The Curse Keepers Collection (140 page)

I followed after glancing down the street to make sure no one had noticed us, even though it was too late for that. Luckily, the area was completely deserted. I only hoped no one in the flooring showroom was watching.

We stood in the small foyer, the keypad on the secured door mocking us. “Will your crowbar get us through that door too?” I asked, some of my anger fading.

“Why? Eager to try your new toy?” he asked with a sneer.

“Shut the fuck up, Collin.” I was ready to kick someone’s ass and if Collin wanted to volunteer for the position, more power to him.

“No, my crowbar won’t open it, but
this
will.” He punched in a code and then tugged on the door.

I gasped when it opened. “How do you know the code?”

“I watched them with binoculars, remember? It wasn’t hard to figure it out. I planned to check it out later anyway.”

I started to walk past him, the tip of the sword pointed toward the floor, but he grabbed my arm and held me still. “Slow down. I know you want to find him, but we need to sneak in before we start eviscerating people,” he whispered sarcastically. “Let me go first.”

I almost pointed out that breaking the glass door and my attack on David’s car had ruined any chance at stealth, but instead I nodded. And I had no problem letting Collin take the lead. There was no denying he had more experience with break-ins than I did, even though I seemed to be racking up a fair amount of experience the more time I spent with him.

He stuck his head through the opening and peered around the corner before slipping through the door and motioning me to follow. We entered a dim six-foot-long hallway with stark white walls and a single flickering fluorescent overhead. At the end of the hall was another door with a keypad.

Collin lifted his hand to punch the buttons, but stopped and turned at the waist to stare into my eyes. His irritation softened. “Ellie, I know you’re upset, but don’t do anything stupid with that sword when we get in here.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see what we find.” I hadn’t grabbed it with the intention of protecting myself from human attackers. Even though it was daylight, I wanted to be equipped to defend myself against supernatural foes. But if David was inside and using the sword would help me save him, I wouldn’t hesitate, not even if the threat came from a human. Still, I hoped I wouldn’t need it.

Scowling, Collin entered the same code he’d used before, which—to my surprise—worked. He slowly opened the door and scanned the room before motioning to me. We stood in a large space that reminded me of some type of distribution center. Two rows of empty stainless steel tables that resembled the ones in the kitchen of the New Moon filled the space. Collin tossed the crowbar onto one of the tables with a loud clang, then walked down one of the rows and spun around in a circle. “They’re gone.”

“No shit.” Anger surged through my body again, burning away the tears that stung behind my eyes. My grip on the sword tightened. “How did this happen?” My accusation was clear.

His mouth dropped open. “How did
what
happen?”

“How did they manage to take him away without us even noticing? We were both watching the building!” I shouted.

Collin walked over to me and snatched the sword out of my hand before I could stop him. He dropped it on a nearby table and then grabbed my shoulders, his face firm. “I know you’re upset right now, and if it makes you feel better to blame me for this along with everything else, go right ahead. But I need you to focus and tell me what that woman said to you.”

I took several deep breaths.

His face softened. “If you want me to help you find David, you have to give me whatever information you have.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right. Now was not the time to be petty. “Her name is Miriam Peabody. I’m sure she’s the woman Allison met. She confirmed they’ve been collecting weapons. She said there’s a war brewing and they’ve been preparing for centuries. According to her, it’s important to not only be prepared but to pick the right side.”

He frowned. “What’s the right side?”

I gave him an ugly smirk. “The side that benefits them. Whatever the fuck side that is.”

Collin placed the heel of his hand against his temple, looking bewildered.

I nodded. “I ran in front of her limo and pretended I’d been attacked so she’d let me in the back. She did, but she knew who I was from the start. She called me by my full name—Elinor Dare Lancaster—and told me she had been about to start looking for me.”

His face tensed as his gaze jerked to my face. “Why?”

“She said I’m a key player in the outcome of the war. She also knows about you and the fact that you’ve been marking my doors. She called you by name.”

“They’ve been watching us?”

