Curse Reversed

by Rebecca Royce

  Just then two more pops sounded. Stefan returned and with him a tall, dark intense person. Stefan pointed at him. “This is Lawson. He used to be my boss.”

  So he was an Enforcer and the name resonated. That was Lawson. The guy that Ava picked over Mitchell. Eleanor refused to turn to look at Mitchell. There was nothing worse than having a bad moment than having everyone in the room interested in how you were reacting.

  Trident strode toward Eleanor and held out his hand. “If I had known you wore our lady’s mark I would not have tried to kill you.”

  Lawson made a sound but Stefan cleared his throat and then the room fell quiet again. Sebastian crept forward. “Your mother gave you that mark to try to protect you from what she had done to you. Your parents, they are known to us.”

  Strong hands touched her shoulders. Mitchell was there. “How so?”

  She wanted him to make this stop. To declare it ridiculous.

  If you tell, we’ll all die. You can never tell. It had been days since Eleanor had heard her mother’s voice but there it was, back.

  I’ll never tell, Mommy. Her voice but younger. Scared.

  “Your parents were involved in an ancient society that worshiped her, the one who wants to take you over. She got pregnant on an altar in a ritual ceremony. There, they created you. Presumably at some point during your pregnancy she regretted what she did. They ran. Separated. And she spent the rest of her life trying to find ways to protect you. Ancient ways.” Trident’s gaze met Eleanor’s. “I met her once. She was a good friend of my father’s. He suggested the ink. He reminded me of this yesterday when Sebastian came to us with this.”

  Eleanor pulled her wrist from his. She’d had enough. “My mother died in an avalanche. She was an academic. She didn’t belong to a cult. She might have been weird, but she was a St. Vincent, not a… not a…” Well, she couldn’t find a word. “I have to go. I have to…”

  Mitchell tugged her toward him a little but didn’t let her go. “How do we get it out? The energy?”

  Trident ignored him. “If I had realized who you were I would not have tried to hurt you. I could feel the goddess, and I followed the signal of energy. I thought you were a worshiper. It is my duty to end them.”

  “Wait a minute,” Lawson interrupted finally. He walked forward like a man who knew he was always in charge. “You can’t go around killing people—whether or not you agree with their religious beliefs.”

  Trident didn’t seem particularly bothered. Eleanor imagined most people trembled when Enforcers threatened them. Not Trident.

  “How do we make it stop?” Mitchell repeated himself. “Let her go pick someone else. I don’t care if Eleanor’s parents did some kinky altar sex and made a baby. That witch’s energy does not get Eleanor. End of story.”

  Sebastian sighed. “No one knows what to do.”

  “Take my magic.” Eleanor shouted it out. “She can’t want me if I don’t have any, right? Take it.”

  Mitchell sucked in his breath. “No, not that.”

  “Why not? That’s the answer, right? I have so little. What’s the difference? I’m not going to make great advancements in the fields of magic. We can put a stop to all of this.”

  Stefan shook his head. “Hate to disagree, but I keep telling you that you have magic. Are we sure your father was human?”

  Since her answer was the same as before, she didn’t respond to his question. “Why not?”

  “They can’t magically lobotomize you like they do a criminal, Ellie. People don’t live very long after they do that. That’s not something they tell the general public, but it’s true, right Lawson?” Mitchell issued the last part through clenched teeth.

  The room was silent. “Well, it’s obviously not a great secret if you know it, Mitchell. But yes, I’m afraid there is a time limit after the magic gets taken. A few years. There are things they can do in the Institutions to extend that a bit.”

  So she wouldn’t just get to be human. That wasn’t going to be an answer. Her mind clouded and tears she would not shed filled her eyes until she battled them back. “She hasn’t gotten me yet. Maybe she won’t. We’ll just keep going as is.”

  “I’m afraid that won’t work either.” Eleanor hated the sound of Sebastian’s voice. Every time he spoke her life got worse.

