Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (33 page)

“Where’s Justin?”

“He’s busy at the
moment.  Apparently Malcolm’s questioning him about your whereabouts.  He
didn’t want to take the chance that Malcolm would follow him here.”

A surge of hope
filled my heart at the mention of Malcolm’s name.

“Who are you?” I
asked, watching the stranger lay my plate on the cot and glass of water on the
stool.

“I’m Robert.” 

I didn’t like the
way Robert was looking at me, like he was imagining me without my clothes on. 
I felt dirty on the inside all of a sudden.

“Enjoy your
meal.”  The way he grinned at me made me lose my appetite.  He vanished.

Justin didn’t come
back to my prison.  Apparently Robert had been put in charge of bringing me my
meals for the remainder of my stay.  He would usually just hand me my plate and
glass of water and leave without trying to make a lot of small talk. I was
thankful for that, just being around him made my skin crawl.  I don’t know how
long I’d been trapped in my stone cell, but I knew Robert had been to see me at
least fifteen times.  Each time he appeared, I hoped it would be Brand, but it
became evident that dream would not come true.  To say I missed Brand didn’t
adequately describe my true feelings.  Every cell in my body cried out for his
touch.  If only I could see him one more time maybe I could meet death without
so much regret.  Regret for not fighting to be with him when he pushed me away
thinking he was protecting me. 

“Hello, Lilly.” 

Startled out of my
reverie, I saw Robert standing over me.  Not only did he startle me with his
presence but his timing.   He’d only been here a short while ago to give me my
last meal.

“What are you
doing here?”

His hooded eyes
lowered even further and he smiled like a man possessing no conscious.  “I
thought you might be getting lonely.”

“I’m fine by
myself,” I told him, becoming nervous about his motives.

“Come come,
Lilly.  We both know I find you attractive,” he walked closer to me.

I hopped off my
cot and stood in the nearest corner of my room with my back to the walls.  Was
this seriously happening to me?

“Going to play
hard to get?” 

“Not hard,” I told
him, trying to think of someway to escape, knowing there was none,
“impossible.”

“Well, I do like a
challenge in some things, but I’ve never had to force my intentions on a human
before.  How are you immune to my natural charms?”

“Justin probably
won’t like what you’re about to do,” I said grasping at the last straw I had. 

“Justin’s busy at the
moment.  He won’t know until it’s too late.  Besides,” he said shrugging as he
slowly walked closer toward me, almost like he was feeding his ego with my
fear, “it won’t take very long.  Unless you want it to, of course.”

I became light
headed and nauseous with the thought that Robert would be the one to take my
virginity.  I felt trapped, suffocating on the knowledge of the fate awaiting
me in his hands.

When he finally
stood in front of me in my corner, he reached out and grabbed my face roughly.

“What is it about
you that makes me feel this way?” he whispered, more to himself than actually
expecting me to have an answer for him.  “If you don’t fight me, I can make
this a pleasurable experience for you,” his hand travelled from my face down my
neck.  “I can assure you I’ve never had any complaints before.”

“The only way
something like you would ever get anything from me is by force.  I’d rather die
than give myself willingly to a soulless creature like you.”

My words didn’t
seem to have much of an affect on him.  He simply smiled and grabbed my arms. 
Before I knew it, he was laying on top of me on the cot kissing my throat with
so much pressure I thought my neck might break.  I tried to struggle but he was
just too strong.  I started to scream as loudly as I could hoping it would be
distracting and cause him to falter in his plans but he didn’t stop.  If
anything, it just made him more determined.  I closed my eyes praying that it
would all be over soon.

Then his weight
was suddenly lifted off me.  I opened my eyes in time to see him fly across the
room, hitting the far wall and falling to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Justin stood over
me.

“Are you all right,
child?”

All I could do was
nod mutely.

Justin walked over
to Robert and picked him up by the neck like he weighed nothing.

“I give you a
simple chore and this is how you behave?” he hissed.

“She’s just a
human,” Robert said, spitting the last word out like it was a curse.

