The Prince's Curse (Cursed Blood Book 6)

Chapter 1

Scarlett’s blood sang with the joy of the hunt. She darted across the dew-damp grass, never breaking eye contact with the furious, red-eyed vampire across the lawn. The wiry man leaned slightly right, and she followed.

Then he leaped into the air, disappearing against the black of night.

What the…

Wind whispered across her left cheek. She rolled away as Kova slammed to the ground at her left side. Tricky bastard. She dodged his vicious kicks, waiting for him to throw a wild punch. When one fist hurtled toward her, she grabbed his wrist and hauled herself upright, using his own momentum against him to swing him around.

He didn’t go down, but she sprang up a few yards away and grinned at him. “If you’re going to give a real effort, then I won’t hold back,” he said, baring his fangs.

“I’d be offended if you did,” she said.

With a low growl, he pounced. It took all her focus to dodge his fast blows. One wrong move and she’d?—

Pain cracked through her chest as she flew backward. The taste of old pennies licked up the back of her throat. His shadow passed over her like a cloud, and she pretended to be more hurt than she was, wheezing noisily for extra dramatic effect. As his shadow loomed, she threw out a kick that snapped into his nose and sent him reeling.

It was hard to breathe, but Scarlett couldn’t give up so soon. She was moving slower now, but spilling blood had made Kova unsteady. They tussled again, feet skidding over slick grass. With each sharp, fast blow, she barely shifted and dodged, hanging on by her fingernails. When her energy flagged, she reminded herself, You’ll get one chance at Julian.

Instead of the old friend she’d known her whole life, she fixed that older vampire in her imagination, with that thick dark hair and the eerie green eyes. Every blow was for him, every slash of her blade, every single step bringing her closer to ending his reign of terror forever. No more mothers slain, no more daughters left alone in a frightening world.

The smell of vampire blood was stronger now. Kova’s red eyes grew bright and furious. Scarlett drew a sharpened wooden blade from her belt and spun around him, slashing wildly.

You took everything from me, Julian, she thought. What would it be like to stand over him and finally get the satisfaction of revenge for all that she had lost? Her throat tightened around that lump of fury. She growled and lunged for Kova, but the space where he’d stood was empty.

Fire rippled over her scalp as Kova yanked her back by her braid. She managed to spin, but he’d already gotten a fistful of her jacket, pulling her chest-to-chest, his teeth grazing her throat. Her blade rested against his side.

“Got you,” he said against her throat, the deep rumble of his voice vibrating against her chest.

She struggled against him, but his powerful grip on her neck might as well have been forged steel. Vainly, she tapped the wooden knife against his side. “I got you.”

It was a weak protest, but her ego wouldn’t allow her to surrender without the token attempt.

“Tell you what. I’ll rip out your jugular, you stick that in my side, and we see who’s still standing in ninety seconds,” he said.

She sighed, then finally tapped his hand three times. “Fine.”

For a moment, he lingered, and she wondered if he would finally give in to his hunger. She’d been bitten—every vampire hunter had— but never by Kova. Given how Tante Mina liked to teach her ‘hard lessons,’ she wouldn’t have been surprised if Kova tore into her so that she’d learn to protect herself.

Better to learn it at the hands of a friend than the fangs of the enemy,Mina would say.

But the vicious bite never came, just the whisper of lips as he pulled away.“You should cut your hair,” he said, surreptitiously swiping his nose. His fingers came away bloody, proving she’d at least landed a few hits before her embarrassing defeat.

Scarlett pulled back and ran a hand over the fat, silky braid. “I like my hair. It looks like my mother’s.” Not a single drop of dye had gone into the fiery red color, which was one of her few vanities. It was one of the only connections she had to her mother.

Kova’s lips parted for a moment. “It does look like hers,” he finally said. He reached out, twining the loose ends under the elastic around his fingers. “Make sure you pin it up before you go in the field. I could have ripped it right off your head.”

