Cursed

by Rebecca Trynes

  “Really?” Lucas asked, amazed, obviously knowing exactly who his father was talking about.

  “What can I say? She’s hot for my blood.”

  “Must have gotten a taste for it, huh?” Lucas smiled crookedly.

  “Guess so.”

  Sienna looked from one to the other and then shook her head in amusement. Jacob seemed likewise intrigued, his eyes narrowing as if perhaps he had an idea who they could be talking about. Seeing as her friend only knew two other vampires, she guessed it was most likely Katarina. Good for her. Knox was a really nice guy—vampire—whatever.

  “Have you ordered?” Knox asked, deflecting the direction of the conversation.

  “No. I wasn’t sure what you and Lucas would want.”

  As if by magic, Katey, their usual waitress appeared, smiling down at her politely. “What can I get you?”

  After ordering a chocolate milkshake and a slice of banana bread, she watched in fascination as Katey’s gaze seemed to flit between the vampires, her expression confused and a little lost as she tried to find something to lock her eyes onto.

  Knox saved her in the end, Katey’s eyes suddenly zeroing in on him. Confusion changed to a flirtatious smile.

  “Oh, hello again.” If Katey found it odd that she hadn’t noticed him before now, she didn’t show it. “Back for more chocolate cake?”

  “No. I think today I’ll have one of the savoury muffins and a cappuccino.”

  Katey nodded and jotted it down on the notepad. When she looked up, her eyes gravitated towards Lucas. Glancing across the table at Jacob, Sienna could see a deep frown etching his forehead—his concentration face. She sent a questioning look his way, but he was too involved in whatever he was doing to notice.

  When it came his time to order, Katey’s eyes seemed to linger on Lucas before finally making their way over to Jacob. Recognition sparked and she smiled like she’d spotted an old friend.

  “Hey, Jacob. I didn’t see you there.”

  “Katey,” Jacob said with a nod, his voice strained. “I’ll have the usual, thanks.”

  “Sure. How you been?” she asked, jotting more notes on her paper.

  “Good. I—,” his words cut off as Katey suddenly turned around and walked away as if he hadn’t been speaking.

  Knox chuckled and shook his head. “You lost her shortly after ‘thanks’.”

  Jacob grimaced. “It wasn’t that hard last time I tried it.”

  The blonde shrugged and sat back, his head resting on the padded headrest, eyes on Jacob. “You had more blood then, and you hadn’t been training three times a day. The less blood your body is making, the harder everything else is—especially raising Awareness.”

  Jacob made a face and then rolled his eyes at her in a what-can-I-say kind of way. She smiled and then realised that his pupils had once again expanded to twice their normal size. His gaze also dropped down to her neck. Not a good sign.

  “I really don’t like the fact that I’m invisible,” Jacob said, never once shifting his eyes from her neck—as if he couldn’t make himself look away. From the expression on his face, he didn’t even seem to realise.

  “It has its perks,” Knox said, grinning suggestively.

  “Pervert,” Sienna accused, deciding to ignore Jacob’s eyeballing for the moment.

  “Of the worst kind,” he agreed willingly.

  Their food arrived shortly after, managing to snap Jacob out of whatever vampire trance he’d gone into with his staring routine just long enough for him to drink his mocha and eat his muffin with only a few moments of neck staring in-between. When he was finished, however, his eyes slid straight back to her neck.

  Knox sighed and slid out of the booth, his eyes on Jacob. “Sorry. I think we’d better get you fed.”

  Jacob mumbled something non-committal and leaned forward onto the table, towards her. His eyes were almost completely black now, with only a thin rim of grey to add variety. She wasn’t particularly worried that he wanted to eat her. Not with Knox and Lucas to hold him back. It was a little sad though that he now had something like that to contend with—something that seemed to take over his mind without him even realising it.

  “Come on, Jacob, snap out of it,” Knox said, amused.

