Page 68 of Cursed to Be Mine
Embarrassment and shame erases the heat.
Khalid ducks his head to get back in my line of sight. “Talk to me, beautiful.”
My chest squeezes over the way he’s looking at me. As if he really means it, and for a brief second, he erases Ma’s voice.
But he can’t compete with twenty-two years of lessons.
“I need to see her,” I say.
He studies me for a second, then steps to the side so I can go through the door Vlad’s still holding open. I glance at the cop, then quickly away, his cold glare giving me chills. If he didn’t like me as a suspect before, he definitely does now. Who makes out right before identifying their ma?
My stomach churns as I walk over to the largewindow looking into the medical examiner’s room, Khalid right behind me. Two metal tables on wheels each hold a corpse under a blue sheet. I try to guess which one is my ma.Probably the one with the woman beside it.
The medical examiner, wearing a disposable blue gown, hair cap, and gloves waits beside the table on the right.
I tense as Vlad steps in and closes the door behind us. Crossing the small area, he opens the door leading into the coroner’s office.
“Ms. Davis,” Vlad says as he gestures me in. I swallow and move towards him. The chill of the room seeps into my bones.
Stopping beside the table the medical examiner is at, I look down at the corpse. Ma seems to be relatively whole, no missing lumps beneath the blue sheet.Maybe it wasn’t wolves.
I breathe out slowly as the medical examiner reaches to reveal my mother’s face.
Khalid tenses beside me. Vlad staggers with a hand to his heart, hissing in a sharp breath, and I look up at him. The ME stills, her eyes going to Vlad before darting to Khalid. Her lips twitch, and the fabric bunches in her fists. “Are you okay?” she asks Vlad softly, but there’s a growl to her words.
“I’m fine. It’s just heartburn. Pull it back.” He winces again, his palm still pressed against his chest.
“Are you su–”
“Do it, Moira.”
She pulls it back, and for a moment, I don’t look down, my eyes now on Moira’s face. Her pale skin is flawless and free of makeup. Her soft blue eyes look almost purple. They glance up at me, and I realize I’msupposed to be looking down.
My gaze falls as if in slow motion.
Then I’m staring at my ma – her face torn apart by claws.
Werewolves.
Silence blisters in my ears.
They managed to find her.
By following us or by tracking our scent long after we left the woods?
Does it matter?
They found her. They know where I live. It’s only a matter of time before they find me.I need to find Derek.
I stare at the open gashes, and the thought that I can finally ‘see into her mind’ overwhelms me with the want to giggle. This is the closest we’ll ever be to understanding each other.
I press a hand to my mouth as I roll my lips in, trying really hard not to laugh.Don’t do it, Gen.
“Do you know this woman?” Vlad asks, his deep voice echoing around my skull.
I stare into Ma’s one remaining eye. She doesn’t look so scary now – doesn’t look like someone I need to hide my food from, my boyfriends, my passions.
She looks old, and I love that she doesn’t look peaceful.
