Cursed Read online
A sinister madman is collecting cursed objects and plotting a ritual that will change everything.
Quiet and withdrawn, Jami Chase is going to have to risk it all to stop him.
When Jami realizes her friends and family are at risk she leaves her quiet little Colorado hometown behind and finds herself scuba diving for a wrecked plane off the coast of a Greek island. The sun and ocean breeze provide a stunning distraction but she's interrupted by a sexy stranger that needs her help and a crew of men who think kidnapping is cool.
Jami and Jack quickly discover the truth about the necklace they're searching for and find themselves on the run. Can they find a way to destroy the pendant before the ritual has begun, or will this be the moment that magic is unleashed on the world?
Readers are loving this cross between "Romancing the Stone" and "Indiana Jones", falling in love with the sexy leads, their snarky comments, and their mission to save their friends - and the world.
Pre-order part 2 of Cursed NOW, coming this December !
Cursed
Fated Book 2, Part 1
MELISSA MICHELLE GREEN
VillaVerde LLC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cursed, Part 1
Fated Series Book 2, Part 1
© 2019, by Melissa Michelle Green / VillaVerde, LLC
[email protected]
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book is contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN: 978-1-7340068-0-3
This book is also available in print. Please visit the author’s website (www.melissamichellegreen.com) to find out where it can be purchased.
“Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
~William Shakespeare
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Connect and help out!
Acknowledgments
Books in the Fated Series
About Melissa
1
Whiskey River, Colorado
Remi hopped out of her truck and didn’t bother to grab her purse. They greeted her halfway across the loose gravel parking area next to Aubrie’s bar, the Fortune & Glory, by Justice and Ghost, spinning around her and wagging their tails.
“No, no, and no!” she said laughing. “I don’t have anything you guys want.” She rubbed their heads as the news didn’t dull their excitement and they escorted her up to the bar’s porch. Aubrie’s Belgian Malinois and her sister’s German Shepherd plopped down on their beds in the porch's shade to enjoy the unusually warm fall morning, declining to head inside the bar with her.
She left the door open slightly so they could nudge their way inside if they wanted to and let her eyes adjust to the dimness of the bar. What the hell? Aubrie usually had all the shutters and shades open by now, but the front room remained shuttered and dark. It wouldn’t be open today, he’d announced that last night at about midnight as they were all blowing off steam (and stress) from the mess they’d found themselves caught up in, but he was a morning person, he should be up by now.
She let her eyes roam over the familiar surface of the bar with the swirls and whorls of its natural edge, the comfy leather and plaid of the seating areas, and the tables closer to the bar with their chairs upended to make it easier to clean the floors.
They’d done a pretty good job of helping him put the place to rights last night, actually. Considering how much alcohol they’d gone through that was miracle enough…but then they’d called Nichole’s friend in and, well, that had changed the whole mood of the evening.
Remi moved around the large space opening the shutters on the lower windows and flipping the switches to raise the shades on the massive wall of glass at the front of the bar, overlooking the river. She recalled how much fun they’d had last night as she worked, then how the mood of the evening had turned. She and Hart, she grinned as she got tingly thinking of him, had just returned from a crazy couple of days in Spain. They’d started out looking for the dagger her father had been searching for when he died and had ended up having to turn it over to a mysterious man who had threatened her friends and family. She wasn’t happy about losing the dagger, but there was no way she would risk any of the people she loved. Aubrie had ended up with a broken leg, and that was the only incentive she’d needed to hand it over.
That had been three days ago, and Aubrie had already started to manage better with the cast.
She moved past the bar, with its wall of movie memorabilia from Aubrie’s previous life as an actor in LA, and tapped on his office door. He’d be sleeping in there till the cast was off, since there was no good way to manage the stairs to the loft.
It relieved her to hear him holler to come in and was already talking by the time she entered the room and spotted him behind his desk, working with his leg up on an ottoman. “Geez, it worried me, the bar is still dark! What are you doing in here?”
Aubrie held up a hand to show she should hang on while he finished whatever he was doing, so she futzed with the model Millennium Falcon on one of the shelves while she waited. She noticed the photo of he and his ex that he used to have next to the favored Star Wars spaceship was missing, and she bit her lip, determined not to pry. Aubrie had lived in LA until about two years ago, when he’d moved out here to Whiskey River, bought this old bar, and fixed it up. He’d been famous, like played pool with Brad Pitt all the time famous, but had dropped everything, paid what he had to to get out of his contracts and just left. For the first few months that he was here he didn’t talk much to anyone, only worked on the bar.