  Jacob opened his mouth, fangs visible—and growled. It was as dangerous a sound as she’d ever heard. A clear warning to back off. If she didn’t think he’d bite her hand off, she would have slapped his face. Partly to snap him out of it, and partly to put him back in his place.

  Lucas sighed audibly and then grabbed a handful of Jacob’s shirt, dragging him out of the booth like he was a sack of potatoes. She half expected her best friend to bite Lucas’s arm off, but, instead, he just shook his head, his eyes coming back into focus, a thick rim of light grey returning to the mix.

  He shook his head again and squeezed the bridge of his nose like he had a sudden headache. “Sorry, Si. Guess I am in need of a drink.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him but couldn’t hold the glare, her face relaxing into a grin. “Go. We’ll catch up later.”

  He nodded and headed off after Lucas.

  “Good to smell you again,” Knox said, grinning in his cheeky way and departing with a wave.

  Shaking her head, she finished her milkshake alone and sat staring off into space while she went over the past half hour again in her head. A part of her had almost hoped that Jacob could come back some day when he’d gotten control of the whole vampire thing, but she knew now that there was no way that would ever happen. The thirst could sneak up on him without him realising, and if it was stronger than he could control, there’s no way she could avoid being eaten.

  Not that she minded being eaten. It was the not surviving being eaten that she feared.

  Without realising it, her eyes started to track someone that was walking down the street towards her. It was a petite woman, smartly dressed, pretty, but otherwise not too different to the rest of the foot traffic that was going by. After a moment of watching her, and the way that people seemed to melt out of her path, it became clear to Sienna what had captured her attention. Quickly averting her gaze, she hoped like hell that the woman hadn’t noticed her staring.

  Trying to act natural while a vampire who was invisible to everyone else walked down the street towards you wasn’t as easy as you’d think it should be. Her brain wanted to keep checking if the woman was really a vampire while her instincts told her brain to shut the hell up and to keep her eyes on the table in front of her.

  Before too long, the woman passed on by and Sienna could finally relax her head back against the booth in relief.

  Life had been far less complicated before vampires had come into it.

  * * *

  Greyvian stood concealed in the entrance to an apartment building in the middle of the city and quickly came to the conclusion that he had no self-control. Feeding issue aside, how else could he explain the fact that he was standing across the road from where Sienna sat, waiting for Jacob? He could try to tell himself that it was just coincidence that he happened to track his prey to the vicinity of the café where Jacob was to meet her. Just as he could try to tell himself that last night it had been sheer coincidence that he had gone out onto the balcony and overheard the location in the first place, even though he knew damn well that Jacob had set an alarm for himself to call his best friend at that exact moment. But, he would have known they were lies. He was standing across the street, watching her like one of the mentally deranged monsters that he fed on, because he couldn’t help himself.

  It was that simple.

  It didn’t matter that seeing her again seemed to silence the twisted thoughts and images that he had just added to the already overloaded store of depravity in his brain that came from feeding on evil, the taint collecting in his brain from the very first moment he’d discovered his little ability. The female was human. Her life span was but a blip on the timeline of his life and he could ill afford to start relying on the woman to
ease his torment.

  Nor did he deserve any reprieve from it. Living with the damage was part of his punishment for the innocent lives that he had taken over the centuries.

  Even knowing all of that, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. His eyes remained glued to the booth where Sienna sat, her dark hair shining in the mid-morning sun. He drew in a deep breath hoping to catch a hint of her unique scent, but she was too far away for that. His memory worked to supply it to him anyway, the rich chocolatey aroma finding his senses in a weak but accurate depiction of the real thing.

  As focused on the memory as he was, he was not so far gone that he didn’t feel the arrival of the half-breeds. The moment he felt the first signs of pressure against his skull, he lowered his Awareness so they wouldn’t be looking for another vampire and eased further back into the entrance of the building in front of which he lurked. Watching the trio walk down the street, he waited until they spotted Sienna before slowly raising Awareness again, a trickle at a time so they would barely feel it and more than likely overlook the slow merge if they weren’t feeling for it.

