The Curse: The Butterfly Effect, Book 2.

by Margaret McHeyzer

Jude’s shoulders straighten, and his jaw jumps with tension. “No one is going to get to you. No one.” Jude quickly becomes agitated as he stands to his feet to pace. “I need to make a phone call,” he says, leaving me in my bedroom.

  Watching him walk out of my room, I’m left even more confused by his sudden exit. But then again, that’s the way he is.

  I finish drying my hair with the towel, then head into the bathroom to comb it and use the hairdryer. Once I’m finished, I take myself back into my bedroom. Jude’s once again sitting in the chair, watching the door to the bedroom. His intense stare makes me jump back, momentarily frightened. “You scared me.” I grasp my chest. “You look so serious.”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “About?”

  He looks at me and sighs dismissively. “Nothing.” His demeanor rapidly changes as he stands. “Frank’s made pizza.”

  My stomach growls in response, and suddenly I’m starving. “Pizza,” I say softly. “Yum.” My stomach grumbles again, telling me to eat something.

  “Come on.” He walks over to me, and with his hand to my lower back he guides me toward the kitchen.

  When we enter Frank’s domain, he turns to see us, and a huge smile graces his aged, weathered face. “Miss Lexi, I’m so delighted to see you,” he happily announces.

  “I haven’t been in a good headspace, Frank.”

  “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” He whizzes around the kitchen, clanking pots and pans, making a coffee for Jude and pouring me a juice. “Sit, sit, sit.” He points to the chair. “I’ve made pizzas!” he declares proudly.

  “How many have you made?” I look over to the kitchen counter and see it perfectly clean.

  “Three. I figured you’d be hungry.”

  “I doubt I can finish one piece, let alone all three.”

  “Hey, I’m hungry,” Jude says as he slaps my leg. “You’re not going to be a pig and not share, are you?” Frank chuckles and I smile at Jude’s easy attitude.

  “I’ll share, if I have to.” Silence falls in the kitchen, and this makes me revisit what I was thinking about before. “I need to say goodbye to Dallas.”

  Jude sighs and clenches his jaw together. “It’s not a good idea. It’s not safe.”

  “But you told me nothing is going to happen to me. I can’t stay here forever. At some point I need to get out and start living. I can’t be frightened by the ‘what ifs.’ I have to move forward with my life. I can’t let the world decide my fate, I have to decide it for myself.”

  Jude grumbles lowly, and pulls at the shirt collar around his neck. “Until Ronan finds the people who did this to you, the safest thing for you to do is stay here.”

  A smile pulls at my lips and I shake my head in disbelief. “They got to me here before, they can get to me here again.”

  Jude obviously doesn’t like to be reminded how I was taken from this very room. Clearly, he feels like he failed. “Just . . .” he starts but quickly stops. “I need to find these people first.”

  “Jude,” I reach to grab for his hand, but pull back. “I need to say goodbye to Dallas.”

  “They may be watching her.”

  “And if they are, then your people can find out who they are with very little effort. Kinda kills two birds with one stone.”

  He crinkles his brows together and scoffs at me. “You sound so old when you say things like that.”

  “What can I say? My parents were a huge influence in my life.” I shrug nonchalantly, but kick myself at the reminder of what I’ve done to them.

  Frank brings three pizzas out and places them on the long wooden table. “I hope you’re hungry,” he says enthusiastically toward me. It’s definitely not a question, more a statement.

  My stomach growls again. “I think my stomach answered you.”

  “Eat, eat.” Frank exits the kitchen, leaving Jude and myself on our own.

  I inhale the first piece of pizza, and add a second to my plate. “This is good,” I say as I shove more in my mouth. I notice Jude’s not eating, instead he’s watching me and smiling. “Not hungry?” I ask as I keep eating. When I demolish the second piece like it’s nothing, I take a breath and look at Jude. “You made a big deal about how you’re hungry, and now you’re not eating, you’re just staring at me. That’s creepy, even for you.”

  He smiles, then turns his head muttering something ineligible to me. Then he adds, “I’m enjoying being here with you.”

