But with Brennan… I certainly had no intentions of stealing his soul, yet his aura had appeared with just my touch. He was young and vibrant and alive and I wanted him. I wanted him like I had never wanted anything else in my life. My need for him had filled me up, distracted me, overwhelmed me. I had never felt a connection like that before.
It was startling.
Amazing.
Terrifying.
Because it was incredible. Emotion had flooded my body, pulsing through my heart… waking it from an ever-long slumber. And because of that, I could never see him again. My curse made me dangerous.
I killed everyone that loved me.
Chapter Two
The icy waves crashed against the shore of Lake Michigan, then receded back into the lake only to rear their liquid heads to crash again. The silvery light of the moon shone onto the surface, refracting against the rippling sheen like shattered black glass.
I sat on the top of a nearby bluff, inhaling the crisp night air and allowing it to rustle my hair from my shoulders, raising goose bumps along my bare arms. I always felt the best at night because the moon energized me. I literally felt stronger as the moonbeams caressed my skin.
There was a good reason for that. My mother, Hecate, was not only the goddess of witchcraft. She was also the goddess of the moon. Everything magical, dark or lunar-based fell within her realm. And by extension, my own.
“What are you doing out here?” a quiet voice asked from behind me. I sighed, knowing who it was before I even turned around. Ghosts fell within my mother’s realm, also. And because of that, I could see them. Turning, I gazed at my friend Gaia, who just so happened to be one.
“I’m soaking in moonbeams,” I answered. “What are you doing out here?”
Gaia’s brown hair was coiled at her neck and she was wearing an elaborate ancient Roman dress because that is when she last lived. Not being able to change her clothes for the past couple of thousand years truly vexed her but she refused to cross over to the Underworld. She was terrified of the unknown. She was proving herself invaluable to me now though, as I tried to outrun my father.
“I’m just checking on you,” she muttered as she perched on her heels next to me. “Why you like to sit out here in the sand, I’ll never know.”
“Why you hover above it like you’re trying not to get dirty, I’ll never know,” I answered. “You’re dead, you know.”
“That hadn’t escaped my attention,” she smiled. And I had to laugh.
Gaia was slightly snobbish and pretentious, but that was just a product of her upbringing. Her father had been a wealthy Patrician and she had been born with a silver spoon clutched in her hand. She really did mean well. She had been with me for a while now, ever since she realized that I could see her. She stayed because she enjoyed living vicariously through me. She also enjoyed changing with the times. She had roamed the earth for two-thousand years as a spirit and her attitude and speech had adjusted accordingly.
“You really should cross over,” I told her for the millionth time. “The Underworld isn’t a bad place. I’ve been there. I should know.”
“Really? If it isn’t so bad, then why did you run from it?” she asked with her delicate eyebrow raised. The moon bathed her face in silver light. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was a handsome girl with a lot of attitude. She was witty, funny and because of my present circumstances, she was my only friend.
“You know why,” I muttered. “For one, I’m not dead. I’m a demi-god. There’s a big difference. And two, my father, the evil soul-sucking, blood-drinker that he is, is trying to kill me so that he doesn’t have to go back. He can find me too easily in the Underworld.”
Gaia’s features twisted into a delicate scowl, as she sat with skinny hunched shoulders.
“I still don’t understand what exactly is going on. All these years and you’ve never really wanted to talk about it. Why did your father curse you?”
I stared at the water in front of me, watching as it peacefully ebbed and flowed, as I remembered my father’s treachery. Swallowing hard, I waved my hand and my memories appeared in front of us like a shimmering movie. Gaia’s eyes snapped as she leaned forward to watch.
I was with my mother that day and it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. I was standing outside of her sparkling crystal cave while she had been bustling about inside. My father, Mormo, had appeared quietly, his long black duster swirling around him like mist. His face was pale, his hair dark.
“Hi, father,” I greeted him uncertainly. It was unlike him to appear only to me. He had never shown much interest in me at all, he usually only visited my mother. I was an inconvenience to him.
