The Vampire's Curse (15 page)

His eyes blackened again. "She did. This is Sarah."

"But you said yourself Sarah disappeared after she cursed you. Carly just got back from New York."

"You don't believe me? That's fine. Tell them." Kyle gave Carly a light shake, but it was enough that she let out a tiny scream and a few more tear drops.

"I ... I don't know what you're talking about."

Kyle shook her again. Jackie could see his fangs long and sharp when he opened his mouth to yell at her. "Don't lie!" He lengthened his canines until they stuck out of his mouth, and then lowered his face so the tips tickled the spot where her shoulder met her neck.

Patty scrunched her hands together. "Don't bite her!"

Jesus, this was getting out of hand. "Kyle, don't do this. Don't hurt her."

He looked at her. His angry expression unchanged. "I'm not going to hurt her. I'm going to turn her into a vampire like me."

Carly cried harder, and he returned his attention to her neck.

"Unless you tell them the truth." He finished.

Carly trembled in his grip, gasping sobs as tears streamed down her lowered face.

She nodded and mumbled.

Kyle’s voice spoke of barely contained rage. “So they can hear you.”

She inhaled sharply. "I did it." Then she wept like a woman who experienced the death of her best friend.

Patty gasped but quickly composed herself. "There, she admitted it so now you can let her go."

No way it was that easy. Patty thought Carly only admitted to the deed to get out of being bitten. Jackie knew better. Carly told the truth. "You cursed him?"

Kyle backed towards the wall with Carly still in his arms. She reluctantly went with him.

Patty shrieked. "She told you what you wanted to hear, let her go!"

Kyle ripped the cordless phone from the wall and tossed it to Jackie, his hand still gripping Carly's arm.

"Call your friend Mike. I want him here and her arrested."

"We don't need to bring the police into this." Patty said, raising her hands in an effort to regain control.

She must be starting to believe.
Jackie thought.

Kyle's eyes never left Jackie’s as she gripped the phone. They were no longer enraged, but calmer, willing her to phone the police. He wasn't using any of his vampire mind games on her, she could tell, he wanted her to phone them on her own.

"Jackie, call them. Please."

Jackie sighed and started punching in Mike's number. Well, if she was going to phone the police on her own family then at least a friend would be there.

He picked up quickly, as usual with him. “Mike, hey, I have something of a problem. Could you come down here?”

“What is it? A big problem or little one?”

She knew what he was really asking. Should he come alone or bring as much backup as possible.

She looked into Kyle’s grateful gold eyes, and then into the enraged blue ones of her mother. “Depends on your point of view I guess. Kyle found the woman who cursed him.”

“He did? Where is she? Does she know he found her? Is she hurt?”

“
Jacklyn Moore.
” Patty whispered in a hiss. “Hang up this instant.”

“Um, she knows that we know. It’s my sister, Carly.”

Patty threw her arms into the air and paced the store.

Mike needed only a few seconds to process what she said. “Are you sure?”

Carly continued to sob quietly, her knees gave out and Kyle allowed her to sink to the floor at his feet.

“She admitted it. She’s not too happy that he found her.”

“I’ll be there with a few men in three minutes.”

She thanked him and hung up, then tried giving Kyle her hardest glare. It wasn’t much. "With your hearing you know I didn’t fake that call. You can let her go now."

He didn't step away from her and Carly was too busy sobbing to move. "Why? So she can cast a spell on me and fly away so I never see her again? I'm keeping her with me until that friend of yours puts her in handcuffs."

"Witches don't fly." Jackie said, having a hard time remembering through, her stress, that Kyle didn't know much about witches outside of what he read in books or saw in movies.

"I can't be seen in handcuffs! Mom, do something!" Carly wailed. Kyle reached down to put his hand on her shoulder, silencing her.

"Don't worry about a thing, baby. It's just Michael and a few of his friends coming. They'll straighten everything out and there won't be any cameras."

There weren't any cameras when Mike got there, but things weren't exactly straightened out either. Carly was questioned, handcuffed, and put into a patrol car and driven away for more questioning.

Kyle was taken with them. Threatening to turn someone was no small crime either.

Patty snatched her purse and ripped her car keys out as she hurried to follow. Jackie had no choice but to get in the car with her if she wanted to help.

