Cursed-epub by Ann Mayburn Page A

pipe. No, it wasn't simple; it was complex … riveting…beckoning. His slate-blue eyes watched her as he played, and she realized she was subconsciously swaying to the music with a roll of her hips.
    Abruptly, she jerked as her finger began to hurt. It felt as though someone was slicing at the skin with a tiny knife. She looked in panic at Sean, but he just continued to play and watch her. Kell held a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed back a cry as the pain intensified. Her middle finger began to shiver and waver in her sight, like the heat rising off a hot pavement in the sun.
    Carmella, he doesn't want you. A sensual woman's voice filled her mind. He just wants to use you like that pimp, Ramon. They all want to use you and laugh at you and leave you behind.
    “Shut up,” she gritted out, concentrating on her finger. The ripples in the air grew more pronounced, and she could see a silvery-gray band on her finger.
    You know you're not good for anything more than a roll in the hay. When she didn't respond, it changed tactics. I can help you make them pay, Carmella. I can make them hurt as much as they hurt you, the voice continued, velvet and soft in her mind. I can make Dianta and Branco regret what they've done to you.
    “What are you talking about?” she whispered between her clenched teeth. The ring was almost a solid black now, just strings of silver running through it. It was heavy, and she had to use her other hand to hold her arm.
    Who do you think invited me in and used the blood you donated to the Red Cross for the spell? Whose jealousy and desire for power gave you to me? Keep me with you, Carmella. I can help you bring them to justice like they never imagined.
    As she stood trembling, Kell shouted, “Now!”
    She stroked her finger over the ring and thought about what the succubus had said. The temptation to accept what it offered tugged at her conscience. Images filled her mind of Dianta crying at her feet and apologizing. All around her, the employees of the samba school cheered as Miguel and Dianta were arrested. She could feel their arms as they hugged her and called her a hero.
    Kell yelled at her, “Carmella, please, now !”
    She stared at him, and it took her a second to figure out why she was here. The succubus hissed inside her mind as Kell's interruption broke the spell of seduction it was weaving around her.
    Shuddering at how close she had come to giving into the lies, she ripped the ring off. It tried to squirm out of her fingers before she dropped it into the circle of salt. Her middle finger was red and swollen, as if she had been stung by a bee.
    Sean stopped playing the pipe and gripped his sword, moving swiftly to the circle of salt. From the ring, a shape formed, and sand-colored mist shifted and flowed within the boundaries of the circle of salt that now glittered like diamonds. It finally took on the curves of a woman, and its raspy voice filled the air.
    “ If you let me go, Chosen, I will tell you all I know of their plans. Without me, you will never be able to stop them and Guaricana will kill you all ,” the succubus whispered into the room.
    Carmella held her hand against her chest as she alternated her wide eyes between Sean and the devil. What did it mean by calling Sean “Chosen,” and who in the world was Guaricana?
    “I don't deal with demons, especially ones that threatened my Comhcheol ,” Sean said with a snarl, the tendons in his arm standing out as his grip on his sword tightened.
    “I never harmed her. She's as pure as when I came into her…oh well, she might be responsible, in part, for a few dozen murders…but her body is still pure,” the devil mused, twirling gently in its confines of salt. Sean raised the sword over his head, the blessed steel shining in the lamplight. Just before he brought it down, the devil hissed out, “You cannot destroy me, Chosen. I will simply return to the Chaos and await my