Cleo's Curse

by Allie Burton

  I didn’t want to be a paper doll. I tried to push my feet down. Didn’t work.

  My eyes bugged out of my head. Twenty feet separated me from major injury. The cloth canopies at a couple of the business entrances might break the fall. The closed umbrellas from the outdoor cafes were spears sticking into the black sky.

  I bent at the waist, which made my body shape into a V position. My head rushed with dizziness. The ground was getting closer and closer and closer.

  Impact was getting nearer and nearer and nearer.

  My life was getting shorter and shorter and shorter.

  I coiled into a ball. If I was going to hit the ground at least my vital organs would be protected. Squeezing my eyelids closed, I tightened every muscle. This was going to hurt. Or not hurt, because I’d be dead.

  My balled-up body fell into strong arms. Strong, muscular, super-strength arms.

  Antony.

  “I got you.” He tucked me closer and my chest fluttered.

  My tightened muscles released. I’d survived. Survived thanks to Antony. Sniffing his crisp scent, I curled against him and took my first relieved breath in days.

  Building alarms went off from the strength of the explosion in the early, early morning hours. Wind blew debris from the building across our path. Sirens sounded in the distance. Police and firefighters were on their way.

  “We need to work on your landing skills.” His heart beat a steady tune.

  And mine kept in tune with him.

  He was my rock. I wanted to melt into and against him. Looking at him, I saw relief and pride and…love?

  His gaze sizzled my insides. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tilted toward him. Our mouths connected in tune with our emotions. His tongue plundered, pouring his anxiety of the last few minutes into his kiss.

  Heated thrills travelled my skin, making every part of my body quiver.

  He lifted me higher, closer. My hands dug into his thick hair. With my lips moving against his, I expressed my emotions in every nibble, every caress, every touch.

  The sirens screeched louder, waking us up from our emotional fantasy.

  Antony’s lips broke from mine and he set me on my feet. We both ogled the place where Demetri’s design shop had been. Now a pile of concrete, wood, bricks, metal and glass laid to waste. Bodies were buried beneath the rubble. The Knot of Uset had disappeared, including our pieces with the Tyet.

  My shoulders sagged, and tiredness set into my bones. I couldn’t believe everything was gone, or all that had happened. My brain ran through the images like a silent movie and snapped to a stop. “What about Piper?”

  Panic and sadness for her screamed in my soul. The need to help her charged through me. The need to be part of the solution. Part of the Soul Warriors’ solution.

  “Ash and Math and the rest of the Soul Warriors will find her.” Antony’s assured tone should’ve calmed, except the exclusivity of his words rubbed the wrong way.

  I was an outsider peeking into a designer showroom I couldn’t afford. I’d acted and thought as a warrior, yet I wasn’t part of their tight-knit group.

  “How?” How would they find a man who could disappear? I mean, really disappear, not only become invisible.

  “The Soul Warriors will get her back. It’s what we do.” He emphasized the word we. Meaning them.

  My soul deadened.

  What they do. Not me.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Antony

  Antony sensed CC’s withdrawal when her hand loosened in his hold. Maybe she was overwhelmed by everything. The magic and powers. The dead bodies. The loss of Demetri.

  Uncertainty stabbed his thoughts. Maybe she didn’t feel the same about him, even after professing her love. She was young. What did she know of true love? Maybe she’d only wanted her parents to notice her.

  Dropping her hand, Antony wiped off the dust from his jeans. He stared at the destroyed building. “Demetri and his design shop are gone. Everything and everyone inside is rubble.”

  She stumbled and leaned against him. Her head lowered to a respectful angle paying homage to what had been lost.

  He sympathized with her. She’d never had to deal with this kind of scenario before. While in his less-than-a-year existence, he’d seen death and destruction a couple of times. The other warriors had seen it before, too. And right now, they were either helping Neffy or chasing down Piper. As a group they carried a heavy load.

  He wanted to help carry the load for CC. To hold her in his arms forever.

