Cursed Vengeance (21 page)

Sierra bent down next to it, pulling out the dagger and the small piece of paper that was in the box with it. The time had come to end the curse once and for all.

Sierra

The field hummed with energy. Wild and feral. A dark energy vibrated from underneath, coming from the dais itself. My skin crawled from the intrusive sensation.

A wolf head sat atop the dais, carved from the same wood, resembling a podium. A cursory glance presented no knot, so I worked my way around the platform, searching for any sign of imperfection in the wood.

Nothing, the surface had been sanded and polished to perfection, leaving no discernible knot.

Stumped, I sat back on my heels, glaring at the gleaming wood. “There has to be something.”

Dylan ran his hands over the wood, searching.

Sean stood off to the side, scratching his chin like some wise sage. “What else could the knot be? Can we flip it over?”

Frowning, Dylan looked at Sean. “Maybe?”

“We could try. None of us can find any sign of knot in the wood. Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place.”

I stepped back to watch the two of them heave it up onto its side, holding it in place.

There was a rope knot in the very center, as if rope looped through the wood and tied on the surface.

Arching my brow, I pressed deep. The knot unraveled until the pieces came loose. The creak startled me, and I scrambled back as Dylan and Sean carefully lowered the slab of wood.

The wolf’s head now pointed to the sky, the mouth open as if howling at the moon. Light reflected back, but I couldn’t see what caused it. I reached in and pulled out a black crystal. The curse hummed within, my skin crawling as I set the blade on the dais.

Giving Sean and Dylan a look, I nodded to the edge of the clearing. “Step back. Let me handle this.”

“You know what to do?” Sean asked with an arched brow.

“Yes, now stand away from it, and I’ll do my thing.” Hoping I wouldn’t fuck it up. “Afterward, we can build a perimeter to keep them from coming back.”

Sean grabbed Dylan’s shoulder and dragged him back. “For your own good.”

Dylan growled, but backed to the edge of the clearing.

I closed my eyes and held the dagger, imagining my mother.
Wish you were here.

So do I, baby,
my mother whispered in my head
. Draw the curse out and destroy it like you did with Sean and Dylan.

Nodding, I dropped my attention to the crystal and drew the spell out. It was stronger than the curse I took from either Sean or Dylan. This was the undiluted spell. It felt more like what I did to Remy.

The spell came easily, but tried to move toward the only two werewolves in the place. I wove the spells, curling my hand around it and grabbed the dagger, stabbing the curse. A small prick pierced my palm.

Blood flowed from my hand, spinning around as if the wind picked it up and threw it into a cyclone around me. An ungodly screech echoed through the forest, the wind kicking, swirling around so hard I couldn’t see past the cyclone of black essence, before it all converged on the knife and everything fell silent.

My chest heaved as I stared at the now crystal dagger.

Dylan spun me toward him, wrapping my bleeding hand with his. “Again? You need to be more careful,” he snapped.

“Think the blood is part of the spell,” I answered lamely. My knees gave out and Dylan went fuzzy before everything slipped away in a thick mist that rolled in from nowhere.

Mom appeared before me with a radiant smile as she wrapped her arms around me so tight I had a hard time breathing. “So proud of you, babydoll. You were always the answer.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I squeezed back, missing her so bad I wished this wasn’t some hazy dream from exhaustion. “There’s still another pack with the same sort of curse. Only this one is targeting the females. I’m not done yet.”

“Of course you aren’t. You and Sean have to stop my mother, together. One day, I’ll see you again.” She faded away.

Sean chanted above me. Dylan’s heartbeat lured me into consciousness. I opened my eyes as a tear fell down my face.

Dylan swept it away. His intense gaze locked on mine. “You scared me.”

A smile pulled at my lips. “Same thing happened after I fixed Sean.”

“Not with me,” he pointed out. “Thought maybe the first time was because the magic was new.”

Sean squeezed my shoulder, then took my hand. “She’s not even bleeding now. Chill, Dylan. And she didn’t pass out when she cured you because it’s easier for her to fix you than anyone else. It’s part of the mate bond. Besides, I think this took more magic than when she took the curse from either of us.”

“Then should you really be fucking around with a perimeter right now?”

“I gave her a dose of my energy to refuel her own. Give her a minute and she’ll bounce back. I should have done it after she cured me, but I didn’t honestly expect to survive.”

Grabbing Dylan’s head, I brought his lips to mine for a kiss. Then I looked into his eyes. “I’m fine. And I really don’t want to have to repeat this if they come back before I get that spell up.”

He growled. “Fine. I don’t like seeing you like that, though.”

I grinned at him. “Put me down so I can cast this spell, then you can take me to breakfast.” I patted his chest.

Reluctantly, he set me down.

Turning to Sean, I asked, “So, what do we need to do?”

“Pour salt, burn some incense, chant a spell. The witches won’t come back. Because we cast it, we’ll be the only two who can cross the line.”

“And there’s nowhere else the witches would hide such a thing?”

Sean shook his head. “No. In fact, I’m willing to bet Ashley’s pack has something similar. Our lands are protected through spells, but our meeting area borders the edge of our hunting grounds.”

“Why?”

“There’s a book at home, one you should probably look at. It was Solomon’s journal. The one who made the dais, the one who was with Annette before she disappeared. I think your theory is right. The curse started shortly after Solomon left her for his mate.”

I followed Sean’s directions and chanted the spell as I followed him around a large circle. As soon as he poured the last of the salt, connecting the end of the line to the front, my knees gave out as wards snapped into place.

Sean spun toward me, slumping to his hands and knees. “Feel that?”

“Yeah. We wanted that, right?”

