Page 129 of The Prince's Curse

“The air is practically crawling with magic,” he said, pointing to the concrete barrier. “Stay put.”

Traffic was slowing around them, and she saw the trailer stopped a hundred yards down the road. Three cars lay on their sides across the interstate, leaving only the far left lane open. In the distance, she heard the wail of sirens.

Cold pierced through her belly, and she looked around in confusion. Red brake lights went dull dried-blood brown. The night pressed in, and the sky sheared in jagged lines of void-black, as if it was exposing the vast nothingness beyond what she could see.A loud horn blared, leaving her disoriented.

Strong arms wrapped around her as a heavy body tackled her to the concrete. Heat billowed over her face, and she dimly realized that the car was on fire a scant two feet away. Panic swept over her, but Misha said, “I’ve got you. It’s okay. Just stay close to me.”

Stealing a look up, she could see a shimmering red film, as if he’d blown a giant bubble around them.

“Get my phone out and call Paris,” he said. “Inside pocket.”

He was so annoyingly calm, as if he had no doubt that he was in control of the situation. Scarlett reached into his jacket pocket and found the phone, holding it up to his tense face to unlock it.

She quickly swiped to Paris Rossignol and called. Two rings later, an amiable voice answered. “Mon chou, I told you?—”

“It’s Scarlett,” she blurted.

“What happened?” Paris asked, his voice immediately snappy and cold. “Is he?—”

“I’m fine,” Misha said, his voice trembling. “We had a little accident. I need you to come and get us.”

“On my way,” Paris said.

After tucking Misha’s phone away, she stared at him blankly. “What do we do? Also, we are not fine.”

Misha flashed her a wry grin and looked up, still holding that powerful magical shield around them. “Stay close to me. We’re going up and over the side. Just leave the car.”

Holding her breath, she rose with him and tried not to look at the inferno consuming the once-shiny SUV. The smoke seemed too dark, with flickers of light inside. It had to be a trick of the light.

When they cleared the concrete barrier and hopped down to the nearest exit ramp, she let out a heavy sigh. Misha released the shimmering spell and sighed in response. “No offense, but you’re bad luck,” he said with a chuckle.

“The worst,” she agreed.

They paused under a streetlight at the end of the ramp, waiting for a crosswalk to get to a convenience store across the street. When they got to the empty parking lot, Misha took her hands and examined her scratched arms.

“That’s odd,” he murmured. “Look at the blood.”

She stared at the streaks on her arms. “It’s just blood.”

“Maybe,” he said. “I see a pattern.” With one trembling finger, he traced a circular sigil in the red lines, and she was stunned. When he completed the circle, the ground seemed to tremble beneath her for a moment, and she saw those awful gray tendrils wrapped around her, as if something was trying to consume her. She yanked her arm back, and he backed away.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s just fascinating.”

“You have a strange concept of what’s fascinating,” she said wryly.

He laughed. “Tell me about it. Let’s try not to die before our ride gets here.”

Chapter 31

If Julian worried that he could not be the Elder that Eduardo was, he had only to look at the mess that had just rolled onto the grounds of the Durendal compound to comfort himself. In the nearly four hundred years that Julian had known him, most of that as the court’s Elder, Eduardo Alazan had never dealt with a bloody smorgasbord of fuckery like this.

Curses and magic were one thing, and he was happy to leave that in Shoshanna and Misha’s hands. But incoming attacks, rogue vampires, and court chaos…that he could handle.

When word came of Shoshanna’s surprise visitor, he’d mobilized the court, diverting half of the standing Nightwatch to Midnight Springs to launch an ambush while bringing the others home to prepare. He hadn’t bothered giving Alistair an order back to the house, knowing he’d have fought tooth and nail to be with his mate. All things considered, Julian couldn’t object.

Instead, Alistair, Safira, and Rachel would meet Kova and the nearly-dead witch at Elsa Wolfe’s vacant building. It would have been a stupid trap to let herself get nearly killed just to get access to the court, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He’d given Safira orders to make sure that the witch turned and that Kova didn’t get any ideas about vengeance before they got information.

The rest of the court was on lockdown now, safely within the confines of the compound. All was well, at least until he got a call from Shoshanna saying they had lost Misha’s car on the interstate, followed by a call from Scarlett saying they’d had an accident.

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