Remi had been in the grocery store when she’d overheard a reporter asking the cashier if she’d ever heard of Aubrie Knight. Everyone in Whiskey River knew who he was by then, it was a small town, but they were protective of their privacy—it was one of the reasons she’d stuck around and fix up her parents’ house. If Aubrie Knight, superstar, was out here and keeping to himself it was none of their business. She had her own issues that she kept to herself and figured he deserved that peace. The cashier had denied even having heard of him and when the reporter left with his sparkling water and organic crackers, she’d caught Remi’s eye. Remi had smiled. “You did great, Emma, I’ll swing by the bar on my way home and warn him he’s got folks looking for him.”
The older woman had crossed her arms over her amble bosom and harrumphed inelegantly. “You do that, Remington Chase, I don’t hold for no busybodies around here except me.” She’d let a twinkle creep into her blue
eyes at that and had rung Remi up without anther comment on the subject.
Remi had stopped at the Fortune & Glory, then unnamed, and when she found the ridiculously attractive man inside working on ripping out the old bar, she almost choked on the soda she’d taken a sip of as she walked in. She grinned and let her eyes wander over to him now as he worked at the desk, he really is just stupid pretty. Dark blond hair and eyes so blue Mel Gibson would want to hit him, he was gorgeous. Good nose, crooked smile, even white teeth, and an insanely nice ass. She chuckled to herself, thinking about the comment she’d made about his ass that day.
To be fair, he’d been bent over with his back to her, in jeans, with no shirt on, pulling pieces of the old bar out and tossing them into a pile. He must have heard her snort as she inhaled her Coke, because he’d stood up pretty quickly, turning to find her ogling him. She’d been further distracted by his face and so he’d just stood there, grinning at her while she stared. She’d started to stutter an apology, but he’d held up a hand. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I get that a lot. I’d love to take credit for it, but it’s mostly thanks to my mom.”
“Your mom must have a great ass.”
At that it was his turn to choke, and while she was congratulating herself on surprising him, he’d walked over, still laughing, and introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, I’m Aubrie Knight.
She’d recognized him but figured he didn’t want to talk about actor stuff, so she’d just introduced herself right back. She also didn’t pick up one hint of interest from him, not a smidge. Huh. She was no movie star but could hold her own in a room of pretty girls. “Look, I’m sorry to interrupt, and also for apparently having no filter today, but I stopped by to warn you.”
At that his brows shot up. “Warn me?” He seemed instantly on alert, no longer a languid and sweaty James Dean, now more Bond, coiled and ready.
“Yes, I was picking a few things up at Emma’s market.” She paused at the question in his eyes. “Sorry, the grocery store on Amaranth and Chestnut, you know? That’s Emma’s place, we hardly ever remember to call it The Corner Grocer around here.”
His eyes cleared with recognition and he nodded for her to continue.
“Anyway, there was a reporter in there, asking about you. Don’t worry,” she added at the concern in his eyes. “Emma told him she’d never heard of you, and as far as I can tell, he kept on driving. I thought you might want to know. You haven’t been very social in town, according to local gossip, so I figure you’re trying to keep to yourself.”
Aubrie scrubbed both of his hands through his already messy hair, only making it look more perfectly tousled, then over the two days of stubble on his chin. “Well, hell. I guess I couldn’t expect more than a few months to myself.” He moved to a cooler and pulled out a beer, gesturing to her to ask if she’d like one.
She shook her head. “I have to get going, I have ice cream in the car and it’s hot as hell out there right now.”
“Well, thank you, for stopping by. And if you see Emma, would you thank her for me? I appreciate the space they have given me. I promise to start socializing, I, well, I guess I was stalling.” He looked around the old building. “I’m gonna fix this place up, open a bar. Maybe have some food on busy nights. No more movie star crap for me, no thank you.”
“Look, whatever made you pick up and come out here to Colorado is your business. I’ve got my crap, just about everybody does, and around here we like our peace and quiet. So, you do what you need to do, and everyone else will fall in line.”
“I appreciate that. You really haven’t heard what happened, with me?”
“Nope, tabloids are evil.”
“Well, it was—” He paused, keeping his eyes on her face to assess her reaction. “I had a rather large fight with the guy I was seeing. I was done with Hollywood, and he wasn’t. Guess he didn’t love me enough to leave the glitter.”
Her heart swelled at the forlorn look in his eyes, and she wanted to hug him but had already put her foot in it by flirting with him.
She looked around the bar. “Well, no one around here will care, even if they have heard something. But I’ll give you a hint, if you want the locals to come drink at your bar, you’re gonna need to learn some of their names.”
