret.

My thick hair was pulled high and tight from my face. Skin the color of rich coffee made me an exotic Jamaican princess. I felt awkward walking in such an unfamiliar form and at five foot one; my gorgeous four inch heels still couldn’t bring me to my normal every day height of five foot nine.

I eased my way through the throng, to my goal. A private table nestled deep in the darkest corner of the club. My Madea, eyes sharpened filling my vision with light. The vague human-shaped shadows cleared and I scanned their faces. Voltaire, the demon who scared the holy hell out of me, and a key member of the Council, were absent from the group.

Damn. I should have known. It wasn’t that I really expected the demon to be clubbing but I was positive that he was the V signed at the bottom of the letter.

I scanned the group and smiled. I wouldn’t be leaving disappointed. Looking as handsome as ever with a plump blonde snaked around his willing body was Patrick Camden. He was the only human looking member of the Council.

I sneered. Human was stretching it quite a bit. When I first laid eyes on Patrick, I had no idea what he was. To me he was just a very handsome man who smelled of the earth. Now I knew better, thanks to some quick