“I will.” Then she sheathed her blade at her thigh. “Shall we go again?”

“You want me to kick your ass again?” he said with a teasing lilt in his voice. “All right. Come and get it.”

Half an hour later,she was panting and spitting a mouthful of blood on the grass as Tante Mina strolled across the moonlit lawn. The scent of her magic, dark and old, swept through the air and teased at Scarlett’s senses. Mina’s power had always unsettled her, even though she assured Scarlett it was good magic, wielded for the good of humanity.

“That’s enough,” Mina said, her brow furrowing. “Scarlett, come.”

She lurched to her feet and brushed past Kova and into her aunt’s grasp. Standing six inches shorter than Scarlett, the older witch was petite, with a brittleness that she hid with her graceful steps and regal posture. But her presence felt massive, as if raw power radiated from her to the edges of the property, painting the night sky and soaking into the earth.

Her bejeweled hand tilted Scarlett’s face back and forth.“How did she do?” Mina asked.

“Mediocre,” Kova said.

Anger burned in Scarlett’s chest. Mina glanced at the vampire, then back to Scarlett. “Do you agree?” she asked.

Scarlett glanced at Kova and considered challenging him. Instead, she sighed and said, “I agree. He could have killed me.”

Mina released her jaw. “The time is coming. You must be at your best to face him.”

“I know,” Scarlett said mildly. Two more weeks. Everything would change in two weeks.

The older woman’s dark eyes scraped over her from head to toe, leaving Scarlett feeling naked in a winter wind. Then she gestured dismissively and said, “Go finish your conditioning. You can come and eat dinner with me when you’ve finished. Kova, push her.”

At that, the vampire nodded and beckoned for Scarlett to follow. A vague sense of shame hung on her like a mantle as she followed Kova down to the far edge of the secluded property, to the darkened trailhead.

“Run,” Kova said, his voice low and dangerous.

She broke into a sprint, her sharp eyes resolving the shapes of the rocks and trees ahead. Each stride had her practically flying over the earth, nimbly taking the turns, dodging roots and rocks. Her heart pounded, her lungs working to keep up.

Breathe, she told herself. Kova’s feet behind her were strangely sporadic; he was using his damned vampire strength to gain speed. Three or four heavy footfalls, then a long silence as he leaped through the air.

He slammed down in front of her and immediately lunged. She ducked his grasping arms, planted her feet, and turned abruptly to run the other way.

Fighting was much more fun than this. Her legs ached with the effort, but she’d learned long ago not to ask for mercy. Kova would shove her face in the dirt and report back to Tante Mina that she’d slacked off.

This was for her own good, they’d both say.

This was different than training days in the gym, when she could dissociate while she sprinted on a treadmill. Right now, she had to focus on every step while maintaining a constant awareness of Kova’s position. Even when he moved through the trees above her, she knew where he was. But if she let her mind drift for even a moment, she’d instinctively slow down and get caught.

Vampires don’t like to admit it, but dhampir are just as fast and strong as us in short bursts, he’d taught her long ago. But her body still had some of the limitations of her human half; she needed oxygen, needed food to fuel her. When she’d pointed this out, he’d just laughed and told her that no fight would ever last long enough for that to be a problem. This was to keep her sharp and disciplined, but the fight with Julian—the fight she’d been preparing for her entire life—would be over in minutes, if not mere seconds.

Finally, Kova’s voice rang out with the code word: “Stoi!” he ordered in Russian.

She slowed gradually, then kept walking up the trail, catching the glimpse of the low lights around the house through the trees. Her stomach threatened to punch through her ribs, but she kept walking.

As she struggled to catch her breath, Kova jogged up beside her. One single drop of sweat—which might have been a stray dewdrop—marked his brow. With no need for breath, he was calm and composed despite the exertion.

Cheating jerk. If she didn’t need oxygen, she might have looked unbothered, too.