  Flip. Oh crap! Jude’s said something nice and it’s making my heart flip. Why can’t he be an asshole? Why does he have to be nice to me? It would make it a lot easier to not like him if he was consistently a bastard.

  “Huh,” I exhale.

  “You being here, it calms me.”

  Flop. Stop it heart! “Huh,” I mumble again.

  “You make me not want to be such an asshole.” No! Be an asshole, then I’ll hate you. “And I like having you around.”

  “Okay,” I manage to not say what I’m thinking. Shove pizza in your mouth, Lexi, then you can’t say anything. I lean over and slide a third slice onto my plate. “I . . .” shut up, girl. I lift the pizza quickly, and bite off the biggest piece. As I chew, I internally scold myself. My stupid self. I shouldn’t feel anything for him; he got me into this mess to start with. Who am I kidding? He’s probably saved me from ending up in some facility where I’d be poked, prodded and tested, just another lab rat.

  Jude’s eyes are glued to me, and no wonder. I’m grunting my responses and have so much food in my mouth I must look like a squirrel with a year’s supply of acorns stuffed in its mouth.

  “For someone who’s not afraid to say what she thinks, you’re fairly quiet.”

  “Eating.” I point to my mouth.

  Jude nods his head, and reaches over to the pizza. “I’m glad you’re eating.”

  He starts eating and suddenly the kitchen falls quiet. He’s looking at his plate, and I’m trying my hardest not to look at him. When the lack of conversation finally plays havoc on my mind, I turn in Jude’s direction. “Jude, we have to talk about this.” I point to him, then me.

  “What’s there to talk about?” Ugh, typical male.

  “Why are you so . . .” I look past his shoulder and try to find the right word for how I’m feeling. The struggle is real, because I don’t want to say too much in case I’m reading the signs all wrong, but I can’t let this go either. When I find the right words, I make eye contact with him, “ . . . protective of me? Especially now when you say you won’t use me.”

  “Whoa,” he grumbles under his breath and sits back in his chair. Clearly, I’ve put him on the spot, and he has to find the words to tell me why he’s the way he is toward me.

  “I’ve seen what you’re capable of, I know what you can do, but I don’t know why you’re the way you are with me.”

  It’s Jude’s turn to look past me and focus on a spot over my shoulder. His brows draw in and he bites on the inside of his cheek as he formulates his response. “You intrigue me,” he finally says.

  And of course, that’s not what I was expecting to hear. I had no firm expectations, but come on . . . really? “I intrigue you?” I ask almost mockingly. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

  Jude stares at me. “You do intrigue me. You’re sassy, you’ll argue with me if you think I’m wrong . . .”

  “When I know you’re wrong,” I correct him.

  He clears his throat, and an amused smile lights up his face. “As I was saying, you’ll argue with me if you think I’m wrong. You’ve been thrown into a world of chaos and you’re choosing to adapt instead of laying down and letting it defeat you. And not to mention, your incredible strength.”

  “My strength?” I scoff at him. “I’m forever in tears because people around me keep getting hurt or killed, and I feel so bad for anyone who will be hurt or killed because of me. How can you say I’m strong?”

  It’s Jude’s turn to mock at me. “Lexi, you once lived
a life where you were ordinary.”

  “Thanks,” I say and grit my teeth.

  “Shut up and listen.” He glowers at me warningly. “You used to be a girl who was like everyone else. You woke in the morning, probably texted or snapchatted, or whatever app you used with Dallas. You’d go through every day like the one before it.”

  Clamping my mouth shut, I opt not to tell him off for trivializing the way my life was.

  “Then, suddenly, not through your choice, you’ve gone from an ordinary girl, to an extraordinary woman. You have something no one else on this planet has, and your power all lies with you. You’ve been thrust into a corrupt world, and you’re learning how to live within it without compromising who you are, and without it consuming you. So, to answer you, yes you may cry, you may even crumble, but you’ll never let it define the person you truly are.”

  Swallowing hard, I suddenly forget about everything.

  Diverting my eyes so I’m not staring at this man whose ferociousness is bigger than life itself, I try and formulate some type of response to him. “I’m not the person you’re describing, Jude. I’m nothing like her.”

