Page 21 of The Curse

Morgan was behind it all. It had been Morgan who had caused Nico to betray Corbin. And Corbin, wherever he was and whatever physical state he was in, had thought Nico killed himself following their argument. Morgan had been correct—Corbin had been weakened by his grief from losing Nico. On top of all that shit, those fucking rocks had hurt like a motherfucker.

That bitch was so fucking dead.

Angrily, I stood up and stomped my way back toward the house. Energy, stronger than I’d ever felt before, flowed through me. I could see a glow radiating from my body and my fingers sparked with power. Alastair was correct. I had no idea how to control my powers. I didn’t know how to call upon my inner witch, or cast spells, or protect myself. The only thing I knew was that I was fucking pissed and she wasn’t going to win.

I stomped up the stairs and paused in front of the door that had zapped me into Never-Never land a while ago. Unskilled, however, didn’t mean I was completely without weapons.

I pushed my hands in front of me and cast the only “spell” I knew.

“You mother fucking bitch! It’s time to pay for your sins.”

Fire flew from my fingertips, and the biggest part of the front wall exploded. Like an idiot, I closed my eyes and blocked my face with my hands. When the dust settled, the front doors were still standing tall and strong. The windows that had lined the front entrance stood firm. The walls surrounding the doors and windows, however, were blown to smithereens.

“Take that, bitch,” I muttered as I walked through a portion where the wall used to be. Nothing happened, not even a twinge of pain.

As I stepped into what used to be Corbin’s living room, I felt invincible.

Three hours later, I was so frustrated that I wasn’t sure if I should cry, cuss, or build a blanket fort. I’d combed every inch of the magnificent fortress. I’d sensed Corbin in every room, every corner and crevice. I could fucking smell him, and I wasn’t even sure how I would know what his scent was. I even felt Nico’s presence, stronger than ever and residing deep inside of me.

He was there…but he wasn’t. He was with me. But not entirely.

See me. Corbin’s voice called inside my head.See me, Nico.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” My head swiveled around the study. Everything was just as Corbin had left it that day. I walked over to his oversized desk and looked at the aged papers. There were handwritten spells that he’d been working on. There were notes from the last meeting the coven had held. I smiled. There were notes of Alastair’s training progress that his mother had given during the meeting. Next to the update, Corbin had written: “This one will be important.” Alastair would bask in that tidbit of info…if I could ever share it with him.

“Where are you?” I whispered to the empty house.

My favorite place. The voice answered plain as day in my head, nearly causing a yelp of surprise to tumble out of my mouth. My eyes darted around the room, certain he was there somewhere if I could just open my fucking eyes and see him. His favorite place. His favorite place. The problem was, I wasn’t Nico—not really. I didn’t know where his favorite place was.

I paused. What would any man’s favorite place be? Well, any man before man-caves had been invented. The bedroom…where he fucked. I was probably way off base, but since my options were limited to, well, absolutely none, I decided to give it a try. I left the study and raced up the curved staircase, stumbling a couple of times in my haste.

From the spot inside my head, I heard Corbin’s husky laughter.I’m excited, too, my love. Come to me.

“Well, stop hiding then, asshole,” I answered loud enough for him to hear, regardless of what space Morgan had locked him in.

The laughter grew louder.

It was strange how I was already in love with Corbin Hargreaves. I’d never really seen him face to face, never held him except in dreams, but I was in love. Madly in love. Like, fairytale love. The kind of love I’d never believed in before setting foot in Marblehead. That was the love I felt for Corbin.

I love you, too, Nico. The voice answered.I’ve waited so damned long for you to find your way back to me again.

“Stop getting inside my head!” I yelled. “That’s rude. I might be thinking inappropriate thoughts.” I opened his bedroom door for the second time that night and peeked inside. Everything was exactly as it had been the first time I’d scoured it from head to toe…the same as it had been a hundred years ago. And a hundred years before that. Corbin was meticulously tidy. There wasn’t even any dust, because of the spell Morgan had cast.

I hope you’re thinking inappropriate thoughts. The voice answered and was accompanied by yet another husky chuckle.It’s been a while and I’ve missed your body. I miss how well you fuck me. I miss those lovely sounds you make right before you come. I miss how your bright blue eyes turn midnight blue when you’re wanting me to touch you. Hell, Nico. I miss everything about you. I’m so sorry for the things I said. I didn’t mean them. I was angry. Hurt. Confused. I never stopped loving you. Not that night and not in the thousands of nights since then.

I felt my blood rush straight to my cock. Straight. To. My. Cock. I’d never had sex with a man in my life, never really thought I would want to. I fucking wanted to have sex with Corbin.

Now.

I searched the entire room again, looking in places where common sense told me there was no reason to look. Seriously, did I really think Morgan had trapped Corbin under the bed for a hundred years? Nah, probably not. Nearly an hour had passed since I’d entered the bedroom and I’d made zero progress. And with every minute that passed, I was growing closer to death at the hands of Morgan Goodheart.

No! She willnotwin, Nico. Don’t even think it. I won’t allow Morgan to hurt you. This time the voice in my head was even louder. So loud, I looked around the room, expecting to see Corbin standing there.

So, he knew of the curse. She’d probably flaunted that in front of him, mocking him every time she killed a Bailey descendant. I remembered then that he’d been through this twice before with other reincarnated versions of Nico. They had found their way to him too, only to eventually be thwarted by Morgan again.

Third time’s a charm, they say.

My head turned to look at the large mirror that covered one entire wall—the wall adjacent to the bed. Smiling, I wondered if Nico had ever watched Corbin fuck him through that mirror. Had Nicodemus been a kinky slut like me?

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