This Curse

TWENTY TWO



I was wondering if time passed differently in Hell. Had it been mere hours or days since my friends had last seen me? Would they be waiting or had they lost all hope. My mind was awash of thoughts, none of them productive.

Lying on the ground, I admired the stars, happy in the thought that it was the sky of my home and my time. I lifted my right wrist and sighed. The tattoo was there, shining in the starlight. I sniffed back new tears and covered it with a small glamour. Satan could kiss my ass, I was not letting my friends see this, and they didn’t need to worry about another Grace problem. This was my burden and I would be the one to bear it.

Grace, please answer me!

Seth? I was shocked to hear his deep voice rumble through my mind.

You live? Sweet, you are alive!

Uh, yeah, I’m just out front. My legs are tired and I don’t seem to want to move just yet.

I hadn’t finished the thought when all of a sudden I was being lifted. Spice and man enveloped me and I sighed, laughing a little at the irony. Once upon a time, being carried by this powerful man would have ranked right up there with visiting Hell. Now, it was all I could do not to squeal with delight and snuggle into his shoulder.

I felt the rumble of laughter as he carried me up the steps to the house. “I am happy to see you as well, Sweet, you had all of us worried.”

I smacked his shoulder, “Stop reading my mind.”

He chuckled as we entered my living room, “I would gladly refrain from reading your thoughts, if you did not scream them into my head, Sweet.”

I looked up at him. My face fell and I sucked in my breath. His smile fled. “What?” He set me on my feet and frowned, and then reaching behind his head, he ran his hand over his short hair. “Yeah, I guess it could have been worse.”

I examined him. His hair was so short, styled in a sexy, spiky way that made him even more incredibly handsome then before.

“Ah, I see you no longer find me as attractive?” he smirked. “I am a vampire, Grace. It will grow back when I wish it to. I used to cut it often, but I found it mattered little to others, that is, I thought it mattered little.”

I was amused. Seth had a complex. He actually believed he could look bad. Oh my. I giggled. “You really care, don’t you?”

“Of course! You are my, um…” he looked around, smiling when Jamie entered the room.

“Grace!” She ran, slamming into me, I fell back several steps as her familiar arms wrapped around me. I held her close, happy to see her doing so well.

“James. Oh, I am so glad you’re alright!” I pulled away and looked at her. “You’re all puffy. Why do you look sad? Where’s Lucian?” I looked around as Seth and Jamie exchanged wary glances. “What?” I demanded. “Okay, what the hell has happened?

“He’s sick,” Jamie’s eyes welled with tears and she bit her lip. “I think Lucifer must have done it. I don’t know, we were hoping you would return soon, before…” Jamie choked back a sob. “He’s in your bed; we thought he might like the view from that side of the house.”

I looked toward my bedroom door, my heart in my throat. “Is he up?” I asked, feeling sick and incredibly angry. This was just another of Lucifer’s many deceptions. Damn it! Lucian was supposed to be well. I wanted to zap myself back to Hell and rip his lying ass apart, but I was sure he had found a loop hole someplace and if I confronted him, I’d only be providing him with another visit and I had no intention of dealing with him while Lucian lay suffering.

“He’s in and out.” She looked at Seth and he smiled at her. She blushed and looked away.

Oh great, now what?

I pushed the thought of a love affair between Seth and Jamie to the furthest room at the back of my mind and then I locked it up tight. Then for good measure, I set fire to it and let it burn. I had no desire to deal with that fresh Hell.

I pulled myself together and strode to my bedroom. Before I opened the door, I used my magic to instantly clean the stink of Hell off my skin and to change my clothing. I wore a fitted pink t-shirt and a pair of light gray yoga pants. Fluffy socks made my feet warm and I made sure I smelled like Lucian’s favorite perfume.

Satisfied that I appeared relaxed and free of all traces of Hell, I turned the knob.

He was asleep. The thick down comforter was folded at the foot of the bed. A white cotton sheet covered him to his waist. His chest was bare. What were once golden muscles were now pale ripples coated with sweat. I held my breath and slowly approached the bed. He looked thinner than usual. His hair was a sticky, dingy blonde and lay tangled across the pillow.

I picked up the chair I kept by the largest window and quietly set it close to the bed. I sat and watched his chest as he took each breath.

“Grace?” his voice was weak. I met his eyes. “Oh, Gracie, you’re okay.” He smiled and it looked pained.

“Shhhh, Lucian, you’ll be fine.” I ran my hand over his gnarled hair. He was burning up “I swear, you’re going to be just fine. You’re just tired is all, you just need more rest.”

He grunted and stared to cough. I sat back, my stomach fluttered with nerves as he threw his hand over his mouth and began to hack and choke, his shoulders jerked viciously. I sucked in my cries as his hands came away with blood.