“Hello, child,” he replied solemnly, his pale face expressionless. “I need your help with something. Would you help your father?”
I could remember even now the cold pit that had formed in my belly. I knew that something wasn’t right. But there was a magnetism there- he had drawn me to him and I couldn’t resist. It was the same effect that I now had on others. It was part of the wretched curse.
Against my better judgment, I had taken one shaking step toward him. And that was all it took. Mormo whisked me away to the Underworld where we stood in front of the three Fates and Hades himself.
“You willingly offer your daughter to me, to stay with me here in the Underworld, in exchange for your freedom?” Hades had asked him, his face slightly incredulous. With his back to a flickering fire, Hades appeared even more handsome than he actually was, which was an impossible feat. He was heart-wrenchingly attractive.
Mormo nodded. “I bring her here to exchange for my own life.”
The three Fates smiled in unison and I wanted to vomit. Even now, their treachery was unfathomable. They had willingly destroyed everyone.
“So be it,” Hades replied grimly. “You may go. With my words, your curse has been placed upon your daughter Empusa.”
Hades turned to me. “I’m sorry, Empusa. From this moment forward, you will carry your father’s curse. You must consume the souls of mortals in order to stay immortal. You will drink the blood of mortals in order to remain young.” He appraised me, his gaze almost kind. “I’m truly sorry, Empusa. Your father has a black soul. But I am sure that in time, you will find that you enjoy being here in the Underworld. I am not unpleasant and I am a good friend to have.”
He had turned and left the room while I crumbled to the floor. To this day, I could feel the coldness that my father’s betrayal had stamped into my heart. It had become a permanent fixture.
“And that’s what happened?” Gaia whispered softly, startling me back to the present.
I turned to find her face frozen in an expression of horror. I could understand that. You couldn’t fully comprehend the treachery of a father cursing his own child unless you had seen it for yourself.
“Yes,” I replied numbly. “That is what happened. My father exchanged my life for his own.”
“But your freedom was arranged…” Gaia trailed off.
“Yes, the goddess of peace did manage to arrange a deal to allow for my release, but I can’t go in front of Hades again. I don’t trust him.”
“But your mother set up a meeting,” Gaia argued. “All you have to do is show up.”
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Really? You think it is that easy? I should just trust Hades with my life—the god of the Underworld himself?”
She shrugged. “Your mother trusts the situation. I don’t see what the alternative is. Running like this forever?”
It was a valid point, I’d give her that. I honestly didn’t know what my end game plan was. I was too afraid to tell my mother where I was. I was afraid that she would immediately come to retrieve me and drag me into the Underworld to try and fix my situation. She had come to me in my dreams, but much to her agitation, I refused to give her my location. I trusted my mother with my life. But Hades… I did not trust him. I had seen enough of his actions in the Underworld to know that no one shou
ld ever trust him.
As I mused, I twisted the moonstone bracelet on my arm. My mother had given it to me the last time I had seen her. It was enchanted to alert me whenever my father was near. The moonstone was supposed to begin glowing. It was silent now, a pale, pearlish stone in the night. I never took it off. My life might someday depend on it.
“Something strange happened today,” I murmured. Gaia’s head snapped up.
“Oh? Such as?” She was always ready for a good story. Being dead bored her.
“I met someone.”
I thought she was going to break her neck as she scrambled to my side, her elegant gown dragging behind her.
“Do tell,” she purred as she scooted up next to me and tucked her legs beneath her. “What did he look like?”
“He was beautiful,” I sighed, staring absently over the water. “Honey-colored hair, hazel eyes, perfect body. Tall, athletic.”
She stared at me. “Could you be any more vague? How old is he?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe eighteen.”
“Robbing the cradle, then?” she asked with a grin.