I didn’t answer his question. I didn’t know how. “They took David.” My voice broke and I stiffened my shoulders. “She offered me a trade.”

He lowered his hand. “What does she want?”

“She took the ring and she wants me to show her the gate to hell.”

“She wants
what
?” His eyes widened and he took a step back. “
Why?
And how does she even know about Popogusso?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But she wants both of us to show it to her and prove it’s real. She seemed confused when I mentioned the curse.”

He rested his butt against a table, looking like he’d been blindsided. “The only people who know anything about the curse on my side are my grandmother and my brother. And I
know
they didn’t tell anyone.”

“The only people who know about it on my side are Claire and Drew, and they would never tell . . . And I told Tom last night,” I added as an afterthought.

He bounced upright, his face red. “You did
what
?”

Who the hell was he to judge me? “You’ve been out on your boat frolicking with all your demon buddies while I’ve been stuck in Manteo dealing with the fallout of their extracurricular activities. Which brings me face-to-face with Officer Helmsworth on a regular basis.” I took a breath, my irritation softening. I couldn’t blame Collin for being upset—this affected him too. “Look, he’s not stupid, Collin. He knows there are supernatural forces behind what’s happening in Manteo, and he knows I’m square in the middle of it. The Raven Mockers are killing people every night and he’s trying to save them. Tsagasi told me what to do, so I told Tom. Was I supposed to keep that from him?”

He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. “What a fucked-up mess.”

“But I only told him late last night, so there’s no way they found out from him.”

He stood upright and turned toward me, his eyes gleaming with determination. “We need to figure out how they know about us.”

“I can’t think of anyone else.”

He stared at the floor for several seconds before looking up. “You’re forgetting about Myra.”

I shook my head. “There’s no way Myra would tell anyone.”

“She’s seeing someone now, right? Didn’t she move to Durham to be closer to him?”

“Well . . . yeah . . . but she wouldn’t tell him.”

“What if she slipped? You and I both know how easy it is to get caught up in the heat of the moment and say something you don’t mean to.”

My face burned with the memory of the things I’d said to him. Things I should have kept to myself. Yet despite his betrayal and the fact that the man I loved was in mortal danger, my body responded to the memory of being with Collin. I hated him a little for that, even though it wasn’t his fault. “Steven’s an old family friend. He would never put my life in danger.”

The pain in his eyes told me that he noticed the venom behind my words. “Maybe he accidently told someone, Ellie. We need to talk to him and find out.”

I just couldn’t believe Myra would tell him, let alone that Steven would sell me out. “What if it wasn’t someone human? What if a supernatural creature spilled the beans?”

“To what end?”

“I don’t know!” I shouted in irritation. “Maybe it’s Ahone. Miriam took the ring. She knows it does something.”

He pushed out a breath. “Let’s presume you’re right about Ahone wanting you to use the ring at the gate, and I suspect you are—why would he encourage them to take it from you? That doesn’t make sense.” He paused. “But if my grandmother was right about the Dare line being the only ones with the power to use it, they won’t be able to do anything with it anyway.”

None of this speculation changed the fact that David was in danger
right now
. My fears pushed to the surface, but I buried them again. I didn’t have time to cry. “I told her that you hated David and you’d need some other incentive to cooperate. I said that you needed the spear and the Sword of Galahad.”

He shook his head. “What’s the Sword of Galahad?”

“It’s a sword from the twelfth century that was blessed for King Richard the Lionheart to take to the Crusades.”

“And why would they want that?” He squinted in confusion. “Why would
we
want that?”

“It was blessed to kill demons.”

His eyes widened. “You’re shitting me? They think they have a sword that can kill demons?” he scoffed. “What idiots.”

“Collin, they
do
have a sword that will kill demons. Tsagasi confirmed it. Hell, I have a sword that kills demons. I killed three of them two nights ago. But that’s not all the Sword of Galahad does. Tsagasi says it can subdue gods too.”

His face paled. “How can such a thing exist?”

“I don’t know, but I need it.”

