Sealed With a Curse(35)

Taran didn’t answer. She went back to performing act two of Romeo and Juliet while I lay on my side sizzling and hoping my ribs weren’t protruding through my fur. I don’t even think she suffered a broken nail. Seriously?

I pushed up on my front paws, but my back claws told me to screw off and declared that any movement was an insanely stupid idea. My back legs knew what they were talking about. I collapsed, yet again, onto my ribs.

My grunts snapped Taran out of her Red Riding Hood fantasy. She rushed to my side, screaming for Emme. “Son of a bitch, Celia. What the hell happened to you? Your ribs are sticking through your goddamn skin.”

I didn’t want to be right about my ribs. The thought made my head spin. Or was it the multitude of blows to my head?

I tried to ignore my pain—and the rapid return of the damn canaries—and focused on Gemini’s face. It had been years since I’d seen a man naked and, bless Danny’s heart, nothing compared to these heart-stopping beasts.

Emme and Shayna gasped when they clambered in and caught sight of me…and Gemini in all his butt-nekked glory.

Taran blocked their view. “Don’t just stand there,” she snapped. “Heal your sister!”

Emme covered her eyes to avoid ogling Gemini, thereby landing on my tail when she slipped over what I hoped was someone else’s blood. This was so not my night. But the bash to my tail paled in comparison to what it took for Emme to heal my injuries. Every part of me snapped, crackled, and popped back into place. The pain throbbed so unbearably, I lost focus and changed back.

Shayna left quickly and returned with a soft throw blanket. I wasn’t were. I didn’t want to be naked and vulnerable around anyone. I gripped the throw against my body as my ribs began their torturous return home, burying all the whimpers and tears hammering against my soul to escape.

I’d only just sat up with Emme and Taran’s help when three wolves shot into the kitchen roaring in challenge. Gemini didn’t bother to turn around. He didn’t have to. One twin wolf tore out of his back like Velcro and faced the wolves.

The human half of Gemini gripped Shayna’s wrists as she yanked out two daggers from her ankle holsters. His dark almond eyes seethed with anger as he addressed the other wolves. “Your orders are to leave these girls alone and escort Aric out.”

Oh, God. Aric.

I ran out of the house to where the fight between Aric and Misha continued by the lake. The wolves from the kitchen sprinted past me and joined the other weres attempting to haul Aric away. I covered my mouth, horrified. Aric’s T-shirt had been ripped off, chunks from both his shoulders were missing, and blood soaked his face, hair, and jeans.

The female vampires doted on their master, sealing his cuts with flicks of their eager tongues. Misha ignored them, remaining eerily still as he watched Aric with deep, unapologetic loathing.

Shock kept me from joining my sisters vomiting behind me. Misha stood in only his half-shredded pants. Blood colored his long blond hair red and darkened his once golden skin to brown. His left hand had been severed at the wrist, and his midsection bore one immense hole. Bile from his massacred liver dribbled down his right side like a sponge being rhythmically squeezed. Aric and Misha hadn’t fought. They’d mutilated each other.

Good Lord.

Aric’s animalistic growls snapped me out of my horror. “You goddamn leech. This isn’t over—you hear me? This isn’t over!”

The urge to calm and care for Aric overtook me. I clutched the blanket against my breasts and darted toward him. His head jerked in my direction when he caught my scent. I was mere feet from him when a wolf in human form backhanded me hard enough to force me back several yards.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” Aric roared.

Misha charged my attacker with a spine-tingling hiss. He was too late. Aric’s blow catapulted the wolf into a wide support beam. The beam splintered in half, sloping Misha’s grand terrace with a loud boom.

My claws protruded; I expected the wolf to retaliate. But the attack never came. His limp form slid down the beam, painting a thick red streak until he face-planted onto the patio like a wet fish. Splat.

I gasped. Aric’s wrath appeared beyond reason. So did his need to protect me. He tore away from his pack and rushed to my side, his pace slowing as he neared. Soothing streams of warmth cascaded across my skin as he cupped my face and took in my injuries. “Jesus,” he whispered.

My hands found his wrists. “It’s okay, Aric. I’m all right.” Despite the danger, his presence immediately soothed my beast. He felt so right.

Aric’s blazing eyes locked onto mine as a swarm of weres surrounded him and yanked him from my grasp. A dull ache pounded my chest like stone meeting stone. I didn’t want him to leave me. We stared at each other in silence until his pack wrestled him from my sight and toward the front of the house. Car doors slammed and engines roared to life. The pack was leaving, and taking Aric with them.