Cursed to the Bone

60. Dangerous Curiosity

Dripping wet, and standing in Lucien's bathroom, there was a part of me that thought I'd be better off feeling nothing at all. At first, I stared at the ground in disbelief and betrayal. That was short-lived. Anger swooped in next. Waves of crushing anger had me breathing hard and shaking in my clothes. I clenched my jaw and met Lucien's stare.

"It's her."

Lucien bowed his head. "Where is she?"

"We were at the lake."

"Do not leave this room."

"But—"

"Vera!" Lucien took my shoulders. "Now that she has no need to hide herself, killing you is easy. You will stay here."

I sagged in resignation. "Fine."

With one last stern look, Lucien vanished in a swirl of magic.

The last thing I wanted to do was stay put. I'd much rather be with him than on my own. Surely, that made more sense than sitting on my hands and waiting for Blake to find me. It wouldn't be hard for her. She could illusion herself and I'd never know where she was until I felt the dagger twisting in my back. I did hate to sit around like a victim waiting to happen.

After a few calming breaths that did nothing to help, I set his clothes down and paced alongside the tub like a bag of nerves. Then I got to thinking. What if she wanted Lucien dead, too? No. He could handle it easily. I would only get in the way and die if I went after her. Can't have that. Lucien would bring me back and kill me himself. But I'd never really understand her intentions if I stayed put.

Curiosity prevailed. Determined, I ran out the door on bare feet, cursing myself for taking off my shoes. My feet were going to blister, for sure, and it didn't help any that I was already feeling sluggish and cold. Hopefully it wouldn't be a problem. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I needed to confront her. It was important.

I was already winded by the time I got to the quad. It was a long run, after all. When my name echoed off the buildings around me, I stopped for an opportunity to breathe and squinted at the shape running in my direction. It was Rayna Suarez. Ugh. Not now. I turned to carry on.

"Hey, wait a minute! You look terrible. What's going on?" She grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. "Why are you barefoot and—you're soaking wet!"

"Danger." Panting, I wrenched my arm free. "Stay away. I have to go." As I barreled up the staircase leading to the dorms, Rayna didn't follow.

Waving the dorm room unlocked, and wondering what the hell I was even doing there, I came face-to-face with a pacing Naomi. Shit. I stilled, holding the door, and let loose a long breath before stepping inside. "Hey."

Gasping, Naomi rushed forward. "Vee! What's going on? Lacroix came and chased Blake out of the dorm!"

"It's her," I said, spotting my shoes on the floor. Thank goodness. Moving past her, I yanked them on one at a time, ignoring the burns on the bottom of my feet. "She's Lauvet's daughter."

"What?" Naomi stumbled back, shaking her head. "That's not right. It can't be."

I started down the hall toward Blake's room and pushed the door open. I'd never been inside it before. It didn't look like the lair of a psychopath. There was an ice-chest along one wall and a desk, too. The closet was shut but it probably looked just like ours.

"It was Blake's idea to go to the haunted house that night, right?" I asked, glancing at Naomi.

"I . . . yes."

Taking a deep breath, I approached the bed where a journal lay and swept it up. A little awkwardly with gloves on, I skimmed past the normal entries until I found a page scratched to hell. The word die was scribbled over and over with deep gouges that tore into the pages that followed. My heart sunk. That must have been the night I married Lacroix. From then on, it was page after page of sick wishes with creepy ideas on how to kill me.