“Rest won’t fix this, Gracie.” He fell back into the pillows and I felt my anger rise.

Oh, God, Lucifer must have planted this illness while he was threatening me. Why couldn’t Lucifer have just chopped his hair off as well? Son of a bitch! I went into the bathroom, ran water over a soft cloth, and returned.

I took his hands in mine and gently wiped the blood off. I watched as his pale skin reappeared from under the dark blood and a thought occurred to me.

I froze.

Blood? I smiled, excitement raced through my body.

Lucian frowned at my smile and I looked away, I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to my idea. I stood and paced while I thought my idea through. I stopped and looked at him. He was in serious trouble and this time it was entirely my fault. He looked so much smaller, as if whatever he was infected with was eating his life away.

I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen. I looked at him, more determined than ever.

“I’ve always wanted to be naked in bed with you looking at me like that.” Lucian chuckled as he watched me. His laugh turned into a sticky, wet sounding cough, which escalated into another vicious bout of blood, soaked hacking.

When he settled back down, I grabbed his hand. “Lucian, I need to ask you something, okay?

He turned his head and opened his eyes a crack. “Of course.” He tried to smile.

“Um, first, do you know of any spells at all that could heal you? Are there any herbs that you know of?” I knew he would have already tried everything, but just in case.

He shook his head. “Jamie’s tried everything, but this is demon stuff, Gracie, I’m afraid we don’t have anything to counteract it.” He turned onto his side gingerly. Facing me, I could fully see how bad he was. His eyes were sunken and ringed with a sickly blue. His lips lacked color and his hair was limp and thin looking. We were losing him.

I sat up straight. Not if I could help it!

“I know that you’re a warlock and you’re all about the purity of the earth and that some things may seem distasteful to you, but I may have a cure.” I looked at him and tried to smile.

He sat up a little and frowned. “Gracie? What are you thinking?” He watched my face as I clearly battled with how to put it to him. In the end though, I figured this was the only thing I could think of to save him and even if I had to hold him down, he was doing it.

“You need to drink my blood, Lucian.”

He paled even more and fell back onto the bed. At my words, Mr. Super Hearing burst into the room.

“You want to give him your blood?” Seth roared. “Have you lost your mind?” He stood snarling inside the room, his fists clenched.

“As if you have any say!” I stood; ready to toss his ass out the front door. “Listen, this isn’t some sick way to get his lips on my body Seth, this is demon shit, and the only magic that can counteract it is mine. Trust me, all the legends were wrong, demon magic doesn’t stop Madea magic.” I froze, hearing my own words as I felt a zing of realization. “Madea magic stops demon magic.” I looked at the ground as the thought hit home. I smiled, remembering how easily I had trapped Lucifer. If I could do that, then a little demon sickness should be child’s play. I looked at Seth, “Look, this is the fastest way to heal him. He doesn’t have much time and I don’t want to sit here and fumble around. My blood can heal him right now.”

Seth looked as if he were about to start foaming at the mouth he was so pissed. “You have no idea what you are doing, Grace.” he warned.

I sat next to Lucian and smiled. Ignoring the jealous vampire was going to be hard. I looked at him again and when it appeared that he would start yelling again, I turned my eyes to Jamie.

The entire time she had been standing off to the side, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. She had nothing to say. She told me she trusted me before, so apparently, she was letting me do what I felt needed to be done.

“Ready?” I asked, looking at Lucian again. His eyes bored into mine.

“Where?” He asked quietly.

I looked at him, not sure what he meant, and then he looked at my neck and I laughed. “No, I don’t think either one of us would survive Seth’s fit if I were to give you my neck.”

“You are so f*cking right!” Seth growled and I turned to glare at him.

“If all you’re going to do is grumble and bitch, then you need to leave.” I looked at Jamie and she nodded.

“Seth, come on. I think this will go faster if we aren’t in the room. I’ll nuke a bag of blood for you, unless you want another apple?” She was leading him out of the room by the hand; he followed slowly, shaking his head in disapproval. He obviously didn’t want to argue with her, yet he didn’t want to leave us either.

When the door shut, I looked down at Lucian.

“Are you sure, Gracie?” He sounded miserable. “This is such a violation.” He covered his face with his hands. “I never wanted to cause you any pain, and now because of me you wound up in Hell. Now you’re on the radar of the Devil himself.”

I smiled and took his hand. “You had nothing to do with any of this. You are the most innocent of us all. Now stop being the whipping boy and drink up.” With a thought, I opened a small wound on my wrist; Lucian looked at me and then tentatively bent, closing his lips around the small silver pool that formed there.

