The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cup, “I know it looks bad, but it wasn’t his fault. Honestly.”
    “ He hurt you.”
    I poured the coffee, still lacking the courage to meet her stare, “Something happened while you were gone. There was a problem with the new vampires. You were right about them.”
    She moved to my side and gently grasped one arm, “But what about Alex? What happened to him?”
    Finally, I raised my eyes to her face, “He was attacked, Nelly. It was horrible.”
    I explained everything to her as best as I could. Keeping a grip on my emotions while I talked about the battle and Alex was a monumental task, and several times I felt like I was about to bust out into tears. She listened to me patiently, rubbing my arm softly when I described how Michael insisted that it was my decision whether to save him.
    “ Oh, sweetie.” She wrapped her arms around me and gripped me tightly for a few moments before pulling back and searching my face again, “Don’t you blame yourself for this, you hear? It’s natural to want to keep those you love close to you. Even if it means they have to change in order to stay.”
    “ He told me he hated it when he was a vampire.”
    A sad little smile curved her lips, “Maybe he hated it because he felt alone. He has us now, doesn’t he?”
    I stared pensively at my coffee cup, contemplating what she said. She could be absolutely right. He didn’t have to live the same kind of life he had before. Things could be different for him now. However, would my mother want to take him back with her to California? After what had happened the night before, I could not imagine him leaving.
    “ There’s something else you should know.” I said slowly, “My mother is back.”
    Her face lost all hint of color. She went to the kitchen table and sat down, her head bent. Words of comfort might have been appropriate, but I could not think of anything that might reassure her. If I had enough courage, I could go out to the meadow and demand answers. I could look Selena in the face and ask the question that had been burning through me ever since I found out she was still alive. How could she leave her children?
    But I was a coward. I was afraid that the answer would hurt so much more than the question itself. What if there really was something so wrong with me that even my own mother could not put up with me? It was childish to jump to such a conclusion. However, the idea stuck and I had been carrying it around with me for weeks.
    “ I’m going out to feed the horses and clean stalls.” I mumbled, grabbing my jacket from the peg by the back door. I did not want to see Nelly’s face. I did not want to see pity there in her eyes, reflecting back at me like a beacon.
    Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in a rusty old lawn chair at the end of the barn aisle and sobbing with my face in my hands. Whether my mother was in Indiana or in California, the damage had been done. I felt like I did not know who I was anymore. Warm tears seeped through my fingers and ran down my hands and arms.
    Had my father honestly thought that I could handle all of this? Where would he get that impression? I remembered the letter that he had written and put inside the journal that had been passed down to me from my grandfather. He had wanted me to keep the vampire thing a secret from Katie, so that had to mean something.
    Though I still struggled inside, I jerked myself to my feet and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I could not let it break me. I just couldn’t. Dad had left me with something wonderful to take care of that had always been a part of my life. The Inn was not perfect. There were repairs that needed to be made. Renovations could be done to modernize the bathrooms, if I could find the money somehow to make it happen. Changes could be made to it that would make it an even greater experience for those guests who chose to stay with us. And I was needed personally to keep it running.
    Unfortunately, I was also the only one who could keep