"I hope you're happy." Patty muttered, twisting the key with the force of twisting a neck.

Jackie didn't know what she was talking about. "Happy about what?"

Patty pretended to focus all her attention on the snowy roads. "She's your sister. You couldn't even defend your own sister?"

"Mom, if she cursed him then she needs to own up to it and help change him back."

"Well, you certainly didn't need to get the police involved. If the press finds out this could impact her career in a very bad way. Do you want that?"

Jackie didn't get a chance to answer as Patty continued muttering to herself. "I don't believe for a second that she did it anyway, and neither should you. She's your family, and you have no business taking the side of a man you don't even know over her."

Jackie was silent the rest of the way to the station, wondering if her mother was right about her.

***

Kyle was questioned again and it was decided that, while what he'd done was suspicious and wrong, he didn't actually harm Carly, or Sarah, or whatever her name was. And though Detective Carter made it clear to never threaten anyone with a bite like that again, he wasn't going to be arrested for detaining the woman who cursed him while the police showed up.

He didn't notice Jackie was in the station until she leaned against the wall next to him in the waiting area by the water cooler.

He could feel her conflicting emotions, guilt being the strongest in the mix. He hated that he was the one to put them there. "I suppose you hate me now."

He was shocked with himself for speaking the words. Did it matter if she hated him? He did what he had to do and it was neither his nor her fault that her sister broke their own law.

She said nothing for a time, and the wait put him on edge until finally, "Are you sure it was her?"

He clenched his jaw. Of course she would want to be sure; that
was
her sister he'd attacked. "I could never forget that face."

She winced, and he had trouble understanding why. He looked around and saw for the first time that she was alone.

"Where's your mother?"

"Trying to get a lawyer, but I think mom's too late. Mike came to me and told me that she already told them everything. She's not even trying to deny it anymore."

"When did he tell you this?" Carter should have told him that information first. Kyle knew that Carly was Jackie's sister and that Jackie and Carter were nearly dating, but the entire ordeal was concerning
his
curse, no one else.

"Just a few minutes ago, I told him I'd tell you."

Oh
.

"Listen," he started. "I'm sorry about what I did, scaring you and your mother, but you need to understand that I've been looking for her for so long that the minute I saw her again.” He shook his head at himself. “I just couldn't let her get away."

She pushed her glasses up her nose. "You were afraid she'd fly away before she could put you back to normal?"

He wouldn't have used the word
afraid
but … "Yes, something like that," he grumbled.

They both stared at the opposite wall for a time, silence again.

Jackie inexplicably giggled. "I guess you’re not a
good boy
anymore."

It took him a second to realize what she was referring to, and then he laughed too. "I guess not. Your mother probably likes it even less that Sarah and I dated."

Jackie winced again, and he immediately regretted his words though he knew he shouldn’t.

He had no loyalty to Jackie. Wanting her was not the same as dating her, and even if he was, the offhanded mentioning of a former girlfriend, whom he currently wanted nothing to do with after his cure was administered, did not count towards infidelity.

Still, he would miss the excuse of getting to kiss her when this was all over with. "Sorry, shouldn't have said that."

She cleared her throat. "I guess it's high time I got used to the fact that Carly's dated half the men in the state, so it shouldn't bother me that she got to you before you ever got to me."

He hadn't expected her to say that. "So, it doesn't bother you that she and I dated?"

She shrugged. "When we were kids I had a hard time finding boyfriends she hadn't previously been with, and the ones that I did usually found their way into her room eventually. I’d say I’m a little used to it by now."

She stopped speaking and blushed a deep shade of red. He knew she didn't understand why she told him that, and now he also knew that when he mentioned dating Sarah she was hurt.

He forced a smile and tried to lighten her mood. "I bet you saw a couple running out of her room scared, too."

She laughed, and Kyle felt a swell of accomplishment.

Mike rounded a corner and found them, honing in on Kyle. He stood away from the wall, ready for whatever information he gave. "What's she saying?"

"She's admitting it, even when we told her that Patty was calling for a lawyer she insisted she didn't need one. She confessed. Your mother's in there with her now that it's all over with," he said to Jackie.

She stepped forward. "What's going to happen to her now?"

Carter sighed and folded his large arms. "All depends on your friend here. Do you want to press charges?" He asked Kyle.