“A human under my
protection.  Get out of my sight, Robert.  I don’t want to see you again for a
long while.” Justin let Robert go.

Before he left,
Robert looked at me with a hatred I’ve never seen on anyone’s face before. 
Once Robert was gone, Justin turned to me.

“I’m sorry for my
brother’s ill manners.  He’s never been one to forsake his baser needs, even
when the occasion is inappropriate.”

He came to stand
by my cot again.  “I’m afraid our time together is coming to an end, Lilly. 
He’ll be here soon.”

It was time.  Time
for me to die.  I knew the day would be coming but to actually be faced with my
last minutes of life was something I wasn’t ready for.  I wanted to run but had
nowhere to run to. 

“I’ll let you
spend some time preparing yourself.  When he leaves, I’ll come back and end the
torment you’ve been forced to live with.”

When Justin
vanished, I broke down.  I couldn’t think.  I could barely breathe.  Facing
death was something I thought I wouldn’t have to do until I was much older. 
Realizing that my life was going to end in this cold stone room made me want to
beg for just a little more life.  Why, after I’d finally found a love that
could nourish my heart and soul did my life have to end so soon?  What sort of
justice was that?

I lay down on the
cot in a ball and tried to relive my night with Brand in my memory one last
time.  Losing myself in that night over and over again had been the only thing
keeping me from going completely mad in my confinement.  At least I’d had one
perfect night with him.  It was all I would ever get.  All the happiness I
would ever be able to experience in his arms.     

And then I felt it
in the pit of my stomach.

He was coming.

The person who
wanted me dead was near.  I could feel his aura getting closer to me.  I
thought my skin and muscles would melt off my bones just from the heat of his
near presence.  It triggered something inside me.  I’m not sure if I was
imagining things or losing control of my mind but I could almost hear what he
was thinking.  He kept repeating to himself that my sacrifice was necessary. 
He knew I was an innocent in what was about to happen but that my sacrifice
would preserve what he loved most.  He felt regret and righteousness over my
death all at the same time.  The power of his thoughts scared me.  I didn’t
want to die.  I wanted to be with Brand. 

I said Brand’s
name over and over and over in my mind, concentrating on his face, on the love
we shared for one another.  I refused to think of anything else.

And then it
happened.

I phased back to
the one place I wanted to be.

I knew I wasn’t in
the stone room anymore almost instantly.  I sat upright.

I was lying on
Brand’s bed, alone.

“Brand!”

I’m not sure how
many times I screamed his name, afraid to move, but it didn’t take long before
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway.  After what seemed
like a lifetime, he finally opened the bedroom door.  He stood there
motionless, just staring at me unblinking like I might be a phantom of his
imagination and disappear if he moved.  I could tell he’d been crying and his
eyes looked haunted with a pain I’d never seen in anyone else except for
myself.

I flung myself off
the bed and into his arms before I could take another breath.  He held me so
tight I thought my ribs might crack at any moment, but I didn’t care.  I didn’t
care about anything except being in his arms.  I started to cry uncontrollably.

“Shh, Lilly,
you’re safe.  You’re home.”  He repeated the words to me over and over through
his own tears trying to reassure us both that everything was all right.  I
clung to him fiercely, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t hallucinating. 
That I wasn’t just dreaming again.

He touched his
lips to mine in a kiss filled with a desperate need to prove I wasn’t an
illusion and to make us both forget the pain of our forced separation.  I
wrapped my arms around his neck and responded to him with an urgency I’d never
felt before.  I needed him.  I wanted him and I knew he wanted me too.  We fell
back on the bed never losing contact between our bodies.  The more I touched
him the more alive I felt. I didn’t want to stop.  I wanted to feel his skin
against mine to wash away the memories of loss and sorrow I had endured the
past few days. 

I pulled his shirt
out of his pants and started to unbutton it.  Becoming frustrated with the
buttons, a pitiful whine escaped from between my lips.  I felt Brand’s hands
leave my waist.  Before I knew it, he tore his shirt off himself, sending the
maddening buttons across the bedroom.  I pulled my T-shirt off over my head in
one quick movement and threw it to the floor on the other side of the bed.

