Cursed: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the shower. I found the toothbrush right where she said it would be. It was one of those free sample ones the dentist gives you for being a good boy.
    I’m not sure if I can properly explain how good it felt to brush my teeth. My mouth had tasted like an ashtray mixed with heaping tablespoons of vomit and blood. Now it didn’t. Ecstatic didn’t even come close.
    I opened the door, intent on snatching the clothing she’d left by the door, but as I opened it, she saw me with only a towel wrapped around my waist. The mug in her hand slipped from her grip, crashing to the floor and spilling dark, steaming liquid across the carpet as horror filled her face.
    “Get out of my house right now!” she screamed, pointing at my right arm and backing away. I had half a moment to look at myself in confusion because I wasn’t sure why she was so upset. Then I saw my arm and everything sank into place.
    I held up my hands in a “whoa, there” gesture. “Look, let me explain,” I said even though I had no idea how I was going to do that.
    “I don’t want to hear your lies!” Her hand went to the drawer next to her as she jerked out a revolver big enough to leave a tennis ball sized exit wound in my body. “Get out right now and don’t come back, Cursed!”
     

Chapter 5
    “Look, just let me get dressed and I’ll leave,” I said, hoping against hope she wouldn’t just shoot me where I stood. Still, it was a little weird, right? Her just pointing a gun at me and calling me cursed. The way she said the word made it seem more like a description for a demon or monster and less like I’d had a curse put on me, but what the hell was a cursed? Clearly she knew about me, which I supposed was good even if it did have her pointing a gun at me. All I needed to do was get her to help me a little more.
    “Don’t make me regret helping you,” she snapped, glaring at me with something dark and menacing in her eyes. That look told me in no uncertain terms that she’d shoot me if I so much as blinked the wrong way. “But since you are one of the Cursed, I’m pretty sure that’s impossible!”
    “I won’t make you regret it. I promise.” I slowly knelt down and picked up the clothing at my feet, but as I moved to head back into the bathroom, she stopped me with a wave of the gun.
    “No, dress where I can see you,” she said both her gun and gaze unwavering.
    I was about to argue, but decided against it. What good would it do? She was right to be cautious after all. I did have the Beretta in my trench coat, and while I didn’t want to shoot her, I would if it kept me from getting shot.
    “Okay,” I said, dropping the towel to the ground and standing there in my scar-riddled birthday suit.
    A blush filled her cheeks, and for a split second she looked away before realizing what she was doing. I must have unconsciously taken a step toward her in that time because when she looked back at me, a snarl was on her lips. “Step back to where you were. I will shoot you if you move so much as an inch toward me.”
    “Well, this is officially the least fun time I’ve ever had being naked next to a beautiful woman,” I replied, trying my best to lighten the mood. It didn’t seem to work so I busied myself examining what she’d given me to wear. A white button up, tan pants, a pair of smiley face boxers, and dark gray socks with little black kittens stitched onto the cuff. The socks made me smile until I remembered they came from her ex. Still, it wasn’t like I had a lot of choice. It was either wear these clothes or go back to my smelly, blood-spattered Walmart uniform. I put it on. It fit surprisingly well.
    “Great, you’re dressed. Get out!” She gestured toward the door with one hand while being careful to keep the gun lined up on the center of my chest.
    “Can I ask you something?” I said, dropping my hands to my sides in an attempt to appear less threatening. It was hard since you could still make out the black skin