The Curse Keepers Collection (11 page)

“I’m a customer.”

“Ellie’s the customer here, not you. I don’t see you buying anything, only giving me lip.”

I shook my head with a groan. “Oscar, can you just let him go? Otherwise I’ll be stuck with his bad attitude all the way back to Manteo.”

Oscar tilted his head to the back. “I’m only doing this for Ellie. I don’t like the way you’re talking to her.”

“Thank you. How kind of you,” Collin muttered with a sarcastic tone before he headed toward the hall.

When he disappeared, Oscar’s voice lowered. “You in some kind of trouble, Ellie?”

“What?” My eyes widened when I realized what he was asking. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. Collin’s not my boyfriend or anything. We’re just doing some . . . 
business
together.”

“You’re a good girl, and I don’t want to see you getting mixed up with the likes of someone controlling like him.”

“Don’t worry, Oscar. It’s a family thing.” Just not the kind of family thing he’d probably think.

“Is that why he’s here looking for the cup with you?”

I nodded. “He’s not happy I pawned it.” Talk about an understatement.

Oscar knew that the cup was a family heirloom. He’d had possession of it five times in the last four years. He’d only given me fifty dollars the first time, but once he realized how much I wanted it back, he increased the amount he paid me each time. But every cent I’d made over the last four months had gone to essentials like food and rent. And the roof for the inn. The damn hurricane hadn’t helped things. I may not have believed in the curse, but that didn’t mean the cup didn’t have sentimental value. Tears burned my eyes, and for the first time ever, I was thankful that Daddy probably wouldn’t be mentally competent to understand that I’d lost it.

“I’m sorry, Ellie.”

I offered him a teary smile. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I laughed. “It’s not like I had the five hundred dollars plus interest anyway. I was just hoping you still had it.”

“I wish you could catch a break, girl.”

I sniffed, refusing to look where Collin had disappeared. “Me too, but what are you going to do? It’s family.” I tossed my hair and forced a smile. “Not to worry. I’ll just find a rich husband to take all my money troubles away.”

Collin emerged from the back and stared at me with a withering glare. I knew that he’d heard me. Did he really think I meant it? Who the hell cared what he thought? For all I knew, the world was about to end, and I really didn’t want to be anywhere around Collin Dailey when it happened. Too bad we’d both be at ground zero. Together. Yippee.

“Marry me, Ellie Lancaster.” Oscar winked. “Let me take you away from all of this.”

Putting my hands on my hips, I gave him a saucy leer. “You know you don’t have enough money for me, Oscar.”

It was a running joke that started the first time I brought the cup in to pawn. When Oscar had only offered fifty dollars, I had protested, saying I needed more money. Oscar had teased that he couldn’t give more for the cup, but he’d marry me instead. He was joking, and I knew it. He was old enough to be my father, and in some strange way had become like a father figure to me after I’d told him my financial tale of woe during my second pawn. Especially after I confessed Daddy’s condition.

Collin moved toward the door, completely ignoring me. He was probably pissed we didn’t know where the cup was. But that didn’t give him the right to be rude.

“You sure you’re all right with him, Ellie? I’ve seen his kind before and I don’t like him. He’ll use you and throw you away.”

“I’m not a real fan, either. But unfortunately I’m stuck with him for a few days.”

“Family or not, if he gives you any trouble, call me. I mean it.”

The serious look in his eyes told me that he did. “Thanks, Oscar.” I leaned over the counter and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward me so I could kiss his cheek. “You’re the best.” I dropped my hold and walked to the front door.

“My offer still stands, girl.”

I smiled playfully. “Your marriage proposal or taking care of cranky men?”

“Both.”

Laughing, I blew him a kiss. “Better be careful. One day I might accept.”

Collin leaned against the hood of the truck with crossed arms, watching me with a condescending glare. Great, more judgment from the high and mighty Collin Dailey.

“Look, I know we don’t know where the cup is—”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Who says we don’t know where it is?”

My feet froze as my eyes narrowed. I knew that he’d heard Oscar. “The cup was sold, and we don’t know who bought it.”

He uncrossed his arms and pulled a small square of paper from his pocket, waving it before tucking it back inside. “Get in the truck. We’re headed to Rodanthe.”

I gaped in disbelief. “Is that what I think it is? How did you get it?”

He shook his head and headed to the driver’s door. “Oh ye of little faith.”

I really wished he’d stop saying that.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

“How did you get that address?” I asked before I’d shut my door.

He gave me a lopsided grin. “Some things are better left unknown.”

But I knew that Collin had to have slipped into the back and gotten the name and address while I was talking to Oscar. I felt sleazy and slimy even if I hadn’t done anything wrong. If Oscar ever found out, he might think I’d been part of Collin’s scheme. And while I didn’t care what the jackass next to me thought of me, I
did
care what Oscar thought. Nevertheless, there was nothing I could do about it now, and we really did need to find the cup.

This was what really paved the way to hell: bad deeds reasoned away as good intentions.

No, the spirits being unleashed upon the world were what paved the road to hell, and it was up to Collin and me to make sure that didn’t happen. And that included getting the cup.

“So it’s in Rodanthe.”