  Mitchell put his hand over his heart. Although he addressed Sebastian his gaze never left hers. “Why not?”

  “The spell that the ink put on her to stop the changeover will cease to work soon. That’s why they’re getting worse.”

  Eleanor placed her head on Mitchell’s shoulder. “I just got into college. So much for that idea. I don’t suppose they give degrees to ancient witches bent on world destruction.” No one laughed. It must not have been a very good joke. “’I’ve been dreaming of her. Of all of it.” She’d been the one getting impregnated on the altar, but who knew how these things worked. It hadn’t been her parents she saw, thank goodness.

  “That’s the evidence.” Sebastian again.

  “Lawson, don’t do it. I’ll keep her under control,” Stefan’s plea caught Eleanor’s attention a second before she popped from the room.

  She would have landed with a thud on her behind if Lawson hadn’t grabbed her arm to steady her. The world tilted left before it righted itself and her stomach turned. She gasped. “Where did you take me?”

  “I’m not in the habit of ridding the world of women who haven’t done anything but neither can I leave you where people can get hurt by this ancient being.”

  They were in a room in what looked like a house anywhere. A living room. The only difference being Eleanor couldn’t see any doors or windows. “Where am I?” She’d ask as many times as she had to for him to answer her.

  “Some place safe. No magic can get in here. You’ll stay here until we figure out how to stop the witch, get rid of her energy. You’ll be safe here and someone will bring you whatever you want every day.”

  Oh no. She shook her head. This was so much worse than the Institutions. Even there she could see out the window while she sipped her ginger ale. “No, please don’t do this. I’m… I’m not going to bother anyone. I haven’t yet. Don’t leave me in here alone with no way out. Please. What if it catches on fire?”

  “It won’t.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know you’re a nice person. Stefan and Kim really like you. Mitchell seems crazy about you, and trust me, the last thing I want to do is fuck with his life again. I almost killed him once, and I took Ava. I am not at all interested in screwing up any more romantic entanglements for him. But I have an obligation to the world. So we compromise. We’ll get you out of here soon. Then it’ll be over. Lots of things to read. The TV works. You don’t even have to use magic. We’ve put humans in here. I’m sorry, Eleanor. I’m going to handle this for you.”

  It was a full minute of standing there in the house with no windows or doors before Eleanor sunk to the floor. Surely, this couldn’t really be happening.

  She put her hands on her knees and tried to breathe. No, that didn’t help. She paced the room. There was lots of furniture. Someone had even thrown a blanket over the side of the couch. She didn’t know why that made her hysterical but it did.

  Eleanor laughed until she couldn’t breathe, and she threw herself down on the couch. She was supposed to spend the day with Mitchell. How had it ended like this?

  Pop

  The sound jerked her from her sleep. With no other choice, she’d searched the house until she’d found a bedroom—there were two—and taken residence in the bigger one. Sleep hadn’t come easily, but it had come.

  Lawson had said someone would bring her things and check on her. She pulled the sheet up to her chin and waited. Whoever was coming might not be very nice.

  Mitchell’s face appeared in the doorway, and she let out a squeal before she jumped from the bed into his arms. “How did you get here?”

  “Stefan and Kim. They brought me, and we’re taking you out of here.”r />
  Wait. What? “Look, I don’t want to stay here, but can’t you all get in trouble? I’m dangerous.”

  “You’re not dangerous.” Stefan stormed into the room. “And Lawson knows it, too, or he wouldn’t have brought you where I could find you. This is my favorite safe house. He brought you. He’s met his obligation in doing so. He knows I’d break you out. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he shows up to help.”

  Mitchell made a growling sound. “He’d better not.”

  “Yeah, I get it. Not your favorite person right now or ever.” Kim hugged Eleanor, tightly. “That must have been scary. Come on. Let’s go. We’re meeting Sebastian. None of us accept that you are dangerous. If we change our mind, we’ll find somewhere else to put you.”

