The Cursed: Book Three in The Tainted Series

by Anna Hill

  She’d never done anything dangerous or adventurous in her life. This was actually the furthest she’d ever been from home. In fact, the last seven hours of her life had been more exciting than the last seventeen years. She wasn’t brave, or strong, or a risk taker; that was Rebecca.

  Clenching her jaw and training her eyes on the path ahead, Emily fought against her panic. This was for Rebecca. It didn’t’ matter how afraid she was. Rebecca needed her. And as her best friend, Emily needed to be there for her, no matter what. It was too late to turn back now anyway, too late for doubt.

  For the next hour and half they forged ahead through the towering fir trees in complete silence. After a few miles, the dense undergrowth dissipated, allowing them to accelerate their pace as they hurriedly weaved through the moss-covered trunks.

  Emily struggled to keep up with Liam’s giant strides. Yet, even as her breathing grew labored and sweat slid down the small of her back, she never complained. She was able to forget her worries as she strained her body, ignoring the dread that clung to the edges of her mind and concentrate solely on keeping pace. Right now, it was easier to forget what they were racing toward than to face it head on.

  “We’re not alone out here,” Liam hissed as he came to an abrupt stop.

  Emily slammed into his rigid back and careened backward, stunned by the unexpected impact. Regaining her composure, she looked up at Liam only to see that his eyes were transfixed on the ground. A strange sense of foreboding fell over her as she followed his sightline. What she found on the forest floor caused her stomach to plummet and the world around to fall eerily silent. Sheer terror flooded her trembling body as she realized what lay before her.

  “He’s dead?” Maverick asked as he came up beside her. Their eyes were all fixed upon the lifeless body that lay sprawled on the ground.

  Emily squirmed with disgust as Liam bent down and touched the uniformed man’s exposed neck. “Yes, but not long. His body’s still warm.”

  “Did Rebecca do…” Emily’s voice trailed off, unable to finish the question.

  Liam stood and met her petrified stare. “The Feiceann in her did this, not Rebecca.”

  Emily sorrowfully shook her head as she shifted her gaze away, unable to accept what she was seeing.

  “Rebecca could be nearby!” Maverick hastily stepped around the body and rushed forward. He made it no more than 30 yards, however, before he was forced to stop once again. Another body, this time a female soldier, lay motionless on the moss-covered earth. Rebecca had killed twice--at least.

  “You can’t run off like that,” Liam commanded angrily as he caught up to Maverick. Pointing down irritably at the dead body, he scowled at Maverick. “If there were two soldiers here, there are bound to be more.”

  “But why are there any?” Maverick stepped back from the body and scanned the surrounding trees, apprehension filling his chest. “How could they have known she would be here?”

  “I don’t think they did. I think she knew.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Emily whispered harshly as she reached the boys. Shuddering, she looked away from the second body. How could Rebecca have done this?

  “She must already be at the circle.” Maverick focused his anxious gaze in the direction of the circle and began striding toward it, forgetting his need to feign ignorance of its location. “We have to stop her from whatever it is she’s going to do.”

  Realizing Maverick was racing straight for the stone circle, Liam hastily sprinted over to him. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you suddenly seem to know exactly where you’re going, but you can’t--”

  Liam abruptly stumbled, colliding heavily into Maverick. Throwing his hands up to his temples, he cried out in pain as a sudden, intense connection forced its way into his mind.

  “Liam!” Emily exclaimed, reaching out to assist Maverick in supporting Liam’s slumped body. “What’s happening to him? Is he alright?”

  “Rebecca…” Liam muttered as they hoisted him back into a standing position. The raging pain within his skull was only growing stronger. Rebecca was drawing upon his Feiceann side, she was using their mind connection to drain his ability from him. “She’s connected herself to me, but I don’t think she realizes it.” Keeping his hands pressed against his throbbing temples, Liam compelled his unsteady body to walk forward, but immediately collapsed again.

  Catching him at the last moment, Maverick gently lowered Liam onto to the ground. “What’s happening to you? What do you mean connected?”