“Age is just a number,” I replied glibly. “I look exactly his age. But it doesn’t matter. I can’t see him again. That’s the strange part. I touched him on accident and I felt so drawn to him that I could barely move. I almost couldn’t control myself. I wanted to inhale his soul.”
“So what did you do?” Gaia asked with interest, her ghostly eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
“I ran.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. What else could I have done?”
“Maybe you should have just taken his soul? Clearly, something was drawing you to him. Maybe you should have had a nice romantic moment and then sucked down his soul. Then you could have had a nice cigarette afterward and you wouldn’t be quite so bitchy now.”
“I don’t smoke,” I leveled a gaze at her. “And I’m not bitchy.”
“Debatable,” she declared. “But that’s just a detail. Why do you always try so hard to fight your nature? You’re supposed to drink souls. And I know that you drink blood in between. So, why do you fight it so much?”
“Because that’s not who I really am,” I snapped. “This is how my father has made me and I hate it. This is his curse to carry. I shouldn’t have to carry it for him.”
“And you wouldn’t have to,” Gaia answered calmly. “If you simply stood in front of Hades and asked him to reverse it.”
“Easy for you to say,” I grumbled. “You’re already dead. You don’t have to worry about someone killing you.”
She laughed, a tinkling sound in the dark. “Regardless. You wouldn’t have to drink blood or souls if you handed the curse back to Hades. Let your father deal with it.”
“If only I could.”
“This topic bores me,” Gaia announced. “Let’s get back to the mortal boy. You liked him?”
“Yes,” I whispered and I watched her eyes glitter with interest.
Gaia knew it was against my rules to like someone, although she never could understand why I imposed rules on myself. In her opinion, gods were above the rules and shouldn’t fret with them. But Brennan’s face haunted me even now…that vulnerable, sad look. And he was so handsome that it made my stomach flutter.
“By the gods,” Gaia murmured. “Our little Empusa is growing up.”
I scowled at her. “I’m over a thousand years old. I’m quite grown.”
“Didn’t you say that age is just a number?” she asked innocently.
“You’re awfully smart-mouthed for a ghost,” I told her snappily. “Just so you know.”
“Oh, I know,” she confirmed. “What is the boy’s name?”
“Brennan Delacorte.”
“Delacorte? Wasn’t that the name of the man who…”
I nodded. “Yes. I took Daniel’s soul. He was Brennan’s uncle.”
“Oh, the tangled webs we weave,” Gaia murmured. “It’s probably best that you not see Brennan again. He might not be very understanding about the fact that you killed his uncle.”
“Daniel was dying anyway!” I snapped.
Gaia knew I was sensitive about my situation, and she sometimes chose to rub it in just to annoy me. She had lost just a little of her mortal compassion since she had been dead for so long. Nothing bothered her anymore and she didn’t hesitate to tick me off. She kind of liked it, actually. It spiced up her day.
She grinned. “Oh, I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that you killed him prematurely!”
“Gaia, I swear to the gods—“ but she was gone.
I looked around, but the only thing that surrounded me now were the empty sand dunes, silvery white in the moonlight. I sighed. She loved doing that- getting me worked up and then disappearing.
I trailed my hand through the sand, letting the fine grains fall between my fingers. Watching the tiny pieces fall into a pile onto the ground soothed my mind and I allowed myself to calm. I wasn’t really sure why I was so worked up in the first place. Yes, it had been an odd incident. But I had been around for a very long time. In the scheme of things, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Right?
Then why was Brennan’s face imprinted into my mind as if someone had burned it there?
Shaking my head, I crawled to my feet and stared once more out at the water. Because water was an element of the moon, I drew strength from it, as well. I knew that my mother would be searching for me next to the water but she would look in the coastal regions. That is why I chose to be near the Great Lakes instead. The lakes were large enough that they gave off a significant amount of energy, but I was counting on the fact that it wouldn’t cross my mother’s mind to search here…at least for quite a while.
I did miss her like crazy, though.