  When he was certain they were none the wiser, he leant a shoulder against the building and aimed his gaze towards Sienna once again. She looked up at that exact moment, her eyes quickly finding Jacob, a slightly sad smile spreading across her face. He almost wished then that she would look over and see him. That her eyes would meet his and light up like it was Christmas. He didn’t know what he would do if she did, but he missed the welcoming way in which she looked at him.

  The only reactions he had received to his presence over the past few centuries were grief when he was a child, fear and loathing when he’d been hunted, hope when he came to a half-breed’s rescue, or ambivalence whenever he came across a half-breed. Never the hugs and kisses gaze that Sienna sent his way, never the kind of light that lit up the darkness within his soul.

  Who could blame him for wanting more of that? Even if he didn’t deserve it.

  He was well aware that he was behaving like a stalker as he watched her interact with Jacob and the others, as he felt the need to beat Jacob to within an inch of his life when the male went for her neck and continued to stare at it for the next half hour, but he couldn’t help himself. He would have said that at least his intentions were in a good place compared to the stalker memories of the evil humans whose past deeds tainted his mind, but could he really claim that when a part of him wanted to sink his teeth into her artery and drain her of every drop of her blood? Was he no better than the evil scum that he hunted?

  Too soon, the half-breeds were dragging Jacob away to feed, leaving Sienna alone at the booth to finish her milkshake. He was staring so intently, trying to memorise every inch of her face, that he almost didn’t sense the presence of another vampire until they were almost upon him. Dampening his Awareness, he hid his face until the presence faded, only then returning to his study of Sienna’s features.

  Except, she was now headed his way. Ducking back into the doorway, he waited until she passed and then stepped out to follow her.

  He loved the way she walked. The gentle sway of her hips from side to side. Not many people, human or vampire, could claim they had a unique and memorable stride, but she was one of them for all the right reasons.

  It took her maybe three blocks to show suspicion that she was being followed. At first it was just a searching glance or two over her shoulder, but then she actually stopped in front of a store window as if she were window shopping, in order to see who was behind her. He was impressed. Most of the people he followed had no idea at all until he wanted them to.

  Which begged the question—did he want her to know?

  He answered that when he kept walking towards her, stopping only when he was a metre from her back and well within smelling distance of her scent. It still had the power to remove all thought from his mind; leaving only a strange sense of satisfaction that it was back. His mouth watered as he remembered the taste. So sweet, so satisfying.

  Seeing his reflection in the window or sensing his presence at her back, she quickly turned around, her eyes meeting his, the greeting in them like a warm hug.

  They said nothing as they stared into each other’s eyes. Greyvian might have been content to leave it at that, but words were coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. He couldn’t admit that he just wanted to hear her voice.

  “Your scent came back.”

  She smiled—the curve of her lips further lighting up her expression until she practically glowed. “Yeah. I’m sure Jacob can appreciate your position now. He almost ate me for lunch.”

  “Hmm,” said it all.

  Her eyes were so blue. Such a vibrant colour that he couldn’t seem to drag himself away from her no matter how hard he tried. His fangs were out, he had an erection, and his throat was dry from the need to taste what her scent was offering, but he just stood there, staring at her. He had the feeling he would do it all day long given half the chance.

  In the end, her scent was too much for him, the torture of not tasting her too painful, and he had to take a step back. Before he knew it, one became two and then three, and then more.

  “Sorry I almost killed you,” he told her as a parting sentiment. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.

  He felt as if he were walking into darkness.

  * * *

  Jacob couldn’t get Sienna’s scent out of his nose—or memory—or whichever one it actually happened to be stuck in. It was all he could think about on the drive back to Greyvian’s. As training reconvened, his gaze was unfocused, his mind off with the fairies, thinking (obsessing) about that lovely smell. He didn’t pay attention to the fight between Knox and Lucas. Couldn’t. As the sounds of fist or shin hitting flesh, of grunts and groans and cursing rang out, all he could focus on (obsess about) was the idea of drinking from Sienna to find out if she tasted as good as she smelled.

