The Curse - Book 1 (Completed)

Chapter 20: Sankt Petersburg

​Rambling the moonlit streets of Salem in the hours before dawn always reminds Leeroy of the past. It's been his routine for as long as he can remember. Salem Riverfront Park is filled with acres of open green space. It is just what he needs to clear his mind.

​He stops to look at the Willamette River and seeing a drop of rain fall into it, making a thousand of miniature water circles brings him back to the rainy night of when he first encountered his one and only love.

​And so he shuts his eyes, drifting into an April night of 1516...

​Luther walked the craggy stoned streets of Sankt Petersburg in his black long raincoat, facing the pavement, as he usually did, when an engraved lady tissue fell into a puddle in front of his feet. He looked at it and the rain was making hundreds of circles in the puddle.

​"Oh my, pardon me," he heard a pleasant female voice as he bent down to collect the white silk tissue with blue edges. K.X.M. was engraved at the bottom right of it, in blue letters.

​"Here you go, madam," he said and laid his eyes on the fragile dark haired girl in front of him. Her eyes were chocolate brown. It wasn't common to see such a woman in Russia. Usually they were light haired and blue eyed. He slightly narrowed his eyes reaching his hand out. Suddenly, his day got better. This chocolate cookie was a topping on his blood ice cream.

​"Thank you," she said grasping the tissue, brazing her fingers with his in the process. "Sometimes I'm so clumsy I wonder how I still have all of my limbs," she smiled goofily, giving him a slight wink and stepping aside to continue her way down.

​If only he had let her...

​"What does K.X.M. stand for?" He asked grabbing her elbow gently to stop her.

​She turned with a seductive playful smile on her lips. Fragile? he thought, what was I thinking?

​"Sir, are you trying to ask for my name or have I lost my mind?" A gleam appeared in her eyes as she posed the question.

​Definitely not fragile, he thought.

​"I beg you to excuse my bad manners, miss," Luther gave her a serious nod, "I'm Luther O'Connor, and I'm only worried about your wellbeing at this time of the night," he held his palm out for her to put hers into it. He wanted to sense the smell of her skin. He bet it smelled like chocolate, too.

​Instead of putting her palm into his, she lifted her chin poignantly. "No need to be worried, Mr. O'Connor. I can manage to find my home just well on my own."

​He slipped a smile, but didn't retrieve his hand. It stood reached out, like an obvious invitation into his world of secrets and dark. If she takes it, he thought, it will be her choice to enter.

​His eyes never left hers and they sparkled with wickedness just slightly as she put his hand onto his palm. "Katrina Markova, pleased to meet you," she said as Luther kissed her hand. "O'Connor..." she narrowed her eyes, "if you weren't this dark, I would've thought you were British."

​He chuckled, letting a rare sound leave his throat. "An impeccable vision and hearing, Miss Markova," he noted, "I do come from England."

​"Hmm...I bet you stand out from your people. I hope it doesn't get you into trouble during uprisings," she said it, but lifting her eyebrows it seemed more of a question. He got the feeling that she wanted to know about his character, something he wanted to avoid talking about.

​"I think you would know a thing or two about standing out..."

​"I know two or three things about getting into trouble, too."