Page 38 of The Curse of Eternity
“Did you just say ‘lycans?’” I stared up at Ezra, my eyes wide while bile climbed up my throat. Ezra just looked back like I was an idiot, and apparently, I was. That’s why they seemed human, blood the same color as mine, and could move that big hunk of metal armor with such ease. Except, a werewolf’s strength was only slightly superior to a human’s unless on the full moon. Plus, the way that they were transformed… It was an ugly process.
A bite from a werewolf could turn another person, like a disease spread through saliva and infected blood into a wound. Nothing like us or the Tsosies, who’d been born with our abilities. Werewolves had beencreatedby Dracula and his sorcerers to act as their mindless puppet warriors. Their only will, once they changed into a mockery of a wolf, was tokill.
Since they only lived as long as any ordinary mortal man, they should’ve all died out with the end of Dracula’s reign. Which meant the vampires had continued transforming innocent humans against their will.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I mumbled, one hand over my stomach and the other pressed against my lips. My eyes shut tight. I couldn’t bear to look at Drake, but I could still hear his flesh crackling. Ezra’s scoff brought my gaze up, and he snapped his fingers. The noise it made sounded like a crack, and then a basket appeared a foot in front of me between one blink and the next.
Nestled inside the red and white patterned fabric was a wheel of cheese, a loaf of dark brown bread, and a bunch of redgrapes. I mindlessly dove for it, shoving food into my mouth before I could even taste it. Tears burned my eyes, falling down my stuffed cheeks while I chewed and swallowed in quick succession.
Quiet sobs managed to choke out between the snuffling sounds of my eating. This was so messed up. My pace to shovel anything edible into my mouth slowed. Swallowing hard, I wiped the spittle from my chin and looked up. Ezra was staring at me, his expression curious but not concerned. His thick eyebrows lifted when he seemed to notice the tear tracks down my cheeks, and I quickly wiped my face with my grimy blood-stained hands.
“No offense,” I croaked, clearing my throat before I continued, “but why are you helping me?” The sorcerer shrugged, and I frowned while he took his time glancing this way and that.
“Apparently, even the lowest of ‘traitorous scum’ can’t stand to see a good dog kicked when they’re down.” His piercing green eyes bore into mine, and I licked my lips.
“You’re the reason why Drake’s shackles broke so easily, right?”
“No idea what you’re referring to.” The cavalier expression he wore implied otherwise, and the corners of my mouth briefly twitched up.
“Thanks.” My relief and gratitude faded fast when I finally looked down at Drake beside me. Red welts colored the flesh not peeling, but at least he’d stopped sizzling. The way he laid there, so still and without even his chest moving to breathe, it hammered home the truth of what he was.
Even if that wasn’t who he wanted to be.
The thought flitted through my head before I could catch it, and my hands started trembling. “How long until he wakes up?”I mumbled, stifling my unshed tears.Crying any more would just be a waste of water.
“Not sure,” Ezra answered. “Probably around the same time as the other immortals. But if the hounds heal first, they’ll sniff you out and I won’t be sticking my neck out to help you a second time if you’re idiotic enough to get caught after being given the chance to escape.”
My shoulders slumped. “I couldn’t leave him.”
“Not my problem. I’m telling you now, the moment I hear those mongrels sniffing around, I’ll be making myself scarce and leaving you to your consequences.”
Right, because everything that’s happened so far wasmyfault.Tears stung the backs of my eyes, and I swallowed them down. Maybe the sorcerer felt sorry for me, but I’d never asked him for a damn thing. It wouldn’t matter if he abandoned me now. Hell, I probably deserved being left in this cellar with a nearly-dead vampire after what I put my family through last year.
Because it’d been too easy to convince myself it was okay to lie to them. So desperate for their approval, after losing every ounce of their trust, I’d hidden my failure when Drake had both captured me and let me go in one night. All because I’d let down my defenses, made yet another stupid choice that could have cost me my life.
Had I learned nothing? I grit my teeth as painful memories resurged. The disappointment I’d seen in Johann’s eyes that day, shattering both of us behind the anger and fear we’d felt for one of our own. Before everything went to hell, I just wanted something to take the edge off.
My thoughts would never stop spiraling, making everyday tasks and errands unbearable beneath the overwhelming panic. Then my breaths would come in too thin, and I’d squirrel myself away either in my room or at the library. The only time theanxiety abated was when I was actively hunting, but eventually the adrenaline couldn’t hold off the twisting in my guts.
This damn legacy had lumped on too much pressure. It had sounded so heroic when Grandpa talked about it. I should’ve known, considering the way that Johann never spoke about the hunts after he and Uncle Alaric came home, that it wasn’t a rose-colored dream.
No, it was a red-stained nightmare.
After my first few hunts, the memories of finding bloodless victims made it hard to sleep. Training became a reminder of our duty to the world, the innocent people who wouldn’t know how to defend themselves without us stepping in to save them. Andrew, in all his assholery, had probably been the final straw that broke me.
My shrink would have said it wasn’t right to blame others for my actions, but his haughty condescension cut too deep, one too many times. When my ex offered a joint to get me ‘relaxed,’ I didn’t hesitate. That wouldn’t have been a problem for anyone who was ‘normal’—but I wasn’t. Soon, the high became my only means of coping.
I acclimated to the drug too quickly, my physiology fucking me over. Then I needed something stronger to make the feeling last. So I pushed him to give me his contacts, trying anything I deemed ‘safe’ enough. My family barely saw me during that time, but they must have known. We didn’t talk about it until it was too late.
Panic had been throttling my throat the day that shit hit the fan, but they were already planning the next hunt. Convinced the ‘trip’ would enhance my senses, increasing my awareness by not getting caught up in my own head, I took the tab of acid before we hopped into the Ford F-250.
I could barely remember charging the little blue house on the abandoned ranch. Everything felt slowed down, but nobody elseseemed to notice. We split up once we got inside, the snarl of waking vampires echoing from all sides. The interior had been dark, with every window boarded up to keep out the daylight.
I realized too late that Olivia had been screaming for help.
Shock took root, made easier by the shit product I’d swallowed, and I became paralyzed. I’d watched as the vampire blocked a blow from Olivia’s machete while holding a naked woman by the throat. Cruel eyes swallowed me whole while life was drained from the victim’s consciousness. Faster than my drugged brain could register, the human corpse I could have rescued was tossed aside into the dirt-stained corner—and the vampire lunged for my cousin.
I’d tried to make my body move, but the step I took was too slow while Olivia grappled under the undead’s excessive strength. Her machete was tossed aside before grayed fingers clamped down on her shoulder and arm. Twisted around until her back collided with the vampire’s front. Then the monster sank his fangs deep into the tissue at her throat.
