Page 31 of A Hunter Cursed
Still not one-hundred percent satisfied with what she’d come up with by the time she pulled into the facility’s parking lot, Keegan grimaced and muttered a quiet, “Fuck it,” as she got out of the car. Here she was racking her brain for the right words and she had no idea if Cam was even here. She’d find out in a minute, she supposed.
If the singing she heard, as she opened the door, was anything to go by, the angel was definitely here. Keegan had to bite back her laughter as99 Bottles of Beerechoed through the empty hallways of the training center. Following that voice, she found the angel, wings on full display, in the industrial kitchen, building a pyramid of empty beer bottles, and while the number hadn’t yet reached the quantity in the song, it was still an impressive display.
Clearing her throat to cut in before he started the next verse, she said, “Mister Strong?”
The angel didn’t seem at all surprised to see her. “Cam, please,” he said with a lopsided smile, motioning her forward. “Surnames are something used in this realm, not mine, and I’m still not used to having one.”
Nodding her head toward the pyramid of empty bottles, Keegan asked, “I take it angels can’t get drunk?”
“Not on anything you have on this side of the veil.”
While she’d had every intention of intruding on his solitude whether he liked it or not, she still asked, “Care for some company?”
Waving his hand to indicate the metal work table that was holding up his pyramid, he told her, “Have a seat.”
“You know why I’m here?”
The angel raised a brow, his mouth quirking up on one side as his silver eyes glinted. “Foresight is Bath’s forte,” he paused meaningfully before adding, “and yours. But I’m very good at guessing, and honestly, I expected you earlier.”
Carefully pulling herself onto the table without disturbing the precisely stacked bottles, Keegan pressed, “So, you’ll tell me then?”
“First,” Cam began, pulling out another long-neck bottle from a cooler he must have stashed beneath the table and handing it to her, “tell me why you want to know.”
“I dreamed of you,” she told him, accepting the beer, and twisting off the cap. “Well, I dreamed of three of you. In a church. You came alive from the stained-glass windows. Wings of bronze, wings of black, wings of white.”
Cam nodded, then took a long pull of his beer, almost completely draining it in one go. “The bronze wings belong to Zeph, the white wings are Bath’s.”
“And the church? Where is it? I’ve never been able to find it.”
“There was no church,” he told her gently. “We took your memories child, but slivers of that night, mere glimpses will sometimes come through in dreams.” He shrugged. “It’s a side-effect. The setting, most likely, was one your subconscious supplied that made sense of our presence.”
Keegan was still trying to wrap her head around the ‘we took your memories’ part of his statement, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Sputtering, she finally managed to get out, “Why would you take my memories?”
“You were hysterical at the time, close to collapse at what you’d seen that night. We did it to help you.”
“Whatdid I see that night?” she demanded.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
Keegan didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Ineedto know.”
Cam let out a long sigh and grudgingly conceded. “Very well.”
It was like a box in her brain had been opened, memories spilling out, memories that turned her stomach. Had she eaten anything before coming here, she would have lost it all over the floor. As it was, she still found herself hunched over, dry heaving hard as she recalled every horrific moment of that night.
“Easy,” she heard the angel say, his hand coming down on her back to rub soothing circles. “Just breathe.” A moment passed as Keegan inhaled and exhaled loudly before Cam continued speaking. “Being chased by a demon, seeing angels, it was all too much for you, little one. You see now why we chose to relieve you of the burden.”
Yes, she’d been hysterical that night, and yes, the angels had thought to help, but what they didn’t realize was, that by taking those memories, they’d also taken the moment of clarity she’d had that night regarding Evangeline Duvalier’s true nature. The level of the woman’s deceit. She had betrayed Keegan. Used her, manipulated her, and then left her at the mercy of a demon Keegan had unwittingly summoned with foolish words prompted by Evangeline’s encouragement so that the witch could steal the demon’s powers.
It had been Evangeline who had first seeded the idea in Keegan’s head that she was cursed. Evangeline, who had not only been a mentor, but also someone Keegan had considered a friend. A friend she’d gone to after she’d learned her crush, AJ had broken his neck in a fall. It had been Evangeline’s shoulder Keegan had cried on. “So much death surrounds you, child,” Evangeline had crooned. “Your parents, this boy. It is the price of your gifts I think,” she had solemnly told Keegan. “A curse.”
And Keegan had believed the older woman. She’d believed in what Evangeline had told her despite Jourdain’s reassurances, despite all assurances from her foster family, despite not being able to see a manifestation of that curse through any spell. A curse had explained so much, and Evangeline would never lie to her. She was her friend.
Keegan also learned that night that It had been Evangeline who had caused the hit and run that had killed Chris. She had also killed Justin, all to manipulate Keegan. God, that last one especially had been devastating. Keegan had been so in love with Justin, so hopeful, and she had wanted to create a perfect night, but her cooking skills being limited, she had jumped on Evangeline’s offer to cook a meal for their romantic evening. Evangeline had poisoned Justin’s dinner, a slow-acting one that wouldn’t be immediately attributed to the food, something that would kick into effect later. He’d convulsed so horribly in Keegan’s bed from whatever concoction Evangeline had used. The woman that Keegan had trusted above all others, had killed Justin, and then taken advantage of Keegan’s distraught state to reinforce the curse narrative.
Evangeline warned her that giving up her power was the only way to end the curse and Keegan had swallowed the lie, had even begged her mentor to help her, teach her what she needed to know. Evangeline had coached her on what to say, what to do, and desperate for an end to the misery, Keegan hadn’t hesitated to call out the words that had drawn the demon.
She recalled everything about that night now. Sick with fear and self-loathing, Keegan had summoned a demon to her, screaming to the sky, “I’d give anything to be rid of this power!”
