Cursed by Destiny (WG 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment. “Good night, Misha.”
    I abandoned the kitchen and hurried out the back door and onto the terrace, hugging my body tightly when I felt the first sting of the bitter night. Misha usually accompanied me or had someone escort me to the guesthouse. He didn’t tonight and in a way I preferred it. My mind tried to make sense of his actions and the sudden change in his mood. The more I analyzed the situation, the more I decided I was better off not knowing.
    My sneakers crunched against the thickening snow in the garden, but the sudden alertness of my tigress slowed my steps. She veered right and left, searching for a way out of me and thrilled by the sudden aroma breaking its way through the flurries. I lifted my head to the sweeping sugar pine to my right, my lips parting at the sight of the dark figure crouching on the branches. He leapt and landed with the controlled grace of a predator, watching me as he rose.
    Aric.
    “You caught me,” he said quietly. I nodded, my breath lodged deep in my lungs. “I know I shouldn’t have come. But I needed to be sure you were safe.”
    Five vampires emerged from behind the trees, their sharp hisses forcing Aric’s deep voice to morph into a challenging growl. They circled us, their vicious gazes fixed on Aric. “Try it,” he rumbled.
    I stepped away from Aric and faced the lead vamp. “Go back to your posts.”
    “The dog doesn’t belong on our master’s land, Celia,” he hissed, his incisors lengthening.
    “He does as my guest.” My voice remained calm. My protruding claws revealed I’d skewer hearts like chicken if anyone laid a fang on my wolf.
    The vampires advanced. “Move, Celia—”
    “I’m not asking!” I snapped. “I’m ordering you to go back to your damn posts!” Misha had bequeathed me the title of Mistress of the House of Aleksandr when I first moved in. For the most part, his family and I ignored the so-called promotion. I rarely pulled rank, but I did then. Slowly the vamps withdrew, easing back into their hiding spots with audible swears and grumbles.
    My breath released in a shudder only to catch when Aric’s heavy black leather jacket fell against my shoulders. The same jacket I’d given him on his birthday so long ago. I lowered my lids to beat back the raw emotions of our breakup. Months had passed from that awful night and still I hurt so much.
    Aric’s brown irises flared as he gathered the soft leather against my chest. “You’re cold,” he said.
    I backed away from him. “I—I don’t understand why you’re here.” He straightened, falling silent. Snow fell in thickening clumps, coating his dark brown hair and plastering the ends over his thick brows. I focused on the exhaustion creeping from his five o’clock shadow to the creases in his eyes. The silence and tension stretched between us. Eventually words found their way through my lips. “Come inside.”
    Aric followed me through the garden and into the guesthouse. The lights flickered on, illuminating the green granite counter and stainless steel appliances. I kicked off my soggy sneakers and tossed my socks into the empty hamper in the laundry room. Without looking at him, I draped his jacket over one of the wrought-iron barstools and flopped onto the chocolate suede couch in front of the gas fireplace. I focused on the flames, the same flames I’d flung Barbara’s wedding invitation into. Traces of the jab she’d sent via courier were no longer evident. But the insult and the slap to the face lived on. I tucked my bare legs beneath me, ignoring the throb to my injured knee, and waited while Aric kicked the snow from his heavy boots.
    He sat beside me, resting his forearms over his muscular thighs. The warmth from his body trumped the heat from the fire. “You shouldn’t be here, Aric,” I said quietly.
    Aric pushed his wet hair from his eyes, taking in my visage. “I don’t mean to upset you, Celia. It’s the last thing I want. But I needed to see for myself