The Cursed One Read online

  Gabriel wondered if the man was telling the truth. Had Robert only married Amelia for her dowry? How sad if that was the case. Robert was an idiot if that was true. “Don’t tell her that,” Gabriel said quietly.

  The man lifted a raven brow. “You are in love with her. It clouds your judgment. You should be thinking about your own skin right now, and saving it.”

  “I don’t care about my own skin,” he said. “I do care about hers.”

  Mora walked into view, standing behind her brother. “Does Lady Collingsworth know what you are?”

  He couldn’t look Mora in the eye.

  “She will despise you,” she assured him. “Just as she now despises me. I don’t require you to love me, to even like me. Together, we can do a lot for our people.”

  He shook his head. “Our people? I’ve told you, I am not one of you. Whatever the hell it is you are.”

  “You are not like your lady love, either,” Raef spoke up. “I think you need to be reminded of that. I think she needs to see exactly what you are. Mora believes the moon controls the change for you. Although we have learned to shift at will, the moon still has an effect on us, as well. It makes controlling the animal side of our nature more difficult. We will allow Amelia to watch you transform tonight. In the morning you can give us your decision.”

  There was nothing worse than the thought of Amelia watching him turn into a beast before her eyes. To know that she would understand he had deceived her. That he had made love to her without telling her what he was. That she had trusted him when he’d been lying to her from the moment he met her. He was no better than Mora, who had deceived them both.

  “I would prefer that you just kill me now,” he said.

  Raef smiled, even if it was a rather sad one.

  Amelia was terrified. After days of running from the creatures, she was among them now, at their mercy, and so was Gabriel. The creatures had kept them separated throughout the day. She’d been given water to drink, even offered food, although she refused, knowing it would not stay down with her stomach churning as it was. She sat in the shade at least. She was still alive at least. But she knew that wouldn’t be for much longer.

  Gabriel was across the camp. They hadn’t removed the net from him as they had done for her. Her blond angel looked uncharacteristically defeated. She hoped it was simply a pretense on his part. She hoped while he sat brooding he was thinking of a way to get them out of this predicament. She’d exhausted her own mind upon the matter. They were well guarded. They were secured. They had no weapons. It was a bleak scenario.

  She’d thought about throwing herself upon Mora’s mercy, begging for her and Gabriel’s lives, but knew it would do no good. Mora had her cause to love. She’d already proven it was more important to her than the lives of two people who had once befriended and protected her. And yet Mora had spared Amelia that night she’d escaped from the tavern. There might be a small hope of survival if their fate was left solely up to Mora, but obviously there were others in the camp of importance among these people.

  Amelia had seen a tall, dark-headed man come and go from the tent. Those guarding them seemed to stand taller when he appeared, as if he were royalty. Amelia supposed under different circumstances she might have found him handsome. He’d barely glanced in her direction, as if she was of no importance to him. A means to an end.

  Twice Amelia had been untied and allowed to attend to personal matters, but always with a guard standing within embarrassingly close distance. Did she have the strength to wrestle a weapon away from one of the men? Could she outrun them if she bolted? She’d have to leave Gabriel behind, which she could not do. Better to get a weapon and take a hostage. Someone they would easily exchange Gabriel for. Mora.

  Amelia mulled the idea over as night drew nearer. She watched two men who had been curiously constructing something during the day, something made from thick branches lashed together by ropes. Only when they finally finished did Amelia realize it was a cage. A cage big enough to hold a man. Her gaze swung toward Gabriel. He was also looking at the cage, and his expression was so dark and dangerous she would be afraid of him if she didn’t know him so well.

  Mora and the dark man exited the tent. Amelia was more than annoyed that Mora looked better in her clothes than she did. Skinned rabbits were roasting over a spit in the middle of camp, and the smell of cooked meat made her stomach growl. Cushions were brought from the tent and placed on the ground around the fire. Mora nodded to the man guarding Amelia and he reached down and hauled her to her feet, pushing her toward where the other two were now seated.