  Maybe he could.

  He’d discussed it with Olivia and Xander before CC had run away from the professor’s house. She had permanent powers that wouldn’t disappear with the Knot of Uset. She was brave and trustworthy. Look at how she’d acted under pressure. She’d saved them all.

  He kissed the top of her head.

  Her parents didn’t want her, which he found unbelievable and intolerable. She had nowhere to go.

  CC was a true warrior.

  A Soul Warrior.

  A Soul Warrior who held his heart.

  A heart full and overflowing with his love.

  He opened his mouth to ask about her plans, what she wanted to do, to confess his feelings. He wanted everything out in the open.

  The sirens squeaked to a halt and a car door slammed.

  CC stiffened and moved away. “Cops. We should run.”

  He grabbed her arm stopping her flight. “That’s Officer Hill. Make yourself visible so we can talk to him.”

  The cop stood by the squad car. His gaze went from the destroyed building, to them, and back again with an expression of wary acceptance. Taking off his hat, he ran his fingers through short, curly black hair.

  Now wasn’t the time to have a discussion with CC about joining the Soul Warriors. Antony would deal with Officer Hill and get things cleared up here. They had plenty of time to discuss their relationship and her becoming part of their team.

  “I recognize him,” she spoke with a dawning understanding. “Before I met you, the day I saw the delivery guy evaporate, he was there.”

  “The men in black were part of Babi’s leftover contingent.” Antony hoped there weren’t any left. “And Officer Hill is a friend of the Soul Warriors.” Aware of their powers and their oath, Officer Hill helped them clean up magical messes.

  “He didn’t seem like a regular cop. He acted as if I was crazy when I told him what happened to the delivery guy.”

  “Oh, he’s a real cop.” Antony held out his hand when Officer Hill approached. “Just handles paranormal things a bit differently.”

  Officer Hill shook Antony’s hand and then smoothed his short mustache. “Cleopatra Carruthers. I knew we’d meet again.”

  Her gaze widened in surprise.

  “Your very important parents called the station about you.” Officer Hill tsked. “They wanted to file a missing person’s report.”

  She bopped and a smile landed on her face. “Really?”

  Her smile sucker-punched Antony in his gut. Her parents did care about her and she never realized it. Maybe now they’d take her home. She could have a real, safe, family life, not this patchwork quilt of warriors facing danger every day.

  “They’re staying at a hotel not far from here.” Officer Hill handed her a slip of paper with an address. “You should go see them before my captain sends out elite forces to find you. I need to stay and take care of this mess.”

  Her eyes brightened. “My parents came! They were actually worried about me!”

  “Of course they were.” Antony forced himself to return the smile through stiff lips. His heart, which had been beating a happy tune only seconds before, now bonged a slow death march. Even with her professed love, he was going to lose her. He wanted to do what was best for her, not him. “I’ll take you there.”

  Her foot tapped her impatience to be gone. To reunite with her parents. “The warriors don’t need help?”

  “Not right now.” He took hold of her h
and, wanting to hold on to her for as long as possible. “You know how to contact me if you have any questions, Officer Hill.”

  “What about Aunty Neffy?” CC had more than her parents to love and to love her in return.

  “I’ll text Olivia and she’ll bring Neffy to the hotel.”

  A big, happy family reunion. And yet, he was morose and heavy-hearted. His feet plodded each step, dreaded getting to the hotel and the location where she’d depart his life forever.

  He was happy for her. She was young, truly only sixteen, while he was ancient. She needed the love of her parents more than she needed his love. His glum thoughts shadowed him the two-block walk to the hotel.

  The hotel they stopped in front of resembled a palace. The building took the entire city block. A canopied portico with flags flying overhead greeted guests. Gold-trimmed columns and liveried doormen to keep the unwanted out.

  Unwanted like him.

  Echoes of his past slammed into him. He’d lived at Queen Cleopatra’s palace, yet wasn’t allowed to use the front entrance. He’d been needed but not welcomed.

