A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) by Cecy Robson Page A

much for lunch.
    Shayna pulled the car over. “Oh, Celia! I totally forgot about your concussion. I’m so sorry.”
    I slumped over the door. “Maybe I should just head back to Misha’s.”
    “No, we finally got you out.” She threw her palms out in surrender. “I’ll tell you what, Emme can drive.”
    At that moment, Emme wasn’t driving anywhere. She crawled out of our SUV on her hands and knees and puked into some poor dwindling bush. Shayna’s driving had that effect on people. Shayna yanked old napkins out of the glove compartment and rushed to her side. I stepped out just to breathe in the cool dusky air. Ice cream with Shayna was clearly a bad idea.

    Shayna handed Emme the wrinkled bunch of napkins when her Star Wars ringtone blasted from her back pocket. She reached for her cellphone. “Hello?”
    “Shayna, it’s Aric.”
    My head whipped in her direction. Oh, crap.
    “Koda said you went to see Celia.”
    Shayna glanced at me. “Yes. I’m with her now.”
    My nerves were already shot from the car ride, but when Aric didn’t speak right away I knew he was going to ask for me.
    “I’m not trying to put you in the middle, but I need to talk to her. Please put her on.”
    Shayna walked toward me with the phone outstretched in her hand. She slowed to stop at my glare. “Celia, please talk to him,” she pleaded. “He’s already been hurt enough. Don’t add to his pain.”
    Nothing she could have said would have felt more like a betrayal. I stormed down the main road leading back to Misha’s estate. Shayna bolted after me. “Celia, you don’t know what he’s going through. He and Koda are a mess—”
    I whirled around and screamed at her through my protruding fangs. “Damnit, then why aren’t you with him? Go to your husband and leave me the hell alone!”
    She dropped her hands to her sides. “I want to help you.”

    “You can’t, Shayna. Go home. There’s nothing you can do for me.”
    Shayna grabbed my arm when I turned to leave. Big mistake. I wrenched my arm and flung her across the asphalt on her back. Emme shrieked. Initially Shayna just lay there stunned. But when she stumbled to her feet, tears streamed down her pixie face. “What’s wrong with you, Celia?”
    What was wrong with me? If Koda hadn’t transferred his healing abilities and some of his werewolf strength to Shayna, I could have killed her. I changed, guilt-ridden that I’d hurt my kind and perky sister. My paws dug into the ground and launched me into a rapid sprint. I ignored my sisters’ pleas to stop and raced forward, back to the land of the undead.
    At the speed my tigress propelled us, it didn’t take long to return to Misha’s estate. The vamps at the gate immediately let me in. Normally I would have jumped the whole thing, but I was going too fast and lacked the focus I needed to land safely. I couldn’t risk harming my baby. I needed to keep my little one safe, no matter what.
    I threw some clothes on in the guesthouse and crawled back into bed, suddenly weary with exhaustion. I awoke a while later to the aroma of one of my favorite things, Bren.
    Danny had introduced us to Bren years ago when my sisters and I were still new to Tahoe. I didn’t like him at first, but it didn’t take him long to charm his way into my heart and become one of my best friends. He snuggled against me, spooning. “Celia, we’ve been in bed together so many times, when will you come to your senses and bang me?”
    My life sucked, my heart was breaking off in chunks, and the lives of those I loved hung by my fingertips, and yet as always, Bren made me laugh. He turned me around and greeted me with his good-humored face and bright blue eyes.

    I stroked his soft beard. “What are you doing here?”
    “Everyone thinks you’re losing it and they sent me here to gauge your loony meter.” He shrugged. “You look fine to me.” His eyes wandered down my body. “Hmmm, actually you look pretty damn fine. How about a