Cursed Vengeance (19 page)

She nodded. “Will said the pain meds are burning off too quick. He’s been passed out most of the time.”

“Good, he’ll heal faster in wolf form. What happened to him in the last few years? He never used to be so angry or power hungry.”

“I wish I knew. I’d do anything in my power to get rid of the asshole my brother’s become.”

“Either way, I’m going to check on him tomorrow.”

She laid her hand on my arm. “Thanks, Dylan. Sean picked a good second.”

“You know you just have to call if you need anything.”

“I know. I’m taking things one day at a time.”

“That’s a good way to do it.”

She wiped her eyes. “What about you, where’s Sierra?”

“She had to go back to work in Philly for a few weeks. She’ll be down when she can, until she can make the move.”

“That’s rough, but you’ll survive. You always do.”

“Ahhhhhh…” Our conversation was interrupted by two screaming banshees running from the hall into my lap. The boys had been through enough losing their dad. I knew what that felt like, especially a good dad like Christian. At least Theresa was holding it together, unlike my mom. For the next few hours I played with boys. Theresa insisted I stay for dinner, and who was I to say no to someone else cooking.

I tried Sierra on the way home, only to get her voicemail. She had a rotation in the hospital, which meant she was probably busy seeing patients. Going home wasn’t in the least appealing, but I had no choice. The bed felt lonely without her, but I let sleep take me, hoping tomorrow I’d get to talk to her.

Vibrating on the table woke me. Rubbing a hand over my face, I grabbed the cell phone off the nightstand, hoping to see Sierra’s number. Instead, Sean’s number flashed on the screen.

Flicking my finger across the screen, I answered.

“What’s up?”

“Where the fuck are you?”

“What time is it?” Leaning over the side of the bed, the clock read eleven in the morning.

“It’s eleven in the morning, asshole. Get your ass up and get over here so we can do this inspection for the bid.”

“Fuck. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Confused, I forced myself out of bed. What the fuck was wrong with me? I never slept through the alarm. Kind of hard to when you had wolf hearing. Maybe I forgot to set it. Racing through my shower, I threw on clothes and bolted out the door. Sean was pacing in front of the house when I pulled up.

“Sorry, man,” I said, climbing out of the cab. “I must have forgotten to set the alarm.”

He studied me for a minute. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m not sure what happened.”

He gave me a sympathetic smile. “She’ll be here tonight. Stop stressing.”

“I know, but I think her being so far away is fucking with my head.”

“Maybe, but only a few more weeks and she’s here for good.”

I didn’t want to talk about Sierra anymore. “Let’s get this bid done. I want to head over and check on Bradley.”

Sean growled. “Good idea. Make sure he understands the only reason I didn’t kill him was because of his sister. Next time I see him, he better submit.”

“I will.”

We were halfway through the inspection when I decided to bring up Ashley. “So, did you finally seal your bond?”

He scoffed. “What kind of asshole do you think I am? I told you I couldn’t ask her to worry about our mate bond when her best friend just died.” He ruffled my hair. “But don’t worry your pretty little head, I plan on sealing our bond when everything settles down.”

“Good, you deserve it.”

We finished the bid, which took longer than I expected. Climbing in the truck, I saw a missed call from Sierra. Needing to hear her voice, I hit redial and waited for her to pick up.

“Hey, sexy,” she answered on the first ring.

“God, I missed your voice.” I pulled away from the house.

“Same goes here. Look, I don’t have long, they’re sending a chopper. It’s a little girl with a compound femur fracture. The medics aren’t sure we’ll be able to save her leg, but fuck if I’m not going to try.”

“That’s my girl.” I made a right on Bradley’s street.

“I called to let you know I won’t be down tonight. This surgery is going to take me a few hours and I don’t want to drive in all that fog tired, but I promise to be there first thing in the morning.”

“I can’t wait to see you.” I parked outside of Bradley’s home. Will’s car was already out front.

“Me too. How are you feeling? Any signs of the curse?”

Shit
. Explains why I didn’t get out of bed. The curse. How could I have forgotten? What was I supposed to tell her? If I told her I was having symptoms she’d leave the hospital and that little girl might lose her leg. I had twenty-four hours. I might suffer a little, but she’d be there in the morning. Hoping she didn’t see through the lie, I answered, “I’m fine. Nothing so far.”

“Good. Okay, they’re paging me again. I’ve got to go, but I promise to be there in the morning. If it starts before then call me.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hanging up the phone, I climbed out of the truck and walked up to Bradley’s door. I noticed my pace was slower than normal. Fucker better be awake. I wanted this conversation to be quick so I could go home and lie down.

Knocking on the door, as a courtesy, I pushed it open and walked in. Most likely, Bradley was in no shape to answer the door.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” a voice snapped from the couch in the living room.

