Cursed in Love Read online

  “I thought you were supposed to be teaching me about this stupid book.”

  Odyn is out of his seat before I can protest, one hand on the back of my chair, the other on the table. He’s leaning over it, and I’m so consumed by him, I can barely breathe.

  “Being a necromancer has nothing to do with our own mortality, Mila. It’s an inherent form of magic that allows those born in the bloodline to communicate, and in extreme cases, lift the dead. In itself, it’s neither good nor evil. It’s the practitioner who defines the art by either adhering to a strict code of ethics or delving into a darker realm.”

  “What does that have to do with my mother?” I ask quietly.

  “It means she had no clue when she left the house what was about to happen. Necromancers can no more predict the future than we can stop it.”

  It isn’t until the hand that rested on the back of my chair brushes across my cheek that I feel the wetness trailing from my eyes. I haven’t cried about my mother since her funeral. What is it about this man that makes me so emotional?

  I let out a wobbly breath and pull away from his touch. “Then who are these Elders you spoke of at the restaurant, and what do they have to do with the case?”

  He shakes his head, his eyes darting toward the window as a chorus of sirens wail outside. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear all this, Mila.”

  “Goddammit, Odyn! I have sixteen confirmed dead bodies and another one I can’t mention because I can’t exactly tell my supervisor I almost hit the victim’s ghost with my car.” Leaping to my feet, I grab the soft material of his gray button-up shirt in my hands and pull him toward me. “Tell me who they are!”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  My fists tighten as my volume rises. “I have a responsibility to the citizens of this city. I swore an oath to protect them, and I can’t have any more death on my hands.”

  In one swift movement, he jerks my arm against his chest, his breathing so ragged I can feel each exhale against my cheek. I swallow hard, his unique woodsy scent scrambling my thoughts. Every detective’s instinct screams at me to pull away and get the hell out, but it’s the female instinct that absorbs his closeness and yields to his demands.

  “Yeah? Well, I have a responsibility to you, Mila!” he roars, only a breath between us. “I swore an oath to your mother to protect you, and I’ll be damned if I’ll have your death on my hands. Do you understand me? I won’t lose you too!”

  As the last words leave his lips, he slams them against mine, taking me by surprise and stripping away my last defense. There’s no gentle prelude to his kiss. It’s rough, insistent, and powerful. Gone is the Odyn who seemed intimidated by my barbs and insults, and in his place stands a man consumed by such fierce lust my knees buckle.

  Odyn’s strong arm wraps around my waist, holding me up as his tongue plunges deeply past my lips, dominating me and bending me to his will. I’m his to mold, his to taste, and his to take. My lungs scream for air, but I don’t care if I ever take another breath as long as he keeps kissing me.

  “Fuck,” he groans, turning us around until my ass hits the table. Instinctively, my legs part, and he steps in between them, his hand diving into my thick hair and winding the strands around his fingers. “Tell me to stop.”

  I should. The words are on the tip of my tongue. However, so is his tongue, and between the two, there’s no contest.

  “I can’t,” I murmur, running my hand up the hard plane of his chest. I’m rewarded with a guttural groan, and the hand resting on my hip slides up my rib cage toward my breast.

  Holy shit, this is a bad idea. Such a bad, bad idea.

  The minute his thumb circles my nipple, I break the kiss, throwing my head back and letting out a tortured whimper. Odyn’s muttering to himself, but I’m so far gone he could be casting some ancient voodoo curse on me for all I know.

  “God, I want you.” Settling deeper in between my legs, he lowers me against the table until I’m lying flat. His ridiculous Book of Shadows is jamming into my spine, but I don’t care. I could be draped across an active volcano right now and I wouldn’t care as long as he kept touching me.

  “Odyn,” I groan.

  He licks his full lips once before diving for my neck, sucking the delicate skin between his teeth as his hands wander down my body. “Lola.”