  “You may not see it yet, but soon you will. And when you do, you won’t be oblivious to your strength. You’re a warrior, not the prey.”

  I shake my head, choosing not to believe a single word of what he’s saying. It’s simply not true. I lift a piece of pizza and take a bite. “Whatever,” I respond.

  “Yeah, whatever.” But he doesn’t sound convinced. He has so much confidence in me.

  Pity, I don’t.

  “Miss Lexi, Mr. Jude needs you ready to go,” Frank announces when he enters my room.

  “Where am I going, and why couldn’t he tell me himself?” Come to think of it, I haven’t seen much of him since the pizzas two nights ago.

  Frank smiles at me, his wrinkled face lighting up. “Oh no, ma’am, I can’t say anything about anything.”

  I turn off the movie I’m watching and stand from the bed. “You can’t say anything about anything?” Frank backs away from me, a huge smile on his face. “Frank?” I pester him while following him simultaneously. “Frank?” I say again, busting to know what he knows.

  “I can’t say nothing, Miss Lexi. Nothing.” He smiles even wider.

  “Tell me,” I persist.

  He holds both his hands up, shakes his head and backs away further. Now I feel like a crazy person as I chase after him, trying to get him to tell me. “I can’t say anything, Miss Lexi. Please don’t force me to tell you,” he says seriously.

  Damn him and the fact I like him. “Fine,” I huff. “I hope it’s a good surprise.”

  “You’ll love it. Dress warm though, the weather’s changing.” He’s right, the seasons are changing and I can feel the nights are getting cooler.

  “Okay,” I say, finally accepting Frank’s silence about where I’m going. Heading back to my room, I pull a pair of jeans and a light sweater out of the immense closet and take myself to the bathroom for a quick shower.

  When I get out, I fix my hair, dress and look at my reflection in the mirror. The jeans hang low on my hips, and I turn to get a better look at myself in the mirror. Groaning, I run my hand over my nearly concave stomach. “Ugh,” I growl. “You look terrible, Lexi. You need to get more food into you,” I say to myself. It’s not like I don’t like food, or I’m trying to lose weight, it’s with all this crap going on, and Enzo nearly starving me, I seem to be dropping weight too easily.

  Casting another look over myself, I straighten my shoulders and hold my head high.

  “Lexi,” I hear Jude’s voice calling me from somewhere outside of my suite.

  “Coming,” I reply.

  Slipping my feet into a pair of low boots, I head out to find Jude leaning against the wall near the front door looking down at his phone. Clearing my throat, I eagerly wait for him to drag his gaze away from the screen. He doesn’t disappoint when he lifts his head to look at me. “Don’t you look beautiful?” he asks as he pushes off the wall and makes his way over to me.

  “Thank you.” I brightly smile at him as I accept his words.

  Standing in front of me, I can’t help but appreciate his form snugly fitted inside his tailored suit. Whoa, a girl can look.

  He leans down, and gently places a soft kiss to my forehead. Closing my eyes, I’m getting drawn into a vision, but I push back, not allowing it to take me to his immediate future. It tugs on me, wanting to immerse me in a world I just don’t want to see right now.

  Fighting it, I refuse the vision. Instead, I stand still and accept the soft, sweet kiss Jude is offering me. My hands snake up to hug him around the waist, while his hands caress the curve of my lower back.

  He pulls away, and his darkened eyes keep me hostage, the blaze in them whispering softly to me. He takes a deep breath, narrows his eyes, and turns his head. “We need to go,” he says in a low, strained voice.

  I’m affecting him.

  And I know he’s affecting me.

  There’s a part of me that wants him to touch me, but there’s another part, which says this entire scenario is wrong.

  I’m just not sure which voice is louder.

  “Okay.” I pull my hands back, and tuck them into my jeans. Jude motions to grab my hand, but quickly retracts it when he sees me shove my hands in my pockets.

  I’m screwed up enough with everything as it is, having feelings toward Jude isn’t really an extra complication I can deal with.

  Jude leads me out, where one of his cars is waiting for us. “Ronan,” Jude says as he unbuttons his suit buttons and guides me to the back of the car.

