Yes.
“What do they mean? Why am I having them?”
The cup moved faster, so fast I could barely keep up.
Cursed. Broken. Freedom.
“How? How do I break it?”
Fulfill curse. Take destiny. Free me.
Amelia nodded.
“What does that mean?” I hissed at her.
“I think I know,” she said hesitantly.
The cup moved rapidly, sliding across the board without slowing.
Seventh daughter of seventh daughter.
Amelia stared hard at the board.
Broke the line.
The windows rattled in their frames.
Change.
“I get it,” she said. “It’s like the dream. I have to accept the path. If I say yes, then it’s done? It’s over?”
Yes.
“I’ll do it. I say yes.”
“Amelia, what the hell is going on?”
The candles all blew out. The windows opened, then slammed themselves shut. I pulled my hands away from the cup and inched from the table. “Amelia?”
A swirling white breeze resembling a miniature whirlwind spun into the room and enveloped Amelia. She spread her arms, a strange look on her face, and inhaled the whirlwind. It dove inside her, turning her eyeballs white. The force of the wind lifted her into the air.
Before I could get to her, she was thrown to the floor. “Amelia?”
I checked her pulse.
Nothing.
Then she gasped. Her eyes were closed and her breathing heavy. That pasty, pale look had worsened, and the heat of her skin scared me. I didn’t know what to do, but I guessed her ailment was supernatural. Her body jerked nastily. I imagined I could hear her bones cracking and breaking inside her.
I seized the cup again. “What’s happening to her?”
Run.
All of the dogs whined in unison. I couldn’t help Amelia. I didn’t even know what was going on. So I ran for help.
I unlocked the door and sprinted from the house, following the path Nathan and the others had taken. I heard a shrill scream, but kept running, ignoring the sudden growling and howls of pain behind me. I didn’t look back.
“Help!”
Nathan took one look and ran toward me, leaving the rest of the werewolves behind. My stomach heaved, but I couldn’t think about that. I just knew Amelia’s family had to hurry. I heard the wolfhounds behind me, all of them whimpering.
To my surprise, Nathan skidded to a stop just before he reached me, his family following closely. The shock on their faces made me pause. I turned around slowly. A chocolate brown wolf ran from the house, straight for me, ferociously baring its fangs.
“Amelia?” I whispered, unable to believe it. Then, the rip came, an almighty tearing in my heart.
I glanced back at Nathan, saw the pain in his eyes, and knew. The curse. It was over.
All over.
I had never experienced pain like it before. My heart was torn in two. I could feel it. Every thread that connected Nathan and me snapped as though limbs were breaking. Every moment together had to be looked at through new eyes because nothing would ever be the same again.
The curse was over. The compulsion gone. The bond had disappeared.
My best friend was breathing down my neck, trying to tear out my throat.
And Nathan didn’t move to stop her.
Nathan
Perdita ran from the house, and I knew by her face that something had gone horribly wrong.
She screamed for help, but I stopped moving because I saw what was chasing her.
A dark brown wolf sprang through the open back door of the house. Amelia. My sister was a werewolf. My sister was chasing Perdita.
And just like that, a wrenching pain cut me from the real world. Everything grew pale and disjointed as I fell to my knees. I gazed at Perdita and caught her eye as she apparently experienced the same thing.
The curse was over. Nothing tied us together.
Done.
Epilogue
Ryan
The youngest one had turned, as they surely suspected she would, yet they all stood still in shock as she hunted down her first prey. Ryan expected the boy to do something, but Nathan just stopped moving and fell to his knees.
So Ryan ran instead.
He caught Perdy in his arms and whirled her out of the way as the uncontrollable werewolf attacked, barely missing them. Snarling, the wolf turned sloppily to attack again, and Ryan dropped Perdy to kick her in the face. Amelia whirled away, whimpering in pain, her eyes still wild, still thirsting for blood. One limping and bloody wolfhound attempted to protect Perdy, but it was obviously both confused and in severe pain.
“Calm her down!” Ryan shouted at Byron as Amelia scrambled to her feet again, the one loyal dog no match for her. “And watch out!” he added as a figure in the distance appeared from the undergrowth. “Shit,” he muttered. It was one of Vin’s, and it was seeing the female become a werewolf, which increased her value.
Byron phased and pounced, pinning Amelia before she could attack again.
Ryan lifted Perdita to her feet. She still stared at Nathan, seeming completely unaware of the danger.
“Snap out of it,” he warned.
She glanced at him in confusion. “I have to—”
“No,” he said, dragging her away by the arm. “You aren’t safe here. Not now. She tried to kill you, and he didn’t help you. Do you understand? Something’s happened with the curse. Maybe it’s broken; I don’t know. But I do know you have the chance to get away from this. To keep yourself safe. This is your chance to walk away. This is your chance to escape from this.”
He lifted her over his shoulder. “This is for your own good,” Ryan said, ignoring her struggles. “But think of him. Now he doesn’t have to worry about keeping you safe as well.” He led her down the street and away from the house, away from the ghost estate the Evans family lived in. “Nobody deserves to live with a curse.”
Tears stood in her eyes, glistening in the sunlight. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Whatever you were doing before you met him. You’re free. It’s all over. You and your family are safe now that you’re not connected to them any longer. Be grateful you got out before the curse took you down as well.”
With a shuddering sob, she turned to leave, her shoulders curved over in defeat. His heart pained for her, but a human didn’t belong around a baby werewolf. He knew that all too well. He watched her walk away, knowing he was another step on the road to getting his own daughters back to safety.
A broken heart was a better outcome than death.
He hoped he wouldn’t have to persuade the boy to walk away, too. He needed him.
###
Thank you for reading Clarity (Cursed #2)—for more information check out Claire Farrell’s blog or email the author. Sign up to be notified of new releases.
If you’re interested in Amelia’s side of the story, watch out for Adversity (Cursed #2.5)—a free novella—coming soon.
The final book in the series, Purity (Cursed #3), is due for release in early 2013.
Claire Farrell, Clarity
(Series: Cursed # 2)
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