Blood Brother Cursed (Sexton Blood Brothers #2)

Chapter 1

A Hot Meal and a Cold Reception

Despite a day’s worth of cleaning and unboxing, the house was still full of boxes. They were on the countertops, the couch, and all around the bed, which she had put together while the people brought the other furniture – and all of the boxes – into her new place. It was just a rental, and it was much smaller than the house she had lived in with her father.

Until the movers left, Astrid had not realized that the house was substantially smaller than her home back in Louisiana. Now that she was actually seeing just how little space she had, she knew she needed a solution because it was nearly impossible to walk around the place.

“Well, I guess that’s why I get for not seeing the place before signing the lease,” she muttered to no one. After a moment of staring at all of the work she had left, she muttered, “No, I’m not dealing with this right now.”

She marched back to her room and went to the box with her fall clothing. Putting on some workout wear, the young woman headed out for a jog. She knew she would regret it later, but for now, she just wanted to feel carefree.

More importantly, she needed to learn about the small town on the Washington State peninsula. It was near the base where her brother had died. The place had probably changed a lot in 20 years, but as she set a steady pace, Astrid liked to imagine her brother jogging down the same road. Was he amazed by the very different world around him that first time? Or was he sad that his family was an entire continent away? In her mind, he was happy, enjoying the freedom just like she was.

As a freelance developer, she always had work, and it meant that she could work from anywhere. It also meant she kept her own hours, and that was essential to her current situation. Since she specialized in security, a lot of her work was done at odd hours so that it didn’t affect normal operations. She hoped that she would be able to work her way into consulting on the military base – then, she would be able to hack their systems without raising suspicion.

She shoved all of that to the back of her mind as she made her way to the small downtown area. The day was clear, and the air was clean. It was so different from the humid air in the south at that time of year, and she felt a burst of energy. A new sense of freedom washed over her, giving Astrid a boost of confidence and interest in her surroundings. She decided to go through town and head to a beach about a mile from her home to enjoy the sensation while doing a bit of surveillance on the place where she would be living for a while.

She knew when she was nearing the beach because she was suddenly wishing she had worn jogging pants and a jacket. The breeze from the ocean was much cooler than she had expected, so she picked up her pace as she jogged along the shore in an effort to warm up a little. When she left the beach, Astrid felt that she was running out of steam. Fortunately, she had brought her slim wallet. While jogging through the town, she noticed a bakery, and if it was still open, she figured she would stop in for a pastry and a drink. That would also give her a nice place to warm up.

When she reached the town, Astrid finally stopped jogging and started her cooldown walk, although even that was a little too fast as she was now shivering a little. The sidewalks were mostly empty, and she didn’t have any trouble finding the bakery.

The smell of fresh bread, fruit, sweets, and chocolate hit her as soon as she opened the door. She smiled.

An older woman stood at the register, her mostly white hair carefully pulled back in a kerchief. She smiled, and the lines around her mouth formed deep grooves.

“Good afternoon, dear. I hate to rush you, but we’ll be closing in 20 minutes.”

Astrid smiled back at her as she pulled a card out of her wallet. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll be more than happy to take a few pastries off your hands before then. And do you serve any hot drinks?”

“Sure do, dear.” She pointed up to a menu above her head. “Although I strongly recommend the hot chocolate with an eclair. You lucked out; those usually sell out the fastest, but we have one left.”

“Do you make sandwiches because it’s been a long day, and I need a bit more sustenance.”

“Here’s what’s left of our bagels. I can make you anything on the menu on a bagel.”

“That sounds amazing.” Astrid walked over to the case to select her bagel and to determine what to have on it. The smell of fresh salmon made at least that part easy. The toppings and condiments didn’t really matter, so Astrid told the shopkeeper to surprise her. As the woman was preparing the sandwich, the young woman decided to get dessert and a hot chocolate.

The older woman slid the plate of food over to her. “I’ll get that dessert ready for you. And if you need to stick around for a bit, I can start cleaning up while you’re still here.”

Just as Astrid was slipping into a seat, the door opened again. The older woman looked up and was about to let the new customer know that they were about to close. However, her tone shifted, and she sounded absolutely ecstatic. “Phoenix! I didn’t know you were back in town!”

Astrid looked up and watched the older woman hurry around the counter and toward the man who had just entered. She threw her arms around him, an impressive feat since he was nearly a foot taller than her. From the corner of the bakery, the young woman had a great view of the encounter as well as the young man apparently called Phoenix. He was tall with thick, short black hair. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen, like the color of a lagoon she’d seen in films and TV. The easy smile on his lips reached his eyes for a moment, but quickly disappeared.

“I simply couldn’t stay away from you forever, Mable. My stomach simply wouldn’t allow it.”

The older woman laughed, then noticed another man standing behind him. “Oh, you’ve brought a friend. A boyfriend, perhaps?”

