The Curse Keepers Collection (113 page)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’d hate to cut up that pretty face. All you have to do is cooperate.”

I couldn’t let the man cut Momma. I ran to the staircase and set my foot on the top step, but an older man’s voice stopped me. He whispered in my ear, “No, Ellie. Don’t go downstairs.”

Ahone.

“Ellie.” Collin’s insistent voice filled my head.

My eyes blinked open and I was blinded by the sunlight glaring in my eyes. A shadow crossed over my face and Collin’s worried face blocked out the sun. I was on my back and he was leaning over me, his hand by my shoulder, bracing his body. “He was there,” I whispered in horror.

Collin shook his head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Ahone. He was there the night Momma was murdered.”

Collin’s eyes flew open in astonishment and he gently helped me sit up, keeping his arm around my back for support.

“Ahone was there! He told me not to go downstairs. He wouldn’t let me help her.”

“Oh, fuck.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, trying to remember every detail. It was all still there, perfectly preserved like a DVD on pause; all I had to do was rewind it. “The man wasn’t there for me. He was there for a ring.” I looked up into his face. “She told the man who broke into our house that she didn’t know about the ring.” I shook my head. “She was lying to him. I
know
it, deep in my gut. But how do I know she was lying when I don’t remember anything else?”

Sorrow filled his eyes. “I don’t know, Ellie. Maybe you know from your memories, even if you can’t access them.”

“He told her that he thought she was smart and that was the reason Higgins asked her to come to Charlotte.”

His face paled. “Charlotte?”

The pieces were starting to fit together. “My mother saw the Ricardo collection a week before she was murdered. She was murdered because of a
ring
, the ring I found buried under my oak tree, the one I’m wearing now”—I held up my right hand and showed him the ring—“not because that man was after me.”

“
Your mother saw the Ricardo Estate?
” His arm dropped away from me as his back became rigid. “You told me you thought there was a connection between the estate and your mother’s death, but I didn’t understand how you’d made that leap.” He watched me for several seconds, terror washing over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I only found out a couple of weeks ago. From a friend of my parents.”

Collin leaned forward, looking like he was about to be sick. He squeezed his eyes shut. “
Fuck
.”

“Why are you so freaked out?” Collin was always in control when it came to the curse and all things supernatural. The only time I’d seen him panic was after Wapi attacked me in the ocean. He’d suddenly realized the danger I was truly in from the gods and demons and was hit by the full impact of what he’d done
to me
. So what had him freaked out now?

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “We’re just pawns in some monumental game. He’s been planning this for centuries.” His voice sounded strained.

I wanted to argue with him, but I knew he was right. I just didn’t know what to do about it. “So Ahone let that man kill my mother?”

Collin shook his head and turned away. “I don’t know, Ellie.” He ran a hand over his scalp, refusing to look at me. “Maybe . . . Probably.”

In light of everything else, I didn’t doubt it.

“Then Ahone killed my mother
and
my father,” I whispered as the horror washed over me. “He took them both from me.
Why?
” Tears slid down my cheeks.

Collin grabbed my hand, linking our fingers and holding tight, still staring out into the ocean. “I don’t know.”

We sat in silence, watching the waves together. Tears burned my eyes. Ahone was a monster too. “I have his fucking mark on my back. I want it off!”

He turned to me, pity in his eyes. “It’s too late. You’ve been picked.”

“Oh, God, Collin.” My voice cracked as I desperately tried to keep control, but panic was overtaking my senses. “I feel so disgusted and used and—”

“Betrayed.” His voice was full of resignation.

“Yes.
Betrayed
.”

His mouth twisted into a sad smile. “I know exactly how you feel.”

I should be angry. Where was my anger? But all I felt was a numbing iciness. “Why? Why would he do this?”

“I don’t know. He’s a god. Was he bored? Was it fun for him to set this all up? But you can’t trust anything he says or does.”

Collin was right, and part of me hated him for that. He’d tried to warn me, but I’d refused to listen. “What about Okeus? Are you suggesting that I should follow him instead?”