  “Sit,” Mora instructed her.

  Amelia would have disobeyed if she had a choice. The guard shoved her down.

  Mora now glanced toward Gabriel. “Put him in the cage,” she instructed.

  Amelia’s heart broke as she watched three burly men jerk Gabriel to his feet and drag him struggling toward the cage. One used a knife to slice the netting from Gabriel before he was shoved inside, the gate at one end secured so he couldn’t get out. There wasn’t room for him to stand. He had to draw his knees up to fit inside the cage. He glared at Amelia’s companions, his eyes glowing blue in the coming dark.

  “Would you like something to eat, Amelia?” Mora asked.

  She couldn’t eat now, even if the smell of meat was nearly torture. “No need to be civil,” she said to Mora. “I know you’re not, even if you suddenly like to put on airs.”

  The man smiled as if amused by Amelia’s daring. “She’s right, Sister. There is no need to offer comfort to the enemy.”

  “You know our own rules, Raef,” Mora countered to the man. “As little suffering as possible. We should offer her what comforts we can until …”

  The silence that followed might as well have rung loud in the night as a death toll. “What about Gabriel?” Amelia asked. “I haven’t seen you offer him any comfort today. Why have you put him in a cage?”

  “We had to secure him in some fashion,” the man answered instead of Mora. He reached forward and tore a piece of juicy meat from a rabbit on one of the spits. “We thought seeing him thus might loosen your tongue. We could torture him if you don’t provide Mora with information she needs concerning your background.”

  Perhaps that was the reason they had not killed Gabriel right away, Amelia reasoned. They wanted to use him to force information from her. She had sworn she would not talk, but she now had to reconsider. Amelia also had to face the fact that once they had what they wanted from her, they no longer needed her alive. As she’d told Mora once before, she wouldn’t make it easy for them.

  “I have a sister and two brothers,” she lied. “My sister’s name is Florence and my brothers’ names are Michael and—”

  “We know about your family and who they are,” the man called Raef said drily. “Please give us credit for having the intelligence to learn those details quickly. We need private information. What is your favorite color?”

  “Pink of course.” Her favorite color was blue.

  “What is your affiliation with the Dowager Duchess of Brayberry?” he asked next.

  Amelia was surprised by the question. These people knew more than she suspected they might know about higher society. “We are acquaintances,” she admitted. “Although Her Grace hardly tolerates me. She believes I’m too outspoken.” Amelia doubted there was a more outspoken woman in the world than the duchess. She encouraged similar behavior among those she counted as friends.

  “How is your relationship with your parents?” Mora asked.

  It was too much suddenly for Amelia to realize this woman would try to make her parents believe she was their daughter. Tears choked her throat and she couldn’t answer.

  “We usually try to find those who have no close family left,” Mora said quietly. “It’s another reason Lord Collingsworth was chosen.”

  “Be quiet, Mora,” Raef snapped. “You’ve told her too much already. You easily forget the ways taught to us. No need to pet the
lamb before leading it to the slaughterhouse. Nothing you say will make her think better of you. Of any of us.”

  Amelia supposed it wasn’t so bad to die for a cause, just not someone else’s. Darkness had now fallen and it was harder to see Gabriel inside his cage. All she saw were his glowing eyes trained on her. She stared back, hoping to send him a message. Hoping he knew she truly did love him and if perhaps they would be together again after death she didn’t mind dying so much. She would rather live. She would rather spend her days and nights with him. She would rather have his blond little boys. That possibility seemed farfetched under current conditions.

  Supper was removed from the spits and portions divided among the group. Amelia sat in silence as logs were added to the fire blazing before her. She was able to see Gabriel again in the orange glow cast by the flames, and for that she was grateful. She felt stronger when she could see him. Amelia knew she must help him. Refusal of food had been foolish when she might use it to her advantage.

  “I find I am hungry,” she said, glancing at Mora. “But I can’t eat with my hands tied behind my back and don’t wish to be further humiliated by being handfed. You can at least allow me my dignity.”

