Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) (19 page)

My body shook as I rose slowly, and
stepped away from it. One step, then two. When it jerked its head,
I stopped moving and stared at it, waiting for it to attack. I
locked my jaw to keep from screaming out in fear. I stared. The
dragon’s eye was like a human eye, but held much more detail.
Shades of crimson and scarlet mingled together making the beast’s
iris have a jewel-like appearance. Gleaming black scales surrounded
its eyes in intricate patterns that I hadn’t seen from further
away. I stood there transfixed, waiting for it to act. I was
certain this beast was hunting me, either for itself or for
Kreturus. The dragon breathed slowly, creating a warm breeze that
washed over me. Its breath didn’t have the rancid scent that
flooded from the demons’ mouths. Instead it was slightly sweet, and
had the faint scent of rain during a hot summer storm.

A massive paw slid forward, but the
red eye didn’t stray from my face. Eric started toward me, but the
beast turned its head quickly, snapping at him. He froze where he
was and didn’t move. When the dragon turned back to me it lowered
its head onto its paw, and appeared content to just watch me. I
looked at Eric, not knowing what to do. Not knowing what it wanted.
If it was going to kill me or carry me off, I thought it would have
done so already. But it just sat there, looking at me. Its tail
swooshed suddenly, and it felt like I was looking at an overgrown
cat in reptile form.

“
Eric…” I whispered,
“what’s it doing?” My body was starting to spasm from being so
tense for so long. I tried to relax, but couldn’t. The tension was
making me twitch uncontrollably. The dragon saw the tiny erratic
movements, but didn’t move.

“
I’m not sure, Ivy. That’s
Kreturus’ dragon, right?” I nodded. It had to be. “I would have
thought he was here to do something, but it seems content just
looking at you.” Eric’s voice rose as he spoke. The dragon turned
its head and growled at him. Eric’s voice dropped to a whisper,
“Can you walk away from it, slowly?”

The dragon’s scaly lips parted and a
thin beam of glowing red flame shot towards Eric. He jumped out of
the way, and stopped speaking.

I shrieked when the fire poured over
its lips. The dragon responded by closing its mouth, and looking
back at me. Its eyes glittered in the darkness. I wrapped my arms
around myself, trying to stop shivering. Biting my lip, I took a
small step backwards. When the dragon didn’t react, I took another.
The entire time, my pulse raced at an ungodly rate and I was
covered in sweat. I repeated one tiny step after another, all the
time watching the enormous beast as I stepped away. The dragon
didn’t move. It didn’t chase us. It just watched. When we were far
enough away, I turned my back to it, but kept looking over my
shoulder as we walked away.

“
Kreturus. He knows we’re
here, doesn’t he?” I asked them both.

Shannon’s face showed her uncertainty.
“I don’t see how he couldn’t. Not if that’s his pet.”

“
I’m not sure it is,” Eric
replied. When I looked over at him, his face was pale and
glistening. His shirt was soaked through with sweat. He shoved his
hands in his pockets without looking at me. “If it was, it should
have done something by now. That was the second time we saw
it.”

“
It seems like it’s been
following me,” I glanced back over my shoulder at the beast. Its
form was a black speck. One moment it was there, and the next time
I turned to look, it was gone. Its silent movements scared me, but
Eric was right. Something wasn’t right with that thing. “When we
were separated, I felt like there were eyes on me at times, but
couldn’t see anything. But sometimes I heard his wings and felt
their breeze brush across my face. That dragon seemed like it was
trailing all of us. When the birds attacked me, it scared them off.
It chased the grackles rather than me. Do you think it’s possible
that it’s helping me?” I heard the doubt in my voice as I said it.
Why would a creature of the Underworld help me? It made no
sense.

