Free A Cursed Embrace (WG 2) by Cecy Robson

didn’t compare to the naked woman left abandoned in the center of the room. My hands trembled. Perspiration slid like ice against my chilled skin. Her clouded eyes stared blankly at the ceiling while an expression of sheer terror and agony froze the features of her young face. Her entire abdomen appeared chewed open from the inside out and her half-eaten bowels lay over her hips like wet ropes. Flies swarmed her and took their fill. Small water bugs crawled along her bloody nails. She’d clawed at the splintered floor. God only knew the pain she’d endured before her heart had mercifully stopped beating.
    Part of me wanted to run screaming. The other part struggled not to release my tears. Humans generally feared me. Their fear often manifested into dislike and more than often hate. I’d been mistreated to the point of cruelty throughout my life. But as horrid as others had often behaved, no one deserved to die like this. No one.
    Aric pulled me into him, his voice harsh yet gentle all at once. “You don’t have to look, Celia. And you don’t have to be brave. If you prefer, Gemini can escort you and Taran outside.”
    I shook my head, unable to rip my gaze from the poor soul in the center of the room. “No. I’ll stay.”
    Aric gave me one last hug before releasing me and stepping forward. He said I didn’t have to be brave. So I wasn’t. I stayed put as he and Gemini’s wolf examined the bodies. They inspected the males first, circling their forms and drawing in their scent. I stopped trying to work so hard to smell. It remained my last-ditch effort to keep from hurling. All the dead men had their mouths open. They probably had screamed until their last breath. A cricket crawled out of one whose tongue hung open. That’s when I stopped looking as well.
    I heard Aric and Gem’s wolf tread toward the woman. They paused. “Do you see what I see?” Aric asked, rage clipping his words.
    “Yes,” Gemini’s human side answered. He clutched Taran close against him with his head lowered. I supposed he could see with his other half. “Two burrowed out in separate directions.”
    I forced my mouth open. “Two what?”
    Gemini raised his dark almond eyes. “Demon children,” he answered.

C HAPTER 5
    Taran’s shakes turned into full-out convulsions. She jerked when I touched her, burying herself deeper against Gemini. I didn’t want to scare her further, especially now that it appeared her dreams were transforming into reality. Nor did I care to frighten myself more. As it was, I wouldn’t sleep until roughly the following spring. And yet I asked. Despite my reservations and the aching pain claiming my belly, I asked. “What are demon children?”
    Gemini stroked Taran’s hair, probably debating whether to explain in Taran’s presence. Aric’s body heat warmed my back, preventing me from jumping when his arm circled my waist. “They’re the extremely rare offspring of a demon and a human female.”
    “How rare?”
    “Very. The last one we’d heard of was the one my great-uncle prevented from being born.”
    “So then, how did this happen?”
    “A witch likely called the demon forth and used that poor woman to incubate the spawn.”
    I took a chance and glanced over at the men. Bad mistake. More hungry bugs had found them. “That doesn’t explain the men.”
    “No. It doesn’t. Something else ate them.”
    I swerved my body to face his. “Ate?”
    Aric nodded. “Their bodies are drained of blood.”
    “But not from infected vampires?”
    “No. Definitely not. Vampires lick their fang marks to seal the wound when they’re done feeding. It’s an ingrained response. Infected vampires aren’t in a frame of mind to maintain their practiced habits. All they care about is quenching their thirst.”
    I wasn’t a racist. But I hated infected vampires. All of them. They were big, green, mean, and hard to kill. On the plus side, they didn’t breed . I straightened to my full height. Yeah. Like that