  Mora glanced toward her brother. “She’s hardly a match for the rest of us,” she said. “Shall we untie her hands so she can eat?”

  Raef shook his head. “She’s escaped us once already. You underestimated her, Mora. A mistake you should have already learned from.”

  Mora bowed her head submissively. Amelia mentally cursed that the brother was less trusting and less civil than his sister. How could she wrest a weapon away from anyone with her hands tied? Maybe Gabriel had a plan. She hoped he did.

  “Can I speak to Gabriel?” she asked. “Can I take him food, water? You said your rules do not include torture, and what you’ve done to him looks like torture to me.”

  “The rules only apply to treatment of your kind,” Raef said; then he smiled slightly in the firelight.

  What did he mean by that? Amelia wondered. Women but not men would be treated with respect? “It is torture for me not to be able to speak to him. To say things to him that I feel should be said if we are to shortly be led to the slaughter.”

  She fully expected her request to be denied. Raef glanced up at the sky, glanced toward the cage, and shrugged. “Perhaps you should say your good-byes. Go and have a closer look at him. You.” He nodded toward one of the guards standing close. “Take her over to see him.”

  The man reached down and grabbed Amelia’s arm and pulled her to her feet. Amelia was led to where the cage sat. Gabriel had his back to her. She bent before the cage.

  “Gabriel,” she said softly. “They have allowed me to speak to you for a moment.”

  He didn’t turn to look at her. Was he blaming himself for their capture? He’d done all he could; she knew that. Amelia glanced at the guard. “Please, a moment of privacy?” she asked.

  The man took a few steps back, but he didn’t retreat as far as she would have wished. “Gabriel,” Amelia tried again, keeping her voice to a whisper. “Talk to me.”

  “Can they hear us?” he asked softly.

  Amelia glanced at the guard again. He seemed alert but not particularly interested in what they were saying. “Not if we keep our voices down,” she answered. “Have you got a plan, Gabriel?”

  “Yes.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief but wondered why he wouldn’t turn and look at her; then she noticed he was shaking. “Are you ill again?” she whispered.

  “That’s not important,” he said. He reached behind him and shoved something in her direction. The cage threw shadows inside and Amelia reached for the object. It was a knife.

  She wondered how he had come by it; then she recalled the guard using a knife to cut the net away before they shoved Gabriel inside the cage. Somehow he had taken it from the guard, who obviously hadn’t missed the weapon yet.

  “Free your hands,” Gabriel said.

  Amelia wondered if she could, her wrists tied together as they were. “You may have to do it,” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “I’m shaking too badly. I might cut you. Use your knees. Slide the knife between them to hold it steady; then you can cut through the rope around your wrists.”

  Wondering what she was supposed to do once she had freed her hands, Amelia did as he instructed. She was thankful she wore a dress and could easily hide her actions within the folds of her skirt. The knife was sharp and it didn’t take but a moment to free her hands.

  “Now what?”

  “Pretend you are trying to see me better and move toward the end of the cage,” he instructed. “Use the knife on the ropes holding the gate together at the bottom. I should be able to kick it open. Appeal to me loudly to look at you before you reposition yourself.”

  So, this was why he kept his back to her. Very clever. “Gabriel, why won’t you look at me?” Amelia raised her voice to ask. “Why won’t you let me see you?” It now would seem a natural response for her to scoot to a position where she might better see him.

  Once there, Amelia bent her knees, hiding the fact that her hands were free and going for the ropes that lashed the cage together on one end.

  “How are we going to escape?” she whispered.

  For a moment his shaking worsened. “I will create a diversion,” he finally said, and she thought his voice sounded odd. “You are to run, Amelia, and keep running. I’ll keep them off of you as long as I can.”

  She didn’t like his plan. Not one bit. “No,” she whispered. “We run together.”

  He shook his head. “That won’t work, Amelia. They would be upon us before we made it past the camp perimeters. We have a better chance of escaping if you do as I say.”

