Sealed With a Curse(52)

Zhahara’s legs stayed fixed to the floor. Part of her spine remained attached, spinning in circles, searching for her other half, while her torso lay sprawled behind the bus.

Soft footsteps crunched over the chunks of gravel. Emme ambled in, blinking and coughing through the cloud of dust. Tim remained close to her side, his rifle aimed at Zhahara.

Emme fell onto what I prayed wasn’t Zhahara’s disintegrating stomach. “I found the bus,” she mumbled.

The vampires moved off my sisters, slowly at first, until Zhahara pushed up onto her arms.

She. Still. Hadn’t. Died.

Tim fired his last round into her head. Only a portion of her skull broke off. She spun on her hands, baring her fangs and hissing through her skinned face. Emme screamed. The vamps attacked. Shayna sprinted after them, a sword in each hand.

Taran scrambled to me, her eyes bulging wildly as they swept across my injuries.

The vampires piled on top of Zhahara while Misha bashed her skull with the butt of the rifle. In the middle of the pile, Shayna lifted her swords and plunged them into Zhahara’s heart. The mound of bodies shuddered fiercely for a moment. Then, one by one, everyone climbed off the giant pile of green ash.

Shayna, Emme, and Misha ran to us. Misha grabbed the piece of railing jutting out of my chest and pulled. I growled and instinctively bit him. He jerked back in shock, staring at his bleeding arm and glowing in a strange white haze…just like his vampires.

“Dantem animam,” his vampires all said at once. They hurried to Misha, kneeling at his feet and kissing his hands as their collective light receded.

The hellish agony shooting through my chest and leg forced me to turn away. Emme touched my furry face. The pain gradually receded as her gentle yellow light surrounded me. I changed back, lacking the strength to keep my second form.

Misha knelt beside me, regarding me with awe. “Salvation granted by a golden tigress.” He covered my naked body and carried me to where a fleet of limos waited near a set of open garage doors. “It is time to make our departure,” he murmured.

Misha placed his hand over the hood of the largest vehicle while continuing to hold me with ease. The engine started with a hum and the locks disengaged.

Misha Aleksandr, key fob. Must be nice to harness Tahoe’s magic.

Tim slipped into the driver’s seat while my sisters piled into the back. Misha gently laid me across Emme’s lap. Our bodies were caked with blood, ash, and monster juice, but I couldn’t help the soft sigh that parted my lips. Once again, we’d survived.

“I will not forget what you did for me,” Misha said before he shut the door.

I couldn’t tell for sure whether it was a good thing or bad, but resolved to think it couldn’t be that bad.

Tim nodded at Misha before rolling out of Zhahara’s compound.

Shayna wrinkled her nose. “Hey, Tim. Why did you guys all start glowing when Celia bit Misha?”

Tim glanced over his shoulder, fangs sparkling. “Simple. Celia just stimulated the return of the master’s soul.”





CHAPTER 17


“What?” I sat up, clutching Misha’s sweater against my bare skin. Funny how certain things, like passing a test you thought you’d fail, finding a twenty-dollar bill in your pocket, or learning you were capable of returning a vampire’s soul, could give a girl her second wind.

Tim drove along like I was Miss Daisy. “I said you stimulated the return of the master’s soul.”

Taran’s glare sparked her eyes with danger. “We heard you, dipshit. But what the hell does it mean?”

Tim’s voice turned hollow and distant, as if he were speaking from the end of a long, dark tunnel. “It means Celia and the master are forever linked—in spirit, in heart, in marriage—from this day forth until eternity.”

Audible clicks signaled our jaws dropping in unison. “Oh. No. Hell. No.” Taran faced me, fury angling her brows like an American Idol reject. She pointed a nasty finger at me. “You better get that shit back. I’m not having the Prince of Darkness for a brother-in-law—no matter how hot he is.”

I threw my hand out. “How can I get something back if I’m not sure how I gave it in the first place?”

Shayna gripped the edges of her seat. “Tim, Celia can’t marry Misha! She doesn’t love him or anything. And…and…and…stuff.”

Who needed a defense attorney with Shayna around? Emme blanched worse than when she’d sat on Zhahara’s insides. “There must be something we can do. Celia has a huge crush on Aric. And I’m sure he wouldn’t want—”

I cut her off with a “please don’t drag Aric into this crap storm” stare. I tried to keep my voice calm, but it cracked the minute I spoke. “I refuse to be Misha’s vampire soul mate. Now tell me what I have to do to stop, reverse, or terminate the process.”