This Curse - By Alisha Basso Page 0,34
This had to be their den. Excitement filled me as a plan began to grow.
***
Light filled my vision and I coughed, sucking in great gulps of air. I was on the floor, my legs tangled with Seth’s. I rolled onto my side and sat up. Seth stood in a swift, fluid motion. He smoothed his rumpled clothing and then pulled his wild hair back from his face.
I continued to grapple with my breathing as I organized my thoughts. “Voltaire wasn’t there,” I panted as I pulled myself to my feet. “But he has to be near. Damn! Where the hell does he go?” I approached Seth. His shoulders stiffened when I touched him and I snapped my hand back.
“What’s wrong?” I folded my arms, waiting to discover what had pissed him off this time.
He turned and sneered angrily at me. “Tell me, Sweet,” he spoke through his teeth, “Who was that woman and why the fuck are you still hiding things from me?” He turned and stalked to the chair by my window. Sitting, he propped his ankle on his knee and folded his arms. He was so sexy when he was pissed. Hell, he was sexy when he wasn’t pissed.
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