He shook his head, clenching his jaw. “No, Ellie. That’s the
last
thing you need. You’ll become a target.”

“Wake up, Collin! I already
am
a target!”

He paced for several seconds looking like he was about to be sick. “So you told her the only way I would show was if she gave you the spear and the sword. What did she say?”

“She only agreed to the spear. I told her I had to check with you.” I suddenly remembered the phone and dug it out of my pocket. “She handed me this and told me to call her when you had your answer. She said to use the most recent number.”

He reached for the mobile. “That’s no burner.” I handed it to him and he frowned. “It’s an
iPhone
. How much money do these people have?”

When he tapped the screen, I recognized the screen saver and instantly felt like I was going to throw up. “Oh, God, it’s David’s.”

I reached to snatch it back, but Collin refused to release it. “Ellie. There’s a video on it.”

My breath caught. “I want to see it.”

He held it close to his chest, pity in his eyes. “I think I should see it first.”

His pity only made me angrier. “Why? Are you trying to
protect
me? Too goddamned late for that. I’ve had to face more shit in the last couple of months than I did in my entire life before meeting you.”

“Ellie.”

“You can’t protect me from this, Collin. You can’t protect me from
anything
.”

He looked devastated. “I know.”

His hold loosened and I grabbed the phone with shaky fingers, holding it out so we both could see it.

Then I pressed play.

The video started with Miriam’s face. “Hello, Elinor. If you’re watching this, then you’ve discovered who I am. I want you to be completely aware of what you’re dealing with.” She stepped away from the frame, revealing David. He was tied to a chair, his face bloody.

My stomach jolted and I sucked in a breath. Collin snaked an arm around my back, pulling me to his side.

David looked at the screen, and I could tell that one of his eyes was starting to swell.

“Tell Elinor what we instructed you to say.”

“Go to bloody hell.” He spat blood at her and it landed on her skirt.

The man next him—the man who had gone out to talk to Miriam before she left—hit David in the face and his head slumped to the side.

I felt wobbly, but Collin’s hold tightened.

“I expected better manners from you,
Dr.
Preston,” she reprimanded in a disapproving tone. “Now tell Elinor what she needs to do.”

He looked at the camera, anger radiating from his body. “Ellie, don’t listen to her. Don’t do it.”

The man hit him again.

Miriam released an exaggerated sigh. “Dr. Preston, we really don’t want to have to do this, but you leave us with no choice.”

Blood dripped from his nose and down to his light-blue dress shirt. The one I’d ironed for him that morning, even though he’d protested he could do it himself. Hysteria bubbled below the surface and I struggled to keep it under control. “All right, but I want to give her a message first.”

Miriam hesitated. “Fine. But then you must deliver the message you were instructed to give.”

He looked into the camera, his face softening. “Ellie, listen to me.”

I released a soft whimper. They were beating the shit out of him and he was still only thinking about me.

He leaned forward as though he could get closer to me. “If something happens to me, don’t blame yourself. I wouldn’t give up a single minute with you. Give Myra’s boyfriend my regards. And remember that I love you, Ellie. I’ll always love you. Not even death can separate my love from you.”

“Enough,” Miriam shouted. “Deliver the instructions.”

“They want you to meet them in the Manteo aquarium at eleven on Tuesday night.” His gaze dropped as though he was ashamed, then he looked up again. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I didn’t want to tell them where the gate was, but they forced me.”

“He lied to them,” I blurted out.

His uninjured eye widened and his back stiffened. “But don’t do it, Ellie! Don’t meet them. They’ll kill me anyway, and they won’t let you go when they’re done.”

The man punched him twice more and David slumped in the chair. The camera turned back to Miriam. “Elinor, I hope I haven’t underestimated your attachment to young Dr. Preston. Meet us tomorrow night or we’ll deliver him to your front doorstep. And you won’t like the way he looks when we’re done with him.” Then the video ended.

I stared at the frozen frame on the screen. A sob broke loose and I reached back my hand to throw the phone across the room, but Collin grabbed my fist and pried the device loose before I could do it.