  It’s as if all the electricity in the room goes out, bathing everything in cold darkness. Both of us freeze, not sure what to say or do. His gray eyes fill with shock and apology, but I don’t want to hear him vocalize either.

  I’m mortified enough for the both of us.

  “Mila,” he says softly, pushing off me.

  “Don’t.” I hold up my hand, begging him not to make it any worse than it already is.

  The corners of his eyes turn down, telling me in no uncertain terms that his conscience isn’t going to let him off the hook with a sympathetic smile and nod. He’s going to try to explain calling out his dead lover’s name while feeling me up.

  Too bad Hallmark doesn’t make a card for that.

  Just as he pushes off me, one hand covering his forehead while the other balances on the table, I’m saved by the bell.

  Literally, I’m saved by the bell. The shrill ring of my phone echoes throughout the silent room, derailing his impending apology and saving my dignity. Avoiding his stare, I tilt my ass up and retrieve my phone from my pocket. “Moroz,” I answer as calmly as I can.

  “Judy LeClerq,” Nick announces proudly.

  Confused, I wrinkle my nose. “Huh?”

  “Number seventeen. You know, the spooky streetwalker you almost took out earlier? Her name is Judy LeClerq.”

  I can feel Odyn’s eyes on my back, but I don’t dare turn around. I need my focus on something other than what just happened. “Someone called in her murder.” I don’t pose it as a question because I know. She’s been found hours after I already knew of her death.

  “Yep,” Nick says, popping the “p” at the end. “Crazy enough, this one’s right here in the French Quarter. Not sure why it took so long to find.”

  His words are like a punch in the gut.

  The sirens.

  “Chartres?” I whisper.

  I can hear the stutter in Nick’s breath. “Yeah, how did you—”

  I shake my head, even though I know he can’t see it. Now I know why Odyn wanted to meet at his apartment.

  He fucking knew.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Chapter 9

  Odyn

  I don’t have time to say anything before Mila pushes by me and heads toward my front door. Her gaze is downcast, focused on the tiles rather than my face, and I know why.

  Well, two things . . . Me calling out Lola’s name, and secondly, the murder.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Mila questions. All the desire that hung heavily in the living room only moments ago is gone. It’s replaced by the cold reminder that I’m a fuck up. I can’t do anything right. I couldn’t save the woman I wanted to marry, and I couldn’t even kiss the woman who’s captured my attention.

  “I wanted you safe.”

  “Fuck that, Odyn!” Her voice is shrill, and I don’t blame her. I can’t deny my underhandedness has gone too far. She’s a detective. It’s her job. But I still lied to her so I could keep her from being attacked.

  At least, I didn’t know she would be, but the possibility was there, and I wasn’t taking a chance. Mila tugs my door open, and I grab my phone, keys, and wallet before following her out and shutting the door behind me.

  “No.” Mila stops dead in her tracks, causing me to stumble into her small frame, and we’re almost on the floor when my arm wraps around her waist, and my free hand finds the stair railing. We’re close, too fucking close, but I don’t want to let her go. “Let me go, Odyn. I don’t do well with lies or games, and I really don’t want to—”

  “Would you give me a fucking chance?” I bite out. My breath fans over her cheek, causing her to tremble
. Goosebumps rise over her bare shoulder, and I smile because I know she’s still attracted to me. “I want to start over.”

  “We already did that,” she responds, not giving me any leeway. I don’t blame her though. Calling out Lola’s name was wrong, but saving her life, that I’ll never apologize for.

  “I want you. I want you alive, safe, and warm. I want your body against mine and your lips molded to mine, but you’re my first in a long time, and I fucked up.” My voice is tight. The honesty I’m offering her now is more than I’ve ever given anyone. Over the years, I’ve been approached by clients, by women in the bars, but none of them held any fascination. None of them were Lola. But Mila, she’s different. And she’s someone I don’t want to lose. The thought comes to me unbidden, and I’m stilled by the realization.

