Sealed With a Curse(83)

Aric’s grin faded when he caught my expression. “Hey, Celia,” he said quietly.

“Hi.” I sighed. “What are you doing here, Aric?”

Aric leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms over his thick gray sweatshirt. “Koda called. He said you needed a running partner.”





CHAPTER 27


“I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken. I’m not going for a run.”

His eyes skimmed down my tight white T-shirt, sweatpants, and running shoes. “Did you just come back from a run?”

“No.”

He rested his back against the doorjamb. “You’re not going for a run or you’re not running with me?”

My averted gaze answered for me.

Aric pushed his hand through his hair. “Celia, what the hell is going on? You refuse to talk to me and now you’ve blocked my calls.”

Knowing my actions hurt him bothered me more than it should. I was doing the right thing, damn it. It shouldn’t have been so hard. “I can’t have anything to do with you.”

Aric leaned toward me, his jaw tightening. “Why?”

Was he kidding? “You know why.”

Aric frowned until understanding brightened his irises. “I see. I just didn’t realize it would matter to you.”

If he had slapped me then, it wouldn’t have offended me as much as his words. What did he take me for? The very slut Mrs. Mancuso believed me to be? “Well. It does. Forgive me for having morals.”

The expression on Aric’s face reminded me of those talk show guests who just found out their wives had been sleeping with their fathers. So not right. How was I the bad guy?

Aric’s voice cut through me. “If I can ignore this whole damn thing, why can’t you?”

Aric gawked at my slack jaw as if a leprechaun danced a jig across my tongue. “Oh, my God. How can you be so callous? This is a child we’re talking about.”

“A what?”

Emme’s screams halted my “get the hell off my porch” tirade. I bolted up the steps and crashed through her door, racing into the bathroom separating her room and Shayna’s. Liam’s blood ran in a red river along the green marble tile. Deep claw marks cut into his arms and back, revealing the shiny white of his bones. He stood in the corner, far from the window, protecting Emme’s naked body with his own and snarling over his shoulder.

The scent of decomposing, burning flesh made me gag as it scorched a path through my nose. Koda stood glaring toward the window dressed only his jeans, and holding a hand out to keep Shayna back. He growled with enough menace to stand my neck hairs on end. “You’re not allowed in, bitch.”

That’s when I saw her: a savage, naked, infected vampire perched on the window. Her bulging arms didn’t match the green of her face. Instead they blistered and sizzled, charred from the sacred aura protecting our home. She’d tried to get in uninvited. And while she managed to hurt Liam, her efforts had cost her.

Aric’s body heat warmed my back. “Koda, keep her in your sights.” His voice sounded more wolf than man. “I’ll go around back.”

Most severely infected vampires lost their reasoning, but this vampire wasn’t too far gone. She understood Aric loud and clear, and bolted with a hiss.

Oh, no, you don’t.

“Celia!”

I ignored Aric’s roars and dove through the window, changing before the strong paws of my beast hit the cold grass. A blur of green streaked into the woods behind the house. I charged after her, pushing my legs into the dry pine needles and up the incline of the small mountain. The large paws of two wolves thundered against the earth behind me.

I focused ahead, inhaling deeply to track the scent. Her long, lean legs propelled her like a jet and I quickly lost sight of her. But I wouldn’t lose her aroma. My God, beneath the scent of crispy flesh smoked the sickness of the bloodlust. It reminded me of the ailing surgical patients I cared for when I first graduated. The illness permeated through their skin, masking their natural—

Oh…no. My eyes widened. The bloodlust did cloak her natural aroma, but it didn’t extinguish it completely. I knew who she was, and the recognition fueled my anger. The cool breezed whipped back my whiskers as I pushed myself faster. I couldn’t lose her. I had to find her.

I skidded to a stop at the subtle scratch of tree bark and the sudden disappearance of her scent. The bloodthirsty psychopath had scurried up a tree.

But which one?

I panted while my eyes searched the cluster of trees she’d led me to. The sun beamed through the thick branches, casting moving shadows as the firs swayed chaotically in the increasing breeze. Oh, yeah, this predator hadn’t lost her ability to strategize.