The tension on his face smoothed at her complete lack of reaction to his sexual preference, and he must have realized she wasn’t judging him at all, because he was comfortable enough to come back with “Couldn’t I just lure them here with the promise of a nice ass to ogle?”
Heat flared over her cheeks and he chuckled. “Look, I’m messing with you. You’re gorgeous, and if I weren’t gay, I would have hit on you right back.” He looked around with another thoughtful sigh. “Hey, want to come back and ogle me tonight? I’ll cook.”
Remi figured her face had shown her surprise, because he continued, “Just a platonic ogle. I’ll tell you you’re beautiful and funny and whatever else I discover, as often as you like. You tell me I won’t be alone for the rest of my life once in a while.”
Remi’s eyes misted as she came back to herself in his office, just as he raised his head and pushed back from the desk. He leaned back in the chair and absently stuck the pen he’d been using down the cast on his leg to scratch an itch. “What’s up? Why the long face?”
“Oh nothing, just remembering how we met, that’s all.”
“Ahhh, I see, you’re crying because you can’t see my ass enough when I’m sitting down all the time.” His voice was that of a wise sage, the naughty twinkle is his eye was all Aubrie.
“Oh, shut up. I see plenty of your ass. Besides, I prefer Hart’s.” She added her own naughty twinkle and ducked when he threw his pen at her.
“Anyway, I stopped by to see if you had heard from Jami yet this morning, I heard her ask if Ghost could stay with you last night, I figured it was because she was getting a ride with David back to her place.” David was a dear friend, but about as opposite to Aubrie as you could get. His short hair, buttoned-up FBI bad-ass thing also meant he kept his truck really clean. As in, no dogs in the cab clean. And Jami spoiled Ghost, didn’t like him riding in the back of a truck. Her sister was pretty dependent on the dog, rarely went anywhere without him. An unofficial emotional support dog. She could have qualified for one officially, after what they’d been through as kids, but Ghost was a puppy she’d rescued, and bonded with.
Aubrie looked surprised. “I didn’t see her leave, but I think David was still here when I noticed she was gone.”
“So she didn’t get a ride with him. And you haven’t heard from her yet?”
At his head shake, Remi felt the first shiver of worry on the back of her neck. After all they’d been through in the last week, all they’d learned, she didn’t want her quiet, shy, sheltered baby sister to be alone for very long, not even in her own home.
2
JAMI TWISTED her fingers together, willing her face not to betray her tension. She could definitely do this.
Right?
She pulled in a deep breath easing it out slowly. Picturing the stress and tension moving out with the air.
Nope, not helping.
Help.
She could feel eyes on her.
She didn’t look up, kept her eyes on her hands, but she could feel the curiosity, the pity.
Damn it.
She’d give anything to be sitting in a room on her own right now. Just a little peace and quiet. Maybe a book.
She’d been doing so well over the last couple of months, forcing herself to go to the bar and be social, particularly when she knew it would be busy. She only freaked out a little when she’d found out a few days ago that Remi had left for Spain without a plan or a goodbye, thanks very much.
And when Aubrie had been in an accident while driving to her house, she hadn’t even thought twice before running out to check on him, called the sheriff, done everything she was supposed to do.
Even when she’d wanted to lock herself in her bedroom with
Ghost and curl up in a ball on the bed.
Last night, at the F&G, they’d all been celebrating. Sure, Remi and Hart hadn’t managed to come home with the dagger, but according to Remi, there was no way that was going to happen, not once whoever had hurt Aubrie threatened to do worse. But Remi and Hart had found each other.
Jami shivered a bit, this time at the memory of how Hart had looked at her sister last night. If she were honest, she knew that was what she wanted. She wanted someone who knew her, really knew her, and loved her. No matter what.
She envied Remi’s friendship with Niks, and her connection with David and Aubrie. Sure, they loved her too, but it wasn’t the same. She was the damaged little sister. They shushed a bit when she walked in the room, toned down their trashy jokes. Hell, Remi even stopped swearing when she was around, mostly. And damn it if she didn’t want someone to look at her how Hart looked at Remi.
But she couldn’t see how she’d ever find that staying in Whiskey River, hanging out at the F&G, and shipping her paintings to galleries. Anyway, what man would want a scared, timid, withdrawn woman with trust issues and a past that cropped up in tabloids every couple of years? No man that she’d want, she bet.
Last night she’d managed to chill out a little. She had two glasses of wine—two! And had even let Aubrie pull her onto the dance floor once, hobbling around on his casted leg like a goof.