Turning, I trudged down the worn path back to the beach, then crossed the soft sand to climb the weathered wooden steps to my little cottage. The tiny gray Cape Cod home was nestled in a little patch of trees on a bluff overlooking the lake. I had been incredibly lucky to happen upon its owner in a tiny shop in town and had overheard him saying that he was going to be in Europe for a year and wanted to rent it out, fully furnished. I had jumped on that the second that I heard it. Like all men, he was immediately drawn to me and within five minutes, we had a handshake.
Flipping on the light, I entered the living room and dropped into the chair by the glistening bay window. Every window on the back of the house faced the lake and moonlight poured into each one. But this one was my favorite. I could curl up in the comfortable chair and bask in the moonlight all night long, if I chose. And from this vantage point I could see the stairs leading up to my house. If anyone walked up them, I would know.
I settled into the fluffy leather cushions of the chair and leaned my cheek against my knees as I drew them up to my chest. I had taken a soul tonight, so my weariness was gone. Daniel’s soul would keep me thriving for a few weeks. But that wouldn’t stop my actual hunger. To do that, I would need blood. Holding out a hand, I examined it. My skin was getting paler, a clear indication that I needed to eat. My stomach had been empty for a while and it burned right now from the emptiness.
Damn it all to hell. Once again, I cursed my father. This was so unfair. I had never, in my entire life, done anything to deserve this. Putting my agitation aside, I ran through a stack of various scenarios. Where could I eat? It didn’t take long to figure out. It was 11:00 pm on a chilly October Friday. There would be teenagers building bonfires on the beaches. With a sigh, I uncurled myself from my chair.
Throwing open my closet, I pulled out a soft sweatshirt and warm cozy boots. If I had to go back outside, I was at least going to be warm. But for this mission, I needed to look sexy, too. Sighing again, I replaced the soft old sweatshirt with an off-the-shoulder gray sweater and skinny jeans. The boots, though… they could stay.
Pulling my hair out of the high ponytail that it was currently in, I ran a brush through the long dark len
gth. When I was finished, it hung in a glossy sheen that just touched the middle of my shoulder blades. I didn’t even look in the mirror. I knew what I would look like. My sweater would emphasize the fact that my eyes were gray, my shoulders were slender and my breasts were full. My skinny jeans would showcase my slender legs and hips. My complexion would be perfect, my lips soft and full.
Most women enjoyed being beautiful, but to me… well, I didn’t enjoy it as much. It was just one more tool in my arsenal. My beauty drew men to me for a purpose that I didn’t enjoy.
I slipped out the door and back down to the darkened beaches, quietly hunting for a bonfire like a hungry lioness. As my boots sunk in the soft sand, it didn’t take long to see the tell-tale orange glow of the first fire. The kids around here so loved beach parties. I was fortunate, I appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen- the perfect age to attend either high school or college parties, whichever the need might be.
As I sidled up to the sprawling get-together, I was conscious of the fact that I was arriving alone. The teenagers around me were clumped into noisy groups of two or more. But there had to be a loner here somewhere. There always was. I scanned the perimeter and focused in on a skinny boy standing alone, holding a cup of beer. Bingo.
I made a bee-line for him, sliding up to stand very close to his elbow. He looked at me in surprise and was immediately flustered, not quite able to make eye contact. It was apparent that he was an outsider. He wanted to be here at the party, but he didn’t have anyone to talk to. Until now.
“Hi,” I murmured softly, moving closer to him. He wasn’t ugly, but he wasn’t handsome, either. He had light brown hair, blue eyes and pale skin. Math geek, I thought. He clearly didn’t go out in the sun much.
“Hi,” he stammered, his cheeks flushing crimson. He was definitely awkward around females.
“I’m new here,” I continued, getting as close as I could to him without touching him. The wind picked up and I could smell my own perfume on the breeze, soft and feminine. He inhaled it, closing his eyes for a second. My nearness was already affecting him.
“You smell nice,” he replied, re-opening his eyes. “Where did you