Lifted Curse (Curse Trilogy) Read online

  Hale ignores me, and Clay returns to the room just as Brazen walks in with the full blood woman. I try not to show my fumes that have to be exuding from me like radioactive flares as I stare into the room.

  “So, you don’t seem to be too rattled by the human who was just in here. Is that because you don’t want to show us your weakness?” Brazen asks softly.

  Wrong. You don’t start off asking about a weakness, you figure it out then exploit it. Sheesh.

  She laughs at his attempt to interrogate her, and then she leans back while the cuffs strapping her down rattle.

  “I’m not affected by her blood, and you don’t have to be either if you want to swap to the winning side,” she taunts, and then her laughter continues.

  “I don’t suppose you could tell me where to find your side. I might be interested in a swap.”

  Pathetic. Too eager to give in.

  “Is he wearing an earpiece?” I grumble.

  “He should be,” Clay answers, and my eyes barely glance at Hale who is avoiding all contact with me.

  I pull up the microphone to say, “Ask her simple questions. You need to be using foreplay instead of going in for the kill.”

  I see him reach up and pull the earpiece out before putting it in his pocket. Apparently he doesn’t want my advice - or my voice inside his head.

  Her laughter only continues, and she refuses to look at him anymore. I roll my eyes when he undoes his shirt to try and seduce her.

  “I’m sure we could work out an arrangement where you and I got to work together,” he smolders out.

  She bursts out laughing, and I have to stifle my own grin as he scoops up his wounded ego and barges out of the room. He rejoins us, and his eyes refuse to meet mine.

  “I told you… foreplay,” I scold, though it wouldn’t do him any good. “Can I try my hand now?” I ask to Clay.

  “Yeah, just-”

  “Actually, I’ve got this. Maybe her taste in men strays to hybrids,” Hale says in interruption, and Clay tilts his head curiously as Hale flings the door open and charges into room holding the woman he’s not going to crack.

  Fine. Humiliate yourself as well.

  “You two are just making it harder for me to interrogate her. I’ll have to clean up this mess before I can even start,” I say to where I know he can hear me through the glass.

  Our hybrid hearing offers us that edge over the full bloods, but he just ignores me. At least he can’t force me out of his ear. Brazen rolls his eyes and refuses to make any eye contact with me at all just as Hale had.

  Bitches.

  “We’ve got you for blood running right now. You were caught in possession of unfiltered, undiluted blood with the origins of a dead host. It’s a rather vicious offense, but I might be able to persuade the commander to show leniency if you give me something worth while,” Hale says too formally.

  “Not going to happen. She hates the United - per the tattoo on her damn arm with the United crest marked through with an X,” I say to the hybrid scowling on the other side of the glass.

  “I really don’t give a fuck about your commander.”

  “Told you,” I retort, and Hale cracks his neck from side to side to show his agitation for me and her.

  “I don’t think you understand what I can do. I’m gifted,” he gloats while pulling his shirt off to reveal his tattoo as proof of his abilities.

  So stupid.

  “So?” she laughs out.

  “So, this can be divine, or it can be hell in which you pray for divine intervention.”

  Her eyes narrow as she leans over, and she pulls up her shirt to reveal several scars which should have healed with blood.

  “This is from a gifted hybrid too. I was on the wrong end of a hybrid who went savage a while back. I didn’t know what it was at the time, and needless to say, it wasn’t too pretty when they got finished. Do your fucking worst,” she dares.

  “That was a strong hybrid to leave behind scars. It’s almost unheard of,” I interject.

  “Did the hybrid you saw look anything like me?” Hale muses.

  “No, she was much prettier,” she chuckles out, and Hale rolls his eyes.

  “You act as though you have no interest in any part of my body, but I can assure you there isn’t a part I don’t know how to use,” he seduces, and I swallow hard.

  I would fold right now.

  “I have no interest in getting fucked by you or the full blood you sent in here first,” she boldly rejects, and Hale growls as he jerks the door open.

  “She’s pointless,” he gripes the moment he walks back in.