“No. He’s just as bad, although maybe Ahone is worse. Okeus was still trapped after the curse broke, but he sent his messenger to me. Kanim told me that Ahone had used me, just like Ahone had used Manteo years before to create the curse. If I pledged myself to Okeus, he said, I would be rewarded for my loyalty.” He looked away. “At least Okeus is fairly up-front about his deviousness. Ahone masquerades as a kind, benevolent god.”

Tears welled in my eyes and my throat burned, but I was too shocked and devastated to cry. What little I knew about the curse was all a lie, which meant I knew absolutely nothing.

Collin stood and reached down for me. “Come here.”

“What are you doing?” I asked as he pulled me to my feet and started for the water.

“You need the ocean.”

I dug my heels into the sand. “No. It’s from Ahone. I don’t want any part of it.”

“Don’t be stubborn, Ellie. You need it whether you want it or not.” He continued to drag me. “And it may have been Ahone’s idea to invest us with the power of the earth and the sea, but they belong firmly to us. Especially you. You’re the witness to creation. And there’s no way he could have given that to you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Ellie, you saw it yourself. You were present at the birth of the gods. They have no control over that part of you.”

I still resisted. I knew it was stupid, but to go into the ocean felt like accepting what Ahone had done, and there was no way I’d ever accept it or him again.

Collin stopped pulling and I fell against his chest. He took advantage of me being off balance and scooped one arm around my back and the other under my knees, picking me up and holding me to his chest.

“Put me down, Collin!”

He was in the water in only a few strides, walking farther out until the waves hit his waist and he dropped my legs into them.

The power hit me as soon as my toes touched the water. I started to fall as the onslaught of power shot through my entire body. This was my most intense experience yet, and I struggled to stand once my feet hit the sand.

Collin wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me to his chest. “Fuck, Ellie. You’ve been without the ocean for longer than a week.”

But I was too overwhelmed to answer. Before I realized what he was doing, his right hand reached for mine, pressing our palms together.

The Manitou of every living thing filled my head at once, and I felt like I was drowning in the sea of life. Collin and I were even more powerful than the last time we’d joined our marks. His emotions pushed through our connection—guilt, worry, love. Deep love and deep lust.

I looked into his face and wasn’t surprised to see that his eyes were dilated and filled with intense longing. His mouth hovered over mine, waiting for me to close the distance of an inch. I stretched up on the balls of my feet, but I sunk into the sand when I felt something else seep through our connection.

Deception.

Even after his confession, he was still purposely hiding things from me.

“Don’t fight it, Ellie,” he groaned, and his mouth covered mine.

It was all too much for me to resist. Getting lost in the intensity of the experience, I wrapped my free hand around the back of his head as his tongue coaxed my lips apart and explored my mouth.

I wanted him. All reason fled and my only thought was to be with him in every sense of the word. Nothing made me feel so complete as when I was one with Collin, and I was desperate to feel whole again. I reached for the button of his shorts . . .

Suddenly I felt myself falling into a dark abyss.

I was in the valley where I’d seen my father weeks ago, only now the sky was overcast, tinting the scene a dingy gray. The flowers were wilted and dying, and the air was thick and heavy and difficult to suck into my lungs.

“I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”

I’d recognize that voice anywhere. I spun around, my heart racing. Okeus sat on a tall-backed wooden chair that resembled a mini throne. The tall grass was trampled flat underneath the chair and in a three-foot circle around it. He was dressed in modern clothes again—a pair of dark gray dress pants and a pale-gray dress shirt tailored to fit his toned body, the first two buttons of the collar open. His black hair was cropped short, and his piercing, dark, almost black eyes were pinned to my face. “Ellie, come speak with me.” He gestured to the path of flattened grass that led from me to him.

“I don’t want to be here. Send me back.” I spun around in a circle, looking for an escape. The last time I’d met Okeus like this had been in a dream. The only reason I had escaped was because I’d screamed for David, who had woken me up and saved me. Who would save me now?