  In the last few months, he’d passed this hotel and never dared to venture inside. He didn’t belong.

  CC did.

  She waltzed right through the front door, not even noticing the Tiffany lamps and Louis XIV tables. She strolled past the hothouse plants and the Doric columns. She marched to the front of the line at the desk and asked for her parents in her commanding, demanding voice.

  A voice he hadn’t heard in a while. A voice that scraped down his spine and sent shivers colliding through his system.

  Maybe that had been the real CC. The one who expected top-notch service and demanded what she wanted. The one who spent money as if there was a never-ending source. The one who belonged in a palace this grand with parents and servants and anything she wanted at her fingertips. She didn’t deserve a life of fighting for goodness and light. She’d never fit with him.

  A slave.

  “My parents are in their room.” She gave him a little twirl and danced to the elevator banks. He’d never seen her so happy.

  Her joy soured in his stomach and made his head ache. “I guess I’ll say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” Her happy dance stopped. She frowned. “Come with me.” She spoke rapidly impatient for him to do her bidding.

  The scraping grew stronger, and he stretched his shoulders trying to stop the hurt.

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. The few people around them scooted inside, the noise of their low conversations buzzed in his ear.

  “Parents and I—” He pointed to his lowly self. “—we don’t get along.”

  Especially when he wasn’t good enough for their daughter. They’d expect CC to marry a prince or at least a rich businessman. Not a servant.

  She glanced at the open doors with the people waiting. “I want them to meet you to—”

  “No.”

  The doors started to close. Started to close on his heart.

  She put her hand on the door, stopping it because she ruled the roost and didn’t care about inconveniencing others. “But…”

  Anger stiffened his spine. She didn’t really care about him. Not in the long-lasting way the other warrior couples experienced. He was unusual to her, and their time together had been filled with adventure. Once done, she wouldn’t stick around for him.

  She stepped into the elevator, watching him the entire time. He kept his expression stoic and neutral. He didn’t need to share the depth of his agony. Not with her or the voyeurs in the elevator.

  He felt the squeeze of the doors closing, knew he’d break once she was swallowed up by the machine. He knew this was best for her. To return to her loving parents and a normal family life.

  “It’s been fun.” He tried to sound casual and flirtatious. Like their relationship meant nothing and wouldn’t scar him for the rest of his very long life.

  Her intent glare tried to trap him, to capture his true emotions. “Is there any good reason why I should stay?”

  He could list a million. None would be the right thing for her. “No.”

  Her expression fell, and her mouth twisted into a deep frown. Her eyes showed hurt and despair. She let her hand slip from the door.

  The doors of the elevator closed.

  Closed on his heart.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cleo

  The elevator doors slid shut, trapping me inside with my heartbreak. I puffed out a breath and another. My eyes prickled and I sniffled. I didn’t want to cry in front of the strangers on the elevator.

  Antony didn’t love me.

  When I’d told him I loved him from the top of the roof, there’d been no time for him to respond. And when I’d returned to Demetri’s shop with the other warriors we’d been busy battling evil. But the entire walk to the hotel, he could’ve said something. Could’ve told me how he felt.

  The elevator’s smooth ascent was the opposite of my descending emotions. Not descending, dropping. My heart thudded and cracked, broken by Antony’s uncaring. The pain in my chest made me want to double over. Instead, I stood upright and stared blindly ahead.

  The four other people glanced at me, then away. They didn’t care about my shattered emotions. The mirrors on the wall reflected the two couples dressed for a night of social decadence. They reminded me of my parents. Cold, uncaring.

  Except my parents cared about me. They’d come to San Francisco and contacted the police, thinking I was in trouble.

  My skin went hot and cold, vacillating between hoping my parents really cared and realizing I didn’t have a choice. The Soul Warriors didn’t want me. Antony didn’t want me. Even though Antony had promised he’d never let me go.