He patted her shoulder. “Good job.”

At least she hadn’t eaten since lunch, or she might have thrown up on his shoes. She sucked in a sharp breath, held it, and let it go in a noisy heave. Fighting to control her voice, she asked,“Do you think I’m ready?”

He was quiet for a long while as they walked back toward the house.Finally, he said, “I think you’re as ready as you can be. For a dhampir, I mean.”

She frowned. “That’s less than a ringing endorsement.”

“You want me to lie?” he asked. “Julian Alcott is over four hundred years old. He is strong and fast, and?—”

“You think I don’t know that?” she spat. She sighed as they passed the manicured garden where Tante Mina grew her herbs. Crisp green smells mixed with the decaying odor of fertilizer. Something small rustled through the bushes—maybe a snake, or a curious lizard.

“You should go inside and eat,” Kova said, glancing at his watch.

“In just a few minutes,” she said. “I want to get some air.”

And she didn’t want to go inside, where Mina’s apprentice was trotting around a strange vampire like a pet. His scent was old, maybe the oldest vampire she’d ever encountered. Angry pink wounds still lashed across his throat, as if someone had tried—and failed—to cut off his head. Even with those dark marks on his skin that controlled him, sheer menace pulsed off him like heat on summer asphalt.

She and Kova walked in silence beneath the stars for a while. Her breathing returned to normal, though she was becoming aware of a burning raw spot on her right heel. It would heal soon enough and deserved no further attention. Kova’s steps were nearly imperceptible, and if not for his long shadow across the grass, she might have forgotten he was there.

Halfway around the sprawling property, she drew a breath and plunged in. “What do you think we’ll do after they’re gone? Julian and the witch, I mean?”

He didn’t answer at first, and she looked back to make sure he hadn’t slipped away into the night as he sometimes did. But he was there, those red eyes fixed on something far across the horizon. When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “I can’t even imagine,” he finally said. “Are you afraid?”

“No,” she said automatically. “I mean…yes. A little. Don’t tell her.”

“I won’t,” he said.

“Ever since she told me what Julian did to my mother, I’ve been preparing to kill him,” she said. “But once I do, what do I do next?”

Kova’s firm hand closed on her arm and pulled her back. She instinctively spun, ready to break away, but there was a look in his eyes that could only be described as haunted, a profound guilt that she’d only seen once before when he broke her arm in a sparring match. He’d apologized for weeks, even though she had known it was an accident.

“You should leave,” he said. His intent gaze unsettled her.

“After I kill him? But?—”

“Leave now,” he said.“Go do something else. You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do. He killed my mother. This is what I’ve been preparing for my entire life,” she protested.

His grip tightened. For a moment, she saw the burning glow of the marks on his forearms, even through his long sleeves. He gritted his teeth. “You aren’t—” Another painful squeeze, and he shook himself. There was blood on his teeth, as if he’d bitten his tongue. “You don’t have to do it. I’ll kill him for you.”

“You’re hurting my arm,” she said quietly. When he let go, she rubbed the indented fingerprints. What had gotten into him? It wasn’t the first time he’d acted strangely in the last few weeks. “I want to do it. I’m tired of it hanging over my head after all these years.”

“She’s not—” He hissed like a snake. “Your aunt wants you.”

“Are you okay?” she asked.

His handsome face creased with pain, and the glowing marks on his hands pulsed bright again. “Just fine. Our training has my vampire instincts on edge, and Ms. Voss’s magic is helping me rein myself in,” he said, though his smile seemed forced. “I’ll join you inside later.”

“All right,” she said, leaving him to walk the perimeter of the property alone.

Long ago, Tante Mina had explained that Kova wanted very badly to be a good man, but his spirit was trapped in the body of a wicked vampire whose hunger sometimes overpowered his morality. Even her magic could not change that, but she held back the worst parts of him, allowing him to be as good as a vampire could be. And when he began to lose control, her magic tamed the wildness in him until he was himself again.

