Page 28 of The Curse

Chapter Eight

Alastair stood outside Riker and Roman’s apartment building and squinted as he tried to see the top of the skyscraper from his lowly perch on the ground. From the information he’d collected on the Keegan twins, they each had their own penthouse on the seventy-sixth floor. Arrogant asses. Alastair wasn’t poor by any means, because a person didn’t live as long as he had, possess magical powers and not manage to squirrel away a nice, fat savings account. He just didn’t feel the need to flaunt his shit in front of the entire world like the Keegan assholes obviously did. Corbin Hargreaves was his hero, but the high witch was wrong about Riker being the yin to his yang. He’d hated Riker since his eighteenth birthday, and he suspected he’d hate Riker until the day he sucked in his last breath.

What could he say? Riker had that effect on him. Always had and always would. Whatever emotion he felt for Riker, it was strong. He either loved him—or hated him. For the past hundred years, he hadn’t been sure which one.

The fact that Riker lived in a penthouse on the seventy-sixth floor of the nicest apartment building in New York City was simply more kerosene for Alastair’s hate bonfire where hissupposedbeloved was concerned. Add to that the unpardonable nugget that both Riker and Roman were absolutely, positively fucking gorgeous and Alastair felt steam coming out both his ears. If he wasn’t so damned over-the-moon happy about Corbin still being alive, he would have begged his mentor to not make him participate in this particular visit.

Realizing he was just putting off the inevitable, he shrugged, gathered his magic, or at least what there was of it, to form a barrier around his ego, and strutted into the lavish building like he owned the place. He didn’t, and the Keegan twins did, but there was no reason to let himself be dragged down by the facts. His magic might not be as powerful as that of Riker’s and Roman’s, but he did the best he could with what he had. On top of that, he was besties with Corbin’s beloved. That had to rate him high on the importance food-chain, right?

Without pausing or asking directions, he moved straight to the private elevator that would lead to the twin’s penthouse floor. He felt their magic throughout the building and answered with some of his own. He was certain that he shouldn’t have been able to use the private elevator without some sort of special key or something as equally mundane, but used his magic to override the human barriers. As the elevator carried him upward, he felt his stomach twist and turn in what he could only describe as twisted tummy due to an extreme case of hatred. It couldn’t be anything else.

Against his better judgement, his mind traveled back to his eighteenth birthday, or as he thought of it—the day he started hating Riker. Roman and Riker, three years his senior, were graduating the training academy the year he started, and both twins were popular, powerful, and passionate. He’d envied them from the beginning, and while Roman was aloof and untouchable, he’d mistakenly thought Riker was the man of his dreams. The older witch had welcomed him on his first day on campus and had continued to lure him onto the dangerous ground of complacency with every seductive smile, sexy wink, or helpful idea on how to improve his magic. Being the fucking pushover he was, he’d fallen for the beautiful witch-hook, line, and sinker. Little by little, day by day, he’d fallen madly in love with Riker Keegan.

Three days before his eighteenth birthday, he’d finally succumbed to the witch’s charms and joined him for a night of frolic and fun in the bedroom. It wasn’t the first time he’d had sex with another man. No, he’d fucked and been fucked many times before Riker and many times after Riker. The problem for Alastair was that the one time with Riker Keegan had been the only time that his heart had participated. The first and the last time.

He’d been flying high from their night of bliss and hadn’t really focused on his training like he should have been. There had been a huge visual exam in one of his spellcasting classes, but instead of practicing the spell that had been issued to him, he’d been daydreaming about Riker. That, in itself, was bad enough. Add to that the fact that Riker had sneaked into his class that day and the situation became even worse. As Alastair had been in front of two hundred students, struggling with his inability to perform his task, Riker had cast a spell on him that made his clothes fall off and had left him standing naked in front of everyone. Naked and unable to cast. He’d become the laughingstock of the training school. Riker, the man who had stolen his heart, had laughed the loudest that day. Riker Keegan had broken him that day.

He’d broken his body, his soul, and, if Alastair was honest with himself, he’d broken his magic, as well. Both Riker and Roman had left the training academy the next day, yanked out by their parents after they heard what had happened, and his magic had stopped growing. Sure, he’d gone through the requirements of school and did the best he could, but he’d never shown the proper growth and improvement required by the academy. He’d been sent home during the early part of his third year due to his poor performance. He’d returned to a destroyed coven and, other than losing Corbin, he hadn’t really cared that most of the witches he’d grown up loving and admiring were gone. If they’d been there, he would have probably been the punchline of every joke.

