Demon Curse

by Linsey Hall

  Slowly, the agony began to fade.

  I began to uncurl from my rolled-up position. Every muscle felt weak.

  “Can I pick you up?” Declan asked.

  “Why?”

  “To help you lie down.”

  Okay, that actually sounded delightful. “Yes.”

  Carefully, he picked me up, treating me as if I were made of crystal. Just touching him made me feel better, and with every second that passed, my strength returned.

  He carried me to a bedroom and laid me on the bed. By the time I hit the mattress, I was feeling almost normal. It was an illusion, of course. The curse still roared through me, but the potion had repressed it.

  For now.

  Fates, I hoped Mari was okay.

  Declan stood over me in the bed, looking worried and extremely uncomfortable.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “You look…not so good.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t like feeling like there’s no way to help, I guess.”

  My brows rose.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” he said. “I’ve made it clear how I feel about you. Of course I want to help.”

  I shifted in the bed, then patted the spot next to me. “You can sit with me. That would help.”

  Immediately, he did as I asked, sitting next to me on the bed. I shifted farther left so I wouldn’t be touching him. I didn’t want the nullification magic making him ill.

  He moved until his shoulder pressed against mine. Heat roared through me at even that small touch.

  For fate’s sake, it was just shoulder to shoulder.

  That was nothing.

  At least, it should have been nothing.

  It was definitely not nothing.

  My whole system went haywire when I touched him. The chemistry that was so strong between us roared to life, nullifying magic be damned. I could feel every inch of him. And from the way his muscles tightened, he could feel me.

  I looked at him. “It doesn’t bother you to touch me? You don’t feel ill?”

  Despite the fact that his face was slightly pale, there was heat in his yes. “Not enough to stop me from wanting to touch you. So no, it doesn’t bother me.”

  “Really?”

  “Want me to prove it?”

  My mind raced. My heart thundered. Then, unable to help myself, I shrugged. “Yeah, prove it.”

  He pulled me toward him, his mouth swooping down on mine. I gasped, my hands going immediately to his shoulders. His lips moved expertly, driving all rational thought from my head.

  His hands swept down my sides, his big palms leaving a wake of fire in their path. His mouth moved from my lips to the side of my neck, lighting up my nerve endings as he trailed kisses to my shoulder. He reached the crook of my neck and bit down, just hard enough to make sensation flash all the way through my body.

  I pressed myself closer to him, feeling every inch of his hardness. A low moan tore from my throat, and I moved, letting instinct take over. Declan groaned, a harsh sound that lit me up from the inside.

  When his hands ran down to my ass, I became an inferno. There was nothing to me but heat and desire. I tore his shirt off, running my palms over the hardness of his muscles. Visions raced through my head—images of us, doing everything two people could do in a bed.

  And I wanted to.

  Oh, how I wanted to.

  What if this curse killed me and I never got the chance?

  The thought ignited a fire of urgency beneath me. No way I was going to die without getting to sleep with Declan.

  I tore my mouth from his and yanked my shirt over my head. My bra went next, and the desire in Declan’s eyes made me shiver.

  I reached for his belt, pulling the leather free of the loops. The snaps were even quicker, and Declan groaned.

  “We’re doing this?” he asked.

  “Oh, we’re doing this.”

  Declan grinned, a sexy smile that made the fire inside me burn ever brighter. We collided in an explosion, desire driving me wild.

  An hour later, I lay with my head on his shoulder, exhausted.

  “Wow.” I blinked into the darkness of the room.

  “I second that.” His voice was rough.

  “That was amazing.” The things he could do with his mouth.

  “I second that as well.”

  I leaned up to look at him. Though it was mostly dark in the room, I could still make out the paleness of his features.

  Something withered inside me, and I pulled back, lying on the pillows so I didn’t touch him.

  As much as he wanted me and was determined to ignore the effects of my nullifying magic, he couldn’t. It would always make him feel like shit.

  “We can’t do this again,” I said.

  “Sure we can.”

  “It makes you feel like crap.”

  He shrugged.

  “I know you’re willing to try to live with it,” I said. “But I’m not.”

  “So don’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’d never ask you to give up magic that could save your life. That has saved your life. But you could learn to control it. To repress it when you don’t need it.”

  I frowned at him. “That’s not how a nullifier’s magic works.”

  “You’re right. But you’re not a full nullifier. You just have a little bit of the power.”

  He had a point. If I’d possessed a full nullifier’s power—for example, if I’d stolen it, which I wasn’t even capable of—then it would repress all my other magic. It would make me feel like a walking corpse.

  But it didn’t, because I’d created only a small bit of it when I’d needed it.

  “Do you really think it’s possible?” I asked.

  “I think it’s worth trying.”

  Uncertainty filled me. As if he could sense it, Declan turned to look at me.

  “I’m not sure,” I said.

  “Are you using it as an excuse to avoid this?” He gestured between us.

  “I haven’t avoided anything. I’m naked, after all.”

  “I mean the emotions, and I think you know it.”