  “Go,” Liam mumbled, the pain in his skull so utterly agonizing that he couldn’t even open his eyes. “Go, now! Get to her before it’s too late!”

  Without waiting for Liam to finish, Maverick frantically grabbed Emily’s arm and took off at a sprint, dragging her terrified form behind him.

  “Rebecca!” Liam called out through his volatile mind, using all the strength he could muster to push back against her stranglehold. “Rebecca! Stop!” Yet, no matter how hard he fought against her, he could feel his brain beginning to falter, his control over his Feiceann side slowly slipping away. “Please...Stop…”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Rebecca strode into the stone circle without hesitation, her livid eyes pinned upon the back of the tall, slender woman standing at its center. The Aillil’s perfectly tailored uniform was topped with elaborate, golden epaulettes on each shoulder, signifying her high rank.

  Hearing the snap of a branch, Neala spun around, her bright red hair flying out from her alarmed face. It was too early for the troops to be returning, unless the King had somehow finally found them.

  “What did I--” Neala’s breath instantly caught in her throat as her anxious gaze landed on the young woman approaching her.

  “Good evening, Commander,” Rebecca growled, coming to halt a few feet from her victim. Every instinct within her was crying out to kill this woman immediately, to end this vicious Aillil’s reign of terror, but she wouldn’t use her ability, not yet. First, she wanted her prey to suffer. She wanted to see the Commander beg for mercy, she wanted to watch as fear consumed the Aillil’s mind and despair ate away at her chest.

  “What?! H-how are you here?” Neala muttered, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at her niece. She looked so much like her sister, Aileen, that Neala was transfixed. It was as if she were staring at a ghost from her childhood, reliving a distant memory from when her life had been happy.

  “It’s time you answered for everything you’ve done,” Rebecca snarled, clenching her jaw as she took another menacing step toward the alarmed woman.

  Neala stumbled backward, quickly falling out of her stupor. This was not her sister. This was the abomination--the reason her whole world had been upended.

  “Nowhere to run, Commander,” Rebecca goaded as she calmly crossed her arms over her chest. “No one to save you.”

  A sense of foreboding flooded over Neala, and her panicked gaze instantly shot toward the surrounding woods. “Where are my troops?” she asked in desperation, her steely façade cracking. “What have you done to them?”

  “You’ll join them soon enough, don’t worry,” Rebecca answered coolly.

  Neala’s eyes darted back to Rebecca, narrowing as a deep rage drowned out her panic. “You will not threaten me, Unworthy!” she hissed. “You don’t frighten me.”

  Rebecca laughed viciously, “If you have even the slightest clue who I am, you should be terrified.”

  Neala was chilled to the bone by the murderous intent she saw within her niece’s crazed eyes. In this moment, she realized the girl had no idea who she truly was, not even an inkling of their familial connection. Her fool of a sister must have kept secret the true depth of their family’s connection to the army. Now, because of this, Neala was facing the decision that had haunted her for months. Could she murder her own family?

  When she’d sent the Elites to kill her niece, she’d been removed from the slaughter, no blood directly on her hands. But this was
different. This would be cold-blooded murder of her own kin. And yet, as horrified as she was by her predicament, Neala could plainly see the intense hate and wrath burning within her niece. It was clear that no matter what she said or did, only one person would be walking away from this encounter alive, and Neala fully planned on being that person.

  Swiftly dropping into a fighting stance, Neala raised both arms and flicked her wrists, causing two large vines to shoot from the earth and wrap themselves tightly around Rebecca’s torso. Wasting no time, she clenched her hands into tense fists, commanding the vines to brutally crush her niece’s body.

  Rebecca, however, never even flinched. As the Aillil began her feeble attack, a small, unnerving smile parted Rebecca’s soft pink lips and she kept her penetrating gaze locked with the Commander’s. Upon feeling the vines constrict around her, Rebecca opened her mind and felt it link seamlessly with the Commander’s. Sliding effortlessly into the Aillil’s conscious, Rebecca savagely seized control.

