Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) by Joann I. Martin Sowles

lungs.
    “What is wrong, dear Delaney?” He grinned wickedly as he stood just a few feet away, watching me rub the back of my hand.

My hand got scratched in our struggle. It looked like he had dug his fingernail into my skin and taken out a small chunk. It was bleeding, not bad, but it burned like crazy.
    “What did you do?” I hissed.
    He paced before me, closing in, his head low and his eerie stare on me. “That is merely a taste of what I am going to do to you.” He looked at me through his lashes, menacingly. Then he pounced. Zane knocked me to the ground, and he was on top of me and had me pinned.
    Over my screams, I heard him, “I do not care who you belong to, you are my ticket home!”
    He grabbed my arms and slammed me against the ground as I struggled. Zane wasn’t that big of a “man,” but he was unnaturally strong for his size. I screamed and tried to pull myself free of his grip, but it didn’t matter how hard I struggled, he was too strong, but that wouldn’t keep me from trying.
    I don’t know what his ultimate goal was, and thankfully my boyfriend wasn’t going to let me find out. Fully disheveled, his sweatshirt ripped at one shoulder, and his face marked red where his brother had hit him, Oliver grabb ed Zane by the back of the hair and jerked him off of me.
    I scrambled away, and then I hurried to my feet as I watched, somewhat horrified, but mostly impressed, when Oliver slammed Zane’s head into the nearest headstone. Freaking hard too! The thick headstone actually cracked. As my hand continued to burn, I felt satisfied that the bastard felt what Oliver had done to him. However, he was only stunned, not out.
    Oliver dropped Zane to the ground, grabbed my arm, and jerked me to him.
    We raced to the car. Oliver shoved me in on his side and climbed in after me as I scrambled over the console.
    I watched out the back window as we sped away. I didn’t see them.
    “Where’s Oscar?” I asked.
    I had a growing fear that Oliver had taken his brother’s life. I knew it was what needed to be done, I just didn’t think Oliver should be the one to do it.
    He glanced in the rearview mirror. “He’ll be back,” he growled.
    I turned forward in my seat and pulled my seatbelt tight. Oliver was angry, and probably hurt, emotionally. His brother had just led my angel right to us. He had to feel betrayed.
    “Oliver?” I questioned, quietly. I touched a red mark on his cheekbone.
    He pulled away , and I dropped my hand.
    “Don’t, Laney. Don’t worry about me. Right now, the only thing we need to do is keep him away from you.”
    We sped back to the cottage with enough time to get inside and get the security system set. Unfortunately, there was no landline, and we’d left our phones in the car. Oliver was going to need to call for help.
    As the house went into lockdown, Oliver punched another code into the control panel and the front door unbolted.
    “No, Oliver. Don’t go out there,” I pleaded, grabbing his arm, hoping to hold him back.
    “I’ve got to, Laney. We can only stay in here so long, and stay safe.” His anxious green eyes tried to reassure me. He kissed my forehead. “I can do it,” he said, and then he flung open the front door and ran for his car while I anxiously watched from the doorway.
    He slid to a stop at the side of the car and jerked the door open. I saw him dive in and reach for the console. I scanned the area for signs of movement. Other than a cool, sea breeze rustling the branches of the surrounding trees, there was nothing.
    Oliver was sprinting back to the house and straight for me when, out of nowhere, he was tackled. Oscar had come at him from the side.
    “No!” I screamed. I started out the door and down the front steps toward them. “No!” I screamed again as I hit the bottom step.
    Oliver and Oscar were tumbling around on the ground, full on beating the crap out of each other again.
    As I was about to leap off the last step, Zane caught from behind