Page 92 of Cursed to Be Mine
“Yo, Rudy wants to know if she passed out after seeing your ugly dick!”
A thump sounds from the upstairs window.
“Sorry, mistranslated!” Maddox continues brightly, not needing any fucking encouragement. “He wants to know if she passed out after you told her his dick was –”
He yelps this time, Rudy most likely having hit him.
I swirl my shadows around another car, the one I drove needing to cool down before it can enter that domain, and head for the house with my girl in my arms. As I near the door, Maddox topples onto the pavement in front of me.
He wheezes as he stares up at the sky, a shit-eating grin still on his face. Stepping over him, I call out toRudy, “Thanks.”
He raps on the window. “My pleasure.”
Maddox laughs in between winces of pain as the door opens to show Mother.
Her eyes narrow on my face, no doubt noticing the pale coloring of my cheeks and the sweat on my brow.
“I’ll get Leno to make a tea,” she says, stepping back to allow me entry. I turn sideways so I don’t knock Scarlett into the frame, then follow her through the house. She splits off towards the kitchen as I head for the stairs, my body screaming with every step. My palms grow damp, and I shift her to try to relieve some of the pain from my wounds.
They flare stronger. I grit my teeth.
Standing on the landing, Krypto wags his tail as he noses my girl. Leno pulls on a black shirt, stifling a yawn. “Next time, kidnap her in the middle of the fucking day,” he says as I pass.
With a wave of my fingers, I open my bedroom door. It’s bare of everything but a bed and a small bedside table, me not being one for material things. After removing the covers, I place her down on the bed. Pain rips through my body as I straighten, and I want to drop on top of the blue sheets beside her.
But first I need a shower.
I look down at the wound in my side. It’s still bleeding, which explains the dizziness rushing through my skull. My vision blurs for a moment when I press a hand firmly on top of it. The smell of burning flesh accompanies the spell I use to ‘heal’ myself.
Rolling my shoulders, my muscles protesting, I pick up the blanket and place it over Scarlett. She will sleep for another hour or so. The magic needs to come out of her system on its own; forcing her to wake will hurther.
Tucking the blanket up to her chin, I lean down and kiss her forehead.
Straightening, I grab one of the five sets of clothes out of my closet, then head for a shower. Varius steps out of his bedroom further down the hall, and the look in his eyes has me bypassing the bathroom and entering his room.
It’s just the two of us inside. Micha sleeps downstairs, not trusted to be beside him when he’s vulnerable. Even I don’t get that honor.
“What is it?” I ask, neither one of us keen on small talk.
Glancing at me, he shuts the door, then seals us in a ward of silenceby activating the rune I carved into his door years ago.The hairs on my neck rise.
“There’s another traitor,” he says, his voice flat, his eyes empty.
The pain inside me fades as adrenaline kicks through my system. “How do you know?” It isn’t an accusation, a display of disbelief. It’s a simple need to know the facts so I can do my job as reaper.
“Aleric told me yesterday. He won’t accept the deal to be allies unless we deal with it.” For any deal they make will be instantly broken if Varius got killed.
“Does he know who?” I ask.
“No. Someone just reported an anonymous tip about a witness seeing you arrive at the hotel after Hannah Davis’ murder.”
The fucking coward who tried to bang on her door.
“Was there anyone else in the hall?” he asks.
I study him, knowing he would’ve checked the security tapes before bringing this up. “No.”
“You didn’t sense anyone watching?”
