A Cursed Bloodline
Page 29

I finished sealing the box and realized why Misha thought he loved me. I’d shown him kindness and devotion with no strings attached. Gifts that didn’t come easily, I imagined, when you were a god among vampires. Maybe that was his interpretation of love.
I opened another box to pack our bread maker. It gave me pause. I used to bake bread every day to pack in Aric’s lunch. My hand swept over the machine but then I stopped. The terms we were leaving on couldn’t have been any more horrid and the direness of our situation threatened to cripple me. I didn’t know how I’d function without him. And yet there I stood, with the hope that one day I’d be able to reunite him with our child.
I quickly boxed up the last few items when the doorbell rang. My hackles immediately rose, knowing who had arrived. “Emme, no!”
“Hi, Liam,” she said just before he sent her flying into the wall.
Chapter Thirteen
Koda and Gemini stampeded through the door directly behind Liam, their eyes blazing like molten gold. I lunged at Emme to shift her unmoving form out. But the wolves were ready for me.
They tackled me and forced me against the wall. Liam’s fingertip swept beneath my jaw. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
I jerked from his touch. Koda licked his lips. “What’s the matter, little cat? Don’t you want to play?”
My panic had me hyperventilating. The first time they’d hurt me, I failed to hear the dreadful call of howling wolves. But I heard them then.
Anara was coming.
Gemini tangled his fingers into my long tresses. “Is this how Aric used to touch you?” He yanked out a chunk of hair, making me screech.
I couldn’t shift or change. Piece by piece they ripped strands from my scalp and berated me with insults.
“Whore.”
“Freak.”
“Spic.”
My struggles were worthless and my screams were silenced by a large hand. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fight.
The front door flew open.
And Danny stumbled in.
I bit down on Koda’s hand, forcing him off my mouth. “Run!”
Danny didn’t flee. He charged, throwing his weight against Koda and Gemini. It was suicide. He was going to die.
Then something bizarre occurred. The moment his lean form smacked against their more formidable weight, the wolves closed their eyes and staggered back, swaying as if working to keep their balance. Liam dropped me on the floor and seized Danny by the throat.
Liam’s hand loosened when Danny clasped his wrist. Like the other Warriors, his lids drooped and he rocked in place. The howling wolves abruptly stopped their song. For a moment, no one moved.
I rose on trembling legs. Danny circled the wolves, carefully examining their swaying figures, his expression reeling with shock. We jumped when their eyes whipped open. The frightening glow from their irises was gone, replaced by revulsion as they gaped from me to the locks of torn hair littering the hardwood floor.
Dismay filled the room like a storm cloud. Gemini swallowed hard. “Celia…what have you done?”
Koda approached me. I flinched when he reached to touch me. He pulled back his hand and let it drop to his side. “It’s self-mutilation and hatred,” he muttered. “I’m not sure we can stop it.”
They were putting all this back on me. Just like Anara had likely intended.
Liam sniffed the air, his muscles tensing. “Where’s Emme?” His head snapped to where she lay near the fireplace. “No!” He ran to her, sweeping her into his arms. “Angel, can you hear me?”
Koda’s sadness turned to horror. “You hit her?”
“No. I…no!”
I started toward her. “Stay away from her!” Liam growled.
Koda and Gemini blocked my path. “Don’t move,” Koda warned. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
Danny opened his mouth to defend me, but I silenced him with a glare. He nodded slowly and inched his way to Emme just as she began to glow. I sighed with relief. She was healing herself; she would be all right.
Liam seemed surprised to see Danny. “Did you see what happened?”
I put my hand out. “No. He came after you arrived.”
“I came after you,” Danny repeated numbly.
Gemini watched me carefully. “We have to figure out what to do with her.”
My fingertips itched with the need to protrude my claws. He didn’t mean Emme. “I’ll take her back to Misha’s,” Danny said quickly. “He’ll look after her.”
Koda snarled. “She doesn’t belong with him. Damnit, don’t you see? He’s part of the problem.” He stomped to my side. “Tell me what he’s done to you!”
Danny grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door at the sound of my growl. Koda rushed forward, blocking our way with his Rock of Gibraltar physique. With as much courage as he could muster, Danny met his gaze. “You have no right to hold us, Miakoda.”
Gemini held his ground next to Koda. “You’re wrong. She’s a danger to herself and those around her.”
“But she’s not were, therefore she doesn’t fall under your jurisdiction. Let’s go, Celia.”
Gemini hardened his stare. “As a supernatural being she does fall under our jurisdiction.”
Danny tried to sound assertive, but his voice cracked like a prepubescent boy. “Technically, we’re not sure what Celia is. She was born human, so if you want her arrested, you’ll have to call the human police.”
Danny hooked my arm under his and raced us to his car. He started the engine and floored it. “Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!”
Danny’s mother died from leukemia when he was young. Before her death he promised to always be a gentleman and never swear in front of a lady. Under the psycho-werewolf-Elder-coming-to-getcha circumstance, though, I think she’d say, “It’s okay, son, you can say, ‘Fuck me!’ ” But no, there he was, saying “crap” while he drove the car like he was blindfolded.
I ran my fingers through what remained of my hair. The bald spots stung and blood oozed from my scalp. I stared at my hands. Small broken strands mixed with tiny chunks of skin lay against my palms.
“Holy crap!” Danny yelled again.
I sighed. “Yup.”
Danny drove faster, breathing in rapid bursts and teetering on the verge of a breakdown. I didn’t say anything. I knew he’d pull it together. We had reached Tahoe City when he finally collected himself enough to speak.