Free A Cursed Embrace (WG 2) by Cecy Robson Page B

poor Shayna’s body parts would have littered the forest floor in diced chunks. “Stop it, Taran. Shayna’s just trying to think about other things.” Taran didn’t have a beast or possess a power like Emme’s to soothe her. She hated being scared. So when terror showed its face, her protective instincts called anger and attitude to the surface, unleashing her emotions like a rising inferno. It’s how she rolled. But that didn’t make it okay to sick her hyenas on Shayna. She needed a distraction. I stroked her black waves and tried to sound encouraging. “It’s not such a crazy idea, you know? I think the wolves plan to hang out with us tonight, including Gemini. I couldn’t help noticing how he tried to comfort you in there. It’s like his shyness dissolved. All he cared about was seeing you through your trauma.”
    Taran’s menace erased, softening the criticism lining her face and bringing out her beautiful exotic features. My sister didn’t fall for men. They fell for her. Hard. This time, though, she’d met her match. I turned my head to Gemini, knowing he’d heard me.
    He stood with Aric and the other wolves. “We need to track the demon children,” Gemini said. “The scent of the woman’s death is too fresh for them to have gone far, and they’ll need to feast soon.”
    “We’ll need more noses,” Aric said. “Call Paul and the other team.”
    “I can change and help, too.” It’s not like I’d forget that festering smell soon.
    Aric sighed, moving toward me. I tried to meet him halfway until an odd sense of cold shoved at my chest like a pair of enraged sports fans. Gemini the wolf leapt to his feet, snarling at the same time my tigress snapped to attention. An earth-shattering scream cut through the silence. The twins had found their next meal.
    I charged toward an overgrown path leading deeper into the woods only to be yanked back by Aric. “Stay here,” he growled.
    He released my arm and changed , joining the rest of his pack already jetting into the dense forest in beast form. Only the original Gemini wolf remained. His hulking body blocked mine when I ignored Aric’s request. “Damn it, Gem!”
    “Celia?”
    Emme’s shaky voice kept me from barreling through Gemini. I didn’t want to leave Aric to fight this thing alone. I glanced back at my sisters. Shayna already palmed two daggers. Taran’s blue and white flames danced along her fingertips. No, I didn’t want to leave Aric. But I also couldn’t abandon my family.
    “Wh-what is it, Celia?” Emme stammered.
    “I don’t know.” I paused. Something dropped onto the roof of the mill from one of the overhanging branches. One . Two . Like softballs . . . with feet. My ears perked. Whatever it or they were pushed between the splintering shingles and scrambled into the building. Gem crept toward the door. He’d heard it, too.
    “Stay here,” I muttered.
    “Like hell,” Taran shot back.
    Gemini’s tail batted against my stomach as I followed him back into the dust-filled and moldy building. The nauseating stench returned, this time with greater potency. We passed into the first large room, the one with the broken office furniture. I froze. Something scurried across the second floor. Just above where we stood. It scratched the battered wood with sharp little nails as it scampered from one side to the other.
    “A squirrel?” Emme asked hopefully.
    I really wanted it to be a squirrel. But squirrels didn’t move as fast as this thing did. Nor did they hiss. Gemini tore pass me and up the stairs. Garbled screeches followed angry snarls. Dust and pieces of mold pelted us as Gemini’s powerful paws pounded the ceiling above. He’d found one of the demon children.
    So then, what the hell was Aric hunting . . . and where was the other twin?
    A dark blur the size of my shoe scuttled like a crab above our heads. Then to the right. And then quickly down the wall and behind the armchair in the corner. I couldn’t make