Astrid watched as the man behind Phoenix stared at the older woman. His curly blond hair framed his face in a way that seemed very ’90s to her, but it suited his young features. If not for his sharp gaze only partially hidden behind a pair of glasses, she would have thought he was a teenager. But there was something about his eyes that told her he was much older than he looked.

He was about to say something when his eyes moved over to Astrid.

Oh shit, the thought hit her as the other man’s eyes fell upon her. They are shifters.

For the first time in two decades, she felt something bumping up against her mind. She knew exactly what that meant – one of them was trying to talk to her. Judging by the animated conversation between Phoenix and Mable, she figured it had to be the curly-haired guy.

Her emotions spiked, causing the sprinklers to trigger. This distracted the other three people, giving Astrid time to slip out. She wasn’t happy about leaving since she had had a bite of her sandwich – and wasting a perfectly cut piece of salmon was paramount to a crime in her eyes. Also, the hot chocolate came in a mug instead of a to-go cup, so she couldn’t take that either. The entire meal was a loss, so she decided to do the only thing she really could do in the situation – run.

There was an emergency exit behind her, so Astrid bolted toward it. The sound of blaring alarms quickly became a distant noise as she ran toward a nearby park. She only slowed when she was in a heavily wooded area. After a quick scan to make sure there wasn’t anyone close, she shifted. Her speckled patterns shrank and stretched as she set a new pace. Her large eyes noticed small movements as her tail kept her balanced when her paws hit stone. As an ocelot, the world looked and smelled much different.

Running into the national forest outside of town, Astrid considered the risks of returning home that night, and her initial assessment was that it wasn’t a good idea.

It’s not that much of a loss. I doubt I’ll even be able to sleep without fearing that the boxes are going to fall on top of me and kill me in my sleep. It’ll probably be more comfortable if I hole up out here for a while and consider how to handle the mess in the house.

She looked for a cave where she could curl up for the night but found that all of the ones that she thought would be the best were already taken. There was no point in kicking out the animals, particularly the families. She just needed a place for the night. By the smell of the caves, most of them had built homes there. While disappointed, she understood. She had felt the blasts of cold along the beach, and the whole place was considerably colder than where she used to live, especially now that the sun was setting. Escaping the elements was a logical choice.

Although not ideal, she decided to make her way up a tree. Sleeping on a branch wasn’t the best way to spend the next few hours, but Astrid wasn’t about to leave a trail back to her place for the other shifters to follow.

I haven’t met a shifter since Evander died. What were the odds that the day I move in here I end up running into…

“Hello?”

The voice was rich and deep, but it wasn’t one she knew. Hoping that it was someone who had just gotten lost in the woods and was trying to find his group, Astrid stayed nearly motionless on the branch nearly 10 feet off the ground. The only thing she couldn’t stop was her tail, which flicked hypnotically over the side of the branch. It had a black tip, so she hoped it wasn’t too noticeable.

“I know you came out this way, and I want you to know that we won’t hurt you.”

That was probably the worst thing the guy could have said, and it immediately set Astrid on edge. However, she wasn’t ready to give up her spot because any movement would give away her hiding place.

Please don’t be a wolf or bear. Please don’t be a wolf or bear.

The plea kept looping through her head as she listened to the stranger.

“Look, I know you are scared. Your kind always are. But that’s how we can help you until you learn how to control your abilities.”

Astrid narrowed her eyes. Why on earth did this guy think she needed help with her abilities as if she were some ignorant kid and he was superior to her.

Still, he continued talking to the air. “We’ve been working on establishing a foundation in the area to protect and help your kind. The office here isn’t quite off the ground yet, but we have a project manager who is really keen on helping more people like her. I know a lot of you come from broken homes and are ostracized for…”

Astrid felt her annoyance rising, and listening to him was only going to make things worse. Fortunately, he walked away from her. When his back was turned, she ran along the branch and leaped to the next tree, then scrambled down to the ground and bounded off toward the ocean. It was the one place she knew she would have a distinct advantage – she would just have to deal with the cold.

Sure enough, the noise and movement attracted his attention, and she could hear the man calling to her. To her surprise, Astrid had managed to come within a few minutes of the ocean after fleeing the town. The strong smell of the salt water was inviting as she raced toward it.

Despite the cold, she shifted and strode up to the water’s edge. With regret, she removed her shoes and placed them on some driftwood, then walked into the ocean. The water lapped at her ankles when she heard the man talking behind her.

“You don’t need to do that! I swear to you, we can help.”

Astrid turned around; her expression was one of disbelief. “What exactly do I not need to do?”

Standing at the edge of the woods was the taller man, the one the bakery woman had called Phoenix. He was holding his hands up, almost like he was trying to talk her down off a ledge. “You don’t need to walk into the ocean to drown yourself.”

Her eyebrows dropped, her eyes widened, and she scrunched up the left side of her face. “Drown myself?”

“Right. I promise you, if you come with us, we will give you a place to stay, safety, security, and food; whatever you need.”

“You are a lousy salesman,” she said.

