Arelia LaRue Book #3 Which is called Possessed TEASER

Chapter 1

Anger is All I Have Left

         “Oh queen. You break what’s left of my heart with your naivety.” Ivan gave me a smirk as he placed his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

         My body was limp in his powerful embrace.  He brought his lips to my ear. “You really think you’re strong enough to take me on? I’ve been around a long time baby. I’ve seen things that you can’t even begin to imagine.”

         “You sound like such a cliché,” I said, as I dug my nails into him and tried to wiggle out of his arms.

I had no idea if I had successfully sucked out all his powers. At this point, all I wanted to do was get far away from him as possible. Maybe my plan had been a little rash. I should have asked more questions when Gran-Ibo had given me the oil like what the hell do I do right after?  

He let out a dry laugh, but didn't say anything. Instead, he placed a finger over my lips and wiped off some of the Black Arts oil. He put his finger into his mouth and tasted the oil.  

“I’m the cliché? You’re the one using Black Arts oil and…” He sniffed my neck and gave it a little lick. “Come to me Oil. Amateur moves queen. I expected something more dramatic from you. Perhaps a voodoo doll? Or a creating a zombie to attack me? Yes. In case you didn’t know, we are capable of creating zombies. You should have hit me with anything but the atypical oils. How boring. I guess I over estimated you after all.”

There were a thousand things I probably could have done at that exact second. I could have called on Soussan Pannan or Erzulie. Instead, I relied on good old fashioned defense mechanisms and kicked Ivan hard in the groin. He immediately released me and let out a low moan. 

“Never underestimate your opponent jerk,” I said, as I made a mad dash out of the ballroom and upstairs.  “And stop calling me queen. It’s pretty damn annoying!”

I remembered that I had passed red brick dust outside our bedroom door. If I made it there, I would be safe until I could figure out my next move. I was supposed to understand Ivan and help him, but he was making it awfully difficult. I knew he wasn’t stupid enough to murder me, but he was a very angry soul. From my experience, people tended to do extremely stupid things when they were angry. I was living proof of that.

I ran halfway up the spiral staircase when I heard Ivan right behind me. His hand gripped  my ankle. I fell with a thud which temporarily disorientated me.

“Easy queen.” I felt Ivan’s arms around me as he scooped me up from the ground like a helpless ragdoll.

Before I had a chance to say anything, he placed his hand over my mouth and carried me up the stairs. I revolted wildly against him, but he was totally unfazed by my little antics. He tossed me a stupid grin. 

“I’ve been brutally beaten countless times, been forced to work under pretty crappy circumstances, without any health insurance by the way, and survived depressing pangs of starvation. I’m pretty sure I can handle the antics of a scrawny, love struck voodoo queen.”

Obviously, Ivan had no idea who he was up against.  Or maybe he did. Faking being all powerful and brave was vastly different from actually believing it. When I had tried to suck out Ivan’s energy, I had felt myself waver. In that moment of doubt, I know I had sealed my miserable fate. And now I had to face the consequences. Crap.