This Curse

SEVEN



Knowledge is power. Well that statement was just dumb. Knowledge is a bitch, and the more of it I acquired, the more f*cked up my life became.

We stood for what felt like hours. I hated that something this obvious was staring me in the face for so long and I never realized it. Well, not the full extent. No wonder my powers were useless on him. I always knew that my blood had altered him, but I assumed his eyes had changed merely because his diet had changed. The blood was no longer red it was silver. No biggie.

The blood he took from my body not only made him stronger, more powerful. It also made him a Madea.

I swooned. Gripping my sides, I stared at him as he walked along the shattered wood of my shed.

“We must recover that blood, you realize?” He was back in control. Cool and practical as ever. “As you can see, I did not create this ruin,” He licked his thumb and wiped the dried blood from his perfectly healed arm. “You don’t want any more silver-eyed monsters following you around like starving puppies now do you?” He smiled as though nothing had changed.

I had been staring slack jawed as he calmly lectured me. Recovering myself, I closed the small distance between us. “You knew. You knew you were changing this whole time!” I balled my hands at my sides, my nails cutting into my palms.

He chuckled and pulled his hair away from his face, binding it into a low knot behind his head. “I had my suspicions, make no mistake. From the moment my eyes stopped bleeding black, I knew you had changed me. But, I am still a vampire. Fear not.”

“Wait, you’re still a blood sucker, which means you can’t be a Madea?” I stated with confusion.

“It always amazes me, Sweet, your tact and mastery of the obvious. Yes. I still require blood, your precious exclusivity in Club Madea is safe,” he sneered. “Normally, I am never so out of control, but I’ve been a bit busy and my energy is not infinite.” His manner was too casual for the state I found him in. I realized that it couldn’t have been only hunger driving his madness it was something else. What was he hiding?

“Have you tried to do magic?” I was having a hard time not picturing Seth standing on a hill pointing a stick yelling, “Expecto Patronum!”

He noticed my smirk. “Have your fun, Sweet, but you need not worry.” He was all seriousness, “At any rate, this new information is not important. We have other things to deal with. Your blood is in the open.”

“So you have no power?” I persisted. “No extra anything?” I folded my arms and watched his face. I couldn’t read his mind like I could everyone else’s. That in itself was a power in my opinion. If he had that, he had to have more.

He walked over to the wreckage of the shed without meeting my eyes. “We need to get a scent or a track for whomever or whatever took your blood.” He kicked a board with his boot and knelt down to inspect the ground beneath.

I narrowed my eyes in frustration, knowing I had gotten all I was going to get from him on the subject. “Well, fine then.” I huffed out my breath in frustration. “Can you determine who did this?” I stomped over to where he knelt, kicking boards and bits of drywall along the way. “Can you get a scent?” I bent close to his side and looked at him. His expression was the kind a person would give to a complete idiot. I cleared my throat. “What?” I snapped.

“I am not a trained hound, Sweet. I can no more scent the thieves than any other vampire. Would it be possible for you to stretch your magical legs and give us some answers?” He stood and folded his arms.

“Fine.” I sat on the ground among the ruin. Folding my legs, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Concentrating was a bit hard. I could almost feel the irritation and anger radiating from the pissed off Master Vampire in front of me. “You’re going to have to chill out or leave, Seth. It’s hard to function when you’re emotions are taking over the atmosphere.” I opened one eye and watched as he straightened and walked over to the furthest end of the disaster I used to call a shed.

“Will this do?” He spoke as if it was an effort for him to form the words. “I hope you realize,” he looked down at me with menacing eyes, “that all of this could have been avoided if you had only listened to me. I should think that the degree of foolishness you have displayed in the past would have given you more sense in forming decisions in the future.”

“Kiss my ass, Seth. Stop stalling me. Do you want to find out who took your dinner or not?” I shot him a glare and closed my eyes again.

The air had become icy outside and its chill was almost painful. I centered my power and wrapped myself in a warm pocket of flowing air. As I relaxed, my focus sharpened.