“Well, it’s good to see nothing’s wrong with your mouth.”

Will had his hand and foot wrapped in something that looked like a cast, but not as hard.

“He’s been like this since he shifted,” Will said apologetically.

“No, he’s been a dickhead for a few years.” I turned back to Bradley. “I’m here because I told your sister I’d come check on you.”

“Well, you’ve checked on me. You’ve seen what your precious Alpha did to me.” He gestured at himself. “Now you can take your evil witch loving ass out my front door.”

A growl slipped past my lips. “No. Sean defended his position in the pack. You’re the dipshit who challenged a man you couldn’t beat.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll beat him next time.”

“That’s your choice, but Sean made it clear before I came here that next time you don’t submit to him, you won’t live. He only spared your life because your sister has been through enough.” Sweat beaded on my forehead. I wiped it away before it slipped into my eyes.

“Is that all?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Normally, I’d stand there and argue with the asshole. Today I didn’t have it in me. “Yes. I’ve made myself as clear as possible. Just remember Theresa and your nephews before you do something stupid again.” I nodded at Will. “Afternoon, Will.”

Will looked me over. “Are you feeling okay, Dylan? You seem off today.”

“Yeah. My mate’s been away for a few days. I think it’s messing with my head.” He didn’t need to know the curse had hit already. They’d only call Sierra and that little girl would lose her leg.

“That’ll do it. Well, I hope she comes back soon.”

“Me too.” More than he’d ever know.

“See you later, Dylan.”

Bradley was silent and I didn’t push. Starting the car, I began the drive home. About halfway there my vision blurred. Thankfully, I knew the roads well enough to make it home in the daylight. It took all my energy to make it into the house. Every part of my body ached, my muscles were burning. Dropping to my hands and knees in the living room, I crawled down the hall to my bed.

Just have to make it until morning, I chanted over and over in my head. Finally pulling myself onto the bed, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me. I woke with a start when my stomach lurched. It felt like my whole body was on fire. I emptied the contents of my stomach onto the floor. Through bouts of sleep and vomit time passed, until a door slammed.

“Oh, shit.” Sean’s voice filled the room. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

My body was too weak to even open my eyes and I groaned in response.

“I’m calling Sierra…fuck, why isn’t she answering?”

My stomach heaved again.

“Dammit. Let’s go.” His hands slid beneath my limp body, hoisting me up against his chest. “Hold on, Dylan. Sierra can fix this.”

I tried to stay awake when he set me into a seat. A door slammed, followed by another. An engine started. “I’m taking you to her… God dammit, Sierra, pick up…Dylan’s sick. I’m bringing him to you.”

That was the last thing I heard before I threw up again and everything went black.   

Sierra

Finally sewing up the last stitches in Avery’s leg, all I could think about was getting to my phone to check on Dylan. Something was wrong with him. I knew it in my soul, and the feeling only grew worse as the hours passed.

Magic flowed through me as I worked on Avery’s shattered bone. I cleared out bone chips and pieced the salvageable fragments back together, screwing them in place, but I noticed the jagged edges sealing and fusing together as if the bone was mending faster than should have been possible.

There was no conscious thought, only focus as I worked throughout the afternoon, doing what I could to prevent the girl from becoming an amputee at eight years old. And it had worked.

As soon as I finished with the procedure, I checked in with the girl’s parents and told them the surgery was a success and her chances were excellent.

I barely managed to walk to my locker instead of running. Then I dug out my phone. There were several missed calls from Dylan and a dozen from Sean. My heart plummeted and I grabbed my things, shoved my headset into my ear and booked it out of the hospital.

Something was seriously wrong. The more I thought about Dylan the more dread crept in. I’d been worried all day and I didn’t need to hear or read the messages to know the curse had Dylan.

“Fuck, there you are. Tell me you’re on your way home.” Sean was frantic.

Firing up the engine, I answered, “I’ll be there in ten, as long as there’s no traffic. How is he?”

“Bad. I have no clue what the hell you did to me to fix it, so you better get your ass home now. I’ll get him inside.”

“How close are you?”

“Pulling in now.”

I slammed on the gas and tore off for home, hoping I didn’t pass any cops because I didn’t have time to deal with the bullshit.

The dream, or vision, of my mother kept playing through my head. The box. I needed the box. At least Sean was there, and maybe he could find the damned thing because I couldn’t find any hollow post on his bed the last couple days.

I pulled into the garage, killed the engine, and ran for the house while the door shut. I slid to a stop in the living room where Dylan lay curled on the couch.