  Eleanor had some time to consider the subject. “My mother took me from ancient burial site to ancient burial site. I hear her in my head. I’ve never told anyone because what I hear her screaming is that I can never tell or everyone will die.” In fact, even speaking the words made her head pound. She pushed through. “I lie about it all the time. She’s always in there screaming. I think it might have been her last time alive. Maybe we should see why she died there? Or maybe not. Maybe we should stay far away from there altogether.”

  She hadn’t expected the hug she got from Mitchell. “What we’re doing right now is taking you some place to sleep. Tomorrow we will go ahead and figure out where to start. I’m sorry you’ve been suffering for so long.”

  They popped out of the room.

  The sound of the ocean was soothing, very different from the angry sea outside. They were some place north on a coastline people only visited in the summer. That’s what Mitchell had told her. The sea was angry. But it sounded beautiful.

  Mitchell came up behind and slipped his arms around her. “This is my parent’s place. They never come here. I don’t know if they remember they own it. But it’s always stocked and ready.” He rested his chin on her shoulder. “You okay?”

  “No. I’m being systematically possessed by an old witch people worship as a goddess. Takes a lot out of a girl.”

  He didn’t laugh. “I bet it does.”

  She turned in his arms. “I had this idea that I could come surprise you and we could pick up where we had left off back at my grandparents’ house. I bet I’m not sexy right now, though.”

  His eyes flared. “You’re always sexy. I mean, always.”

  Eleanor tugged at his shirt. “I don’t know how to seduce you, Dr. Sharpe. I’d like to. Can you show me how?”

  “Seduce me? Consider me seduced. Are you sure? I don’t want to take advantage.”

  She kissed him to stop him. She’d listened to him talk for hours at a time and loved it, but he could talk himself around any decision. Right now, she wanted him to know how much she wanted him. He tugged her closer, pressing his mouth so tightly to hers that it hurt for a second before he loosened up. That was claiming.

  She wanted to be claimed.

  He floated them into the air and she held on, never letting go of his mouth. She wasn’t sure if he even realized he’d done it. They hung like that above the ground, their bodies adjusting to each other, their mouths starting what she hoped would be the beginning of things for the night.

  Mitchell made the best sounds in the back of his throat. He kissed with all of his attention and responded to her like he couldn’t get enough. He turned suddenly, bringing them both down onto the bed, his body covering hers.

  “Can you spell your birth control?”

  She swallowed. “I don’t know.” She’d never done this before.

  “Don’t worry. I can keep you safe.” He touched her stomach over her shirt, and a slight warmth like a hot bath moved through her. “Nothing to worry about tonight.”

  He had just taken care of her from the inside out. She kissed his chin, all over his face until he stopped her by tugging on her shirt.

  She helped him take it off and then assisted him with his. There wasn’t a lot of fanfare about getting naked together. She’d always wondered how it worked. Did people just rid themselves of their clothes with spells? Maybe others did but Mitchell always remembered not everyone had magic.

  “I want to make you feel so good.”

  She stared at his naked body. He was sculpted everywhere and didn’t have an ounce of fat anywhere she could see. A dusting of dark hair covered his chest. She let her gaze fall lower, and then she gulped. He was big. She didn’t have experience with this except in books, but his erection was huge. Was this going to work?

  “And she just got nervous.” He kissed from her chin to her neck. “We’re not in any hurry. Let’s just get to know each other for a little while. There’s no pressure to go any further.”

  She shook her head. “I’m… anticipating. Not nervous. And, I want you, Mitchell. So much.”

  Because she wanted to, she stroked her hands through the dusting of hair on his chest and felt his heartbeat jump beneath her fingertips. He squeezed her breast in his hand and she gasped. Yes, she wanted that. How had she not known that she did? Her breasts ached for him.

  “More,” she pleaded. Mitchell scooted down, replacing his finger with his mouth. He sucked on her breast, moaning. She’d really never thought a thing about her breasts, but they were suddenly incredibly sensitive. She closed her eyes, squirming as he changed nipples, paying attention to the other breast.