  “I’ll prove you wrong on that theory,” I murmur while standing up and pulling out my bag.

  “Araya, you’re good, but if she didn’t crack under Hale and me, she’s probably not going to crack under you,” Brazen scoffs.

  “I’m not good, Brazen, I’m the best. The best in the whole damn network, and it’s that way for a reason.”

  “So what did you see that we missed?” Hale grumbles.

  “I can’t believe I ever thought the two of you knew the first damn thing about women,” I retort, and then I pull out a small black miniskirt.

  Their eyes widen as I climb out of my pants, and I roll my eyes at their juvenile behavior despite their anger. Clay whips around quickly to refocus his attention on our chained suspect.

  “Really? It’s not like everyone here hasn’t seen me in less,” I scold.

  Brazen’s eyes immediately cut to Clay, and he holds his hands up innocently as he stammers, “Only by accident… every time. She has no modesty.”

  Brazen and Hale both stifle a grin, and I can see their anger starting to melt now. I slip into the black leather skirt, and then I pull on a purple shirt that hangs off one shoulder. The digital pad for fingerprints is sitting beside the door, and I collect it along with the mouth swabs. I fluff my hair a little before walking out of the room and joining the full blood.

  “Why did she change into that?” I hear Brazen grumble.

  “To show us who is still in control,” Hale gripes, but he’s so very wrong.

  I smirk as I walk into the room holding the supplies, and I fake a stumble as I drop everything to the ground.

  “Damn it,” I gripe while bending over to pick it all up, and I can feel her eyes burning against me.

  “I’d help you, but I’m a little restrained,” she says softly, and I look up to let my hybrid blues catch her pale eyes.

  “I’m sure you wouldn’t really want to help me anyway,” I murmur with an unworthy pout.

  “I’m not like that. I actually happen to find hybrids incredibly interesting and sexy.”

  “I can’t tell,” Hale scoffs from the other side.

  Idiot.

  “Oh,” I giggle out with a flirty air. “I’m sorry, but I have to fingerprint you if that’s okay.”

  I stand up and clumsily scatter the objects around as I act like a youthful hybrid -one nervous around a pretty full blood girl.

  “You don’t have to be so nervous. I can’t bite you,” she seduces, and I smirk as I bat my lashes at her.

  I lean over to take her hand in mine so I can start the fingerprint impressions, and her breath hitches as her body goes rigid.

  “Am I hurting you?” I ask with coy innocence while pressing her finger onto the pad.

  “No,” she exhales while swallowing hard. “You’re just very, very sexy.”

  “Oh,” Hale and Brazen both rattle out with exaggerated drama when they finally realize what I was trying to tell them.

  “Thank you,” I giggle out like a foolish girl. “You’re very pretty,” I giddily chirp while pressing her other finger to the pad.

  “So… do you like those baboons who came in here with me earlier?” she asks leadingly.

  “Why do you ask that?” I murmur while intentionally pressing my breasts against her as I fingerprint her other hand.

  “I was just curious. They seem like the type to go af
ter a pretty girl like you,” she smolders out.

  I hear the uncomfortable shifting behind the glass, and I smile at her.

  “I’m just the lab support girl. They’re both captains. Besides, even if they were interested, I wouldn’t be. I have a… different sort of preference,” I lie.

  “Oh?” she asks with a hint of excitement. “Do you like being a lab girl?” she asks while trying to show interest in something other than my sexual preference.

  “I would like to work my way up to interrogation, but it’s a long road. I’m still new to all of this, and the men around here run the place. There’s not a whole lot of room for a woman in this business, so I’m stuck doing fingerprints, swabs, blood samples, and stuff like that.”

  “What would it take to help you move up the ladder?”

  “I don’t know really. I’m only allowed to interrogate the lesser threats they don’t feel like would be worth their time,” I murmur like a trembling girl.

  I love acting.

  “The boys were trying to seduce me, but they didn’t know they’re not my style. Is anyone still watching us?”

  She’s folding.