  I scowled at him. Damn him, I hated that he was so insightful. Yeah, maybe I was avoiding getting close. I’d never truly, deeply trusted anyone except Mari. At best, I mostly trusted my friends the FireSouls. Logically, I knew I could trust them one hundred percent. But deep in my heart, I was still a weirdo about things like this. Mari and I had been betrayed by too many people we cared about to easily start trusting again.

  If I pursued things with Declan, I’d definitely be opening myself up to hurt I didn’t want to feel.

  “Let me think about it,” I said.

  He frowned at me, but settled back on the pillows.

  Smart guy. There was no point poking me when I was feeling like this, and I appreciated that he recognized that.

  As I settled down next to him to go to sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder where this would go. If I lived, could I handle it?

  A terrified part of me said maybe not.

  9

  A shriek tore me from sleep.

  I sat bolt upright, panting. It took my panicking mind a few seconds to process where the noise was coming from.

  “Aeri!” Mari’s voice whispered out of the comms charm around my neck.

  I slapped my hand to it. That was where the shriek had come from.

  “What’s wrong?” Ice chilled my skin.

  “Abducted.” There was static, something I’d never heard before on our comms charm. “Fallen angel.” Dead silence now.

  Fallen angel.

  The word made fear sear through my veins, hot and fierce and driving away the ice of dread.

  “Mari! Mari!” I hissed the words. “Are you okay? Where are you?”

  “With Del.” Static. “There’s water nearby. I hear it.”

  Nothing. Silence.

  “Mari!” I wanted to scream her name, but knew I couldn’t. If she was hiding t
he existence of the comms charm—which she would do, since she was smart—I didn’t want my shrieking voice to reveal its existence.

  Silence.

  There was nothing but dreaded, terrifying silence.

  I turned to Declan, who sat up in bed beside me.

  Terror made my insides feel hollow.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  He reached for my hand and squeezed. “We’ll find her.”

  “How?” The agonized words tore from my throat. “We have almost no info.”

  Before he could speak, I pulled my hand from his and tumbled from the bed. I didn’t know where we’d start. But I had to do something.

  “She was taken by Acius. We already have a clue to help track him. Once we find him, we’ll find her.”

  I clung to his words like a lifeline. He was right. I knew he was.

  I drew in a steadying breath.

  This was the worst thing in the world—losing Mari.

  I haven’t lost her yet.

  But it was my greatest fear come true. If I let it, the terror would dissolve me.

  “Okay, we need to get started.” I began tugging on my pants. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “I need to call the FireSouls.” I scrambled for my pants and pulled the cell phone out of my pocket. They didn’t have comms charms that connected to mine, though they did wear their own to talk to each other.

  A wordless prayer raced through my mind as the phone rang. The FireSouls could find pretty much anything.

  Maybe they could find Del and Mari.

  Finally, Nix picked up. “Aerdeca?”

  The panic in her voice told me that she already knew.

  “Can you find them?” I asked immediately.

  “No.” Frustration echoed in her voice. “They’re hidden by some kind of charm, I think.”

  I explained what we knew about Acius, and how he was the one responsible.

  “So they’re concealed by whatever charm hides him.” Nix cursed.

  “We’ve got a clue and we’re tracking him.”

  “Good. We’re going to keep hunting for Del. We’ll check Grimrealm first. If we spread out and happen to get close enough to him, our power might be strong enough to break through the protection charm.”

  Fates, I prayed they could manage it. Their powers were stronger when they were closer to what they sought, and it wasn’t unreasonable to think that Mari and Del might be in Grimrealm. That place was huge, but any direction was better than none, and we needed to spread out our forces.

  “Good luck,” Nix said.

  “You too.” I felt more connected to her than I ever had. As if the very thin wall of ice that I’d put up between us was melting.

  She hung up before I could say anything, and I wasn’t sure what I would have said anyway.

  I hung up and looked at the time. Nearly midnight. We hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, but I was feeling well enough to get going. Not that it mattered. I could have felt like death warmed over and I’d be getting the hell on with the hunt.

  I yanked the rest of my clothes on, then sat to put on my boots.

  Declan yanked a shirt over his head. “Ready?”

  I stood. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. Should be about dawn in Paris. Hopefully it’s not light yet.”

  “I’ve got a transport charm.” He walked to the side table and picked up the small charm.

  “You keep one on your bedside table?”

  “Great for making an escape in a pinch.”

  I liked how he thought. It was dire, but it was smart. “Good. I have another so we can get out of there when it’s all over.”

  “I’d bet good money we can’t transport directly out of the museum.”

  I nodded. He had a point. If I owned a museum, I’d definitely enchant it so thieves couldn't easily sneak out with the goods.

  Declan gestured to me. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  I joined him near the bed.

  He threw the transport charm to the ground. A cloud of gray, sparkling smoke burst upward. I gripped his hand, and we stepped inside. The ether sucked me in and tossed me through space, making my head spin.

  When it spat us out in Paris, I nearly stumbled in the narrow alley. The night was still mostly dark, but the faintest bit of light was creeping over the horizon. Dawn would come soon.