“That’s who he sold it to, a Mrs. Evelyn Abernathy in Rodanthe, North Carolina.”

“Since Rodanthe’s on the beach, it’s going to take forever to get there with the tourist traffic.”

He shrugged. “At least we have a lead.”

We drove for ten minutes of agonizing silence. I knew that Rodanthe had to be over an hour drive with the traffic. I was never going to be able to stand the quiet. “Does your radio work?”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“The radio.” I pointed to the dashboard. “Does it work?”

“Well, yeah . . . ”

I leaned over and switched it on, turning the knob when static burst through the speakers. I tuned in to a Top 40 station.

A frown pinched his mouth. “I don’t really want to listen to that.”

Still hunched forward in front of the radio, I looked up into his face with an expression of mock innocence. “Does that mean you’d rather chat? Want to tell me what you know about the curse?”

His face scrunched with a grimace. “By all means, listen to the radio.”

I sat back and grinned. “Thanks, I will.” Then I began to sing along with the song. I laughed at Collin’s pained look. “Perhaps you’d rather listen to country?” I shouted over the wind and the music.

“I prefer the silence,” he shouted back.

I shrugged with a grin, singing the rest of the way to Rodanthe, as loudly as possible and with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. Collin appeared irritated by the curious looks of passengers in the cars passing by, but I didn’t care. Life was too short to go out acting all stuffy and self-important. I’d rather go out singing, even if I was slightly off-key.

When we drove through Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, my stomach twinged with butterflies. We were close to Rodanthe, and we had a name and an address but no plan on how to go about retrieving the cup. I turned down the radio and looked at Collin. “So I take it you have some kind of plan?”

“What?” His eyes widened in mock surprise. “I think you said something, but I’m deaf from being trapped in this truck with loud music and bad singing.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Tell that to those dead birds on the side of the road. They heard your singing and dove out of the sky, head first into the pavement to escape the torture.”

I looked behind us at the multiple seagull bodies lining the road. I hadn’t noticed them before. “Very funny. Why are they really dead?” When I thought about the dead birds on my porch, the hair on my arms prickled.

“Honestly?”

“Of course, honestly. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

His mouth twisted in uncertainty. “The impression you give me is that you want to know as little as possible. Otherwise why would you hardly know anything about the curse?”

I started to protest but stopped. I could see how he’d come to that conclusion. And if I were honest with myself, there was a bit of truth to his statement. “You haven’t made it easy for me.” I held up a hand when he started to protest. “It’s not a condemnation, just a statement of how I felt. I’m on the defensive with you.”

He was silent for a moment before he shifted his weight. “We haven’t exactly gotten off to a great start.” He grinned. “Maybe we should start again.”

“You said that this afternoon. Right before you tried to prove your superiority over me.”

Amusement filled his eyes. “It’s not difficult to demonstrate my superiority over you.”

“And this is your way of starting over?”

“Okay, let’s try again.”

“Or we just call it hopeless and tolerate each other until this thing is done.”

He smirked. “That works too.”

Why did I get the impression that was his intention all along? “You still need to explain the feeling I got from touching you yesterday.”

His amusement turned to a seductive look. “I don’t usually have to explain my effect on women.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, Lordy. Please. Spare me the horrific details.” I shifted in the seat so I could get a better look at him, pulling my skirt down to cover my thigh. “You said it’s from the power in our blood.”

His grin turned wicked.

I put up a hand. “
Please
. I really don’t want to hear anything pornographic, so let’s stick to the
Curse Keeper
power in our blood. I take it we need this power to close the gate?”

The teasing look on his face turned to a scowl. “What the hell
do
you know? Anything?”

I opened my mouth to answer with a snappy retort but caught myself. As much as the man sitting next to me irritated the shit out of me, I needed him. He had all the answers, and I had none. Considering his position, his condescension was justifiable. I only had to endure him until we closed the gate, and then I never had to see him again. I paused.
I never have to see him again, right
? Crap. I couldn’t begin to consider what my responsibilities might be after we closed the gate. Now didn’t seem like a good time to ask. I was sure Collin was eager to get rid of me too.

Traffic slowed to a crawl, and Collin glanced at me before returning his attention to the road. “We need our combined power to shut the gate and/or contain the gods of creation and the four wind gods. We’ll be able to contain the lesser spirits on our own. Or at least I hope.”

“Oh.” This was real. Spirits were emerging from their realm, roaming the earth, and I was really part of containing them. I gulped.

He sighed and shook his head. “We need to work on getting the cup back.”

I took a few seconds to calm down. “So why do you think those dead birds might have something to do with all of this?”

“I don’t know for sure, but the storm last night was probably caused by one of the wind gods. He’s probably who unearthed the Lost Colony.”

“So what does that have to do with the dead birds?”

“I suspect the wind god sucked the life out of them.”

I grabbed the dashboard. “Wait. What do you mean
sucked the life out of them
?”

“Ellie, these spirits have been locked up a long time. Not much is known about them, but we do know that they were meant to straddle the earthly and spiritual worlds. They should never have been locked up in one realm or the other. Perhaps they’re weak from being gone so long and need the life force of the animals to renew their energy.”