  She had a better chance, Amelia wanted to argue. To her, it sounded as if he had no chance at all. “I’ve cut the ropes,” she whispered. “Please look at me now.”

  Rather than do as she asked, he said, “Put the knife in your boot, Amelia. Can you use it if you are forced to? If it means your life at the cost of someone else’s?”

  Mora, she thought. He was asking her if she could use it against Mora if she must. Amelia wasn’t sure. In selfdefense, yes, she supposed she could. She wouldn’t know unless tested. But that wasn’t what Gabriel needed to hear.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “Promise me.”

  “Look at me,” she insisted.

  “Promise me first.”

  “I promise,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she wasn’t lying to him, which she didn’t want to do. A person shouldn’t lie to someone they loved. Not without good cause. Amelia thought she had good enough reason at the moment.

  He sat shaking for a moment; then slowly, he turned in the small confines of the cage to look at her.

  She screamed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Amelia scrambled back from Gabriel. His eyes glowed bright blue. In the orange hue cast by the fire, his features looked distorted, as if his face was rearranging itself. When he opened his mouth, fangs flashed white in the darkness. He held a hand out to her, beseeching, but his hands were misshapen, long claws jutting from his fingertips. This could not be happening. It was another dream. Another nightmare.

  “Amelia.” His voice came out garbled. “Forgive me.”

  All she could do was shake her head in denial.

  “What do you think of your hero now?” She glanced up to see Mora standing above her. “He deceived you, just as I deceived you. Look at him and tell me that you still love him.”

  Amelia couldn’t look. She didn’t want to. She wanted to deny what she saw, deny the truth, deny that any of this was happening to her … to Gabriel. Had these people done something to him? Could they do something to a person to make him like they were? Could they do the same to her?

  “What have you done to him?” she screamed at Mora.

  Mora bent beside her. “We didn’t do anything to him. This is his curse. He did
n’t tell you about this while he was wooing you into bed, did he? When he was stealing your heart away? Go ahead and tell him you love him regardless that he is a beast. Regardless that he has deceived you.”

  Amelia glanced toward Gabriel, who, oddly enough, seemed to be listening, waiting for her response, even as he changed forms. There were too many emotions running through her to examine any of them but one. She had to get away.

  With a loud bellow, Gabriel suddenly kicked out and knocked the gate off of his cage. He was out in the bat of an eye. Just as quickly he was pounced upon by two of the closest guards. He fought like a madman. He fought like an animal. And with sudden dawning, Amelia realized he was fighting for her. This was the diversion that was supposed to allow her to escape.

  Mora still stood beside her, but Amelia saw that she was caught up in the diversion. Amelia quickly glanced around the campsite. Even Mora’s brother had risen from his cushion and stood ready to jump into the fray if the guards could not handle Gabriel. Amelia slipped the knife into her boot; then she began to inch away, slowly, so as not to draw attention to herself. Even with thoughts of escape on her mind, she couldn’t take her eyes from Gabriel.

  His fangs were more pronounced now, his nose longer, his body bent and misshapen, and yet he fought gallantly. She’d nearly scooted to the edge of the camp perimeters when he went down on all fours. Men stumbled away from him and she saw him clawing at his clothes.

  It seemed to last forever, the transformation, although Amelia knew in truth only a few seconds had ticked past before he rose from the ground, no longer a man but a wolf. His coat was light colored. He was huge and she realized he had been the wolf that followed her the night she escaped from the tavern. The wolf that had sat below her while she sought safety in a tree, staring up at her. The wolf that had limped.

  Gabriel, or, rather, the wolf that was once Gabriel, bolted in the opposite direction from Amelia. All around the camp, men’s eyes began to glitter; fangs began to extract. They would hunt Gabriel in wolf form so that he had no advantage over them. And in a moment, someone would realize she was missing. Amelia scrambled to her feet. Although her knees were shaking, she ran into the woods. She ran as she had never run before, now more conditioned by her flight from Collingsworth Manor, from her journey through the woods toward Wulfglen.