Shannon shrugged, “Maybe, but I doubt
it. Nothing’s as it seems down here.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

We followed the maze of paths through
the cave. My sense of direction sucked on the surface and I could
only hope that I was leading us in the right direction. I was
relying on the bond. As we progressed deeper and deeper into the
Underworld the bond changed. It felt like a burning hole that would
consume me entirely if I didn’t find Collin soon. Perhaps it was a
hole. We shared the same soul. Each of us was bonded to the other
in a way I didn’t think was possible. I only hoped that I wasn’t
too late and that the last vision I saw could be altered, and
didn’t already occur. But my visions were getting weirder and
weirder. The repetitive one with the dragon appeared three times,
and always foretold the same horrible future. Its crushing talons
meant the death of Collin and I, both. But, this last vision didn’t
make sense. It’s almost like it wasn’t a vision at all. I wished Al
were here to ask, but she’d already told me that my powers weren’t
like anything she’d ever seen before. Unease chewed at me from
within, as I wrung my hands.

Shannon glanced at me before she said,
“You’re still thinking about that last vision, aren’t
you.”

I prickled at her words. “I’m not
talking about it.”

“
I’m not asking you to,”
she said. She looked at me for a second before she continued, “I
don’t need details, Ivy. But, I would like to know how it changed
from within the vision. Eric knows a lot of stuff. Look at him
leading the way ahead of us like some deranged Boy Scout.” A smile
spread across her face as she laughed. I didn’t mean to laugh at
him, but the giggle escaped me in a swift snort as I tried to cut
it off.

Eric looked back at us and murmured,
“Girls behind me, and they are both laughing. Awesome.” He flashed
a smile and shook his head, as he climbed over a pile of stones
that blocked our way. Shannon and I reached the rocks at the same
time. I pretty much fell over them and slid down the other side on
my butt.

“
That’s one way to do it,”
Shannon laughed. And Eric smiled at me, offering me a hand up. I
grimaced at Shannon and took his hand. My jeans were so trashed.
Did the Underworld have a GAP? I was covered in mud, dirt, blood,
and guardian drool. A change of clothes seemed like a dream right
then.

“
Do you think we’re
closer?” Eric asked. I had no idea how big the Underworld was or
how long it would take to reach Collin. But the bond seemed to
change as I got closer. It was the only indication I had that we
were making any progress.

“
Yeah, we are,” I
answered. “I can feel him, but something’s off. It’s like the
signal is getting botched. I’m not sure why.” Eric’s face was tired
and covered in dirt. He ran his fingers through his hair and
nodded.

Shannon patted my shoulder and stopped
as the path forked again ahead of us. “Which way?”

I stood in the crossroads for a
moment. It was not practical to stay still too long here, not if
you valued your life. Unmoving objects tended to be devoured by
grackles, dragons, or demons. The grackles could be heard looming
in the distance, and there was never just one. I took a few steps
down one path and then the other. The pull of the hollow spot in my
chest, the place that the bond usually pulled, was silent. It
didn’t react to either path. I sat down hard, pushing my frizzing
hair out of my face. “I don’t know.” This never happened before. I
always felt something. There was always some indication telling me
which way to go—a pull, a push, or a feeling. But not this time.
Eric and Shannon stood watching me. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I
can’t tell.”

“
It’s not a problem,” Eric
said. “There was a pool a little ways back. I’ll refill the water
bottle. Sit and wait. You’re exhausted.” When Shannon came running
in to warn us when we were in the catacombs, she’d had the
foresight to grab a water bottle and several Powerbars. We didn’t
need much food, but we still needed some. Water was everywhere in
this dank place, so refilling the bottle wasn’t difficult. As Eric
walked away, I sat and stared at the paths. My heart twisted, and I
squeezed my eyes shut to prevent Shannon from seeing the pain
etched on my face, but when I looked up at her, her gaze was
following Eric. There was an expression on her face, and a softness
in her eyes that I’d never seen in her before.

She broke her stare, and arched an
eyebrow at me, “What?” She sat down next to me, and pulled her long
hair over her shoulder. It was a nervous tick of hers.

A lopsided grin formed on my lips.
“You like him. How did I not see this before? You like
Eric!”

Shannon’s spine straightened as she
twisted her head towards me.

Her mouth fell open, but words were
slow to form. “I…I don’t like him like that. I just think
he’s—interesting.” She shrugged and flipped her hair over her
shoulder.

I laughed, “Interesting? A pork chop
is interesting. That guy is a two-thousand-year-old Martis warrior.
Interesting is the wrong word, Shan. Try again.”