When he’d told Nico that he could freeze time, he’d stretched the truth just a bit. He’d said he was successful about fifty percent of the time. In reality, he’d been successful one time.

He felt like such a fucking loser.

The elevator dinged, indicating that he’d reached his destination. Never in his life did he think he would have to face Riker Keegan again, but here he was, ready to swallow his pride and pretend like there wasn’t an ugly past between them. He could do this, right? Tell Riker and Roman that Corbin was alive and needed them back home. End of story. How difficult could it be?

The doors slid open, and he saw Riker standing there, propped up against the wall and watching him like a cat watched a mouse before pouncing on it. Riker looked as fucking beautiful as Alastair remembered. He literally felt the little bit of confidence he’d gained over the past few years melt into a messy puddle as he stepped off the elevator.

“Well, well, well,” Riker said with a smirk that twisted his handsome face into something incredibly ugly. “The rumor mill said that Roman and I would be getting a visit fromnaked-boy, but I didn’t believe it.” He stepped closer, closing the distance between them and getting right into Alastair’s personal space. “I would have sworn that you would have been too big of a pussy to show your face around here, Alastair Harlowe. Don’t you have a shred of pride in that cute little body of yours?” he asked as his eyes traveled down Alastair’s body in a way that made Alastair feel like he’d just been stripped naked and fucked rough. Not in a good way, either.

“Shut up, Riker,” he hissed as he took two steps back in an attempt to put some distance between them. Something felt off about Riker. He…smelleddifferent. “I see you haven’t changed a bit—still an asshole.”

“Ooh, that really hurts my feelings,” Riker teased. “Hey, do you remember that time I fucked you senseless and then ditched your pretty ass in front of the entire school?” He burst out laughing. “Ahhh, those were good times right there. Good, good times.”

He hated Riker but hated himself more because his ex-lover’s words and hateful attitude made him want to break down and sob. It was so fucking hard to believe that he’d once fancied himself in love with this man.

He sniffed the air again…and frowned. Riker’s magic had always smelled of toasted marshmallows. The magic aura around Riker now reeked of something rotten. Had he gone dark? He’d absolutely refused to follow Riker’s life in any way, so there was really no way for him to know what the last hundred years had brought to the other man’s life. He wrinkled his nose, smelling…warlock.

He took another step back. “What…what have you done, Riker?”

“Whatever do you mean, love?” Riker asked with a shit-eating grin. “Do I smell funny to you?” He raised his arm and sniffed his pit. “Nah, just a bit of masculine sweat,” he laughed. “You used to love it when I’d been working out. Not so much now?” he asked.

Accusing Riker of turning dark was out of the question. Actually, he didn’t give a fuck what Riker was. The other man meant nothing to Alastair. He was there to perform a task for his high witch and nothing more. “Corbin is alive, Riker. He wants you and Roman home as soon as possible. The other members of the coven have already returned to Marblehead. You and your brother can rejoin the coven or fuck off. I don’t much give a shit.”

There that sounded like he could care less about their past or their future. He was quite pleased with himself and his display of indifference. His heart was being ripped out, but Riker would never need to know it. He turned to get back on the elevator, but Riker blocked his escape. The other man wasn’t much larger than him, but his magic was powerful.

The magic wasblack. Riker was a warlock.

“Get out of my way, Riker,” he demanded.

Riker didn’t budge.

“Corbin wants us home, does he?” The warlock asked with a sinister smile. “That’s funny. You’ve got a message for me, and I’ve got a message for you.”

Alastair’s eyes jerked up to look at Riker’s, and when they turned black, he turned to run. What the fuck? Riker was an asshole, but Alastair would’ve never thought he would have turned into a warlock. Of course, he hadn’t thought he would strip him naked in front of his entire class either.

“Don’t run, my sweet Alastair,” Riker said in a voice laced with black magic.

Alastair felt his feet freeze as the black magic worked its way inside of him, rendering him helpless against its power. In desperation, he pulled up his own powers and tried to fight against the darkness. Nothing happened. It was as if his power never even existed.

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