  “No. They huffed and puffed away when you didn’t fall for their charm. Can I tell you a secret?”

  Her grin spreads salaciously, and she leans back as she says, “Yes. I love secrets.”

  “I really enjoyed watching you rebuff their attempts to seduce you. It was amazing,” I interject. “They wouldn’t even let me try. They told me to get your prints and book you for the blood running charges.”

  She smirks more as her light eyes try to seduce me. Her blond hair, red lips, and perfect figure all work to lure me in, and I play the part of the blushing, shy hybrid to make her think it’s working as I smile bashfully and lower my eyes.

  “Do you seduce people in your interrogations?” she leads.

  “Yes, but I’m not very good at it,” I innocently insert.

  I can hear all three men burst out laughing in unison behind the glass. I want to give them the finger, but I hold my composure to keep from breaking character.

  “I bet you’re better than you give yourself credit for. I wouldn’t mind you testing your skills on me,” she adds.

  “I couldn’t. You’re big game, and they’d never allow it. Besides, if you were too good to fall for their tricks, you really wouldn’t fall for my intermediate skill set.”

  She smirks deviously, and then she leans toward me.

  “Just try. It couldn’t hurt to try, and if I gave you something, you’d make those men look like absolute fools.”

  Gotcha bitch.

  “That would be so awesome,” I gush. “But I don’t know.”

  “Come. Seduce me and show me your best magic.”

  You couldn’t handle my best, girl.

  I love making someone beg me to interrogate them. It’s almost exhilarating. Especially since I can rub it in Brazen and Hale’s faces when I’m done.

  “Okay, but don’t laugh,” I murmur as though I’m embarrassed, and I can see the excitement sparking in her eyes.

  Time to play.

  I sit on top of the table, and I slide to where I’m almost straddling her but just not as I start my act of shy interrogation.

  “So the hybrid who scarred you up, were you involved with her?” I ask softly.

  She smiles a little, and then she leans back.

  “You have to ask me in a way I can’t refuse to answer,” she seduces, and I smile while tucking my hair behind my ears.

  I slip onto her lap, and I hear the grumbles from behind the glass as my lips scrape over her neck.

  “Did she do stuff like this?” I muse while my tongue plays across the skin which has been moisturized by something fruity, and her breath hitches.

  “She did,” she breathes.

  “And this?” I ask while letting my teeth graze over her collarbone.

  “Yes,” she exhales through restraint, and her hands rattle the chains as her body squirms beneath me.

  “Did she introduce you to the blood running crew?” I sizzle out as I lean back to pull my shirt over my head, and her eyes almost pop out when they fall on my body.

  More uncomfortable shifts and labored breaths rattle out from behind the glass as the boys watch the girl-on-girl show.

  “She did,” she freely offers.

  “Where was that blood from?” I ask while pressing my breasts against her, my lacy bra pressing against the thin material of her shirt, and letting my lips almost touch hers.

  “I picked it up at a deserted compound east of the red river. It used to be called Cheyenne,” she says without any knowledge of the meaning of that word.

  Her eyes are shut as she basks in my touch, so she doesn’t see me cringe for the tortured dish of memories served in that word. I pull my bra off before tossing it to the ground, and she squirms all the more as I open her shirt to let her feel me - soft skin on soft skin - as my lips almost touch hers once again. My lower lip finally grazes the part between her velvety lips, and she breathes even harder before making the cuffs restraining her rattle louder.

  “And who did you see there?” I continue.

  “A man. They called him the blood dealer. He was hybrid, strong but ungifted - a non-ager though. They’re meeting at the Callan bar in the western region in three days for another drop,” she releases, and I smile as my hypnotic, spellbinding game comes to an end.

  “Thanks,” I chirp while hopping up from her lap and scooping up my clothes.

  “Wait. Where are you going?” she prompts with needy demeanor as she jerks forward.

  “To strategize. By the way, I’m Araya Crush, lead interrogator for the United.”