Kyle blinked. It had been so long since his life changed forever, and he imagined the day when he would finally find her and make her change him back. None of those fantasies ever involved a cop asking if he wanted to press charges against her. He was nearly rendered incapable of speech.

He looked at Jackie. Her arms were crossed and she leaned forward, her eyes on him, waiting with a held breath for him to make his decision.

He sighed and hated himself for not being able to give Sarah what she deserved. "As long as she can change me back then I'll just forget the whole thing happened."

"Well you see, that's part of the problem."

Kyle’s heart picked up its steady rhythm. Those weren't the words preceding good news. "What’s the problem?"

"According to her the spell was never supposed to last longer than a week. If you're still walking around at night as a vamp then it probably means you’re stuck like this."

***

If Jackie felt like she'd been punched in the gut when she had to phone the police on her own sister, then it was nothing compared to what Kyle must feel now.

His eyes bulged and mouth hung open as he stared at Mike in a blind stupor. He voice came out in a deathly whisper. "What did you just say?"

Mike seemed to be at a loss for words. "I don't know what to tell you, but I promise we've got people lookin’ into this. She told us what she used to make the dust you said she cursed you with, and we're gonna try and work with that."

Kyle ran his fingers through his hair and paced like a caged animal before facing Mike again. "She has to know how to fix this! She did this so she can fix it!"

Jackie shook her head. She reached her hand out and clasped his shoulder. "It doesn't always work that way."

"Think of a man made virus," Mike said. "It's a lot easier to create the disease than it is to cure it."

Kyle shook his head, purposely denying the truth now. She gripped his shoulder tighter but he shrugged her off.

Jackie pulled back as though burned and tried to tell herself she had nothing to be hurt about. This was something only he could deal with.

"No, no, no!"

Kyle punched his fists through the drywall. Mike grabbed his shoulders but Kyle pushed him off, so Mike shoved him back against the wall.

"If you wanna break something you go home and do it, unless you want me to arrest you too."

"I can't go home because I'm like this!" Kyle yelled back, his fangs extended, his eyes glowing slits and claws out and ready.

Their yelling attracted the attention of the other officers in the nearby area, all of whom came to see what the problem was. Upon seeing Mike containing an angry vampire, some put their hands on their weapons.

Jackie had to warn him. "Kyle, stop it."

He looked up and saw the attention he was drawing. He unclenched his fists and his angry face melted into something a little less grim. Mike waited a second before releasing him.

"Back to work. Everything's under control." Mike barked, and with some reluctance the uniformed men and women turned around and did as he told them.

Now Mike was the one to be angry. He pointed his large index finger in Kyle’s face. "Now look, acting like that right here has got to be the stupidest thing you can do and the next time it happens you will be the one in cuffs, do you understand?"

Kyle leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. "Yeah, I do."

Jackie made sure to be next to him when she knelt down, willing all of the pity or sympathy she felt to go away so he wouldn't feel it. She just wanted to be supportive.

He stared blankly ahead.

Mike sighed. "Like I said, I've got some people workin’ with the ingredients she gave. They're goin’ to try and counter ‘em.”

“But?” Kyle asked.

Mike fisted his hands in his pockets. “But it's not lookin’ good."

Kyle faced Mike, his eyes still glazed like he wasn't seeing what he was looking at. "What did she use?"

Jackie was also curious to know, and she looked at him too.

"That's part of the problem too. It was such a simple mixture …" He trailed off before seeing Kyle staring at him, waiting, then got back on track. "It was dried vamp blood mixed with stardust. She used her own enchantment to make the curse temporary, but she seemed to forget that a man can't just become a vampire for a few days and that's it. The stardust makes you turn at night, and using actual vampire blood is what's keeping you like this."

Kyle rubbed his face, and when Jackie put her hand on his shoulder again he didn't shrug her off.

"So, when Carly told mom and I that she was in New York all this time ...?"

Mike nodded. "She lied. Kyle was right that she did disappear right after cursing him for ending their relationship. When she was telling you that she was still in New York, she was really in Paris seeing the sights. Kyle, the reason your brother couldn’t find her either was because she changed the memories of everyone she worked with. Anyone who ever saw her wouldn't have known about her after she left.

