Page 67 of The Vampire's Mate

“Good.” I nudged him to lie down and reclaimed my spot on his chest. I relaxed in his hold, tracing lazy shapes over his belly with my finger and smiling when he squirmed. “You’re ticklish?”

“Yes,” he laughed, stilling my hand. “And it’s ten times as intense as when I was human—don’t even think about it.”

“I’m not thinking about anything! Just filing that away for later.”

James brought our tangled fingers to his mouth, brushing kisses across my fingertips. “You are nothing but trouble, Ryder Clark.”

I fought the flutters in my stomach. “Good thing you love me then.”

Damn, that smile…

I nuzzled into his neck, pressing kisses to the skin there. He hummed in pleasure.

“Do we have to go back to Salem?” I whispered against his skin. “Can’t we stay here in our happy little bubble forever?”

“I wish we could, love.” James kissed my hair. “But there’s something we need to take care of.”

That had me sitting up. “What’s wrong?”

James pushed himself up as well, reaching for the nightstand. “I was in my office last night, and noticed that something looked strange. That copy ofDraculayou’ve been reading was sticking out farther than the others.” He fished through his wallet, then offered something to me. “This was stuck between the pages.”

He dropped the object into my hand—it was a diamond. The smallest I’d ever seen, no bigger than a pinhead. The sun streaming through the windows caught on the clear gem, making it sparkle in my hand. It was stunning, but I felt a sense of unease wash over me as I looked at it. “What is it?”

“I’m assuming you weren’t using that as a bookmark then.”

‘That’d be one expensive bookmark.”

James was silent for a moment. “Have you felt odd the last week or so?”

I scoffed; that was the understatement of the century. “Yeah, I’ll say.”

“Like you’ve been on edge for no reason? Or maybe like you’ve been having the worst luck ever?” I nodded along with him, but all thoughts of sliced fingers or chewed-through phone chargers vanished with what came out of his mouth next. “I think we’ve been cursed.”

“Cursed?” I demanded. James only nodded in response. His eyes were far away, deep in thought. “Is that better or worse than hunters who want you dead?”

“That depends on who placed it.”

What does this tiny thing have to do with a curse?”

“It’s a conduit.” James pushed himself from the bed and started toward the dryer calling out behind him. “In order for a curse to be most effective, it needs to be present at all times. Meaning that whoever put this on us left something behind to keep it going—a conduit. Without one, the person would have to trail you around at all times, which is sure to get suspicious.”

I captured the diamond between my thumb and forefinger, holding it up to the light. “Thisis carrying a curse?”

“Part of it.” James re-entered the room, tossing my dry clothes on the bed and stepping into his clean jeans.

“What do you mean ‘part of it?’”

“I’ve been feeling everything you have. It’s why I’ve felt the need to be with you every second of every day lately. Being apart from you has been killing me, and it’s got nothing to do with the bond. Curses like this one plague the owner of the conduit. When that diamond was placed at the bar, I became its owner. If you’ve been feeling it too, that likely means there’s one at your house as well.”

“Myhouse?” I fought to disentangle myself from the sheets. “You mean wheremy daughteris currently staying?”

James halted me by placing his hands on my shoulders. “Relax, love. Curses are targeted. There’s no reason to suspect that Hannah is in any danger.”

He freed me from the sheet and helped me find my feet.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We get home and find that object. Then I take it and destroy it.”

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