The Curse Keepers Collection (135 page)

My mouth parted in surprise. “We had an agreement. You can’t change the rules, David.”

He spread his hands wide. “Well, guess bloody fucking what, Ellie?
I just did
.”

I shook my head. “No. I agreed to take your suggestions under advisement, but
I
get to decide. We both came up with the rules. We
both
agreed on them.”

“Forgive me if I was too naïve to realize what I was getting myself into. Last night made it perfectly clear that we’re playing a very deadly game. It’s one thing to talk in abstracts, but this is
real
.”

“And Ukinim and Ilena were real too. You didn’t try to change the rules then.”

“This is different, Ellie!”

“Why? Because you lost someone you care about?” I shouted. “Well, welcome to my world! I’ve lost both my parents to this curse!” But even as I said the words, I realized how unfair I was being. I was asking him to put his life and the lives of people he cared about completely in my hands. How would I feel if I was in his position? All my fight fled and I sagged against the wall.

His voice softened. “I’m your in to the Ricardo Estate. I’m the person they’re expecting. I know what to look for. This is my area of expertise. You need me to do this, Ellie, but if you involve him, I won’t take any part in it.”

I gaped at him. “You’re serious?”

“I am unless you can give me a really good reason to change my mind. And the fact that he has experience with breaking and entering isn’t about to sway me.”

I could argue that I needed Collin to fight supernatural beings, but we were dealing with humans in this situation. And David had just admitted Collin’s criminal past wouldn’t convince him we needed his help. “Okay. What’s your plan?”

“As you know, I have an appointment with the Guardians at ten tomorrow morning. They’re calling themselves the Henderson Foundation. I told them I know everything Allison knew about the collection and that I have the research she conducted.”

“Do you?”

“No.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide.

“Don’t look so surprised. Collin isn’t your only boyfriend who’s capable of deception.”

I bit back an ugly retort. My temper never resolved anything. “David, this could all go so wrong.” I lifted my chin. If he wanted to do this alone, we could still make it work. “But I can think on my feet too, so I think we’ll be able to get the information we need.”

“There is no we, Ellie. Me. I’m going alone.”

“No.” I shook my head. “No way.”

“They’re only expecting me.”

“Tell them I’m your assistant or something.”

“No. They told me to come alone.”

“And that doesn’t make you question the situation?” My voice rose. “Why would they want you to come alone if it wasn’t dangerous?”

His cold eyes pinned mine. “There’s something important enough in these pieces that people are dying for them. I want to find out what it is. I owe that to Allison.”

“You didn’t kill her.”

He brushed past me into the living room and I grabbed his arm, but he shrugged me off.

“David, she would have died whether we were there or not. I think she died because she went to see the collection.”

He spun around to glare at me. “You don’t know that for sure. Those
things
made sure to prolong her torture until you showed up. There was definitely a personal tie there.”

I swallowed the lump of guilt in my throat. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I’d do anything to change it.”

He released a heavy sigh and then pulled me against his chest. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I know this isn’t your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s Collin Dailey. He fucked up everything when he walked into your restaurant and broke the curse.” His voice hardened. “Her death is on
his
head.” He leaned back and looked down into my eyes. “So, no. We will
not
be using that wanker’s help.”

I nodded, biting back tears. “Okay. No Collin.”

His eyes softened. “Thank you.”

Fundamentally, I disagreed with his request, but he was right about Collin’s culpability. Ultimately, Allison was dead because Collin had broken the curse. But I could take it a step further and say I was partially responsible for not learning enough to stop him. Ahone may have stolen my memories of the curse, but I flat out refused to relearn anything about it. And after Collin had confessed that Ahone had convinced him to do it, I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. I wondered what I would have done if a duplicitous god had approached me and tried to convince me that breaking the curse was best for all concerned. Would I have fallen for it too?

But I couldn’t make David endure Collin’s presence. I’d already put him through enough, and he alone had an invitation to see the collection. We didn’t need Collin for that. While I struggled to convince myself it was a good plan, I knew in my gut it wasn’t. I needed Collin there—
we
needed him, whether David wanted to admit it or not.

David was right about one thing. He’d graduated to a new level last night. He was no longer a tagalong assistant; he was a partner, whether he had magical powers or not. A good team was made up of people with various skills and talents. We needed to focus on David’s strengths and put them to the test the next morning.

“So what’s the rest of your plan?” I asked.

“Tomorrow morning, you’ll stay here while I go to Charlotte.”

I put my hands on my hips, glaring at him. “I’m going to Charlotte with you, David. If you even think about trying to go without me, I’ll just rent a car and follow you.” He started to protest and I held up my hand. “And I know the address now—I saw it over your shoulder when you were looking up the driving directions—so don’t think I won’t do it.”

“I’m supposed to go alone, Ellie.”

“It doesn’t mean I can’t go to Charlotte with you.”

He looked unconvinced.

“Do you really want me to be two hours away from you? We both know how many of these creatures are out there right now. What if they attack me while you’re gone?” I purposely avoided reminding him about my new protectors, purchased through my blood oath.

And that was what finally swayed him. My safety, not his own.

Since his meeting was at ten in the morning and the drive to Charlotte was two and a half hours, we decided to get up early and leave by six thirty to make sure he wouldn’t be late if we ran into traffic. We looked up the address online and checked out satellite images of the office building and the surrounding area.

The office was in an industrial area, which made it sketchier. When we looked up the addresses of the offices around it, we discovered that many of the businesses had closed.

I sat next to David on the sofa, staring at the screen of his laptop. “I don’t like it, David. It’s isolated for a reason. It’s not safe.”

“I’ll be fine, Ellie.”

“I can’t let you do this. I’ll worry too much.”

He offered me a soft smile. “Now you’ll know how I feel when you run headlong into dangerous situations.”

