The Curse Keepers (Curse Keepers series) (19 page)

I realized that Collin was still holding my hand. And that he was shirtless. And so was I. I tried to pull my hand free, but his fingers dug in as he grinned.

“I can read you like a book, Ellie. You wear your emotions on your face. You’d make a terrible con. I bet you suck at poker.”

“Good thing I have no intention of becoming a con.” No sense telling him I’d never played poker.

“What do you want to do with your life?” He still wore his grin, but his tone turned serious. “Do you plan on being a waitress the rest of your life? Are you waiting for some rich tourist to show up and sweep you off your feet so you can get your house with a three-car garage and granite counters?”

He had no right to judge me, but he’d heard me tell Oscar pretty much the same thing the day before so I guess I couldn’t blame him. I could have defended myself, but instead decided to turn it around on him. “What do
you
want to become? You want to be a thief for the rest of your life?”

The look in his eyes turned wicked.

“You told Lila you lived in Wanchese, and Marino said you had a boat. Are you a fisherman?” Wanchese was the other town on Roanoke Island, the commercial fishing port and where a lot of fishermen lived.

He winked. “Guilty as charged.”

“Somehow being a criminal and a commercial fisherman seem contradictory.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

“You used to live in Buxton.”

“Good job, Detective Lancaster,” he teased. “What else have you deduced about me?”

“You have a younger brother.”

“That doesn’t count. I told you that one.”

“You are loyal to your family and traditions.”

Surprisingly, the smile fell from his face. “Yes, Ellie I am. To a fault. Don’t forget it.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant and I was afraid to ask, not that I thought he’d tell me anyway. “What does
mowcottowosh umpe
mean?”

His grip tightened. “Where did you hear that?”

I sure wasn’t going to tell him that my father had recited it to me in an attempt to drive me away, thinking I was an evil spirit. “I must have heard you say it when you got rid of the god.”

“I never said those words.”

“Do you know what they mean?”

He turned his head to look out the windshield.

“You do know. Tell me. Why would I know them if you didn’t say them?”

“The Manteo Keepers have known things your side doesn’t. Information beyond what you should have learned as the Dare Keeper. Manteo performed the ceremony that created the curse, an act he regretted to the day he died. He spent the rest of his life trying to prepare our line for the day the curse broke.”

“So why would I know words you didn’t use?”

“Those words come from the protection spell for the Dare line.
Mowcottowosh umpe
means ‘black water.’”

“Why would black water stop a god?”

“It didn’t stop a god. I never said those words.”

“Maybe you didn’t, but I did. And maybe it didn’t stop the god entirely, but it made him pause.”

Collin didn’t answer, instead staring at the mark on my palm.

“If the god put his mark on me so it could come back to suck my Manitou later, I guess that means it’s not dead.”

“Gods and spirits don’t die. They can only be subdued temporarily or sent back to the spirit world.”

“So what did you do to it?”

“I used the power of my Curse Keeper mark along with the words of protection to send him away.”

“Why not send him back to the spirit world?”

“Two reasons. One, while I think you and I can take care of lesser spirits on our own, we have to combine our power to send gods and demons back. Like in the warehouse when our palms touched. And two, anything we send back right now won’t stay there. The gate to the spirit world is open and it would only return. They will only stay locked away if the gate is closed.”

“Will you teach me the words of protection?”

“No.”

I started to pull away, but his hand tightened around my wrist.

“I can’t teach them to you because you have your own. Our line didn’t pass yours down because they assumed you would take your role seriously. Obviously, they were wrong.” In spite of his words, his voice was soft and nonaccusatory.

I watched his face. Collin was still hiding things from me, but at least he was finally sharing information. “We’re stronger together now. Will our power increase?”

“Probably.”

“What do we do with it?”

He looked up and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “So curious now. Where was this curiosity when you were growing up? When you should have learned all of this?”

I had no intention of sharing my ugly past with Collin Dailey, especially when he refused to share his. Some things were better left buried. “What time is it?”

He looked confused. “What?”

“I have to be at work at four. What time is it?”

“A little before noon.”

“That early?” It had been an eventful day. I tugged on my hand. “Can I put my shirt on now?”

He dropped his hold. “I never stopped you from putting it back on before.”

We both knew that was a lie, but I figured arguing the point would only dig me deeper. We seemed to be working together now so why stir things up again? Besides, I’d sat next to him for several minutes topless except for my white bra, and it seemed to have no effect on him. That was a good thing, so why did it bother me?

Maybe because staring at his bare chest did strange things to my stomach and other lower parts.

Collin grabbed his shirt off the floor as I picked up my blouse off the seat. As he bent over, I noticed more symbols tattooed on his back and his arms. What did they mean? Did I only need just one?

“We can get something to eat on the way back to Rodanthe. Hopefully, Mrs. Evelyn Abernathy will be home, and we can retrieve your cup.”

“And get me to work on time, right?” I’d left fifteen minutes early the day before. I needed all the hours I could get.

“There are more important things to worry about than your waitress job.” Cranky Collin was back. Yay.

“I have bills to pay, Collin.”

“And so do I, Ellie, but look where my priorities lie.”

Ah, another dig. And we’d been getting along so well. “We have at least two hours to work on getting the cup back, so calm down.”

He tugged his shirt over his head and started the truck. “I’ll calm down when this whole mess is over.”

“That makes two of us.”

We drove out of the woods and back into Buxton. I looked at him in surprise. “Is this a good idea? Shouldn’t we get out of here?”

“We should, but since you can’t protect yourself from evil spirits, I have to get some supplies so I can mark you.”

I needed the mark whether I knew the words of protection or not, but I decided to be the bigger person and not point that fact out.

