A Curse Unbroken by Cecy Robson

slowly.
    “I know, but this whole personality of his—”
    “It’s a rock,” Tim repeated, growing more impatient. He turned to the house. “Just get your ass inside. I’ll have Agnes tell you everything she knows.”
    On our way in, I spotted a couple of vampires dressed as Captain Hook, Papa Smurf, and Colonel Sanders. It took everything I had to keep my face neutral. A bored vampire is a naughty vampire, I supposed.
    We entered the colossal estate Misha called his house and headed straight to the library. It was my favorite room in the ginormous Mountain Craftsman. Beautiful hand-carved cherry bookcases lined the back wall, and an immense fireplace at its center added to the old-world charm. But it wasn’t its elegance that drew me in. It was the memories I had there with Misha. We’d had some of our best talks here, and it was the room where he and I became friends.
    As soon as we entered, Agnes glanced up from the pile of old scrolls rolled out in front of her. Her lacey black bra protruded through the white shirt of her naughty Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Unlike the other vampires I’d passed, this wasn’t a costume, but rather her choice of everyday wear.
    She adjusted her tiny librarian glasses when she saw me. Her almond-shaped eyes had supernatural vision. She didn’t need the damn things. But her meals found them sexy and I supposed that was good enough for Agnes. “We think we’ve found Shah—or at the very least what country it’s in,” she said.

    “Cool. And where might he be?”
    “He?” she asked.
    Tim laughed and motioned to me. “Our freakier-than-hell mistress here thinks Shah should be referred to as ‘he’ because of his personality, right, Celia?” He returned his focus to Agnes, laughing harder. “Can you believe that shit?”
    I grinned.
    And emptied a pitcher of ice water down his loose-fitting pants.
    Tim jerked away from me. “What the fuck?”
    “Quit being a prick,” I hissed at him. I turned back to Agnes while Tim did his best to empty his pants. “You were saying?”
    She leaned back in her high-back leather seat. “First answer me this: Do the mongrels know where he is?”
    I tried not to grumble. The Alliance had picked the name more for show it seemed. “They have a lead and are tracking him now.”
    She smiled. “Where?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    Her smile widened and she exchanged glances with Tim. Like weres, vamps could sniff lies. “Where?” she asked again.
    This time I couldn’t hold back my grumbling. “Malaysia.”
    My news seemed to please her. She swiveled in her seat and smirked at Tim. “Told you I was right. Alert the team. We leave in an hour.”
    Ordinarily, her smugness would have annoyed me. But who was I kidding? We needed to find Shah. If I had to confirm suspicions in the process, I’d do it.

    Tim left like a passing breeze. If not for the squeak squeak of his boots and the chunks of ice he tossed over his shoulder, I wouldn’t have even heard him.
    This time, it was my turn to smile. “Now, tell me what you know.”
    Agnes adjusted her glasses, annoyed. She didn’t like being ordered around unless it was by Misha specifically. But Misha had given me the title of Mistress of the House. And that title came with power. Power over his undead. Mwahahaha .
    “He’s being held by Dilip Singh, the lead geek who created the videogame based on Shah’s legend. Dilip was raised in India and frequently returns to visit family.” She clicked her tongue. “One of his last few trips was to Ajanur village—nowhere near any of his relatives, but coincidentally the same village where the Madiyan Kulom temple is located.”
    “Shah’s last known home sweet home.”
    “Correct,” Agnes said.
    My tigress perked up. “How do you know Dilip’s the one who has him for sure? Weren’t there three other programmers who helped develop the game?”
    Agnes played with one of her long thick braids. “He took eight people with him to Ajanur.