Page 23 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

M y heart stopped for a moment as I registered what and who I was seeing.

The triplets.

They’d changed.

They were cursed too, but it wasn’t a full moon.

It didn’t matter right now. I was alone with three beasts. Small beasts, but beasts nonetheless, and I could not, would not hurt them.

A calm settled over me as I formulated a plan.

They inched into the room, deliberate and predatory, spreading out to flank me.

A pack.

Great.

“Aidan, Aaron, Ava, I know you’re still in there. That you can hear me. You don’t want to hurt me.”

The middle one, which if the PJ bottoms were anything to go by was Aaron, lowered his head and snarled viciously.

Great. Just fucking great.

Okay. Focus…

They edged closer, and I readied myself to make the jump, that if I calculated correctly would clear me of attack and?—

They pounced. I leapt. Onto the table and out the door. I ran into the sitting room, scooped up my phone, then barreled straight into the dining room, through an arch, and into the corridor that led to the back door.

Snarls and growls followed, but my head start gave me an advantage. I made it to the door, grabbed the key, and slipped outside, slamming it shut and locking it. The whole thing shuddered with an impact from within a moment later.

I sagged against it.

A solid, do not fuck with me door.

Thank fuck.

I hit speed dial on Ordell.

“Hey, miss me already? I’m?—”

“Where are you? How far out?”

“Orina? What? Five minutes, why?—”

“The kids have turned.”

“What?”

“Into beasts. The curse has them. Ordell, hurry.”

He ended the call, and I sagged against the door, wincing as another thud sounded.

Those poor babies. Had the sickness brought on the change or…shit, was the sickness part of the change? As long as they stayed at this exit, we’d be fine. My scent would keep them here. The house was solid. Even the conservatory glass was reinforced so…yeah, it would be okay.

Wait…why was it so quiet?

I backed away from the door and into the garden, scanning the house, dark and ominous with no moonlight to illuminate it.

Shit, where were they?

My gaze caught on a protrusion on the first floor. Was that an open window? It was pushed open farther a moment later, and one of the beast kids climbed onto the sill. Aidan, because his bottoms were green. Oh shit, he was about to jump.

A fist squeezed my heart, and I rushed forward on instinct.

“Don’t!”

He jumped.

Reason asserted itself, and I ran.

The lawn was huge, bordered in trees with a fence around the property. A fence they might climb. I had to get them back to the house.

I circled back toward the building, aware of their growls hot on my heels. Aware how this was like a fucked-up game of tag where the loser got their throat ripped out.

The house rushed up to meet me, and I pulled the key out of my pocket, heart sinking because the chance of me getting that door open before they reached me was slim to none.

But I had to try.

I was almost there when Ordell appeared, running full sprint around the side of the house.

I caught the flash of red in his eyes, the snarl on his mouth as he rushed past me. “Get inside!” he bellowed, his voice more beast than human. Then to the kids, “Stop. You will obey me!”

I smacked into the door, unlocked it, and threw myself inside, slamming it shut before running to the conservatory and its many windows.

Ordell stood over the triplets, who’d fallen into crouches with their heads bowed in deference.

I pressed my palm to the glass and whispered his name. There was no way he could have heard me, but he looked up, looked right at me, then nodded.

I sagged in relief. He had them under control.

The danger was over.

For now.

But they’d turned on a night when the moon wasn’t full, months before Ordell had expected to have to worry about it even being a possibility.

They were beasts. Cursed.

But they were also children.

What the fuck were we going to do?

The children shifted back to human after an hour, and we locked them in the master suite to sleep. They had no memory of the change or chasing me.

I followed Ordell down the stairs. “What do we do now?”

He raked a hand through his hair. “I have to take them away. Somewhere safe. Somewhere where they can learn how to master the beast until…Until you break the curse.”

My stomach quivered. “You can’t just take them. You have to speak to Bella and Dash and explain?—”

“I know.” He blew out a breath. “I’m going to call them now. Could you…could you make some coffee?” He needed to do this alone. I got it. “Sure.”

I left him in the hallway and headed to the kitchen.

Coffee was simmering in the pot when Ordell joined me. “How did it go?”

“It could have been worse. They might not have believed me but turns out that Dash has cameras installed around the house. They were able to log into the feed remotely, and they saw everything. Bella was sobbing when I got off the phone.”

“I’m so sorry, Ordell.” I wrapped him in a hug. “So fucking sorry.”

His sigh vibrated against me. “Yeah, me too.”

Bella and Dash arrived at dawn. Her face was puffy from crying, and Dash was pale and red-eyed. They peeked in on the children, still fast asleep, then joined us in the kitchen, where Ordell laid out his plan to take the children into the Rim to a place owned by a group called the Sisters, where they could learn to control their beasts.

“I’ll stay with them, of course,” he said. “I won’t leave them.”

Bella dissolved into sobs once more.

Dash rubbed her back, his jaw tense, his lips pale with anger. “You should have told us about your curse. We had a right to know.”

“I honestly didn’t believe that the curse could be transferred, but I was always so careful when I…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“There must be a way to lift it,” Dash said.

I looked to Ordell, speaking with my eyes because they deserved to know, but he shook his head slightly in warning before responding to Dash. “Yes, and I won’t stop until I find it.”

Dash’s jaw worked. “Yes, and in the meantime, we make them forget what happened, and we manage it. Together. Christian Constrange can alter the memory of tonight, and we can?—”

“They don’t remember what happened,” Ordell said. “But even if they did, wiping it wouldn’t help them. ”

“I want to spend the day with them,” Bella said. “Before you…you take them.”

“I’m sorry,” Ordell said. “I have to take them and leave now. They turned outside of a full moon, and who knows, they might be able to turn in the day. We can’t risk waiting.”

She pressed her hand to her mouth. “We should never have gone. We should have stayed home and?—”

“You’d be dead.” I looked levelly at her. “If you’d stayed home and we hadn’t been here, then you would both likely be dead. The only reason I survived is because Ordell was here. They listen to him. They see him as their pack leader. He can control them.” I reached out and covered her clenched hand with mine. “Let him help them.”

She exhaled shakily and nodded. “Do it. Take them, but I swear to you, Ordell, if any harm comes to them?—”

“It won’t,” Ordell said. “I give you my word.”

The children didn’t wake, not even when we carried them to Betsy and used wrist straps to secure them to the bed in the back. Bella rained kisses on their cheeks, and they didn’t wake then either.

Dash was last to say goodbye, running his hand over their heads and telling them how much he loved them. His dark eyes were bright with anger and tears as we closed the door.

“I think the curse is keeping them asleep for now,” Ordell said. But he didn’t sound too sure. “I’ll contact you with more answers once I have them.” Finally, his gaze settled on me. “I’m sorry, Orina. Sorry I won’t be here.”

I swallowed down my regret and smiled up at him. “It’s not forever.”

His beautiful sunny blues lit up my heart. “No, angel, it’s not.” He nudged my chin up with the crook of his finger and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

My vision blurred, and I fell in to hug him tight.

He wrapped me in his powerful arms and held me against his solid frame for several beats.

“I love you.” I breathed him in. “Be safe.”

“I love you too, and I will. I promise.”

I watched him drive away, standing apart from Dash and Bella, my heart bruised and sad for us all.

This curse had to end and soon.

It was time to immerse myself in Ezekiel.

It was time to fall in love.