  “Jude,” Ronan replies with a curt nod.

  Wow, talkative.

  I slide onto the bench seat with Jude next to me. Ronan shuts the door and walks around to the driver’s side. “Is Ronan taking us?” I ask.

  “Your powers of observation are exceptional,” he teases me.

  Rolling my eyes, I tilt my head and give him a ‘shut up’ look. He chuckles, which makes me shake my head. “Why’s he coming?”

  “Don’t you like me, Alexa?” Ronan asks from the front.

  “I don’t know you. You might be an ass.” I shrug my shoulders.

  “You don’t have to know me to know I am an ass.” He laughs at himself, which makes a small smile creep up on my face too.

  “Well, then you’re no different than Jude.”

  “Oh man, no wonder you like her,” Ronan says over his shoulder to Jude.

  Jude’s features drop when he sees me smiling broadly, proud of myself at my clever remark. He shifts in his seat and turns his head to look out the window. “Just watch the road,” he barks playfully toward Ronan. Ronan of course, chuckles even louder.

  “So, are you going to tell me where we’re going today? Actually, where were you yesterday? I know you don’t go to ‘normal-people’ work, because let’s face it, you’re far from normal.”

  “Normal is in the head. My normal and your normal are on various points of the spectrum.”

  “Well, doing what you do isn’t exactly a job most people aspire to.”

  “I do,” Ronan calls from the front seat.

  “Again, not normal.” I make an obvious point of twirling my finger around near my head.

  “Normal is subjective,” Jude adds.

  “No, it’s not,” I argue back.

  “Really? And you’re normal?”

  I bite on the inside of my lip, chewing it for a few seconds before I answer. Damn him. “I used to be.”

  He shakes his head at me. “I’m sure you think you were, but I can guarantee you were so much more than normal, even before you got your powers.”

  I shiver when he says the word ‘powers.’ Jude catches the tremor and leans forward, removes his jacket and drapes it over me. “I’m not cold,” I say as I take a deep breath. “It sounds so weird when you said my powers. Makes me think of Iron Man and Wonder Woman. They have powers, I have an ability.”
>
  “Even the word power isn’t the right description for you. It’s not . . .” He scrubs his hand over his chin, thinking. “ . . . powerful enough to describe who you are and what you’re capable of.”

  Sitting quietly, I don’t respond. Instead I wait until the tension passes. “Where are we going?” I look out the window and try to gain a sense of direction.

  “Somewhere,” Jude replies.

  “Will you tell me?”

  “When we get there.”

  “So basically, me asking is futile?”

  “Essentially, yes.”

  “Then I’ll be quiet and wait to get where ever it is you and Ronan are taking me.”

  “Technically I’m taking you there, ‘cause I’m driving, but Jude told me where to go. And I set it up.”

  Ugh, Ronan is as annoying as Jude. I look out the window, and watch as we pass through the countryside. We enter the area I used to live with my parents, and my heart picks up in speed, but quickly slows with the realization that my parents are no longer alive.

  The scenery changes with every passing minute, and after what seems like forever, Ronan takes a turn onto an isolated road. The trees become denser as we exit suburbia and enter an expanse of greenery with cute little cottages.

  Ronan travels for about ten minutes, before slowing and pulling into a long driveway that takes us to a beautiful, rustic home, with a wide timber-covered porch out the front, and a beautiful garden of luscious flowers. Lining the driveway up to the quaint house are rows of citrus trees with fruits hanging off them.

  “Where are we?” I ask once Ronan’s parked.

  “Somewhere I know you’ll enjoy.”

  Getting out of the car, I look around and take a deep breath in. “Can you smell that?” I ask as I immerse myself with the beauty around me. The aroma coming off the flowers, mixed with the zingy smell of the citrus trees, really makes the most captivating scent.

  “LEXI!” I hear the familiar, but definitely missed voice of Dallas.

  Swinging around, I see Dallas barreling toward me. She jumps off the porch and runs at me at full speed. Without thinking, she throws herself in my arms and immediately, I’m being dragged into a vision.