  In his movement, she could feel how hard he had gotten. She reached down to touch him, and he shuddered under her hand. She widened her eyes. This was… fun. She’d known it would be exciting, that it might even feel fantastic—although some people didn’t always feel that way in what she’d read—but she hadn’t known that giddiness would be in there, too.

  He moved down, kissing the place between her breasts, her stomach, and then lower. She gasped for one second before his mouth was on her. It would have been awkward except for how excited it seemed to make Mitchell. He moaned as though he was getting as much pleasure as she was. Stars passed in front of her eyes and seconds later she orgasmed, the experience causing her to shake. She’d made herself come a few times. It had been nothing like that.

  Mitchell lifted his head to smile at her, a look of pure male satisfaction covering his face. He scooted forward, taking position over her. “Might hurt for a second. I’m sorry. I’ll try to not let it. I guess I could spell away your pain, but I won’t unless you want me to.”

  She shook her head. “No, I want to feel this as it is. Entirely as it is. I can’t wait to have you inside of me.”

  He pressed deep within her, inch by inch, an aching pleasure that somehow seemed to be both painful and wonderful at the same time.

  Then he moved, pulling out, and her world shattered. How had she ever done without this? How had she ever lived one second without knowing that being this way with Mitchell could make her feel like this? Was she doing the same thing for him?

  He filled her and then took it away, again and again, until each movement left her panting for more. Whatever slight pinch she had fled and all that was left was him. She reached up, tugging his mouth down to hers. He kissed her slowly, drawing it out as his hips took him in and out of her. She could feel the pressure building inside, and she wanted it as much as anything she’d ever had. This joining. This man. This time.

  One last pass and she cried out, colors dancing before her eyes. With a cry of her name, he followed her.

  There was perfection in the universe. She had it right then.

  Chapter 9

  She lay in the dark, her fingers entwined with Mitchell’s. He hadn’t been talking, but he wasn’t asleep. She’d started to wonder if she’d done something wrong.

  Finally, when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she had to speak. “I bet I’ll get better at that with practice. If there was anything I didn’t do that I should have done, I’ll work on it.”

  He rolled onto his side, tugging on the end of her hair. “Hey, are you worried about that? If you didn’
t notice, we both had a really fantastic time.”

  “First time jitters, I guess.”

  He tugged her against him. “I was just working out in my head all the things I want to do to make sure you are safe.”

  She scrunched up her face. “Thank you but not very romantic, right?”

  “I have trouble with romance. Not because I don’t want to be, but because I tend to think you can show someone how you feel about them by being there. By doing things. By trying to participate in their lives. By making their life easier, if you can. I… I guess I’m blowing the afterglow thing, aren’t I?” He rubbed at his face. “I should be saying something, right? Is that why you’re nervous? I… Lady, you…”

  She covered his mouth with her finger, stopping him. “Don’t feel pressured to say things because I’m being me.” Eleanor curled into his side. “Thank you, Mitchell. For everything. You are…”

  He put his finger on her mouth, and she moved her own finger so he could talk. “Don’t thank me.” Mitchell kissed the end of her nose. “What I was going to say is, Lady, you blow me away with your strength.”

  She sighed. “I’m not strong. I just get flopped around and wake up again.”

  He smoothed his thumb over her mouth, and she bit down lightly, which made him grin. He was so ridiculously handsome. “You keep waking up. This will stop. There will be an end day to this. I promise.”

  She sighed. “Sure. It’ll just be some ancient goddess wearing my body to end the world.” How she was going to do that with her mediocre magic, she didn’t know, but maybe any compatible body created on the altar would do? “What happens to me when this happens? Do I just disappear forever? Like I do when she’s there for brief periods but forever?”

  The endless blackness of nothing…

  His mouth met hers again and Eleanor quickly learned that there were all kinds of ways to have sex. Sometimes they were like earlier—smooth and exciting—and sometimes they were two people joining for the desperation of just needing to be alive with the other person.