“She couldn’t find much work there from what she told us, spent a lot of her money on expensive hotels and such. It explains why she came back to the city to begin with. Because she didn’t have the funds to keep living the lifestyle that she wanted, she came back for the emotional support of her mother.”

So the picture of her in Vogue and commercial for the perfume add was a lie, Jackie thought. "And her name? Sarah Valier?"

"Apparently she thought it was a better sounding name to be known as if she was going to model."

Jackie didn't think the name Sarah Valier was any better than Carly May Moore, but she said nothing about it.

Kyle remained silent through their exchange, and she couldn't blame him for it. She tried to understand what he felt, but really there was no way to understand something like that.

All this time of looking for her, hoping for a cure, only to find her and get his hopes up like that…it would be crushing to anyone to hear that nothing could be done. Jackie looked at Mike, silently willing him to give them a moment.

Thankfully, he was good at taking hints.

"I have some paperwork to finish up and a few more questions for Carly. Are you going to press charges?"

Jackie's heart somersaulted into her throat, and her breath caught on it while she waited for him to make the decision. She’d forgotten all about that part.

He shook his head after a moment and wiped his face. "No."

Mike nodded. "I'll let her know she can go then. I'll keep you posted on anything we might find to help you with."

He turned to leave, but then Jackie remembered she had another question. "Did you find anything on Dr. Clayton? Or why he might be sending ferals after me?"

He gave her what she thought was supposed to be a reassuring smile. He looked more tired and overworked to her. "Nothin’ yet, I'll let you know when I hear somethin’, don't worry."

When Mike left them Jackie sat down next to Kyle. He wouldn't look at her.

To think, a few hours ago she'd been so devastated that Carly was the one he'd dated in New York, and before that she'd been worried that when they met he would lose all interest in her in exchange for her sister.

Those worries seemed petty now in comparison to what he must be going through.

One thing she knew for sure was they couldn’t stay on the floor. "The carpet sure is nice, but I think we should move to those chairs over there."

He looked at her for the first time in a while. She smiled for him but he didn't return it. He got to his feet and sank in one of the black waiting chairs. She sat next to him.

Without thinking, she grabbed his hand from where it rested on his knee and threaded their fingers together.

He looked at her as though stunned she could do such a thing. If she was truthful with herself, she was stunned with her own behavior as well. She squeezed his hand rather than let go. She wanted to make him feel better, to bring hope back into his eyes.

"It's not all bad," she said.

"How is it not all bad?"

Slowly, carefully, she reached her hand out, hesitating only briefly before cupping his cheek and pulling his face towards hers.

She kissed his cold lips, pushing all her concentration, magic, and emotions into it. She cared too much to see him like this.

Like the times before, she could feel the heat returning to his flesh as she kissed him, warmth filling him up as though it were being poured in by a jug. Her magic tingling through her lips and into him as it turned him back into a human.

He was the one to pull away from her when the tingling stopped. She expected him to look at his hands for the confirmation that he was no longer a vampire, but he didn't. His eyes remained on her, and then they moved back down to her mouth.

No one had ever stared at her like that before.

His larger hands touched her face before his palms cupped her cheeks. He pulled her mouth to his again and she melted into him.

She sighed when their lips met again and closed her eyes. He released her face with one hand only to pull her body closer to his.

He had to know that he was cured and didn't need to kiss her any longer, but he wouldn't stop. She didn't want him to stop. She wrapped her arm around his neck to make sure he wouldn't stop.

They had to stop eventually. Making out, while wonderful and romantic, would not be so romantic when some cop or secretary walked by and saw them. A disappointed groan ripped from Jackie’s throat when it came to an end.

Then she realized she was leaning over the steel arm of the waiting chair while he held her, and she blushed. She tried inching back into her seat but he locked his arms around her, refusing to let her move.

He was still looking at her, and his hands still spread warm shivers through her clothes where he touched her. Through her back and shoulders. The most wonderful thing she ever felt.

He stared right through her, she squirmed a little, unable to help the self conscious feelings that sprang up and wishing she'd decided to wear her contacts and some eyeshadow.

He grinned at her, something real, and those self conscious doubts vanished. He raised his hand and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I think this changes a few things."

She let out a single nervous laugh. "I hate it when things stay the same anyway."