Cursed Kiss (Paranormal Romance) by Helen Scott Taylor Page A

expecting Luka. "What are you up to?"
    "It's business, darling. Never mind, you can go back for Luka later." She bared her small white teeth in a smile that was almost feral. "Pablo can entertain us in the meantime. Can't you, Pablo, darling."

Chapter Seven
    Clare followed her grandmother down some roughly hewn stone steps on the way to dinner. Her initial shock at finding her grandmother in Taldom had faded to be replaced by a dark sense of foreboding.
    Her instincts screamed that Monique's business here involved Luka and not in a good way. Clare would never bring him back through the portal if that were the case.
    The air in the large dining room was hazy with smoke from thick pillar candles. About thirty men and women with metal goblets in hand stood around talking. Dressed for dinner in fine clothes, they were adorned with gold and silver jewelry, rich silk embroidery, and pearly buttons.
    This was like a scene from a historical film. The whole thing seemed unreal, as if she were dreaming.
    Pablo touched her arm. "Don't leave me, Clare, please."
    "Of course not." She slipped her arm through his and was surprised to feel him trembling.
    As they moved into the crowded room, the soft hum of conversation dropped and faces turned towards them.
    "These people look like us," she said in a soft aside to Pablo.
    "They're the same race as Luka," he replied.
    She hadn't thought of that. They obviously weren't all afflicted with the problem Luka had, the lack of psychic energy.
    Monique motioned for a servant to seat her at the head of the table. She beckoned Clare with a sharp, red-nailed finger and pointed to the seat on her right. With courtly nods that reminded her of Luka, the crowd stepped aside, opening a way for them. Pablo walked at her side, but it was her doing the leading and supporting and him the following.
    As Clare sat, Monique fixed her gaze on Pablo, running the tip of her tongue across her teeth. "Pablo, you'll sit on my left."
    For a moment, Pablo clung to Clare's arm as if he couldn't bear to be parted from her. Then he straightened and walked behind Monique's chair to take his own.
    He seemed wary—no, more than wary, frightened. Whatever the antipathy between Monique and Luka, Pablo had obviously been involved as well. As soon as they were alone, she would ask him about it.
    While the other men and women took seats, Monique sat regally, chin raised, scanning the crowd intently like a predator selecting the weakest member of the herd. She cupped her diamond pendant in her palm and tapped it in the same rhythm as the horrible spider's clicks.
    Although she wasn't hungry, Clare forced down some of the unidentifiable red meat and vegetables from the metal platter. She wasn't sure when she'd get her next meal. Pablo pushed his food around his plate but ate little.
    Most of the conversation at the table took place in a strange guttural language, but when the guests addressed Monique, they spoke in strongly accented English. Were they all denizens of Taldom? Or were some of them from Earth?
    Monique quizzed Clare on what was happening at Moray, and it occurred to Clare that as her grandmother was alive, then she still owned Moray. Why on earth would her grandmother leave her precious company in anyone else's hands?
    "I don't understand what's going on. Why did you fake your death?" Because that was obviously what Monique had done.
    "Straight to the point. I do like that about you, darling." Monique patted her lips with a napkin.
    Clare narrowed her eyes, taking in Monique's fresh, young complexion. Her grandmother had always used Moray Faceglo to stave off the effects of aging and it had worked—but never this well. Anyone who didn't know them would assume Monique was her sister.
    "How did you escape from the fire?"
    "There was a portal in the house that burned down."
    "You left, making it look as though you died?" Clare shook her head, trying to shake her thoughts into order. "Were you in trouble with the police or