I sent my power out into the city. They were thin tendrils of awareness searching, feeling, and tasting the air. My power licked along the ground and everything on it. People, plants, animals, and structures were all a part of the search. The air was pulled in through my lungs, each molecule tested, tasted. I savored the feel of spreading out among nature. My mind seeped into the moments that ticked by. My body swayed with the wind, my skin tingled with the current of so many lives.

Time was of no value to me, but when repetitions of energy began to enter my mind, I knew my search had covered enough distance and I was circling back. I opened my eyes and sighed.

Seth, his arms folded, was staring at me with a strange expression on his face. “So you know the location?” he stepped closer.

“No, but that in itself is a clue as to who has the blood.” I stood and started brushing the dirt and drywall dust off of my clothing.

Seth cleared his throat. His arms were still folded with impatience.

“Think about it Seth.” I stopped slapping at the dirt on my pants. “Me, with all my power could not locate a simple pair of refrigerators or who could have taken them. Doesn’t that seem odd?” I looked at him as realization filled his eyes.

“Voltaire!” he punched the air and spun. It was a surprisingly human reaction and had me gawking. I let out a small chuckle.

“You are laughing?” He lowered his brows. “When Voltaire and his mewling wolves are probably making a whole race of Madea’s as we speak?”

Seth was obviously more up to speed on Voltaire’s new partnerships than I had realized, but then again, he was part of the Council. I folded my arms and looked at him. “He can’t do that, Seth. There wasn’t enough blood to change the whole wolf pack.”

“Have you lost your senses?” he whirled on me, “Only enough to change one would be your undoing! What if that one person is Patrick? What do you think a Werewolf Pack Master could do with all that extra strength? My Sweet, do you realize that since I have had your blood, I can feel you? I am so tuned into you it makes me crazy when I’m not around you! It is a constant struggle knowing I have the strength to force you.” His voice lowered, his eyes left mine, “I respect you now.” He cleared his throat, “so I control that urge. Patrick, on the other hand, or any of your enemies for that matter, will not be as kind. And, remember this, Sweet…” He gently grasped my chin and looked into my eyes. “You have absolutely no power over me.” He moved so quickly I was on the ground before his last words even registered.

“Stop me, Sweet. Use your powers to stop me from shoving inside you right here.” He kissed me hard. I screamed into his mouth and pushed as I tried to move under his weight. His massive arms had me pinned to the debris-strewn ground causing tiny bits of wood to push painfully into my back. I twisted my legs and tried to smash my knee into his groin. Instead, he shifted and slammed my legs to the ground with his knees. I knew from our past violent encounters that I couldn’t transport him anywhere, not unless I wanted to go along for the ride. It was another clue to his transformation that I conveniently ignored. I closed my eyes and pulled on my power. Pulling the air in through my nose, I concentrated on forming all I had into a crushing ball of heat. When I felt I had enough to shake the earth, I shoved it into him as hard as I could.

Seth’s eyes bled to pure silver and he bared his white teeth as they grew long and sharp before my eyes. “Feed me more, Sweet,” he groaned. Running his tongue down my cheek, he growled, “It feels like sex in the sun.” His breath was hot against my cheek as he spoke.

Defeated, I dropped my head back and began to cry. Before a single tear could fall, Seth was off of my body. He pulled me to my feet and stood next to me, a sad look of pity marring the usual smugness that I found there.

“Now do you understand?”

I looked at him; my shoulders slumped, “Point taken.” I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. “Promise me something, Seth.” I sniffed again and grasped both of his hands in mine. His expression was wary his eyes moving from our clasped hands to my face. I sucked in a huge breath of air and let it out in a sigh. “Don’t let them get me, okay?” I whispered.

His breath hissed in and he looked at me for a long time. His expression ranged from confusion to shock and finally a sort of anger. He cleared his throat and gave me look that took my breath away. “No harm will come to you, Sweet.” His eyes flashed and I had a feeling that something big had just happened between us.

Resolved and yet immensely relieved, I rose up on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. Now, I think we need to drop in on Lucian. He’s the only one that seems to know how to deal with Voltaire.” I kept one of his hands in mine and with a thought; I flashed us both to the doorstep of Lucian’s house.