Still, Scarlett never liked seeing it in action. The magic clearly hurt Kova, though he rarely complained. As she strode across the grass toward the glowing warmth of the mansion, she wondered what had gotten into him this evening. He was one of her oldest friends—rather, one of her only friends, so it didn’t seem all that strange that he’d offered to kill Julian Alcott for her.

But there was something else going on. Something on his mind that he couldn’t say. Perhaps he was bothered by their new guest like she was, but feared Mina overhearing his criticism.

Her heart thumped as she walked into house, where the air was cool and dry. The scent of blood tickled at her nostrils; Lux was probably feeding their new guest. Since he’d shown up a few weeks earlier, Scarlett had spent far more time in her little cottage close to the woods, at least when it was her choice. And to her credit, Mina had granted her request, saying she understood why Scarlett didn’t feel comfortable around him.

Tonight, her aunt was in her workshop on the ground floor. Her voice rang out down the hall. “Scarlett, dear, come and see me.”

Just past the workshop door at the end of the hall hung a framed photograph of Mina and Helena, Scarlett’s mother. With her red curls and bright green eyes, Helena was an eerie reflection of Scarlett. Her mother and Tante Mina had been good friends, practically sisters.

Until Julian Alcott tore out Helena’s throat and left her to die alone in an alley. That woman with the enigmatic smile had bled out while her infant daughter slept at home, unaware that her world was shattered before she ever glimpsed it.

She smiled at the portrait and imagined the woman smiling back at her, as if to say, I’m proud of you.

Inside Mina’s workshop, she found the witch seated at a high stool, round glasses on the edge of her nose as she maneuvered two sharp silver needles over an array of red candles. In glinting streaks, she wove strands of shadow and light into a tapestry. Scarlett could only glimpse it in tiny flashes, in the arcing thread as Mina tied a knot, passing her hands expertly through the large space as if it was a loom.

Scarlett watched in silence until her aunt paused and drew a needle slowly back, like a seamstress pulling a thread taut. She released the needle, but it hung in the air until Mina snapped her fingers, then held out her palm to catch it. The other needle joined it in her palm. With her other hand, Mina gestured broadly across her work bench to reveal a beautiful silver knife.

“Come and see, my love,” she said. As Scarlett approached, Mina’s arm slid around her waist, hugging her gently.Her long dark hair hung in a loose braid over her shoulder, perfumed with lavender.

Scarlett breathed in the familiar scent and relaxed. “It’s very pretty,” she said. Engraved ornaments swirled across the curved blade, while intricate filigree decorated the hilt.

“It was your mother’s,” Mina said, gently stroking her back. “I’m enchanting it for you.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to imagine her mother holding it. It was probably supposed to be a lovely gesture, but she couldn’t help thinking, It didn’t save her from him.

“Thank you,” she managed to say.

As if she sensed Scarlett’s hesitation, Mina pushed her glasses atop her head and turned. “Are you all right?” She reached out and ran a thumb over Scarlett’s lip. “Do you need me to tend to you?”

Scarlett shook her head. “I’m fine. I was just wondering what life will be like after killing Julian. I’ve never had any other goal.”

Her aunt smiled. “We could travel a while. We’ll go anywhere you like.”

“To see the northern lights?” she asked.

“Of course. It’s not the right time of year, but we’ll have time. Especially once we know the people of Atlanta are safe.” Mina took Scarlett’s hand and folded it around hers before giving it a little kiss. She smiled and said, “I’m proud of you. I know that you can do this. Do you feel ready?”

“I think so,” she said.

Mina’s eyes narrowed. “Scarlett.”

“I will be,” she amended. “When I see him.”

Mina nodded. “Good. Jack is sending help to make sure you get your opening, but you will only have one chance. I will give you all the tools, but it must be you that ends him once and for all.”

She nodded. “I will. I promise.”