  “Odyn, I can’t have someone lie to me, especially when it comes to my job.” Mila sags against me, and I’m torn between picking her up and taking her back to the goddamned table and making her see I want her, or allowing her to go do her job.

  “Let’s go to the crime scene, and then we’re going to spend the rest of the night learning about your bloodline. Also, I’m going to show you that I slipped up, and it will never happen again.”

  I release her, stepping back to allow her to turn to me.

  Those green orbs gaze up into my gray ones, and I see the pain in her eyes. She nods, once, but she doesn’t smile. There’s no hint of her forgiving me. She’s going to be hard work.

  We make our way down to the car, and I slip into the passenger seat as Mila takes the driver’s side. Without warning, she pulls out into the crazy traffic, causing an onslaught of honking before she turns on her siren.

  We’re gifted open passage to the condos where the death occurred. I wonder if the victim will come to Mila or me. She parks, and soon we walk up to the courtyard and into a crime scene. The place is swarming with cops, and the yellow tape brings back painful memories.

  A pain slices through my chest and into the back of my head. It feels as if a migraine is coming on, and I wonder just who’s trying to come through. We’re inside the brick walls of the courtyard when I notice that guy, Nick, sauntering up to Mila with a grin on his face.

  I hate him.

  But there’s something more. Earlier, I was taken aback by how familiar he was. Unsure why I would think so, I didn’t mention it to Mila, but the moment he shrugs off his jacket and hands it to one of the other officers, I notice his tattoo.

  Fuck.

  This is not good.

  I have to find a way to stop this asshole.

  Chapter 10

  Mila

  This crime scene is different.

  All the other dump sites have been pathetic alleyways, fields, and abandoned warehouses. I have no answer to the questions rolling around in my head about the quaint courtyard in front of me.

  It’s nice. It’s normal.

  It’s off.

  This is someone’s home, which doesn’t fit our suspect’s usual behavior. I glance around at the circular area of brick, taking in the concrete benches and greenery sitting in the middle of a three-sided, red terracotta building. A rickety white balcony runs the perimeter of all three sides, separating the first and second floors. It’s definitely old French Quarter architecture, but that’s not what catches my eye.

  It’s the fact that the medical examiner’s van is nowhere to be found.

  Everything about the crime scene looks suspiciously calm. There’s no charred gaping hole in the complex, no witnesses are being interviewed, and the crowd of curious onlookers is down to only two or three.

  Something’s wrong.

  Nick slaps a straggling officer on the back then catches my eye, making a beeline straight for me just as I duck under the caution tape. He reaches out for me, but I twist at the last moment, avoiding his hold. “Where’s the body?”

  He sighs then glances behind me, his tired eyes narrowing as they land on Odyn. “With Samantha.”

  That catches my attention. Why the hell would Samantha already have the body at her office? It usually takes us at least an hour to process a crime scene.

  “Why? You just called me twenty minutes ago.”

  “I texted you four times, Mila,” he grumbles, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and holding it in front of my face. “You didn’t respond.” His fingers twitch around the device as he glares over my shoulder. “Now I see why.”

  I drop my chin and take a moment to rein in my temper before I make a scene. Once the moment to kick him in the balls has passed, I nod at the phone in his hand. “Since when do you wait this long to call me about a case development?”

  He smirks. “Since when do you bring civilians to a crime scene?”

  “Odyn is. . .” I pause, choosing my words carefully. “He’s a consultant.”

  “Right.”

  “Are we really doing this right now?”

  A shadow crosses Nick’s face as we stand, locked in a standoff. Just when I think I’ve won, he digs his fingers into the sensitive skin above my elbow and pulls me away from the silver eyes I feel boring into my back. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but that guy you’re with looks familiar, so I did some checking up on him.”

  Shit. This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. It’s why I knew it was a bad idea for Odyn to come.

  “You’re suspicious of the people I have dinner with now?” I jab, attempting to deflect from where this conversation is headed.