  “Good choice,” I said as I inspected the narrow, brick-walled alley. No one had seen us arrive.

  “We should be close to the museum.” Declan went left, and I followed, arriving on a two-lane street that was nearly devoid of cars at this hour. Ornate street lamps shed a watery glow on the historic facades of the buildings.

  I’d only ever been to the supernatural district of Paris once. It was in an older part of town, with beautiful buildings that just screamed Fantasy Paris Vacay.

  There was a seedy underbelly, like in all magical neighborhoods, but on the surface it was lovely. Supernaturals liked to visit Paris just as much as humans, but we tended to stay in our own neighborhood. Hotels, cafes, and bars lined the street, most of them quiet. The smell of coffee and fresh French bread made my mouth water.

  As if a bored god had heard my stomach grumble, fate blessed me.

  A man walked down the street carrying a basket of French bread. The long loaves were wrapped in brown paper and smelled like actual heaven.

  He neared us, and Declan spoke. “Combien coûte une baguette, s'il vous plaît?”

  “Deux euro.”

  Declan dug into his pocket and handed over a five-dollar bill. “Guardez la monniae.”

  I looked at Declan curiously.

  “Keep the change.” He murmured the translation. “Since it’s not exactly proper currency here.”

  The man looked at it, considering, then nodded and handed over the long loaf of bread. He sauntered away whistling, then turned into a coffee shop, no doubt making a delivery for the morning.

  Declan tore the bread in half and handed me a long piece.

  “You’re a hero.”

  “It’d be better with butter and coffee, but this will have to do.”

  I bit into the bread, tearing off a piece. I covered my mouth as I asked, “Which way?”

  My usual manners went totally to the wayside when presented with fresh bread and a growling stomach. The curse seemed to make me hungrier. Not to mention, we didn’t have a lot of time.

  Declan pointed down the street, towards a series of tall, ornately decorated stone buildings. We ate as we walked, moving at a swift clip. The sky was turning a dusky gray with dawn, and I wanted to get into the museum before the sun was up.

  I ate quickly, polishing off the bread as we approached the front of the museum. It had once been an old Gothic church, complete with flying buttresses, gargoyles, and glittering glass windows. I searched the facade, looking for a weak point, but even from where we stood, I could feel the strong protection charm.

  “I think we should go in from the top,” Declan said.

  “Fly?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that at this time of day, in the middle of a city that was waking up.

  He frowned. “No. Too light. We’ll draw too much attention.” He pointed toward a narrow alley that separated the museum from the bank next to it. “We can climb up the wall in there. No one should see us.”

  I approached the alley to scope it out.

  The space was narrow and dark. There were windows on the church side—it was far older than the bank, and I imagined this side had once had a view of the city. When the bank had gone up, they hadn’t bothered putting in windows. There was only a few feet between it and the church, so there was nothing to see.

  “Too narrow to fly,” Declan said. “But the building is ornate enough that we can climb.”

  He was right. All of the decorative windowsills and carvings gave ideal handholds for scaling the wall. This would be much better than scaling the buildings in the Heavenly Archives.

  I brushed off my hands and tilted my hea
d back, searching for my route. “Top floor?”

  He nodded. “Should be fewer protections up there.”

  “Race you to it.” Normally, I’d find that to be quite fun. But even as the words left my lips, they felt hollow.

  Mari.

  Nothing was fun when Mari was at risk.

  So I started climbing, hand over hand as fast as I could go. As we moved higher up, the building got smaller. A patio gave way to a dome, and I continued to climb, passing stone statues and gargoyles.

  I was nearly to the top when magic flared to life. It pricked sharply against my skin, the only warning before the gargoyle next to me came to life and lunged. The stone monster was fast, and his big hand had slammed onto my back before I could even process what was going on.

  “Trespasser,” he growled.

  I craned my neck to look back at him, catching sight of a mean stone face and a heavy brow. Horns the size of my forearm protruded from his head.

  Shit.

  My heart thundered, and sweat formed on my brow.

  His big hand pushed harder against my back, threatening to crush my ribs against the stone wall. To my far right, I could see Declan making his way to me as fast as he could. He might trigger a gargoyle, too, and then we were both screwed.

  An ache pounded in my chest as the gargoyle pressed harder.

  I pushed backward, using my strength to try to gain a bit of breathing room. But the damned gargoyle was even stronger than me. Despite the pressure, my heart beat frantically.

  There was no way that strength would save me.

  I drew in a breath—not a deep one, since the gargoyle had just decreased the capacity of my lungs by about half—and called upon my magic. The new nullifying power was coming in horrifyingly handy, and if it saved me here, there was no way I could ever justify getting rid of it.

  If that were even possible.

  I let the power fill me, pushing it out and into the gargoyle. It was a spell that had brought him to life—something that I’d triggered when I’d gotten near him.

  I just had to nullify that spell.

  I used the crushing pain to fuel my magic, feeding it into the gargoyle.

  Come on. Come on.

  I felt it when the magic finally worked.

  The gargoyle stilled, turning back to stone. And trapping me against the wall.