Taking a deep breath, he pivoted to see what had happened to the box and froze.A holo of Sharshanna stood silently beside the desk.As if his movement had released her to speak, she raised one arm and pointed a ruby red claw, the effect muted somewhat by the fact she was pointing in the wrong direction.
“Unworthy one, slime of the primordial ooze, how dare you dishonor me by dissolving the agreement of our families for us to wed?”Her beautiful voice was venomous and he had no doubt if she was here in the office she’d be launching poison darts at him, which certain females of his species could do.“I’ll be the laughingstock of the entire city,” she wailed, pearlescent tears trailing down her cheeks like jewels, accenting her gorgeous bone structure and facial frills.Eyes narrowed, she fisted her hands on her hips and literally spat in disdain.“Now I have no choice but to wed Prince Maldvon, who begs me daily to accept his suit and bear his eggs.He may be a prince but you—you were the scion of the most venerated House on Zackmarune.A hero, a warrior, a man all the other women envied me for possessing.”
As she ranted on, Hagan remembered vividly one of the reasons he’d enlisted in the Sectors military and sought assignments far away from his home planet.Sharshanna was incomparably lovely on the outside and undeniably nasty on the inside.Well, at least it was over now and they were both free.He had no doubt she’d make her weakling prince from a minor kingdom into a puppet and end up ruling the damn planet herself.Good thing he never planned to go home.
Drawing a deep breath, generous bosom heaving, she drew herself up to the best height she could manage.As if she’d heard his thoughts, she said, “This isn’t over, fool.If you’re viewing this holo it’s too late for you and for the strumpet who stole you from my arms.The box contained the most powerful love curse money and blood could buy.I sought out the elderly high priestess of the devil snake’s own temple—you’re doomed.Better make a cozy nest quickly and seek your lover’s arms because you’re both going to die at the next dawn as the sun rises.I’ve been assured the Curse of Love Unrequited never fails to take its intended victims into the underworld.”
Laughing, the holo faded away, although the echoes of her evil mirth lingered in his mind.
“What have I done?”he said out loud, rubbing his aching head.With the clarity of hindsight, he could see he should have flown home to sever their egg match in person and to allow Sharshanna to maneuver the situation to her best advantage, no doubt making it appearshehad dumped him.She’d have used the whole affair to leverage herself into marriage with a much more important member of the monarchy and been content.As he considered what to do next, he felt a tiny pinprick of pain on his arm and there was a small click as something fell to the floor.Bending over, he retrieved one of his scales, staring at it in disbelief.A Zackmarune male stopped shedding scales once he’d attained full maturity.Losing them in adulthood was an extremely ominous sign.Even as the stark realization crossed his mind, another scale fell.
The curse is working.If he’d had any doubts or entertained hope the dark magic was impotent here on this planet, they were now erased.There was only one honorable thing to do and he couldn’t afford to lose any more time.Grimly he gathered up the leaves and the vine and stuffed them into the box, taking note of the official certificate of no-fault egg match abrogation tucked into the corner.Clutching the package under his arm, he headed out the door, turning for one final look at the office where he’d been so content and had entertained such high hopes for the future.
All destroyed now, by the love curse.
ChapterTwo
Amellia wasn’t enjoying her evening out as much as she’d expected to.About halfway through dinner she got a sudden raging headache and her stomach cramped ominously.“I think I’d better go home,” she said to her friends.
“Your cheeks have gone terribly pale,” said one.
“Let me get you a groundcar,” said another.
The group gathered around her, escorting her outside the restaurant, finding her a taxi, exhorting her to rest, suggesting various folk remedies in a cacophony that made her head hurt even more and issuing exhortations to call them in the morning.Then as her vehicle pulled away from the curb, her friends rushed inside to continue their night of merrymaking.Amellia sank against the groundcar’s cushions with a sigh of regret and gritted her teeth against the headache, praying to make it home before her dinner reappeared in embarrassing fashion.
Once safely in her apartment, she took several over-the-counter remedies, changed into her coziest pajamas and curled up on her couch with her cat.Idly she keyed up the latest episode of ‘Planet of Entwined Lives’ and let the trideo play, in hopes the convoluted plot would distract her.“I guess it’s a good thing Hagan didn’t ask me out tonight after all,” she said to the cat, stroking its soft ears.“It would have been so embarrassing.”
Thoughts of him made her feel better so she indulged in a few daydreams about what it might be like to spend time with him out of the office.She wasn’t up to her steamier fantasies, not tonight, but there was no denying Hagan was a gorgeous guy and so considerate.“He’s always so nice to me,” she told the cat, who purred serenely.“He even brought me a present today.”
The trideo adventure story was moving into total unreality, and her head was spinning too much to follow all the twists of who was betraying who and why, so she flicked the holo off and decided to go to bed.
The notification panel for her front door chimed and she glanced at the clock in disbelief.Who would call on her at this late hour?Her friends were all off enjoying themselves, where she should have been.
The door chimed again, longer and more insistently.
Maybe one of the neighbors needs help.Shoving her feet into her fluffy faux pombatt slippers because the floor was cold, Amellia made it to the door and checked the vid.“Hagan?!”
Hastily she opened the portal.“What are you doing here?How do you even know where I live?”
“I apologize for disturbing your peaceful evening,” he said with a formal air.“May I come in?I’ll explain everything but I’m afraid I have bad news to impart.”
He did look a bit peaked she noticed as she retreated and he moved into the light in the living room.His usually bright green skin with the iridescent scales was faded and a few scales were missing.One popped up on his forearm and fell to the floor as she watched.“Are you all right?”she asked.“Do you need a glass of water or anything?”
“How doyoufeel is the more important question.”His emerald green eyes glowed a little as he scanned her up and down.
Blushing because she was wearing her pajamas with the anime characters and the big slippers, she held her robe closely around her and mentally said goodbye to any hopes she’d ever had of dating this man, much less going to bed together.“I know I must look a mess.I have a migraine and an upset stomach.”
“Oh no.”For a moment Hagan doubled over as if he’d taken a blow to the gut and then stepped forward to grab her arm so suddenly she was flooded with adrenalin and uttered a squeak.“When?”he asked urgently.“When did this start?”
She twisted awkwardly in the direction of the chrono.“I don’t know, maybe three hours ago?What does it matter?What is going on with you tonight?”
He slid his hand down her arm and clasped her fingers.“Don’t be alarmed—I’d never hurt you.But I do have bad news to impart.May we sit?”
“Of course.”She drew him to the couch and the cat departed with a hiss, making room for them to sit.
“I had so much I wanted to say to you at the proper time,” he said, holding her hand a bit desperately.“You’re special, Amellia.I’d never met any woman like you before and I was—am—so powerfully attracted to you.I think we’re fated mates?—”
“Like—like instalove?”She let out a gasp, wondering how to handle this revelation.“I mean, I find you attractive and I won’t deny I’d love to go out with you but we barely know each other outside the office.”