  “Somebody has to,” he snaps, the hand still holding his phone gesturing wildly. “You sure as hell aren’t being cautious enough.” His heated eyes lock on mine. I know him well enough not to engage, so I clench my jaw and glare, jerking my arm out of his hold. That seems to knock him out of his testosterone-fueled rant, and he softens a bit. “He’s dangerous, Mila. The man was involved in a famous case that ended with the disappearance of a detective.”

  “I know.”

  All calmness he just found goes out the window. “What do you mean, you know?”

  I never intended to have this conversation here, but I know him too well. He won’t let this go. Stealing a glance over my shoulder, I find a fuming Odyn standing where I left him, his hands fisted by his side. He’s already pissed. The last thing I need is him overhearing any of this.

  I lean in, keeping my voice low. “I mean, I’m not as stupid as you seem to think I am, Nick. I did my homework long before you did.”

  A deep line forms between his eyebrows. “Are you fucking kidding me? You knew he was the last one to see Lola Chabert alive, and you still brought him here? Mila, what the hell has gotten into you?” He pauses then groans, shaking his head as if he’s cracked some code. “If this is to make me jealous . . .”

  “Oh my God, will you get over yourself?” I hiss. “If you read the file, you already know the reason Odyn was on the case is because he’s . . . he’s like me.”

  “Which is why I’m worried.” Nick’s hand finds mine, and I flinch. “Exposure is the last thing you need. He cost the precinct an officer and one hell of a scandal. You want a repeat performance?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then stay away from him.”

  I want to argue with him, but I can’t. I spent the entire drive here telling myself the same thing. Not only because I fear Odyn, the necromancer, but because I fear Odyn, the man. I fear the distraction he’s become and how easily I lose focus around him. Control is everything to me, and there’s something about him that makes me want to hand it over on a silver platter.

  That can’t happen.

  I need some space, and as usual, work provides ample opportunity to isolate myself. Immersing myself in the lives of others distracts me from having to deal with my own.

  Instead of answering him, I do what I do best.

  I evade.

  “You have things handled here?”

  Nick runs a hand through his sandy hair and tucks his phone back in his pocket. “Go home, Mila.” I
give a slight nod, both of us turning away when he adds, “Alone.”

  I keep walking, sucking in a deep breath as Odyn’s clenched jaw and tense stance become clearer. By the time we’re face to face, I’ve mimicked his expression, and we stand there, two stone-faced strangers.

  “I know it’s late, but I have some paperwork to do at the station,” I tell him, forcing myself to drag my eyes from his feet to his face. “Would you mind walking home?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Images of the last time the two of us talked flash through my mind. How it led to a passionate kiss neither of us anticipated, and obviously, he never wanted. “I think you’ve said enough, don’t you?”

  His nostrils flare. “I’ve already told you, that was an accident.”

  He’s right. That was a cheap shot, and I’m better than that. If I hadn’t lost control, then we wouldn’t even be in this situation.

  No matter how much I wanted him.

  I sigh. “Look, Odyn, I don’t blame you, all right? I blame myself. I got carried away, and that’s my fault. I have very strict rules about this kind of thing, and I’m the one who broke them.”

  His taut face softens. “Rules about attraction?”

  “Rules about mixing business and pleasure.” I stare at him a beat longer than I should’ve. I know because a satisfied smirk plasters across his face.

  “So you admit it.”

  “Admit what?”

  “Pleasure,” he says, the word rolling off his tongue much too enticingly. “You liked it.”

  “I . . .” My harsh rebuttal gets stuck in my throat. I want to deny it, but we both know it’d be a lie. I snap my mouth closed, my face heating with embarrassment.

  Odyn closes the space between us and takes my chin in his hand, his smirk turning deadly. “This isn’t over. We may have just met, but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel something.”

  I shake my head. “You don’t like me.”

  “True. Doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”