Love & Curses (Cursed Ink) by Debbie Gould, L.J. Garland Read Free Book Online Page B

his rejection free and cried until she soaked her pillow with countless droplets of salty misery.
    At last, exhaustion shrouded her body, and she drifted on the edge of oblivion. Oh please, let me wake tomorrow and be able to put Andy behind me and move on. But a voice deep within her soul whispered he was the one guy she would never get out of her heart.
     
    She couldn’t breathe. A hooded man with bony fingers stood next to her bed and held a smoky scented cloth over her nose and mouth. Panic raced through her, and she fought to break free. She dug at his arms and kicked at his legs as she struggled against her attacker.
    In a blur, he skittered on top of her, his face so close she could easily make out the rotting flesh and oozing pustules in the gloom. Releasing the rag, he slipped his icy hands around her neck and squeezed. “Nothing personal, Calista. Your aunt should have known better than to mess with a darker, stronger power. Someone has to pay, and you’re it.”
    “No!” She gagged and bolted upright, jarring herself awake. She pressed her fingers against her throat, unnerved to find the skin cold beneath her touch. Still foggy from the nightmare, she frowned and inhaled a deep calming breath. Instead, she coughed, and her eyes burned. What the…?
    Squinting, she glanced around. Even in the darkness, she could tell the room was filled with dense smoke.
    She reached over to switch on the bedside lamp.
    Click .
    Nothing.
    Tamping down the panic clawing at her chest, she dug around in the comforter for her cell phone and, finding it, crawled to the far side of her bed. She slid off the mattress, sank to the floor on her hands and knees.
    Heart pounding, she tried her phone. No service. This is crazy . She always had service in her house.
    The smoke billowed and thickened. Her eyes burned. She struggled to get a full breath but couldn’t without coughing. The room seemed to tilt and spin.
    Calista threw herself to the carpet, searching for a pocket of decent air. Unable to find one, she crawled across the floor. Dear God, just let me get outside before I pass out .
    Feeling her way with her hands, she came to what should have been her open bedroom door.
    Shut? The door is shut?
    Her pulse hammered. Her mind raced. She’d left it open. She was certain, without a doubt her bedroom door had been open before she’d lain down. She never closed it. Even as a child, she’d always needed to have it open.
    Pushing to her knees, she twisted the knob and yanked, but the door refused to open. Fear consumed her, and sobbing, Calista jerked the knob again and again.
    The window.
    Returning to the floor, she crawled past her bed. Smoke burned her lungs, her eyes. A jagged bout of coughs racked her body, stealing even more air. Her fingers skimmed over the carpet until she found the baseboards. She slid her hands up the wall, reaching…reaching….
    Her fingertips touched cold glass.
    Closed. The window was closed. Closed.
    Wait, hadn’t she left it open to listen for Andy coming home when she’d gone to bed? She tried to shove the frame up, but it wouldn’t budge. Stretching higher, she twisted the lock and tried again but to no avail. The damn thing wouldn’t open. Balling her hand, she slammed her fist against the window in a desperate attempt to break through to fresh air.
    Tired. I just…can’t….
    She slapped at the glass in vain, and her palm slid down to the sill. She collapsed to the floor, a whimper escaping her lips. This couldn’t be how she died. What about all the things she wanted to do with her life? Being a lawyer, a wife, a mother.
    What about…Andy?

Chapter Eight
     
    Andy shuffled up the walk to his house, every muscle in his body on fire from the long, arduous day at the restaurant. His head pounded despite the handfuls of ibuprofen he’d tossed back all day long. All else aside, what he wanted—no, scratch that—what he needed was to see Calista, to tell her how much he loved her and hoped