Okeus crossed his legs, his mouth twisting in irritation. “There’s no need to be so dramatic, Ellie. I don’t plan on stealing your virtue today, although I have to wonder how much virtue you actually possess.” He placed both hands on the arms of the chair and grinned. “You were about to fuck Collin on a public beach in front of families with children.”

Horror flooded me. He was right. What had happened to me?

He shook his head and tsked. “No need for shame, Ellie. It’s not surprising. You and Collin were handpicked for one another. The perfect match in every way.” Okeus stood and took a step toward me. “Did you know your mother had five miscarriages before giving birth to you?”

“No.” I knew my parents had experienced infertility issues, which explained why Momma was in her late thirties and Daddy in his forties when she got pregnant with me. But I didn’t know about the miscarriages.

“Do you know why?” He looked amused.

I shook my head. But the truth hit me as soon as he opened his mouth to gloat.

“Those pregnancies were unacceptable. Three were boys, which automatically ruled them out since Collin isn’t gay. One of the girls was deemed incompatible. She would have been too meek and Collin wouldn’t have given her the time of day. The second would have developed leukemia at age six, then died ten years later. Finally, there was you.” He grinned and took several steps toward me, stopping two feet in front of me. “And you were
perfect
. A fire that would catch his interest. A stubbornness to keep him on his toes.” Okeus lifted his hand to my cheek, running his fingertips down to my jaw. “A beauty that would draw him to you. The fact that you are a witness to creation was a lucky coincidence.”

I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around myself. My thin sundress was soaking wet and clung to every curve of my body. “There are no coincidences in any of this.”

His gaze fell to my right hand. “Take that ring on your hand. If only you knew its history, its intended purpose.”

I curled my fingers into a fist.

A devious grin spread across his face. “No coincidences? Are you so sure of that? Granted, many things have been finely orchestrated, more nuanced than you can imagine, but even Ahone can’t control the Manitou. It is a force greater than all of us.” His knuckles slid down my bare arm. “He
could
control your characteristics. Your personality. But he couldn’t bestow you with your pure soul. That was out of his control, as hard as it must be for the
creator god
to accept. But you can be sure that once he realized his good fortune, he chose to use it to his advantage.”

“For what purpose? I could have been anyone and all Collin had to do was grab my hand to break the curse.”

A grin spread across the god’s face. “Now
there
is a good question. But there’s no arguing that you were meant to be Collin’s, Ellie.”

This was surreal. “I thought you wanted me for
yourself
.”

“What I need from you is easily enough given. I’ll impregnate you. You’ll gestate my child, then give birth. If it’s successful, we’ll repeat the process.”

Disgust nauseated me. “You’re such a romantic. A girl needs a little wining and dining, you know.”

He lifted his eyebrows with a half shrug. “I tried that last time and it didn’t work. I’ve decided to take a more direct approach.”

“Sorry. Still not interested. And why would you care if Collin and I get together?”

“Ellie, Ellie.” He shook his head, smirking with amusement. “How easily you forget. Why
would
I care if you were perfect for Collin? It’s all part of Ahone’s game.”

Okeus lifted his hands from his body and shrugged, his grin fading. He began to slowly circle me, but I was too paralyzed with shock to stop him. Why would Ahone care if Collin fell for me? He wanted Collin to open the gate, but obviously there was more to it, though I had no idea what it meant.

“You needn’t feel shame for your intense attraction to Collin. Ahone created you to be drawn to each other. Throw in your Curse Keeper bond and your souls’ strong connection . . . well, I’m not sure why you fight him. It’s a waste of energy.”

Obviously he had brought me here for a reason, and it had to be more than just an opportunity for him to gloat. “What do you want, Okeus?”

He stopped in front of me, his forehead wrinkled with a mock scowl. “So
impatient
.” He turned away and walked back to his chair, sliding into his seat with a graceful flourish. “You came to Collin with questions, did you not? I would like to give you answers.”

“Why would you help me?”

He sighed, rolling his eyes in boredom. “To prove to you that I have no hard feelings over our last encounter, nor over your foolish decision to choose Ahone instead of me.”