“That’s different. I actually have powers I can use to protect myself.”

“And I have a power too.” He tapped his temple. “Don’t sell me short. I can go in and inventory items and determine if they’re potentially important or not. If you go in, you’ll have no idea what you’re looking at.”

I couldn’t argue with his line of reasoning. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

His eyebrows rose with a hint of teasing. “I know a thing or two about that.”

He’d been so solemn all day that his momentary playfulness gave me some reassurance. “So are you and I going to be okay?”

“You mean
us
?” His eyes widened slightly. “Ellie, we had a fight, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to break up. Every couple fights.”

“But this is different.” I tried to settle the anxious feeling in my chest. “This is so very different.”

He put his arm around my back, snugging me against the side of his body. “I reacted badly last night and I’m not proud of it, but I’m only human. I’m glad I told you how I really felt instead of bottling it up inside. We need to know where we stand with each other.”

I nodded.

He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. “Tell me how
you
feel, Ellie.”

I sat up straighter. “About what?”

“About anything.”

“I’m not happy that you’re going into that office building without me.”

His mouth tilted into a lopsided grin. “I knew that already. Tell me something I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing.”

“That’s shite and you know it. Tell me how you feel about not including Collin in this trip to Charlotte.
Really
.”

I looked at our joined hands, unsure how to answer. But he wanted the truth. “I understand why you don’t want him there and I can’t argue—you have valid points, after all—but I still think we should include him. Call it a gut instinct.” He stayed silent, though it was obvious he wanted to say something. “But I want to give you more input in how we do things, which is why I’m going along with your request.”

“But you resent me for it.”

“No.” I took a breath to steady my voice. “I resent myself for letting this happen.”

“Are you sorry you’re involved with me, Ellie?”

I looked up into his worried eyes. “Not in the way you think. You may have acted like my connection to Collin didn’t bother you in the beginning, but I knew it was something we couldn’t ignore. Still, I don’t regret a single minute I’ve spent with you. Selfish or not, I can’t imagine having gone through any of this without you. But if I were a better person, I would have done things differently. I would have protected you from the pain I’m putting you through right now.”

His gaze dropped to our joined hands, and I realized how tenuous our connection was. My connection to Collin was eternal and out of my control, but my connection to David was like a thread that could snap at any second.

“David, you made me a promise not to leave me, but just like when we set the rules, you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into.” I lowered my face so it was underneath his. “I’m telling you that you aren’t bound by that promise.”

He shook his head, sadness filling his eyes. “Ellie, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for several moments before I squared my shoulders. “I want to know more about your plan for tomorrow.”

He released a heavy breath. “I don’t really have one. Like I said, I just want to inventory what they have for now, and if an opportunity arises that I can take advantage of, I’ll do it.”

“How will you know what to look for? I had no idea which one of Allison’s swords to use until Tsagasi helped me. From the sounds of it, there are lots of weapons in the collection.”

David turned my right hand over and traced the circle on my palm with his fingertip. “Our only course of action is for me to go in and check it out; then you and I can figure out where to go from there.”

“David, I’m scared.”

He tugged me against him, fitting my head under his chin as he held me close. It was a warm and familiar contact that felt natural, like coming home. I wrapped my arms around his back and held him tight.

“I know, Ellie, and so am I. And I know you’d probably be more comfortable if we had an elaborate plan like whatever Collin would come up with, but in this case, I think the simpler, the better.”

I forced a smile and glanced up at him. “Actually, Collin seems to go for simple too. So maybe you two aren’t such opposites after all.”

He didn’t look happy with the comparison.

“Just don’t take any unnecessary risks,” I said, “and don’t ask too many questions either.”

He nodded, then let go of me and stood. “Let’s get to bed. We have a long day tomorrow.”

David fell asleep within minutes, but I lay awake for at least a half hour, staring at the dusty ceiling fan. Finally, I carefully slid out of bed and grabbed my cell phone. After all the time I’d spent thinking in bed, I’d realized that Tom still expected me home tonight. I needed to let him know I was going to be delayed for at least another day. And I needed to find out if the Raven Mockers had left Manteo when I did. And I still hadn’t called Collin to let him know about the change in plans.

I went out the back door and sat on the step, staring up at the starry sky. It felt so peaceful out there, alone in the dark. But the feeling was an illusion and I couldn’t forget that.

I found Tom’s number on my phone and pressed send. He answered right away. “Ellie, tell me that you’re back in town.”

I cringed. “I’m still in Chapel Hill and we’re going to Charlotte tomorrow.” I paused. “I take it things are still bad.”

“Worse. There were two deaths last night. I have no idea how to prevent them. It’s not like we can tell people who are sick that they need to put salt across their thresholds.”

“I know.” I sighed. “But the victims have all been sick, right? No one healthy?”

“Yeah, all sick.” He hesitated. “Why?”

“They’re here in Chapel Hill too. They killed a woman who had allergies, but they also went after a man who was completely healthy.”

“What the fuck am I dealing with, Ellie?”

I didn’t say anything.

“Ellie.”

“Tom, you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Ellie, I’m long past thinking any of this shit is crazy. What am I dealing with?”

Having an ally in the Manteo Police Department would be beneficial, and he had already made the leap to the supernatural. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know. It’s up to you whether you choose to believe me or not.”

“Okay.”

“They’re Raven Mockers.”

“Cherokee,” he whispered.

“Yeah. They weren’t recorded in Croatan history, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’ve encountered several Cherokee spirits here in Chapel Hill.”

“Croatan?” I heard him exhale. “What are the symbols on your doors?”

“Protection, just like I told you. Against demons and spirits. And Croatan gods.”

He was silent for several seconds. I expected him to start accusing me of lies and deceit, but instead he asked, “Okay, how do I get rid of them?”