He nodded. “I’ve never felt anything this strong, besides maybe at our grandmother’s shop.”

Dylan walked toward us, his eyes wide. “That was impressive. And it’s not like the shop.” He snapped a look at Sean. “This feels…clean. Not dark and overbearing.”

I frowned, then my mouth dropped open. “You left what was left of Remy at the shop, didn’t you?”

Sean nodded. “It’s a damned good warning.”

“Shit. Okay, yeah.” I took a deep breath. “I’m hungry, but if I think about that I won’t want to eat.”

Dylan smiled. “Anything else we need to do here? Or can I take her home?”

Sean sighed loudly. “You can take her home.”

“I’m going to have to go to work tomorrow. You know that, right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He looked over at Sean. “Think you can live without me for a few days?”

“Yeah. All our projects should be good for the rest of the week. I’ll check what we need.” Sean hugged me before patting Dylan on the back. “I need to make a phone call. Go on without me.”

“Love you, Sean.”

“Get some rest before you make your way back to Philly.”

“Of course,” I sing-songed, then dragged Dylan back to the cars.

He scooped me up and ran, faster than I could have ever moved, until we got to the cars. Dylan snagged my keys out of my pocket and deposited me in the passenger seat.

“Hey, I can drive!” I snapped, and he shut the door on me.

I scrambled over the console and slid into the driver seat as he opened the door. “I’m fine. Hungry, but I’m driving
my
car. Now give me my keys.”

He laughed. “Fine, you proved your point.” Leaning down, he gave me a quick kiss and dropped my keys into my hand before going back around to slip into the passenger side.

“You know,” he murmured, “you’re stubborn.”

“And you mated me,” I teased.

A few minutes later, I pulled into the diner we ate at where all hell broke loose. Part of the reason was fast food. The other, I wanted to see their reaction when another of their wolves was alive and well, who shouldn’t be.

Stupid or not, I wanted to know if I was going to have to watch my back every second.

Dylan shook his head. “Feisty. You sure you want to do this?”

“Positive. Want to prove the curse is history.”

“Now that Sean’s alive most of the wolves are on your side. But there are a few who may never accept you, Sierra.”

“As long as they don’t give me shit, I don’t care. Yours and Sean’s are the only opinions that matter. I don’t have to win everyone over.”

I hopped out, hoping he followed without an argument. I really was hungry, and as long as he behaved, I would let him drive because now I was sleepy.

Dylan caught up and slipped his arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder until we stepped up to the door. He pushed past me, swinging it wide with a grin.

Relaxing, I took a seat by the window, and Dylan scooted in beside me. “Want you close,” he murmured, wrapping me in his arm again.

Someone walked up to the table with a grin. “Dylan, good to see you up and moving around. Does that mean it’s over?”

He nodded. “It is. All thanks to Sierra. The curse is over for good.”

The stranger smiled at me. “Would you introduce me to our savior?”

Dylan nodded. “Will, meet Sierra. Sierra, this is our pack healer. He’s a vet too.”

I held my hand out with a smile. “Good to meet you.”

“You don’t know how happy I am to meet you, Sierra. You saved this joker, and your brother. I have to believe that means you’ll save us all.”

Half a laugh escaped. “My day job is a doctor. I don’t think I could sit by and let someone die if I could fix it.”

Tracey came over and gave Will a smile. “Let me take their order, and you can get back to chatting.”

Will nodded, moving off to the side.

“What would you like, honey?” she asked me.

I put my order in and so did Dylan before she went to get our drinks.

Will looked at the opposite booth. “May I?”

Dylan nodded, but his eyes narrowed.

Will sat down and addressed me. “How would you feel about helping the wolves if they’re hurt worse than I can handle?”

I shrugged. “If they’re willing to come to me, I’ll treat them. Some of them won’t, that’s fine. Others will. I’m fine with that too.”

“Even someone who tried to start something with you, with Dylan, with Sean?”

“Bradley?”

Will nodded. “His leg was busted worse than I thought. He’s still limping, hurting. I’m not sure I can talk him into seeing you, don’t even know how that would work, but he needs some help.”

“Talk to him. I’m willing if he is.”

“Thank you. For everything. I’ll let you eat.” He dipped his head, sliding from the booth.

Dylan turned to me. “You really would help Bradley?”

My lips pursed. “Yeah, I would. And considering he hates me, I doubt he takes me up on the offer. If he does, maybe he’ll learn witches aren’t out to get him.”

“Yeah, okay. You have a point.”

“So after this, you want to go home for a little while? Before I have to go back to my house?”

“Am I invited to your house?”

Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah, I want you there.” I took a long breath, getting lost in those golden hazel eyes. “You might want to follow me back. I will have a busy few days, and I don’t expect you to stay when I’m working.”

“We’ll see. I’d like to be home when you get there.”

“Before we go back I do want a nap.”

“You got it, babe. We’ll drive back to your place after some sleep.”

I leaned into Dylan with a smile. “I can’t wait for things to settle down. Now maybe we can get to know each other properly. It’s been a whirlwind.”

“That’s how it works for us. I knew right away what you are to me,” he murmured.

“Yeah, but I didn’t know it could be like that. I wasn’t expecting you to come along and knock down all my expectations about love. Hell, I’m not sure I believed in real love. Until you came along and got all growly and intense.” I giggled. “I wasn’t sure if I should like that or run screaming.”

“And now, what do you think?”

“Love it, love you. I’m ready to finally get to know you, learn more about you, all of that.”

“We have all the time in the world now. Maybe tonight or even tomorrow, we’ll go on a real date.”

“I’d love that.”