“You could have taken him to one of the bedrooms,” I snapped as I fell beside Dylan and caught his face. His breath came in sawing rasps that tore at my heart. “I’m here, baby. Just relax. I’ll fix this,” I vowed.

Sean’s hand landed on my shoulder. “What do you need?” His voice was soft.

“The box. I couldn’t find the damned thing. You need to get it.”

He ran up the stairs, and I ripped Dylan’s shirt open. The swirling mass of black shadow roiled over his heart, but it barely rose over his skin. He didn’t look as bad as I expected either.

“Hey, Sean!”

“Shit, what is it?” he called, thumping back downstairs.

“How long has he been sick?”

“Not sure. He was bad by the time I got there.” He took a couple breaths before hesitantly adding, “He doesn’t seem to be worse. Why isn’t he worse?”

“I was right. In Mom’s journal she pointed out Anabeth’s coven has a ritual every full moon. I think she’s placing something near the pack after each one.” I reached up and tore the box from his hands, fiddling with it until I found the hidden latch and heard the pop. There was a scrap of paper and a black stone dagger.

I ran my thumb over the edge and pulled back with a gasp as crimson filled the tiny slice.

Then the solution hit me, or at least I hoped so.

I set the knife on the coffee table and curled my hand around where the shadows swirled over Dylan’s heart. After a breath, I chanted the same spell I used when I cured Sean. Curling my hands tighter, I compressed the curse, until I held it in one hand and grabbed the blade with my other.

Impaling the dark magic with the blade, I nicked my palm by accident. Blood swirled up, coating the black mass of shadows.

“Holy shit!” Sean cried, but I didn’t look.

The black swirling ball turned dark crimson while the blade started to glow, humming with power, before it burst into light, dousing the shadows.

Blinking, I shook off the effects of the glow that slowly faded. My hands trembled as my vision came back. There was a small slice in my hand where blood pooled. Pain throbbed as I tried to catch my breath.

Sean pried the dagger out of my other hand, setting it aside before pressing a rag to the wound. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Just a little cut. Didn’t expect that.”

“That’s what you were talking about? The black shit? I couldn’t see it until you pulled it from Dylan, then it burst like a supernova.”

A laugh escaped as I leaned against the couch. I was scooped into Dylan’s lap as he squeezed me tight. “Knew you’d save me.”

Sitting back, I slapped at him. “Why’d you let it get so bad?”

“I had time, and you had to save that girl’s leg. Which you had better have saved her leg.” He gave me an arched brow.

I nodded, thinking back. The procedure was long, but smoother than it should have been. “Yeah, I did. But you could have at least had Sean bring you here. I think it stopped spreading once you got away from the Pine Barrens.”

“Which means?”

“They’re planting something that carries the curse before the full moon. It attaches to the men approaching their birthday. So where would everyone gather at the full moon?”

Dylan shot Sean a look. “The dais.” He looked back to her. “The dais was built by Solomon fifty years ago while he was with a witch.”

Sean rubbed at his head. “Shit. What was her name? Annette? He was with her for three years before he left her when his mate came of age. The curse started shortly after that.”

“Annette? Anabeth?” I asked. “One of Mom’s journals said she’s gone by many names starting with A N.”

“Probably. We need to prevent her from getting to the dais. There are wards we can set up. You’ll have to do most of the work, but I’ll pour as much magic into it as I can.”

“That should work, but we need to find where she’s hiding it.”

Sean nodded. “We have time. Next thirty-fifth birthday isn’t for two years.”

“Bradley,” I sneered. “Think he’ll start playing nice?”

A dark look passed through Dylan’s eyes. “Doubtful. And if he repeats his remark about you, he’ll be healing all over again.”

Sean growled. “What did the asshole say this time?”

Dylan shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

I agreed. “Nope. He can shove his opinion up his ass. If he comes at me again, I’m not putting him to sleep, but singeing his ass or worse.”

“I won’t stop you,” Dylan promised.

Sean sighed. “How’s your hand?”

I pulled the rag away. It had stopped bleeding and was already scabbing. “Fine.”

“And you aren’t tired this time?” Dylan asked cautiously.

Shrugging, I shook my head. “No.” Then I frowned, looking at Sean. “Why is that?”

My brother grinned. “My guess is it has to do with the mate bond. Mom said there were things she could do for Dad that took far less energy than it would another wolf.”

Dylan squeezed me tighter. “That’s a relief.”

My stomach growled, reminding me the last time I ate was breakfast. “Who’s hungry? I can order in.”

“Starved,” Dylan groaned.

“Thai?”

“Sounds good.”

Hopping up, I went to the kitchen to grab the menu from my favorite place. I already knew what Sean liked, so I handed it to Dylan.

The piece of rolled paper caught my attention. Picking it up, I read the words,
Press deep into the knot and the mouth opens.