Collin pulled off the highway at a rundown strip mall, stopping in front of the Curl Up and Dye hair salon.

“Do you need a haircut or are you trying to tell me something?”

He made a face. “Very funny. I have to get something here.”

“Is this another front for more shady activities?”

His eyebrows rose as he turned to me. “I just admitted to partaking in nefarious activities earlier so this should come as no surprise. Does that mean you’re going to stay in the truck this time?”

“No.”

He shook his head with a grimace. “You are the
biggest
pain in the ass.”

“You said that already. Let’s go.” I had the door open and was climbing out.

As we made our way to the front door, Collin leaned toward me. “I suppose asking you to keep quiet and let me do all the talking is wasted breath?”

“Probably.” I opened the front door and waved him in. “After you, sir.”

He chuckled, although it looked as though it pained him to do so.

When we entered the salon—and I use the word loosely—the eyes of six women fixated on Collin. Their jaws dropped and I could swear one of the customers actually drooled. Then they turned to me and glared. Part of me wanted to tell them that they were hugely mistaken. The last man on earth
I’d be with was Collin Dailey, but Collin would have loved that a little too much. No sense feeding that man’s ego any more than it already had been.

One of the beauticians sauntered toward him, her hips swinging so much it was a wonder they didn’t cause an earthquake. Collin gave her an appreciative leer.

She stopped in front of him, giving him a seductive pout. “What can I do for you, sugar?”

Collin glanced down at her wedding ring, then back up to her. “Seeing how you’re already married, I suppose I’ll have to settle for second best now.”

The woman touched her mouth and actually looked like she was about to blush.
Please
. I couldn’t believe women fell for this bullshit.

“Any chance Rosalina is here?”

The woman grinned. “Rosalina, huh? Yeah, she’s in the back on break.” She looked over her shoulder and yelled, “
Rosalina
!”

A Hispanic woman poked her head out from the back room. “Yeah?”

“A gorgeous man is here asking for you.”

A woman who looked to be in her early twenties walked out and smiled. “Collin.” She glided toward him with a grace no one else in this salon possessed—in fact few women alive possessed that kind of grace. She was beautiful, and not the made-up beauty most of the women here were trying to achieve. Her thick, long, black hair was pulled back into a braid, but it looked loose and messy in a fashion model kind of way. Her face was practically makeup free, but her thick dark lashes made it apparent she didn’t need mascara. She was beautiful, and she was the perfect counterpart to Collin’s good looks. Brad and Angelina had nothing on these two.

When she reached him, she put her hands on his arm and stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Where’ve you been the last month?”

“Around.”

That was an interesting piece of information. I had a feeling Collin was new to Wanchese. Had he moved there a month ago? Why? I took a step closer to them. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Collin?” I’d planned to actually sit back and observe this outing, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

Collin’s shoulders tightened. “Rosalina, this is Ellie. Ellie, Rosalina.”

That was a disappointment. I wanted more information. “Nice to meet you, Rosalina. How do you two know each other?”

Rosalina looked from Collin to me, then back again. She didn’t look amused. Was she jealous?
Of me
? “Family friends. And you?”

“I guess you could say the same.”

“So then you two aren’t together?”

Collin laughed. “Rosalina, you know me better than that.”

What the hell did that mean? That I wasn’t good enough to get laid by the demigod Collin Fucking Dailey? Again, why did I care?

I rolled my eyes and scoffed. “As if. I have no interest in him.”

The woman looked surprised, as did the other women in the salon, all of whom were listening to our conversation. An old woman looked over her shoulder at the woman cutting her hair. “Is she one of those
lesbians
? You know they’re quite popular now.”

I started to set her straight, but what did I care what these women thought? Instead, Collin patted my head like I was a puppy. “Yes, she is. She’s into alternative lifestyles, which is why I need to talk to you, Rosalina.”

I didn’t like the sound of where this was going.

He moved to a corner with her, and he whispered something. She nodded and whispered to him, then disappeared in the back room. His eyes found mine. “Ellie, why don’t you wait in the truck?”

He was up to something, and I’d bet my ass it was something no good. “I think I’ll stick around.”

A few minutes later, Rosalina returned with a brown paper bag. They whispered again and Collin handed her some cash. She glanced down at it, then kissed him on the cheek again. But the way her hands clung to his arm and her lips lingered on his cheek told me she wanted more. Did Collin not want her or was she smart enough to not act on her desire, steering clear of Collin the man-whore?

Collin spun around and grabbed my arm, maneuvering me toward the door.

“What was that about?” I asked when we reached the sidewalk.

He grinned. “Jealous?”

My forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Jealous? Jealous over
what
?” I climbed into the truck and waited for him to get in on the other side. “I want to know what’s in the paper bag.”

“You really have to ask?” He started the truck and was about to back up when Rosalina burst out the door, a white paper in her hand.

She moved to the driver’s side door and handed Collin an envelope through the window. “Conner said to give this to you when I saw you.”

Collin’s hand tightened on the steering wheel. “Conner knew I’d come see you?” This obviously sounded like bad news to Collin.

“Yeah, about a week after you left, he brought it to me and told me to have everything ready.”

I leaned over the brown bag that sat between us, nudging the top open with my finger. All I could make out was a box, a folded piece of paper, and a few cuticle sticks.

Collin jerked the envelope from Rosalina’s hand. His jaw clenched. “Connor needs to stay the fuck out of it.”

She held her hands up as she backed up to the curb. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Collin ignored her and backed out of the space.

I watched Rosalina standing on the curb, a sad look on her face. “Who’s Conner?”

If looks really could kill, the one Collin gave me then would have made it look like I’d been attacked by a serial killer. “None of your fucking business.”

So our truce was over. Again.

C
HAPTER
F
OURTEEN