"No."
I blinked. "Remove it."
"I don't think so. Oh, and if you're trying to use mind control on me, it won't work. I put the curse on you. You can't use any part of the curse to affect me. Them's the rules."
Dammit.
I blinked back tears of frustration. "Look, I know you had a lousy few years at high school, but so did a lot of people. Life hasn't exactly been a daily party for me either, you know. But we get by, we try to forget, and we move on."
"Is that what you're saying I should do? Move on?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
"And maybe we can be friends? Put the past behind us?" It sounded like she was mocking me.
"The fact that you've devoted all these years to hating my guts makes me think that a strong friendship probably isn't in our future."
She laughed, and it sounded cold. "Do you think you're the only one on my shit list, Sarah?"
"What?" I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see that George was still standing in place, now covered from head to toe in a fine layer of snow.
"I have a list of names of people who have done me wrong, and you're way down at the bottom. I've finally come around to you, but it did give me time to do some research. The timing of the reunion was a coincidence. And the fact that you were already a vampire only made it more interesting."
"There's a list?"
"Some of the others didn't apologize at all. Jonathan… he didn't understand why I was so pissed at him right up until he took his last breath." She shook her head. "He was clueless.
Totally clueless. In hindsight I think it's probably a good idea that we never hooked up."
I stifled a gasp at that. "You killed him?"
She looked appalled. "No, of course not. I'm not a murderer."
I let out a deep breath. "Well, that's good."
"I'm not a murderer because I don't have to be. I curse people and I'm very good at it.
However, the curses usually end in death for the people on my list. Oh, well."
"What did you do to him?" I asked tightly.
Her eyes narrowed. "He liked to cheat on his wife. I watched him. Just like he took you to the prom when he should have taken me. He should have been faithful to me. I cursed him that every time he did something wrong he'd be caught. And one day when he was with his mistress, her husband came home with a gun." She shrugged. "He definitely got a lot of bang for his buck, if you know what I'm saying."
"How… how many have there been?"
She glanced up at the overcast night sky. "You're lucky number seven. And the only one still breathing, although as a nightwalker I'm not entirely sure you need to breathe anymore."
"Please break the curse." I hated how weak my voice sounded, but I felt it now. Weak and tired and I wanted this to be over. "I can't live like this."
"That's kind of the point." She cocked her head to the side and studied me. "You're being sincere now, I can tell. Maybe I will cut you some slack. After all, you were only a bitch to me a couple of times."
"So you'll break it?"
"I haven't decided yet. But I'll tell you this much. If I don't, it will be permanent after three days have passed. It's only been one day. You have two left, if you can make it that long.
And a word to the wise, the symptoms get worse the longer you have it." She grinned, and her amusement at my distress made me furious all of a sudden.
I took a step toward her and bared my fangs at her.
She held up the stake. "Oh, and if you're thinking of hurting me, just remember that if I die, the curse is permanent and you can sell all of your designer sunglasses on eBay since you won't be needing them anymore. So no funny business. Maybe I'll be in touch tomorrow. Or maybe not. I'll have to see how I feel. Or if you and your boyfriend live that long."
"Don't you dare hurt Thierry."
"Me hurt him? I wouldn't dream of it. I was thinking that you might kill him. Or maybe a hunter might finally plunge a stake into that dusty old chest of his."
My jaw clenched. "I guess you don't have all the information going around, because there are no hunters in Toronto right now. They're all at Gideon Chase's funeral."
"Some of them are, sure." Two shadowy figures approached her from the other side of the park. As they got to her she handed one of them her stake. "But not all of them.
Goodnight, Sarah."
She turned and walked out of the park without another glance over her shoulder.
I heard George gasp from behind me as he was released from his freeze spell.
"Did I miss anything?" he asked, then looked at the approaching hunters and shrieked.
The hunters were all dressed in black—big scary-looking guys wearing leather dusters.
They looked like your average, everyday, deadly hunter types.
"Hi there," one of them said. "You're the vampire, right?"
"Sarah," George managed, clutching at my arm. "We need to run. Need I remind you… no bodyguard? Hello?"
My emotions had been riding a roller-coaster all night. Highs and lows and everything in between. And now, after everything else that had happened, to be faced with two freaking hunters?
"Now, just hold still, vampire, and we'll make this a quick one." They both took a step closer.
I looked at them. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
There was a definite tone to my words and it wasn't fear. I was too pissed off to be afraid of these meatheads. These stupid, brainless human hunters. I felt the fog begin to move over me and the last thing I was thinking was to be afraid. They're the ones who should be afraid.
"Drop the stake," I said.
The one on the right did as I commanded. He frowned. "What the hell?"