My head fell back at the feeling of his lips on my skin. This was the first time I had ever felt the real Lucian’s soft lips and I almost died. I shook myself and tried to focus on the fact that he was ill and I was only here to help.

Yep, only here to help. He is my friend. God his lips are soft.

I sat still for several minutes, Lucian sucking in a steady stream of my healing Madea blood. I watched carefully, knowing that any second I would begin to see the change.

His hair began to fill in the strands were plumping up. His shoulders appeared wider as his body became more robust. His skin began to shine, he was heavier, and the force he used to draw the blood from my arm increased. I flinched as his sucking became painful.

I placed my hand on his head and he sat up. His eyes were glazed and he smiled, drunk, and high as a kite, he flopped backward onto the bed.

I shook my head and crawled onto the bed to hover over him. His body was huge and I had to struggle to avoid crawling on his long limbs. He had blood on his lips, his and mine. I frowned at him and examined the bed. It looked rumpled and a bit dingy. I sniffed back tears, wondering again how long I had been in Hell.

I shook my head and centered my mind. With a thought, Lucian was bathed and the bedding was changed. When he woke, he would feel fresh and clean.

I looked down at him one last time, making sure he was well and truly healed. A loud snore hit me in the face and I fell back. Yeah, he was fine. I smiled, happy for the first time in a very long time. Now he could rest. He was going to be all right.

I crawled off the bed and then pulled the covers over him. I smiled and then tiptoed from the room.

Seth was chomping loudly on a shiny green apple. He glared at me when I strode into the room. Jamie stood; her desperate eyes searched my face. “He’s going to be better than ever.” I smiled. “He’s knocked out. My blood has a bit of a kick.” I smiled.

“Ah, at least you are still aware of that fact, now tell me Sweet, how will you feel when your white knight wakes with the silver eyes of a Madea?” Seth straightened, tossing the apple into the small wastebasket; he casually strode from the room.

I felt my face pale and I looked at Jamie. Her eyes were huge. “No.” I shook my head and laughed nervously. “No way.” I assured her. She frowned and looked down. “Hey, James, even if he does change, it won’t be so bad because he will live, isn’t that the point?” I smiled and half a second later, so did she.

“Honestly, Grace.” She began, standing up she stepped closer to me. “I don’t care if he wakes up a full blown Madea or a damned vampire! I owe you so much. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. You saved me and now you’ve saved my brother.” She looked toward the kitchen and smiled. “Seth’s strong. He’ll get over it. I think it just rubs him wrong to think that there could ever be another mate for you. He thinks that because he is the closest thing to a male Madea, you have no choice but to accept him as your true mate. But…” she sighed dramatically. “He knows how you feel about my brother, Grace. He knows that there could be true love there.” She smiled, and before I could speak, she turned and walked from the room to join Seth in the kitchen.

I sat. My head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. I was hurting from head to toe and to top it all that off, I was exhausted. With Lucian in my bed, and Jamie in my best guest room, I stood to go make a home in the smaller guest room.

I opened the door and froze. What the hell? The room had been altered so that no light could enter. I examined the windows. Crap, I thought. Wincing as I realized they had been painted from the inside. I turned and my eyes fell upon the bed. It was piled with black and purple sheets. Huge, fluffy pillows were scattered all over. As usual, Seth’s bed looked like he slept snuggled next to a tornado.

“I don’t suppose you are contemplating which side you would like?” he leaned against the door jam, his arms folded.

I turned and frowned at him, questions sat on the tip of my tongue.

“I am not worried about your love for the warlock.” He straightened and moved further into the room.

“Stop reading my mind,” I sighed.

He shrugged and toed off his shoes. It was an oddly human thing for him to do and I frowned. “I had no need to read your thoughts, Sweet. It is written all over your face.” He chuckled, “And Jamie has a rather loud voice.” He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his shirt.

My mouth went dry and I stepped back. He looked so good sitting there, his short black hair, his shining silver eyes. He was another man with his hair chopped short, even more seductively dangerous.

He smiled and stood. “Ah, now that is much better. The Grace with lust in her eyes is back.” He stepped close and wrapped his arms around me. He was a large man, his chest was muscular and wide, and his shoulders were broad. His waist was narrow and just the right height. I wound my arms around him and rested my cheek on his chest. “You scared me for a time, Sweet.” His chest rumbled as he spoke and I closed my eyes. “I thought that my allure was gone. You still want me, do you not, my darling?”

My darling?

I dropped my arms and took a small step back. My heart began to race and I slowly opened my eyes to focus on the man before me. His body was tattooed perfection; his neck was long and thick. Blonde hair crowned the face of the most beautiful man I had ever seen. “Well, my darling? You do still want me?”

I felt my face go numb as stars sparkled across my vision.

“Grace? Can you hear me?”