Page 68 of Cursed
The suffocating silence became a physical animal waiting to wrap its body around my throat until breath had been snuffed out of me.
“What’s he talking about?” I asked, not sure if I truly wanted an answer.
Cain shifted on his feet instead and moved a few inches away. The loss of his warmth and strength was a physical blow. From his periphery, his eyes shifted in my direction for half a second before returning to Malachi.
“You will not interfere with my mission.” A long, charcoal-colored sword appeared in Cain’s hand, and a swirling tornado of mist coated its black blade. His other fist rose, and the black shadows rotating around his knuckles coalesced into a round shield.
“I will do as I please, and you will remove the necklace around her neck.” Malachi stopped five feet in front of Cain. “You can touch her, whereas I cannot. Which means someone blessed that pendant to protect her from angels”—he extended a palm, and a silver-scrolled staff formed, both ends topped with glinting double-edged violet-colored blades—“and I will know why, as this must be the origin of Lucian’s curiosity.”
Like a heavy theater curtain, dread pushed down from above, and my stomach clenched.Dad gave me this necklace. Did he have it blessed by a priest? If so, why?
That day at the zoo. Hadn’t there been a dark form approaching? And why could I not remember what had happened? According to the police, they’d estimated I’d been found thirty minutes after Dad had disappeared. Now, I understood their worry, along with my mother’s. They’d been afraid I’d blocked the memories due to some kind of trauma.
It’s so frustrating to have blank space in my head.In a way, it felt as if I’d been robbed, yet I had no idea what had been taken.
I wanted to slide my hands into Cain’s, close my eyes, and let him take me home.I can’t tell what’s real or the truth any longer.Even though his appearance seemed to have started my life on a crazy course of ups and downs, he stoically stood between me and the dark angel determined to get his hands on me once again.
Gritting my teeth and stuffing down the rising fear, I squared my shoulders and raised my chin. I might’ve hated the feeling of helplessness, of knowing I could never battle the kind of power they wielded, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t to go down without a fight.
As if sensing my thoughts, Malachi leered at me then snapped his focus to Cain. “Oh, you didn’t know the necklace is actually a protective sigil?” Shrugging a shoulder, he wagged a finger. “Have you even gotten the information Lucian wants?”
What information was Cain looking for? The only thing he’d really wanted to know was who’d given me the necklace.
A wave of nausea bubbled in my stomach.Does he have ulterior motives?No. He saved me, first from Brian, then from the masquerade.Or did he happen to be in the right place at the right time?
I wrapped my arms around my middle and hunched forward. The first time we’d met, he’d stolen the necklace and didn’t return it for several hours.Which would’ve given him plenty of time to study it.
My stomach roiled, the bile and juices gurgling, wanting to rise up and out.No, please no. I thought we had something special.I glanced up at Cain’s profile.
“Get out of here, Malachi.” The sharp angles of his cheekbones seemed harsher in the flickering shadows thrown by the firepit, and his eyes glittered with anger or frustration. “I’m not warning you again.”
I wanted to put some distance between myself and him, yet out of the two males, I still felt safer next to Cain even if he had been lying to me.
A wing curved around Malachi to stretch toward Cain, not quite touching his weapon. “Either she removes the necklace...or you do. It doesn’t matter to me, but itwillcome off.”
“Fuck you.” With a short yell, Cain rushed forward, his sword erupting in billowing black flames stretching toward the sky.
Malachi, with an easy, lazy grace, twisted out of the way. As Cain passed, Malachi used a wing to hit him between the shoulders, throwing Cain to the ground.
Those purple eyes turned to me as he took a step toward Cain’s body. “If you don’t remove it, Iwillhurt him. Terribly.”
I clutched the pendant.What should I do?Cain wasn’t a demon but a normal human like me...but he wielded demonic power and carried out God only knew what kind of crimes. I didn’t want to see him hurt, yet my father’s words rang in my head. “Never lose it or take it off.”He’d given it to me for a reason—I just wish he’d explained why.
“Leave her alone.” Cain blinked and, half a second later, reappeared in front of me, stabbing his sword toward Malachi in protective defense.
This time, Malachi met Cain’s thrust with his sharp staff. The clang of metal on metal rang in my ears, the contact sending bright-blue sparks into the air. A scent of burning metal rose through the night, acrid and sharp.
Cain grunted as he pushed his sword into the staff, which didn’t budge.
Malachi yawned then, inch by inch, pushed Cain backward. “You will never beat a Chosen. You will never outwit a Chosen. You will neverbea Chosen. Give it up already.”
Sable energy flowed from Malachi’s hands and through his weapon then onto Cain’s sword. With an ear-splitting screech, the blade shattered into a thousand pieces of obsidian glass.
Malachi pressed the point of his sharp weapon to Cain’s throat, piercing the skin and drawing a thin, red line of blood. His cold, hard stare met mine. “Remove it, human, or he dies, right here, right now.”
“No, Phoebe,” Cain whispered. His body shook as if he strained against unseen bonds. The trail of blood trickled faster down his neck, winding through the short stubble to drop onto his chest armor.
With no more hesitation, I reached backward, unclasped the chain, and let it spool into my open palm. I thrust my hand toward Malachi. “Take it.”