  Realization comes to her in comical form. She grins and shakes her head while laughing, and I flash her a smile before giving her a wink.

  “For the help you provided, they’ll show leniency in your sentencing. I’ll see to it,” I murmur softly, and her she nods with her smile still intact.

  “Thank you, Araya Crush. This has been a very… humbling, but an incredibly exciting experience. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever enjoyed being interrogated.”

  I slip my shirt back on, and then I nod to her before walking out of one box and into another to join the boys with gaping, dry mouths. I swear there are traces of fog on the glass behind them.

  Perverts.

  “I’m assuming you got all that?” I ask suspiciously at the boys who seem to be more turned on than tuned in.

  “Yeah, Callan bar. I’ll send a team,” Clay strains out, and he walks out of the room a little stiff legged.

  “I’ll… go help him,” Hale murmurs as he desperately tries to avoid eye contact with me.

  “Me too, and I’ll send some men out to the Cheyenne compound,” Brazen adds.

  Men. What babies.

  “Good job, Araya,” I scoff to myself as the unappreciative men disappear from the room.

  “Yeah,” they all call back in unison, and I just roll my eyes.

  There’s nothing left of the Cheyenne compound. I know that for a fact, so they either rebuilt it, or they’re using the underground portions. Either way, it’s someone who knows Cheyenne because those tunnels are elaborate, tricky, and hard to navigate. They would have to be someone who was either an official, or someone tortured the way I was. They would have had to restore power to that hell in order for the heavy doors under the ground to open for them. Who would go to such lengths and choose such a place?

  Four days since my big break in the interrogation room, and still no one has even mentioned the plan of action to me. I do all the work, and they take on the easy part without including me just because they’re pissed.

  Brazen is standing outside of the lab with Clay, and I walk up close enough to hear the discussion at hand while staying out of sight around the corner.

  “So you think you could have it done sooner?” Brazen asks.

  “I’m sure I can. Maybe six months or less at the
pace I’m on. Then you won’t have to keep your miracle a secret anymore.”

  “That would be incredible. I still don’t want anyone knowing it came from her though. Some might do it just to taste a hybrid,” Brazen says in a whisper almost too soft to be heard.

  “I’d never risk her safety, so I can assure you it’s of no concern. The four of us, along with Angelica, Nicholas, and Grayson are the only ones who know. I still need her to sit down and speak with Nicholas. We need to know what happened to make Araya so special. The identity of her mother could be the secret because I’ve tested Angelica’s blood, and it’s nothing like Araya’s. In fact, there’s nothing any different about Angelica at all.”

  “Have you checked Araya’s life span?” Brazen interjects, and I scowl the moment I hear the question Clay had better say no to.

  “I haven’t. Araya has always adamantly opposed such testing, but I wish she would let me. I was born around the same time, and I’ve still got three hundred years left on my span.”

  Brazen sighs out loudly, and then he shakes his head. “Three hundred years isn’t enough time for someone like me. I don’t want to be around after she’s gone. I wish she’d do the damn tests.”

  “She’s not going to, but I’ll try talking to her. I want her to know as well. Are you still avoiding her?”

  “For now. I’ll speak to her eventually though. I love her too damn much not to,” Brazen grumbles, and I feel my heart breaking.

  “I need to go see if Hale has called,” Clay murmurs while patting Brazen on the back, and then I see my full blood skulking in the opposite direction.

  Hale is gone? Thanks for telling me.

  “Where is Hale?” I ask as soon as Clay rounds the corner, and he almost trips all over himself to avoid plowing into me.

  “Damn it. You have to stop doing that to me,” he exasperates.

  “Why? You don’t like me listening in on conversations being had about me?” I snark, and he narrows his eyes.

  “Brazen is just concerned, as am I.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to know my span, and I don’t want you or Brazen knowing either. Now where is Hale? He was supposed to speak to Wendy about procuring me another room so I don’t have to keep staying with you because I sure as hell am not staying with Ty. His phone is turned off, and he didn’t come to the door. I assumed it was because he’s still pissed at me.”