The feel of
Brand’s bare skin against mine was addictive.  I wanted more.  I
needed
to feel all of him.  I put my hands on the waist of his pants attempting in my
haste to unbutton them.

I felt his hands
on mine before I could start.

“Lilly,” he said
in a breathless, hoarse voice.  “Lilly, no.  Not like this.”  He laced his
finger with mine, bringing them up over my head entwined.

“I want you,” I
pleaded, kissing the line of his jaw up to his ear.  “Make love to me.  Make me
feel alive,” I whispered.

Brand found my
lips again, gripping my hands even tighter.  I could feel his racing heart
beating against my chest.  His fingers slowly let go of mine.  I felt them on
my face gently pushing me back to break the contact of our lips.

When I looked down
into his silver-grey eyes, I could see his desire to follow through with my
demands but his head gently shook from side to side.

“It shouldn’t be
like this Lilly,” he said looking at me with more love than I could have ever
imagined anyone ever feeling for me in a million lifetimes.  “I don’t want your
first time to be rushed like this.  Do you remember the dream I had?”

I nodded my head
slowly.

“Then you know how
beautiful it will be.  Please, let me make it like that for you.  Let me make
it something we’ll both remember for the rest of our lives.”

I laid down on top
of him, hugging him close to me, finding contentment in his nearness.  He held
me just as tightly.  After a few minutes, our hearts stopped racing.

“Can you tell me
what happened?” he asked gently, slowly running his hand up and down my back.

“Justin came to my
room just after you left me,” I began.  “He put me in some sort of prison.  I
have no idea where it was.  The room didn’t have any windows or doors so I
couldn’t see anything.”

“That’s where
you’ve been all this time?”

“Yes.  How long
have I been gone?”

He paused before
answering, like it was hard for him say.  “Six days.”

I lifted my face
off of his chest and looked into his eyes.  “He was waiting to kill me.”

“What was he waiting
for?”  His eyes tightened.

“The person who
ordered him to do it wanted to see me first.  He said they wanted to explain
why I needed to die personally.”

“Did you see
them?”

“No,” I said
hesitantly.  “I didn’t see them, but I felt them coming.”

“What do you
mean?”

“It was like I
could feel the air surrounding them getting closer to me.  And I could hear
what they were thinking and I felt the emotions they were having.  I knew I was
about to die,” I couldn’t help the tears which spilled so freely at the memory
of hopelessness I’d felt in that moment.  “I didn’t want to die.  I couldn’t
die without seeing you one more time.  I kept repeating your name in my head
over and over again, imagining I was here with you.  And then I was here.”

Brand was quiet
for a moment obviously understanding the implications of what I had just said. 
“You phased yourself here?”

All I could do was
nod.  How could I explain what I didn’t understand myself?

He held me
tighter.  “You’re safe now.  We’ll figure out what happened together.”

“But what does it
mean?” I looked back into his eyes to see what he was thinking.  All I could
see was confusion.  He didn’t have any idea how I could have the power to phase
either.

“Let’s not worry
about that right now, Lilly.  You’re home.  That’s all that matters.”

After a few
minutes of lying together, reassuring ourselves that we weren’t imagining our
reunion, Brand said, “We need to tell everyone you’re all right.”

We put our shirts
back on and I followed Brand downstairs.  He sat on one of the stools by the
kitchen counter pulling me in between his legs, unwilling to let me be far from
him.  He pulled his cell phone out of his pant’s pocket finding the number he
wanted quickly.

“Will, Lilly’s at
my house.  Bring Tara.”

He then called a
second number quickly.  “Malcolm, she’s back.”

Before I knew it,
I was being swept up into two strong arms.

Malcolm held me
tightly to his chest, like a child does a doll.

“Where are you
been, dearest?” he asked.  I could hear the anguish he’d been through in the
past few days clearly in his voice.  He kissed me chastely on the lips and sat
me back down on the floor gently like I might break.