“What the fuck?” I whispered.

Sean took the paper and frowned. Then his head tipped to the side. “There’s a wolf head built on the dais. But the knot?”

“It’s wooden, right? Maybe there’s a knot in the wood. Maybe Solomon made it a button?”

“Likely. We can find that when we get there.” Sean glanced at Dylan, who looked better. “You, my friend, need a shower.”

“Yeah, I could use one too. Don’t worry, we’ll make it fast while you order food. You know what I like, Sean.”

Sean groaned. “I don’t want to hear you two getting it on.”

“You could call Ashley,” I sing-songed and dashed up the stairs before Sean could make too much of a fuss.

Stepping into the bathroom, I stripped out of my scrubs and turned on the shower.

Dylan pulled me against his chest, pushing my hair to the side as he kissed my neck. “I’m sorry for waiting.”

I spun in his arms and pulled him into the shower. “Better be. Your call this morning worried me. The more I thought about you sick, the worse I felt.”

“I had time. You were busy helping a kid keep her leg. Could you have forgiven yourself if you left without doing what you do?”

“No.” I sighed. “Knowing I failed when I could have fixed it would have haunted me.”

“See, I already know you well. Watching you beat yourself up for something like that would have broken something in me.”

I leaned my head against his chest and my nose wrinkled. “Yeah, you need a shower. Here.” I grabbed the loofah and squeezed some body wash on it with a smirk. “Let me take care of you.” I gave him a quick, teasing scrub.

When I was done, I set aside the loofah and tried to climb out.

He pulled my back to his front and nibbled my ear. “I’m not done with you.” Dylan guided one hand to the wall while pulling my hips back before sliding into me.

“Dylan, Sean’s downstairs,” I protested, then he circled my clit with the pad of his finger and I moaned softly. “Fast, quiet. Need you.”

He didn’t disappoint and quickly brought me over the edge before following. Pulling me into his arms, he leaned against the wall. “Needed to remind you how much I need you.”

“I won’t ever forget. Now come on, before he gets grumpy we took too long.”

Dylan laughed. “Oh, he’s going to know what we were doing.”

“Don’t remind me.”

I hopped out and dressed in cotton shorts and a tank before going to Sean’s room where he still had a few changes of clothes. I brought Dylan a pair of sweats while he brushed his teeth. I usually bought my toiletries in bulk, so he found one of the extras.

“Don’t be long,” I told him before joining my brother.

Sean looked up and rolled his eyes. “Food will be here soon.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I asked, “How long was he sick for?”

He winced slightly. “I probably should have brought him sooner. He didn’t look right when we finished with work. He got sick nearly a day early. Couldn’t stop worrying, though, and went to check on him. The curse hit him hard and fast.”

“Why early?” I asked.

He shrugged, then a light went on when his eyes opened wide. “Sometimes right after a full moon the curse comes early. Why the fuck didn’t I think of that?”

“Before Christian, how long had it been?”

“Couple years.” He shrugged.

“But it didn’t keep spreading. Has no one ever left when they got sick? Or maybe left the pack before their birthday?”

“One guy ran a week before his birthday. He wasn’t well liked, but we never heard from him again. We all assumed he died.”

“Maybe we should contact him. Maybe he knows something about the curse. Maybe that’s why he left? Wouldn’t hurt to track him down. Worst case he’s no longer alive.”

He nodded. “You’re right. I’ll see if I can track him down.”

Dylan hurried down the stairs and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “How long before food’s here?”

“About anytime now.”

Dylan’s head popped up. “I bet our delivery is here now.”

I couldn’t help a laugh. “Keep that up and I’m going to feel inadequate.”

“Promise, nothing inadequate about you, sweetheart.”

Sean groaned as he pulled out his wallet, heading for the door.

I went to the kitchen to round up everything we needed while Sean dealt with the order.

Dinner was easy. After eating for a few minutes I looked over at Sean. “So in a little over two weeks I’m moving in with Dylan.”

“Good. He’s grumpy without you in his bed.” Sean shuddered. “Never going to get used to that.”

“Sure you will.” I winked.

“And I’m keeping the house. I’ll still consult out here from time to time, and if I’m going to be living in the Pine Barrens, I’m going to need a weekend here and there. You know, go out, shopping, hang with Rachel.”

Dylan frowned. “Think she’ll be okay with me after that night?”

“She doesn’t even remember what you did to make me leave. At least I convinced her Remy was a douchenozzle who brainwashed her.” I grinned at him. “After I told her about you, she warmed up again.”

“Even after I nearly hurt you?” he asked skeptically.

“You didn’t. Did I mention that ten minutes after Sean drove you away I wanted to call and beg him to bring you back?”