Clarity (28 page)

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.

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
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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.