  Deep. Rich. Indescribable, really. Especially since he had never been one for waxing eloquent about anything in life. There was just something about her blood, however, that made him want to think up a sonnet, or something equally as verbose and teeming with similes and all those other terms they had loved to throw around in English class.

  It was calling to him, even now, hours after having been in its presence. Teasing him, taunting him, whispering in his ear that he should come and get a taste.

  Was it like this for the others? Did her scent still torment them or was this a human-blood-diet only thing? Finally focusing on Knox and Lucas, he noticed that they did seem to be going at each other a little harder than previously. One particularly nasty bite delivered by Lucas had him cringing in sympathy as Knox’s bicep started oozing blood, so perhaps it wasn’t just him.

  And what about Greyvian? The lucky bastard had actually tasted her. Was the desire to feed from her again driving him as mental as it was Jacob? Locking eyes on the male, he expected to find a focused, but otherwise unemotional canvas and was surprised to see that his father was actually glaring at the fighters. Eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, the full-blood looked like he wanted to tear Knox and Lucas apart with his bare hands.

  Flicking his eyes back to the half-breeds, he watched them for anything in particular that could have made Greyvian so furious but couldn’t pick any one thing that could have done it aside from the fact that neither one of them was really getting the upper hand. That seemed to be enough of a reason for Grey, who suddenly strode forward and got between the two males, pushing them both back with such force that they stumbled.

  “What the hell do you think this is?” he snarled, pinning first one and then the other with the power of his glare. “If you want to play, go grab a bat and a ball.”

  Everyone was shocked. Truly and utterly shocked. Their jaws dropping down in a comical hit-the-floor kind of way. Who was this male standing before them? What had happened to the unshakable, closed-off automaton they’d all gotten used to over the past week?

  “The sooner you tw
o learn that this is not a game, the better.”

  Another long moment of silence followed, with Greyvian’s glare getting ever darker because of it, until suddenly some unknown impulse had Jacob asking, “Did you not feed?”

  Greyvian’s eyes locked onto him. They were black. Not a good sign.

  “And you,” his father growled, ignoring the question. “You think I didn’t notice you gazing off into space? Do you think yourself so proficient now that you don’t have to pay attention anymore?”

  The acid in the male’s voice, coupled with the heat of his expression, made Jacob think that Greyvian had definitely skipped the meal he’d gone out to get while Jacob had been visiting with Sienna. It would certainly explain the vile mood.

  If that were so, then provoking him probably wasn’t a very good idea. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’m a little distracted today.”

  “Distractions get you killed,” his father growled, black eyes fierce.

  “I can imagine they would,” he replied flippantly before he could stop himself.

  Greyvian stalked over to him and it was game on. The attack was fierce, faster than he could adequately cope with and, in the end, dirty as a street fight. Jacob had fed after meeting with Sienna (Knox having to intervene so he didn’t kill his victim) so he wasn’t lacking in strength or energy, but Greyvian was just too damn good. Jacob parried, dodged, copped a number of bone-jarring kicks and punches in places that would no doubt hurt for a week, but he managed to hold his own for a couple of minutes. He even managed to get behind Greyvian, grab a hold of his shirt and flip him over at one stage. He’d been hoping to get the male on the ground and maybe take a bite out of him, but Greyvian was too damn fast and too damn tricky for that and twisted away, leaving half his shirt behind in the process.

  This seemed to anger his father further and it was all over from there. Greyvian stripped the remaining front half of his shirt from his body, revealing an upper torso that was ripped, devoid of fat, and built for destruction. It was only as Jacob’s eyes zeroed in on a tattoo that started to the right of Greyvian’s navel and continued in a flowing script around his side and up his back that Jacob realised this was the first time he’d ever seen the male without a shirt on. Knox and Lucas shirtless was a common sight, but Grey had never seemed to need the lack of clothing before now. Jacob had all of one second to wonder what the words meant before his father took advantage of his lack of focus and sank his fangs into Jacob’s neck.