Cursed Love: A Wicked Demon Tale

by Reed, Kristabel

  Joaquin’s fury remained unchecked; his eyes blazed with it, but he stilled as now she wrapped her hand around his neck.

  “You shouldn’t have played with things that can destroy you,” Nikki whispered, her voice just loud enough for him to hear her. In one smooth move, she tore his talisman from his neck and took her own back from his momentarily slack grasp.

  “Give that to me!” Joaquin shouted. His demon faded then reappeared, faded then reappeared again. Joaquin’s eyes widened and a terrible shudder wracked his body.

  Nikki stepped back, instinctively moving closer to Cooper as Joaquin lost himself to his demon.

  Joaquin screamed a horrible screech that echoed around the room and through Nikki. The scream wasn’t aimed at her, but sounded as if the head of the Carillo cartel was in pain; he grasped his head and fell to his knees, gasping for air. The red cluster of markings flared brightly then faded only to reappear, but this time the markings didn’t just rise to the surface. They burned there; Nikki smelled the acrid odor of burning flesh.

  Still screaming, Joaquin tore at his face, his nails scoring deep, bloody marks into his flesh until he’d gouged bloody trails over his cheeks. One of Joaquin’s nephews woke and screamed. Panic and fear colored his voice as the man screamed for his uncle, for the other man to recognize him.

  The nephew’s words only seemed to trigger a deeper loss of control. With a growl that sounded completely predatory, Joaquin leapt at his nephew. Before Nikki knew what happened, before she could move, Joaquin strangled him. His grip tightened until his hands nearly severed the man’s head from his body.

  Without a look at the body, he let his nephew’s body carelessly fall to the ground. Joaquin turned to Nikki and Cooper. Cooper instinctually stepped in front of Nikki, but Nikki gently placed her hand on Cooper’s arm. She knew what she had to do.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered, confidence in every move, in every word.

  In this, she and the spirit were one.

  She knew Cooper didn’t like it, but he didn’t stop her. Nikki stepped in front of her lover and moved stealthily toward the uncontrolled Joaquin. Her spirit took control, and she willingly let Alena do so. Her war cry echoed around the room and caught Joaquin’s attention. The man jerked and stumbled back.

  Joaquin’s disorientation lasted a moment. Straightening, he bared his teeth, but didn’t attack. Nikki waited, tensed. He didn’t attack her. Somehow, Nikki sensed her show of power forced Joaquin to seek out weaker prey.

  But he was no longer Joaquin, the kingpin of his cartel; he was a beast in search of blood. In that moment, it all became so clear to Nikki—what must have happened to the Ancient Ones, how they destroyed themselves. How a few uncontrolled demons among their spirits turned on the populace and attacked.

  In that moment, Nikki knew she was right. For a brief moment, she felt her spirit’s sadness and loss. And knew what happened before her, what consumed Joaquin, would never happen to her.

  But then the beast that was once Joaquin growled.

  She couldn’t fight him; he was utterly out of control and unpredictable. With a heave, Nikki pushed Joaquin into his other nephew, whirled, and raced to the doors. Flinging them open, she looked wildly about the room for Cooper. He was already there. She heard men running and knew they’d been alerted to the now-dead nephew’s shouts.

  Alena receded, and though she didn’t have time to fully appreciate the swiftness of it, once more Nikki was completely herself again.

  “Help!” she screamed as armed men ran toward them. “We were talking,” she cried, breathless and probably looking wild and terrified. Behind her, the second nephew screamed, the horror of his cries chilling her. “We were talking,” Nikki repeated, “and he just changed! He just—look!”

  Before she uttered the last word, Cooper pulled Nikki out of the room, away from the running guards. “What is he?” Cooper shouted, not bothering to look back as his fingers tightened on hers and he tugged her farther into the hallway.

  “Patron?” one of the men called softly into the suddenly quiet room. Nikki glanced back and saw him step carefully. “Patron? No!”

  “Let’s go,” Cooper whispered.

  She nodded and let him lead down the hallway.

  As they made their way steadily to the front door, it seemed to Nikki as if the entire household converged on that one room. Then there were the screams. The wild, terrified shouts of horror and fear. Joaquin attacked his own people. His own family.

  She and Cooper walked out of the house and off the grounds without incident, and Nikki knew very few would survive Joaquin’s rampage. As for Joaquin, he’d probably never see the sun rise again.

  Shots resonated behind them, along with screams, the pleading, the cries of horror and pain. They kept walking. At the gates, with the guards there running for the house, Nikki wondered if the superstitious people of Valle Arriba would let the house stand. Let its empty husk stay as a reminder of what happened here or burn it down to forget.

  At their rented car, Cooper helped her in and rounded it to the driver’s side. Seated, he started the car but didn’t immediately drive away. Instead, he raised Nikki’s hand to his lips.

  “It’s over,” he said. “We won’t hear from the Carillos again.”

  “No,” she agreed with a relieved smile. Her heart still pounded, but she felt a calmness she’d never felt in her life. “No, we won’t.”

  “We’ll pick up the totem and talismans from Narsico’s on our way out. We’ll bring them back with us and bury them. Give them peace,” Cooper promised.

  “Yes.” Nikki caressed Cooper’s cheek.

  Exhaustion tugged at her limbs, but she refused to close her eyes. Not until they were well away from this once-sleepy town—away from the horror here, the evil permeating every inch of this place.

  Cooper’s lips pressed to hers, warm, loving, and comforting. Nikki opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed and smiled at him.

  She didn’t know what in her life she did to deserve this man, but she wasn’t going to take one moment of it for granted. In Cooper, she’d found everything. Without hesitation, she knew she’d spend her life showing him how much she loved him.

  “Yes,” she said. “But how about we head home and give Sylvia the day off?”

  Nikki winked at her lover and settled back as Cooper put the car in gear, and they sped away from the compound.

  “Actually,” Cooper said with a wicked smile that sent a shiver of arousal through her, “I was thinking the week.”

  It was the best idea Nikki had heard in ages.

  A Note to my Incredible Readers

  Cursed Love is a change from my previous stories, a little paranormal fun if you will! After all, October is All Hollow’s Eve month. I hope you enjoyed this tale of a woman, a rancher, and a demon. Next October, so long as all the stars align correctly, I plan a bit more paranormal fun with two stories set in this same verse, though Nikki and Cooper will not be making an appearance, sorry.

  Coming during the 2014 holiday season there will be additional Curvy Girl books and there’s another Winter’s Regency Ménage coming in 2015. Also in 2015 will be my Regency Scandals series, a trilogy of m/f stories.

  And if you have enjoyed my stories, I’d greatly appreciate you sharing your views on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads. I’m always available through email if you have any comments, questions, or requests.

  If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, I’m posting a short ménage story in monthly excerpts and historical recipes exclusive to the newsletter. You can also find me on Twitter, on my Blog, on Facebook, and pinning like mad on Pinterest.

  As always, thank you so much for reading! Stay safe and read often.

  About Kristabel Reed

  Kristabel Reed lives on the East Coast and loves to explore the steamier side of historical romance. She loves all romances, but historical ménages particularly which add an element of danger and discovery not seen in contempora
ries.

  She loves reading, watching old movies, random quotes, and anything Cary Grant.

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