She sighed and cocked her head at me.
“Fine. He’s more than interesting. He’s,” she paused searching for
the right words, “kind, honorable, and loyal.”

“
Loyal?”

“
Okay, he’s really hot. I
like the way he walks, his lopsided smile, those amber eyes, and
him. Okay. Just everything about him.” She sighed staring down the
path. This was a side of her that she rarely revealed. High school
boys didn’t impress her much. There was one other time she was love
struck over some guy, but that was a while ago. She turned back
toward me and arched an eyebrow. “So? Go ahead and say
it?”

“
Say what?”

“
That he’s not interested
in me. It’s okay. I can tell. That’s the way things go, I guess. I
finally find someone worth looking at and he seems more interested
in you.” She said the comment causally, like it’d happened before,
but I had no knowledge of it ever happening at all. Never mind
now.

“
He does NOT like me. I
just remind him of someone he was fond of.” She looked skeptically
at me, ready to say uh huh, but I cut her off. “It is not the same
thing. Reminding someone of the past is just that—I’m reminding him
of someone he cared about who’s dead. He feels like he’s seeing a
ghost when he’s around me. It’s horrible. No, actually liking
someone brings happiness—not hollowness and grief.” I rolled my
eyes at her. How could she even think that? I was starting to think
that I didn’t know her at all anymore. Could she change that much
over such a short time?

Eric returned with water and handed me
the bottle first. Shannon gave me a ‘told you so’ glare, and I
rolled my eyes at her. Eric asked, “What’d I miss?”

Shannon jumped up and dusted herself
off. Smiling at him she said, “Absolutely nothing. So which way,
Sacagawea?”

“
Are you Louis or Clark?”
Eric laughed.

I stood, ignoring the two
of them and walked towards the fork in the path again. The cavern
ceiling divided the path in two, touching the ground and forming
the largest stalactite I’d ever seen. Knowing time was a luxury I
didn’t have, I took another swig of water and shoved the bottle at
Shannon. With my hands emptied, I walked over to the massive rock
and ran my fingers over it. The bond pulled slightly, warming my
chest and giving me hope. I pressed my eyes shut to savor the
sensation.
I’m coming Collin. I’m
coming.

Shannon’s voice cut through my
thoughts, “Great. We have to go through the rock, right?” When I
turned, her hip was cocked and her head tilted. I nodded at
her.

Eric walked to the stone, and ran his
fingers over it. “How? Do you really mean go through it—as in go
inside of it? Or go over it?”

“
I think we have to go
inside of it.” I dragged my fingertips along the cold damp stone.
There was no entrance, no obvious door to walk through. The
horrifying music of demon bird calls caught my ear, and Eric and I
turned at the same time to see them coming in the
distance.

“
Grackles,” all three of
us said in unison.

“
We’ve got to get out of
here.” Shannon said urgently, and started pressing against the
rock. She slid her hands all over the stone, but nothing
moved.

The ear piercing cries grew louder.
“There’s no time!” Panic raced up my spine in a cold flash. All
three of us dragged our hands over the stone, looking for an
entrance, but nothing appeared. My heart pounded faster in my
chest. The memory of what those birds can do came back to me. Their
cries made my skin crawl. Desperately we tried everything we could
think of to open the rock. We had celestial silver, brimstone, and
Apryl’s necklace.

“
The necklace!” Eric
shouted. “It opened the crypt. Try it on the stone! Do it
now!”

I pressed her necklace to the stone
but nothing happened. The swish of a thousand wings echoed off the
stone walls. My throat constricted as I looked over my shoulder and
saw a mass of black beating wings. Their calls were so loud that I
couldn’t hear anything else. I couldn’t even hear the rapid beating
of my own heart. I screamed and slammed my hand against the stone,
half clawing at it. The rock sliced my palm open, but I didn’t
care. The grackles and their scissor beaks were within a few feet
of us. I pressed my face to the rock and tried to block out the
spaces by pressing my arms and hands into the stone. Suddenly, the
rock turned to sand and I fell through. Eric and Shannon followed.
As we tumbled through the sand-like stone, the opening that
swallowed us sealed. Silence washed over us as we stared at each
other wide-eyed.