A Cursed Embrace(30)

Aric clasped my elbow, pulling me slightly away from Misha. “Don’t bother, Celia. The only thing this asshole cares about is himself.”

Maybe. But I hoped the friendship between Misha and me, or his commitment as my protector, would make him reconsider. “Please, Misha. We need to know what’s happening.”

Misha examined me closely, like a small diamond that couldn’t possibly be real. He cut his stare to Aric. “Very well, but I only do this for you.” He lowered his lids and slowed his breathing. I listened carefully until the deep thrum of his pulse dawdled to a point of nonexistence. The breeze picked up from the lake as he called upon Tahoe’s magic. The air stirred as if charged, blowing my long mane upward until it fell in a cascade of flowing locks against my shoulders. Flashes of blue light similar to fireflies appeared from the direction of the lake. They swirled as if following the coils of an elongated Slinky and ebbed into Misha’s chest. He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “I sense the dark ones. . . . However, what hovers is a different entity.”

Misha’s words verified what we already believed, the demon children and the creature who’d taken the couple were different beings. In a way that was a good thing. But still not knowing what “it” was made it difficult to hunt and ultimately destroy. Aric pulled me closer to him. It would have comforted me if it hadn’t been for the stiffness in his voice. “Is it a demon or not?”

Misha’s gray eyes clouded until a silver film encased his scleras. “Demon’s kin,” he whispered in a sinister voice that erased the traces of his Russian accent.

My husky voice cracked. “Misha?” Something stood in front of me. And it was no longer my guardian angel master vampire. Bren threw his bag of chips on the ground and roared along with Aric. My claws and my fangs shot out, and every nerve in my body shrieked a warning. Misha stumbled forward, grimacing as if in pain before his knees gave out.

Instincts had me reaching for Misha. Aric yanked me behind him at almost the same moment the good Catholics surrounded their master.

“Soon,” an inhuman voice whispered in my ear.

My head jerked in all directions, searching for who’d spoken. I’m not sure what my expression held, but it was one that whitened Danny’s face and made him fall backward. Poor guy, I’d forgotten he’d hid behind me. I hauled him upright as I scanned the area. No one appeared, and my tigress couldn’t sense anything—anything. When I looked to the others, all sights were locked on Misha.

Agnes Concepción bared her fangs. “What did you do to our master, mutt?”

Aric’s keen sight swept from the schoolgirls to Misha. “Nothing,” he answered. The absence of the evil kept his deep tenor voice casual. “If I had, he’d be bleeding and missing a head.”

Misha righted himself, pride forcing him to tear from his family’s hold. They fell to their knees, heads bowed. His irises had resumed their normal cold gray tone, but his anger blistered worse than when he’d seen me holding Aric. “Did you hear that?” he asked me.

I nodded slowly, fear and hatred causing my bones to stiffen. That voice sounded neither human nor animal, more otherwordly—deep and distorted as if the one who spoke gargled shards of glass. “It said, ‘Soon.’”

Aric whirled me around to face him, his anger suddenly returning. “What did?”

“I don’t know.” I let out a long breath, still shaken. “I guess whatever inhabited Misha.”

Aric’s phone rang, and rang. He didn’t release me until the second set of rings. He watched me as he reached in his pocket for his phone. “It’s Aric.”

Someone, raging with fury, bellowed on the other end, “You fought demon children, and yet you failed to report the matter directly to your Elders!”

Aric stormed toward the driveway, meeting his caller with equal fury. “Gemini is my Beta. As his Alpha I put him in charge of reporting off to you—”

“Is it because you’re with her? Is she with you?”

Aric’s spine stiffened so hard I feared it would snap. “Celia is none of your damn business, Anara.”

Apparently this Anara guy thought I very much was. He growled something on the other end. I didn’t understand it, but Bren did. “Asshole,” he muttered, coming to stand by me.

“Don’t you ever talk about her like that again!” Aric hollered. The cold menace Aric expelled made me shiver. Had he just threatened his Elder because of me? He disconnected, panting so hard I feared his wolf would unleash and take his rage out on the vampires. I rushed to him only to have Misha block my path.