  The vines instantly fell away, collapsing onto the forest floor with a loud thud. Leisurely, Rebecca stepped over the immobile vines and took in a long, deep breath, exhaling in a slow sigh as she approached the now paralyzed Commander.

  “As I said,” she whispered as she menacingly circled the terrified Aillil, “you should be very frightened.”

  Pausing directly in front of Neala, Rebecca clasped her hands behind her back and stood erect. She watched silently as the Commander desperately struggled for air, her panicked face turning a bright crimson and her rigid arms twitching at her sides, frantically trying to reach her bulging neck.

  “It’s time someone showed you how powerless you truly are; how pathetic and utterly meaningless your life actually is.” Rebecca felt the Commander’s horror through their connection. She sensed the woman’s frantic and futile attempts to regain control of her mind. “The Aillil reign of terror ends now, at my hands. I’m here to finish what my ancestors failed to complete all those centuries ago. I’m here to eradicate the Earth of useless, vile creatures like yourself.”

  Rebecca pushed further into the Commander’s mind, drawing deeper than ever before upon the extreme power that coursed throughout her body. She felt as she had in her dream; her Feiceann side pulsating wildly, grasping hold of her subconscious and wiping away any trace of who she’d once been. Soon, pure hatred and utter madness would be all that remained within her mind. But this time she wasn’t afraid. This time, she craved it, she yearned for it. This time, she was ready for her Feiceann transformation.

  “Rebecca! Stop!”

  The voice was distant, like a small scratch at the back of her mind, a dull echo within her skull.

  “Please…stop…”

  Something suddenly awoke within Rebecca, a small twinge of panic at the edge of her consciousness. It was Liam’s voice. He was here, calling out to her. He was in trouble.

  But, as quickly as it had been set alight, this small spark of humanity was extinguished by her Feiceann instincts, like a delicate flame being snuffed out by a howling gale.

  Rebecca refocused her vengeful eyes on the Commander and brought her to her knees, her bloodshot eyes rolling in her head as she sunk closer to unconsciousness. “The suffering you feel now is nothing compared to the pain you’ve inflicted upon the Truaillithe. So many families torn apart because of your foolish bigotry.” Led by her hatred, Rebecca drew even more fervently upon her Feiceann strength, intoxicated by the overwhelming power that flooded her body. “You ruined my life!”

  “Rebecca! Stop!”

  The sudden terrified voice breached Rebecca’s focused mind, severing her connection to the Commander just as she was about to end her life.

  As an enraged Rebecca turned to locate the source of the intrusion, Neala dropped to the forest floor. Panting heavily, her spasming lungs labored to satisfy her dire need for air.

  Maverick burst into the stone circle at a full sprint, racing toward Rebecca. “You shouldn’t be here!” she screamed furiously, the power surging dangerously within her.

  “Please, don’t do th--” Maverick’s plea was cut short as his connection between his brain and his body was instantaneously severed.

  Stunned, Rebecca watched as Maverick’s limp body crashed to the forest floor. She stared in shock at his inert form, panic rising in her chest. It had been instinct--an urge she couldn’t stop. She’d entered his mind before she could stop herself. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, she hadn’t meant to--

  A vine suddenly shot up from the earth in front of Rebecca and coiled tightly around her body, savagely compressing her torso. She cried out in intense pain as several ribs cracked and the air was squeezed forcefully from her lungs.

  “You will never defeat me, Unworthy!” the Commander cried out behind her. “You will not kill again!”

  Rebecca’s survival instinct immediately took over, focusing her dark power and thrusting her connection back into the Commander’s mind, hijacking her very will to live. The vine loosened and dropped heavily onto the damp soil, allowing Rebecca to stumble forward. An excruciating, throbbing pain from her broken ribs tore at her chest as she struggled to breathe.

  Her wrath surging wildly within her mind, Rebecca pivoted to face the vile Aillil for a final time. The Commander’s face had gone white, her eyes were dull and lifeless and her head hung limply to the side. She wasn’t twitching this time, neither struggling to breathe nor resisting Rebecca’s connection. This time, though the Commander remained standing, she looked as if she were already dead.

