A Cursed Embrace

Misha’s smile faded as Shayna returned the hair jewelry to their original shape and tucked them into the base of her ponytail. “No, it is best to be safe.” He regarded me then. “Which is why I am not pleased to hear you are to assist the . . . weres in their latest quest.”

It probably took Misha every effort not to say “mongrels” or “mutts” or some other inappropriate word to describe our wolves. I crossed my arms. “And how did you hear about that?”

Misha flashed me his famously wicked smile. “I have my ways, kitten. Shall we?”

I shook my head. Misha’s wealth went a long way. It wouldn’t have surprised me if his family greased the palms of weres in exchange for what could be interpreted as harmless information.

Misha stepped aside, revealing the elegant table setting. White linen covered the large round table while black silk napkins folded into ravens lay over the delicate china etched in silver. The staff appeared to pull out chairs for my sisters. Misha held out my chair himself. He leaned forward and paused, his lips close to my ear. “I see that mindless beast has finally come to his wits and shown you some affection.”

My cheeks heated. “Misha, I’m not going to discuss Aric with you.” Gee, this conversation sounded familiar. “And don’t call him names.”

Taran laughed. “You’d better get your groove on, Misha. Otherwise that wolf is going to steal my sister from under your thumb.”

“Nonsense.” Misha’s wickedness returned with a vengeance. “Celia may enjoy what I can do with my thumb.”

Just when I thought my face couldn’t get any hotter. “Stop it. Both of you.”

Taran danced her brows at me. “Aw, come on, Ceel. After years of dateless nights, you deserve a little attention.”

I would have slapped Taran upside the head if I didn’t think my blow would kill her. “There’s nothing between Misha and me.”

“That is only because you won’t allow it.” Misha leaned back in his seat, those gray predator eyes of his sharpening as they zeroed in on my neck. “However, we do have some time before the main course. Ladies, would you mind starting without us?”

My jaw tightened. “Yes, they would. And cut it out.”

Misha laughed. He flicked his napkin in the air. His and ours took off like the blackbirds they’d been shaped to resemble. Emme jumped as they circled above us and landed in our laps, unraveling and resuming their cloth forms.

“Damn,” Taran muttered. “I wish I could pull that shit off.” She didn’t just mean the flock-of-birds act. Taran often griped about the strength of her power being mostly limited to fire, lightning, and light. She possessed a rare gift—hell, we all did—but she wanted to do more. Witches couldn’t command fire to the extent or ease that she could, but their magic opened up possibilities Taran only dreamed of possessing. While my sister wasn’t power hungry—far from it—it almost seemed she craved something more spectacular.

Taran lifted the napkin again and placed it back on her lap after scrutinizing it closely. I poked at mine, half expecting it to peck. “You’re getting better at harnessing Tahoe’s power, Misha.”

“I find it easier now that my soul has returned.” He cocked his head. “Is there something you wish to discuss with me, my love?”

I frowned. “So Tahoe’s magic allows you to read minds now?”

Misha pulled my wrist toward him and touched the underside of my forearm. “No. But there are advantages to passing you my call.”

Misha had transferred the mystical equivalent of his phone number onto my arm. Should the superscary bad guys come knocking down my door, all I had to do was think his name and he would come to my aid. Apparently my arm also possessed reverse speed dial—it was how I’d found him when he’d been close to death.

I pulled my arm back. Misha hadn’t hurt me, but I didn’t want to do anything that might lead him on. And allowing his touch might tempt him in ways I only desired for Aric. “I didn’t call you today. How did you know something happened?”

The servers brought the first course, some sort of fondue thingy set on fire. Taran lifted the flames with her hands and blew them out with a kiss. Fire flat-out scared me, especially after almost being roasted alive. Taran beheld it like an old friend. The rest of us leaned back so the staff could extinguish our plates with silver covers. My sisters dug right in, dipping the chunks of bread into the thick, creamy liquid.

Misha didn’t eat. “I thought I sensed your distress and therefore I sent Edith to investigate. I was not pleased when she returned and told me what you discovered. You should have called me.”

Maybe I should have dialed 1-800-Misha, except given the pus, blood, and ooze, he was the last fellow with fangs on my mind. “I was distracted, Misha. Especially after the body exploded.”

Misha didn’t frown much. Scowled, yes. Glared, oh yeah. Smiled wickedly enough to dissolve clothing, yup, that, too. He did frown then, though, his brows knitting ever so slightly. “The werebeast exploded?”

“They have cleaner for that,” Edith Anne called out. She and Maria moved around in the solarium like a couple of sinister goldfish in a bowl. I guessed waiting for us to leave so they could apologize to Misha in their own naughty way.

I ignored them. “There wasn’t anything left of the were to clean, Misha, only a ring of ash where his body had fallen. The body fluids vanished, too. Do you know what could do that?”

Misha’s brows returned to their original shape instead of angling farther. Either he didn’t know or he was keeping something from me. “No. It is not a magic I am familiar with. Is that all you wished to discuss?”

His tone tightened. My sisters didn’t seem to notice. But I did. Oh, so you are hiding something. Time to poke around. I draped my arm against the table. “Dead bodies of men have been discovered around Tahoe, drained of blood, but not appearing to be the victims of the infected vampires. What else would quench their thirst through blood? And what could possibly destroy a were like that?”

Misha didn’t blink. “Dark witches consume small quantities from human sacrifices and some may cast powerful enough to disintegrate a were.”

His indifference told me he preferred I drop the subject. So of course, I didn’t. “This isn’t the work of a witch, Misha. But I guess you already knew that.” I smiled without humor. “Are you going to tell me what you do know?”

“You are to call me if another incident occurs.”

“If another body shows up, sure. But—”

“I will send a security team to patrol your home.”

“That’s not necessary, and that’s not what I’m asking—”

“Then perhaps a few bodyguards will be more to your liking.”

“Misha, cut it out. I’m not having vampires hanging out at our house, especially with Emme and Shayna’s wolves always present. Look, I don’t want to fight with you. Just tell me what you know and maybe I’ll stop harassing you.”

Emme and Shayna eyed us with growing concern. They never understood my friendship with Misha, and I scented the sour aroma of their fear as I continued to force the issue. Master vampires, especially of Misha’s caliber, weren’t creatures to toy with or order.

Misha shoved his plate aside. A servant appeared and quickly vanished with the untouched food. He bent his elbows against the armrests of the heavy carved chair, regarding me closely. “Celia, there are dark forces in our world that even as a vampire I refuse to engage. I hear things in my sleep. I believe the lake whispers to me secrets and carries the final breaths of those murdered in the wind.”

In a movie, the creepy music would start right about . . . now. The breeze silenced around us as Misha spoke, like he somehow commanded the air to do his bidding. Based on the way his spine straightened, the unusual silence surprised him, too.

Taran dug into the fondue like it would add more perk to her bosom, failing to meet my gaze. She didn’t need to rehash her nightmares, nor did she need more deets to fuel them.

Emme scooted her seat closer to me. “Wha-what sort of secrets?”

I was kind of glad Emme asked. I considered myself pretty damn fierce. But having fought off psycho monsters trying to eat me over the last several weeks, I debated whether I wanted to know more about the darker