Page 91 of Cursed to Be Mine
Gods, she’s beautiful.
My smile stills in a split second when her eyes widen and she falls back, the fabric tripping up her feet.
Her arms flail.
My hands move.
Magic catches her before she can crack her head open on the bathtub, and not liking the close call, I cast another spell, pulling her into sleep.
Her eyes close. The lid drops to the floor with a loud thud.
Climbing to my feet, I look down at her half-floating in the air. I wanted to bring her home in a state of happiness. I wanted to gift her with the family she never had and watch the smile light up her eyes, knowing she was loved by all of them, not just me.
She deserves the world.
And instead, she’s going to wake up in a new place.
Terrified and uncertain about why she’s there.
Running a hand through my hair, I try to think of a better solution.
But there isn’t one.
Derek is dead.
The WALL will suspect her if she’s left alive.
Antonio is hunting her, knowing we’ve bonded.
Dropping my hand, I lean down and scoop her up into my arms. My muscles strain even with the aid of my magic. Pain rips across my body, begging me to drop her, but I don’t. I need to hold her.
My vision narrows as the agony is almost too much, and I stand still for a long moment as I wrestle with the broken ribs and open wounds that have started bleeding again beneath the strain. Thank the gods, themagic aimed for my neck. If I had to pull out the knife before dealing with it, I would be dead just like Derek.
Gritting my teeth, I take a step forward. A wet heat slides down my side from where Derek stabbed me.
Clenching my jaw tighter, I keep going.
Once our blood bond is complete, I can put her in my shadow, but as it stands now, doing so will kill her. There arethingslurking inside that place, twisted disfigures of magic that attack anything with a heat signature. Even cars that are put inside right after running will be pulled out with claw and teeth marks in the metal, the windows shattered, the frame distorted and crumpled. My and my brothers’ genetic magic allows us to travel the pitch-black domain, keeping us safe from such things. But anything we put inside it isn’t given the same protection.
She needs more of my blood running through her veins first.
So I take another step as sweat beads down my naked body. Growing pains explode with every foot gained. Ragged breaths are sucked in between broken ribs as I make my way to the front door.
The sun is up, but the street is quiet, so I open the door with a push of magic, then pull out a car from my shadow.
After putting her in the passenger seat, I turn back to the house. My hands rotate as magic builds between my fingers. The rune beside the knife wound glows red, then fades again.
The spell cast, I settle into the driver’s seat, shimmy into the clothes I pull out of my shadow, and drive off. I make it to the end of the road, then glance in my rearview mirror. Orange flames are just starting to flicker out of the windows. It’ll act like a normal fireand be put out the same, but it will consume Derek’s body within minutes. The cops will assume he wasn’t home when it caught fire. They’ll list him as a missing person on official reports.
Glancing at my girl as she fidgets in her sleep, I reach over and grab her hand.
“I’m sorry it happened like this,kira,” I say, kissing the back of it. “But we can be together now, no obstacles in our way.”
Settling her hand on my lap, I drive my girl home.
“Khalid’s gone and kidnapped her!” Maddox shouts, his head poking out of an upstairs window as I get out of the car. It’s not even six-thirty, and the little shit is already being a nuisance.
Ignoring him, I open the passenger door and unbuckle her seat belt.
