The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) by S.J. Wright Read Free Book Online

happened?” I demanded, turning from Alex and trying to refocus my vision and my thoughts.
    “ Sit down for a few minutes until your sight clears.” With gentle hands, he lowered me so that I was kneeling on the grass. The moist earth beneath me felt real and thoroughly familiar. I drew a few desperate breaths and blinked.
    Finally, things were beginning to shift into recognizable forms. One vampire on the ground. Another slender vampire kneeling by the fallen. And when I looked up, an enchanting angel standing over me, his green eyes clear and sure. I tore my gaze away from Alex’s face with great difficulty and looked over at Michael.
    He was lying on his side, curled up and holding his head in both hands. The ebony strands of his hair were spilling through the gaps between his fingers. He was in agony. He moaned again, a plaintive sound that pierced through the fear he had induced in me only a few moments ago. As the landscape around us became completely clear to me once more, I shuddered.
    The urge to try to help Michael was overwhelming, and I crawled forward, casting a quick look at Victoria, who was patiently waiting by his side. Alex hissed a warning at me and moved to intercept my progress, but I glared at him over my shoulder.
    “ Don’t, Alex. Give me a minute.”
    I did not wait for his reaction. When I reached Michael, I laid one cold hand against his shoulder. He was shaking like a frightened child. Michael just did not do that. I looked up at Victoria in terror, “What happened?”
    “ He tried to attack Alex.” She searched for more words, but ended up just shaking her head. She lowered herself closer to him, like a gray dove settling next to her lifelong mate on a bare winter branch. Hesitation gripped me suddenly as I watched her. What was this between them? Some cruel, dark emotion rose inside me, blackening that rosy image I had conjured of Michael and me moving side-by-side in broad daylight. Like a couple.
    I had lost something. But what had been there before I destroyed it? Lust? A blooming love, uncertain and shy? No. Something beyond my own comprehension. It was gone then. If I were to try to fight for this elusive lost treasure, would those witnesses turn away to offer some measure of privacy or respect? No. So I determined that it would have to wait. For some other cold place and time.
    Slipping a frosty lid over my fragile emotional state, I rose slowly to my feet. I noticed the stray hairs that swept away from Victoria’s cheek and settled on the fabric of Michael’s dark cotton shirt. Like they belonged there.
    “ Alex, please help Victoria get Michael back into the caves.” The sound of my voice was bleak. I did not turn to confirm that Alex had heard me. I trudged back to my truck, got behind the wheel, and drove down to the gate. Still closed. Sighing, I started to get out.
    Then I saw my mother. She moved very quickly, unhooked the chain from around the post, and swung the gate open without even turning towards me. I didn’t want to see the look on her face anyway. I did not want her to see me, lost and frustrated.

 
     
    Chapter 6
     
    The trees, fences, mailboxes, and driveways along the road were silent observers to my flight from home. Silent and condemning, it seemed to me. No matter where I looked, I found no solace. Not in the sleepy dark homes that I passed. Not in the music on my old radio. Clapton was singing about how his beautiful blond had been so wonderful. Well, good for her.
    As I got closer to town, I saw the neon half-lit sign for Bill’s Bar glowing cheaply in the ebony air of the evening. Perfect. Slowing down, I surveyed the parking lot cautiously. Trevor’s uniquely pimped out black Dodge Ram was not parked in the small gravel lot by the building, so I decided to take a chance. I also saw the dusty hatchback that belonged to my best friend from high school, Kara.
    When you go to high school in a small town, you get used to just about everyone you know