Cursed

Part One

Kirstin squeezed her eyes shut and felt herself transform, her magic coursing through her until her wings had vanished and there was only a slight glow to her luminous skin. A human would never know what she was, not that they were ever particularly observant.

In all honesty, Kirstin hated walking the streets in her human form, but after a rather wild party with about two hundred of her fellow fae, all she wanted was to sleep in her bed, and the only way she could enter the Compound was to shed all of her external magic. That was Mitch's rule, and it was a good one she supposed. But that didn't make her feel any more comfortable moving through the city in such a vulnerable way. Plus, the city reeked. Even now, she could barely breathe through the stench. Humans and trash and...wolves?

She was instantly on her guard, swiveling her head back and forth down the dark street and squinting into the shadows. She had a good reason for being leery of werewolves, even though they were supposed to be better now. Crime was way down, and most of the old gang families had broken up, but there was no getting around the fact that this part of town was meant to be a safe haven for humans. Only four of those with the Curse were allowed anywhere near here. Kirstin was one of them, and she could pick out the scent of the other three easily. None of them smelled like a dog. Well, sometimes Avi did, but Kirstin couldn't say much about his taste in company.

She took another deep breath, forcing her senses to ignore the trash and the human sweat and hone in on the wolf smell. She wasn't a lycanthrope. This would be an easier task for one of them, but she didn't want to bother Mitch with this yet. He tended to overreact. Kirstin followed the smell but the closer she got, the more she thought an overreaction was probably appropriate.

There were definitely wolves nearby. A lot of them. And humans too. She could smell sweat and blood and something like dust. None of it made any sense. She was just about to turn around, to head to the Compound and come back when she had some muscle behind her. But then she heard the sound of boots on the sidewalk nearby. She melted into the shadows, biting down hard on her lip to keep from giving herself away. Two big men passed by, clearly werewolves that had just phased back into humans. Their eyes still had that eerie glow that would linger for an hour or so after a transformation.

"That last kid was awesome!" the nearer of the wolfmen said. "I hope he's one of ours."

"It looked like it," the other guy said. "I know the vamp got a piece of him too, but I'm sure Randall got him first."

"I hate having to wait. It's over two weeks to the full moon," the first guy said, and then they were too far away for Kirstin to catch much more.

She stayed hidden for a few moments, trying to breathe normally and not scream at what she'd heard. She wanted to be wrong, to find another explanation. But as she walked in the opposite direction of the wolves, she knew what she would find. Following her nose, she found the warehouse easily, and cast a glamor over herself so that she wouldn't be seen when she walked inside.

Storage shelves and desks had been shoved back against the walls, leaving a wide open space. One lamp flickered from overhead, showing a circle of the concrete floor that was spotty with bright patches of blood, and in the shadowy areas around the circle, Kirstin could see a half dozen wounded human bodies. It was a fight club. And it was highly unlikely anyone had waited for the humans to volunteer.

She held her breath and clung to the wall as a group of lower ranking wolves tended to the bodies. They dressed the wounds quickly and then hoisted them up where they would take them to be dumped somewhere random. They would wake up tomorrow, victims of a mysterious attack, with memories they wouldn't trust, because how could they be real?

Kirstin had heard of barbaric rituals like these from years ago, before the treaties, before the peace, before Mitch. But to know that it was happening now broke her heart. She might have expected it of the wolves, but the vampires should have known better. There was a small group of them in the corner, hooded in black and smelling of dust and blood. They would be able to see through her glamor if they really wanted to, so Kirstin knew she needed to hurry.