This got a half smile. “Yeah, I know. This really isn’t my area of expertise.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Clearly.”

“Despite my ineloquence, please don’t do it.”

“You mean, don’t kill myself?”

He looked at her for a moment, then said, “Yes?” Then he dropped his hands. “You aren’t trying to kill yourself, are you?”

Astrid turned her back to the ocean, fully facing the man. Then she took several more steps back, regretting the rather childish gesture as the cold began to sink into her bones. The water was much colder than the water along the Atlantic and certainly the Gulf. Now it was soaking the bottom of her shorts and threatening to do the same to her butt. Still, she strove to keep the regret from her face as she finally stopped to see the man’s reaction to her antics.

The man had walked toward her, his muscles taut as if he had decided she was doing exactly what he thought.

Holding her hands on her hips, Astrid slowly drew them up over her head. Behind her, two large pillars formed, and at the ends were fists. She made a gesture with her hands, sending the water racing toward the shore. It lapped up against her butt as the two pillars turned into high crests, causing her to shiver. Fortunately, he didn’t notice because his wide eyes were watching the water barreling down on him. It was too late to do anything about it. All he could do was stand there and be soaked. As the waves reached the shore and moved up it a little before crashing down in an overlapping X, he just watched them.

Then he shifted.

When the water struck the sand, there was now a very wet and somewhat angry-looking black dragon who was very focused on her. His eyes were on her, and the blue was flashing like the new flames that had just sprung to life. He shook his massive body, throwing water off in all directions. When he stopped, he turned and breathed fire on his back and body. Even from her place in the ocean, she could see the water evaporate from his impressive scales.

Astrid mouthed the words that were repeating in her head. “Oh shit.”

Once dry, the dragon moved forward with some surprisingly smooth steps. Now it was her turn to stand there stunned, regretting trying to dominate someone she didn’t know.

Once the dragon reached the water’s edge, he shifted again. He didn’t stop walking, though. Phoenix kept walking toward her, looking… annoyed or angry? She wasn’t sure. His pants were getting wet, but he didn’t seem to give it a second thought.

When he was only a few feet away, the water just halfway up his calves, he leaned forward. His face was about two inches from hers as he said in a low voice. “Was that really necessary?”

She folded her arms over her chest, her thoughts under control. “Not all women are weak creatures who need saving.”

“I wasn’t offering you help because you’re a woman. I was offering it because you clearly have shifter blood. And in my experience, that means a less-than-amazing life, a host of unanswered questions, and a lot of mistrust among both men and women.”

“Well, your experience and mine clearly aren’t the same because I grew up with my family and they helped me foster my abilities. I don’t need saving, and I sure as hell don’t need your help.”

Phoenix held up his hands. “My mistake.” He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a very wet card. “You’ll have to excuse the state of my card since a rather hostile woman decided to douse me.”

She gave him a wry look, but the man was not deterred. “Since you don’t need help, perhaps you are in a position to offer help. We need more people who have a handle on their abilities to help those who have not had the same kind of supportive family.”

Astrid looked at the card as she asked, “Who carries business cards in this day and age?”

“The kind of people who know better than to rely on technology.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you are a Luddite.” She rolled her eyes, “People really need to realize tech isn’t going away and…”

With a heavy sigh, the shifter said, “Some of the women who come to us can take out technology, and since their abilities aren’t honed, he held up a hand to her.

“Uh-oh!” She wasn’t sure if he was being serious. “If that’s true, that’s… terrifying.”

He nodded. “Yes. That’s why we are trying to help them before things get really bad for them and the people around them. I mean, one woman blew up a facility with her abilities when she got really angry.”

“Like a nuclear explosion?”

First, he placed a hand over his mouth; then he shook his head. “Why in the world do you go to nuclear? And if that happened, don’t you think it would have been in the news?”

“Sorry, Phoenix, but I don’t know a hell of a lot about this stuff. My family was great but insular. Also, I just moved here from the other side of the country, so whatever passes for news here probably wasn’t more than a blip back home.”

He looked at her for a moment. “So…” Then he seemed to think better of it and shook his head again. “Well, you have my card. If you want to help, we would love to have you.”

Aggravated by the guy’s attitude, she reached out and put the card in his pocket, her fingers brushing his chest. “I won’t be needing that.”

She then strode past him, not really caring if he followed her or found out where she lived. He was annoying – very annoying, but she did not think he was any kind of a threat despite the fact that he was literally a dragon. Once she was in the woods, Astrid finally let herself shiver. She turned and looked. When she didn’t see Phoenix, she shifted and ran back to the park.

By the time she got home, she was ready for a nice hot shower and a bit of leftovers. The boxes no longer bothered her after all of the unexpected excitement. When she lay down to sleep, she promised to stay home and figure out her home before going out again. The last thing she wanted to do was encounter either of those guys again.

I wonder if I can order groceries? If not, I guess I’ll need to figure out which places deliver.

With that thought going through her head, she quickly drifted off to sleep.