  I pressed my mouth together, and stood up straighter.

  My parents wanted me back. They loved me. They were going to bring me home and spoil me with new clothes. I’d reconnect with my friends and attend the school I wanted. My parents will have been so worried about me they’ll cancel their trips and their social activities to spend time together as a family.

  The elevator doors slid open. So intent in my own thoughts I hadn’t noticed the others getting off the elevator. I hadn’t even noticed the stops. I was the only one left. We’d arrived at the top floor of the hotel.

  I dragged my feet down the carpeted hallway. Tiredness must finally be setting in.

  The exhaustion wasn’t because I was heartbroken by Antony and the warriors. It wasn’t because they didn’t want me. It had been an exciting few days and I was burnt.

  Fisting my hand, I lifted my arm and knocked on the double doors to the hotel suite. Only the best for my parents.

  The door opened, and there stood Mother and Father. Stiff. Stand-offish.

  I paused at the foyer, indecision trickling into my veins. Maybe that was my imagination. They might be stiff, but they loved me. I was their child.

  Mother’s crisp skirt and jacket highlighted her pale skin. Her upswept blonde hair didn’t have a strand out of place. Her perfectly made-up face displayed signs of disapproval. Not much had changed.

  Father scowled. He wore a dark business suit with a blue tie. Diamond cufflinks winked at his wrists. His sophisticated gray hair had been blown-dried and styled.

  Even in the middle of the night, they were dressed and ready to be social or attend a meeting. Did they sleep in their clothes?

  They didn’t open their arms or rush to meet me.

  My blood pumped harder, turning indecision into doubt about coming back, about leaving Antony. I stood on a threshold and I didn’t mean the one leading to their hotel room.

  Mother flailed a hand toward me. “Cleo, where did you get those ghastly clothes?”

  I skimmed the old jeans and beat-up leather jacket I’d borrowed from Olivia. That was Mother’s first reaction?

  Father stepped forward. I waited for his strong arms to come around me, to hug me close, and tell me he’d been worried. We didn’t hug much in
our family. Air kisses were the closest thing to demonstrating affection.

  He picked at a strand of my hair. “Your hair appears as if you haven’t combed it in a week.”

  If he’d experienced what I’d experienced, his hair wouldn’t look great, either. “Um, I…”

  “Don’t stand there.” Mother shushed me into the hotel suite. “Someone might see you.”

  Stepping inside, I held out my arms for a hug. “It’s great to see both of you.”

  Mother visibly shivered. “You need to get cleaned up. Father already called the television station.”

  My arms dropped. “What television station?”

  The foyer led to a large sitting area, where a TV shouted stock market rates. A fully-appointed bar, small kitchen which my parents would never use, and at least three bedroom doors. The suite was almost as large as the professor’s house.

  “An heiress missing for days, kidnapped, is big news.” Father shut the door with a solid click.

  “I wasn’t kidnapped.” I was invisible. Kind of how I am right now.

  “I’ll call the hotel manager and get them to open one of the clothing boutiques.” Mother paced toward the phone on the credenza. She crinkled her stuck-up nose. “You need to represent the family.”

  Horror caused my stomach to cramp. I felt sick. They were going to put me on display. I was getting new clothes how I imagined, except for the wrong reasons.

  I stomped my foot on the marbled floor. “Didn’t you miss me? Weren’t you fearful for my life?” The tiny girl inside me wanted to scream, Don’t you love me?

  “Of course, darling.” Her distracted answer proved she didn’t really care. Holding the phone with one hand, she primped her hair with the other.

  Patted her hair, not mine. No hugs. No tears. No miss yous or love yous.

  My parents didn’t know the meaning of the word love and family. Not like Antony and the Soul Warriors.

  They had helped me and trained me. They’d taken care of me. They’d worried about me. They had searched for me, just as they searched for Piper now. My heart wept with what I’d lost. I wanted to be part of the search. I wanted to help. I wanted to belong and I wanted to be loved.