This Curse - By Alisha Basso Page 0,35
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.
TWELVE
“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