I Am His Cure and His Curse Chapter 1

I was sixteen when the neurotoxin leaked. I saved Liam Blackwood that day, but I inhaled too much of the gas in the process.

When I woke up, my memory was gone. In its place was a strange affliction: a peculiar scent that clings to my skin, my hair, everything.

A scent that makes Liam retch.

He refused to accept it, to believe in a fate so cruel. He’d force himself to hold me, his body rigid, jaw clenched, until one sweltering afternoon, I reached out to wipe a bead of sweat from his temple. He recoiled, shoving me back, and collapsed, vomiting until there was nothing left.

He knelt there, fists clenched, his eyes bloodshot. “Thea,” he gasped, his voice raw. “Don’t be scared. I’ll get used to it. I promise.”

For me, he gave up a scholarship to his dream school, clawing his way up in the business world until he became a self-made titan. He built a beautiful glass conservatory for me, a sun-drenched cage where his fragile, broken burden could be kept safe.

He gave me everything he had. Everything, except a genuine touch.

I thought this was our tragic, noble battle against destiny.

Until the night I heard him in his study, holding his assistant, Serena. His voice was laced with a dependence and relief I had never, ever heard directed at me.

“Serena, thank God I have you… After I hold her, smelling your perfume is the only thing that brings me back.”

“She saved my life. I owe her that. I have to take care of her forever, I know that, but…”

He paused, a long, ragged breath filling the silence. His voice dropped to a choked whisper.

“But some days, I really wish I had died in that accident. Anything would be better than living like this, day after day, in this hell.”

* * *

The diffuser I was carrying slipped from my numb fingers, shattering on the hardwood floor. The scent of lavender and my own unshakeable odor bloomed in the air.

Liam burst out of the study, Serena right behind him.

He saw me and froze. In one swift, practiced motion, he pulled Serena behind him, shielding her.

The movement was so fast, so instinctual. A needle of ice plunged straight into my heart.

“Thea…” He took a hesitant step toward me, his face a mask of panic, ready to explain.

But the scent hit him. The color drained from his face, and a choked, gagging sound escaped his throat as he stumbled backward.

Serena was at his side in an instant. She pulled a small, personal respirator from her pocket and expertly fitted it over his mouth and nose.

Her voice was calm, her hand steady on his arm. “Breathe slowly, Liam. It’s okay.”

He leaned against the doorframe, his eyes squeezed shut, chest heaving.

I just stood there, paralyzed, feeling like a child who had broken something priceless.

“I…” I didn’t mean to listen.

The single word was all I managed before his brow furrowed, his face contorting with the effort of holding back another wave of nausea.

I clamped my mouth shut, the rest of the sentence dying in my throat. A chill spread through my limbs.

Serena knelt, gracefully gathering the largest shards of glass. She moved with an easy confidence, as if she were the lady of this house.

“I’ll take care of this,” she said without looking up.

I stared at Liam. He was still gasping for air against the doorframe, his eyes shut, refusing to look at me.

He was in pain. Because of me.

That realization finally broke my paralysis. I turned and fled. Not to the glass conservatory, but straight out the front door of the villa.

It was raining, a cold, biting downpour that plastered my hair to my face.

His voice, laced with panic, chased after me. “Thea! Where are you going? Come back!”

I reached the street, desperately flagging for a car, the rain soaking through my thin dress.

A taxi pulled over. I threw the door open and scrambled inside.

“The old lab facility, west of the city,” I managed, my voice trembling.

In the rearview mirror, I saw Liam run out into the rain. He didn’t have an umbrella; his expensive suit was instantly darkened by the downpour.

He slammed his hand on the window. “Thea, get out of the car! We can talk about this!”

The driver looked at us, confused.

“Please, just drive,” I whispered, lowering my head, unable to watch.

The car pulled away. Through the rear window, I saw him chase us for a few steps before stopping, a helpless figure shrinking in the rain-swept darkness.

I leaned back against the seat, my entire body shaking with a cold that had nothing to do with the weather.

The taxi dropped me outside the abandoned laboratory. It was a derelict skeleton of a building, fenced off and forgotten.

I pushed open the creaking gate and stood in the rain, staring at the place that had shattered my life.

I couldn’t remember any of it. He had told me the story, but it felt like someone else’s life. The only piece of my past I had was a name: Liam Blackwood.

It should have been me, I thought. If I had died, he wouldn’t be in so much pain now.

I don’t know how long I stood there before a black sedan screeched to a halt beside me, sending a plume of water into the air.

Liam stormed out of the driver’s side, his face pale and furious.

He grabbed my arm, his grip so tight it hurt.

“What are you doing here?” he roared, his eyes shot through with red veins of anger and fear. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?”

He practically threw me into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

Back in the driver's seat, he slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

“Thea Reed!” he seethed, his breath coming in ragged gasps. “Do you have to put me through this? Do you enjoy watching me lose my mind over you?”

His voice was a raw thunder in the enclosed space of the car, making my ears ring.

I looked at his enraged face, at his rain-soaked, disheveled state, and I could smell it. That scent. My scent.

I had made him sick again. I had been thoughtless again.

“I’m sorry… I’m causing trouble for you again,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

It was as if all the anger drained out of him at once. He slumped back against his seat and closed his eyes.

The only sounds were his harsh breathing and the inescapable scent of me.

The rain had softened to a drizzle by the time we got back to the villa.

Serena was waiting by the gate, holding an umbrella. She hurried over as our car approached.

Liam got out first.

She immediately tilted the umbrella to cover him, leaving her own shoulder exposed to the rain.

“Liam,” she said, her voice a mixture of chiding and concern as she handed him a glass of water and a few pills. “You know you can’t get chilled. You forgot your medication.”

Then, as if just noticing me, she gave me a brief, dismissive glance.

I slid out of the car, drenched and shivering, and watched them.

Liam took the pills and water without a word, a gesture so practiced it was clear this was their routine.

He looked at me then, his mouth opening as if to say something.

But I didn’t want to hear it.

I walked past them, into the house, up the stairs to my bedroom, and locked the door behind me.

Seconds later, his footsteps pounded down the hall. He tried the knob.

“Open the door, Thea! We need to talk.” His voice was a low growl, tight with repressed anger and exhaustion.

Talk? About what?

I walked to the window and pushed it open. A cold, damp wind gusted in, making me shudder. The garden below was a blur in the misty rain.

I stared down at the manicured lawn.

“If you push me any further,” I said, my voice quiet but clear enough to carry through the door, “I’ll jump.”

The rattling of the doorknob stopped.

The world went silent, save for the gentle patter of the rain.

I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest and burying my face.

The tears finally came, hot and silent, mingling with the cold rainwater in my hair.

I had made him angry again.

I was his problem again.

What do I have to do, I sobbed into my knees, to stop being his pain?

The footsteps outside the door retreated.

I stayed there all night, leaning against the cold wood, and drifted into a fitful sleep just as the sun came up.