  From her hiding place behind the large stone, Emily watched in disbelief as the horrifying scene unfolded. This was not her friend. This was not the girl she’d grown up with, the girl she’d come to love as a sister. This was not Rebecca.

  Her eyes fixated on where Maverick lie motionless, possibly dead. He hadn’t stood a chance against Rebecca. He’d barely made it five steps into the circle before she’d cut him down, without even raising a finger. How could she, devoid of any of this magic or whatever it was, hope to do better? What more could she possibly do to save Rebecca?

  Silently, Emily began creeping backwards, sheer terror and panic gripping her body, prohibiting her from completing her intended task. It was too late for her friend. The Rebecca she knew was gone.

  But just as Emily was about to turn away, something caught her eye, halting her retreat. Rebecca’s cheeks were glistening; they were soaked with tears. Emily raised her stunned gaze to Rebecca’s rage-filled eyes and was surprised to find that they contained so much more than hatred. She saw fear, grief. Deep within Rebecca’s eyes, she saw the girl she knew, the humanity she’d thought was lost. Beneath the crazed, wrathful exterior, she saw her best friend.

  Fueled by a sudden, overwhelming urge, Emily marched determinedly into the circle, not slowing until she reached Rebecca. She didn’t know what compelled her to do it, but as a startled Rebecca turned toward her, Emily slipped her hand into her best friend’s and clamped down as hard as she possibly could.

  * * *

  “It’s so massive,” Rebecca whispered in awe from where she lie amongst the sea of wild grass. Tall wisps swayed slowly around her, bending in the breeze like a golden wave. “There’s just so many of them.”

  Emily giggled. “You’re acting like you’ve never looked up at the night sky before.” She peered over at her friend through the small patch of slender blades that shot up between where they were lying on the hillside.

  “Of course I have,” Rebecca retorted, rolling her eyes. “That doesn’t make it any less impressive.”

  “I suppose that’s true.” Emily lifted her gaze back to the dazzling celestial scene. They’d snuck out of Rebecca’s room around midnight and secreted away to the small clearing in the woods. It was the first time Rebecca had brought her here, to this place that she knew was so meaningful to her friend. She was extremely touched by the gesture as it had taken a lot for Rebecca to finally open herself up to someone. This was the first time in their
friendship that Rebecca had genuinely let her guard down and allowed Emily to see who she truly was.

  “The world is so big,” Rebecca remarked, “and yet we’re still just a tiny little speck in an enormous universe, entirely insignificant.”

  “Well, that’s depressing,” Emily scoffed.

  Rebecca shook her head and chuckled, “Only if you take it that way.” She turned to look at her friend and waited until Emily was staring back before she added, “I think it’s reassuring.”

  “Reassuring to think that we’re all utterly unimportant?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Have I ever told you how weird you are?” Emily jested. “Because you’re pretty weird.”

  “Seriously, think about it. It’s nice to know that no matter how hard things get, no matter how angry, sad, or lost we feel, we are all just sitting on a random spinning planet, in a giant solar system, in a never-ending universe.” Gazing back at the sky, Rebecca exhaled slowly. “I don’t know, it puts things into perspective for me…helps me to forget.”

  “Can we be best friends?” Emily heard herself blurt out.

  Rebecca sat up, laughing so hard she nearly rolled backwards. “What?”

  “I’m sorry.” Emily sat up as well, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. In that moment, she seriously contemplated jumping up and sprinting away. “I didn’t mean to--”

  “No, no, no, no.” Rebecca moved quickly, sliding up beside her friend, a large smile on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. You just surprised me. I didn’t think that’s where our conversation was going.”

  “I really don’t know why I said it. You just seemed so sad, and I didn’t want you to be sad. I’ve never had a best friend, and--”

  “I’ve never had a best friend either,” Rebecca interjected, cutting short Emily’s ramble. “In fact, you’re the first real friend I’ve ever had.”