Cursed (33 page)

The Red Man was nearby, fully materialized and glowing faintly in the dark attic.

Adrienne backed away until she hit the wall, too stunned to release the scream building up in her chest.

“What does the two mean?” he asked.

She stared.

“Girl!” His sharp tone was accompanied by a snap of his fingers.

“Duality,” she blurted out. “Balance with myself … and others, intuition and thought.”

He moved closer to her cards, peering at them.

Is this really happening?
She felt like she was close to fainting. “Are you … are you here to kill me?”

“No.” The dark opening of the hood turned to her. “Your cards say you haven’t been listening to the spirits. Probably why I’m here.”

She said nothing, terrified of moving or speaking.

“Maybe you’re not strong enough yet,” he added. He reached up to remove his hood.

She squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to imagine what kind of monster he was.

“Girl!” Another snap of his fingers.

She jumped, more afraid of what he’d do if she upset him than what he looked like. Adrienne opened one eye then the other.

Her heart felt like it stopped.

The Red Man was almost identical to Jayden, except his eyes were green. She gazed at him, emotion surging within her, even knowing it wasn’t the boy who held her heart then broke it.

“Sometimes our choices are hard,” he said. “Mine included. To continue chasing Therese or to take low hanging fruit?” His gaze swept over her. “Just one life.” The words were soft, yearning.

She pressed herself against the wall, not liking the way he looked at her.

“The easy route. I almost always take it,” he said. He shook his head. “I still might.”

“We’re going to break your curse,” she managed. “You can’t have either of us.”

“Intriguing,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “You don’t know.”

She said nothing. All along, she’d felt something was wrong. That maybe there was more to Therese’s story in New Orleans than she knew. It was disrespectful to think poorly of the dead, and so she’d chosen to focus on how good Therese was.

“Know what?” she asked, sensing she wasn’t going to be able to be oblivious any longer.

“Therese offered you in her place.”

“What? No.” She shook her head firmly. “She’d never do that.”

“You cannot deny that she is not what others remember. I know you know differently. I know you know she had a side that no one else knew.”

“Yes, but this is different.”

“I’ve had multiple chances to claim you. You’ve seen me and ignored me. Did you not think I wanted to speak to you?”

“How?” she asked. “I don’t never use black magic.”

“Our families are linked, Adrienne. You simply could’ve asked your ancestors, the one who condemned the ninety-nine in your maternal line,” he said. “But you didn’t.” He gestured at the cards. “You asked everyone what Therese was involved in except those who could tell you.”

Adrienne shook her head, starting to tremble. “Don’t matter now. I ain’t leavin’ here unless Jax kills me and drags me out.”

“Jax and the zombie. Almost as tragic as my love story,” he mused. “You don’t want to hear what I have to say, but you will hear it.” He approached as he spoke, his face harder than Jayden’s had ever been. The air around him rippled with his robe and the dark magic clinging to him.

Unable to move, she simply watched him come, tears stinging her eyes and cheeks.

“If your sister succeeds in breaking my curse, if she brings herself back to life permanently, I will claim thousands, maybe millions more,” he said quietly. “I will kill until the debt I owe is paid. The blood of the St. Croix will fill the streets, and I will spare no one.
No one.
I
must
claim the last life owed.”

Adrienne flinched at his tone.

“And all that I do will be a fraction of what the zombie will do, if she is permitted to find a new host and break the curse I am here to enforce.”

She looked up, astonished. “My sister –”

“Set you up. Set Jax up. Look at those cards, Adrienne.” He snatched her arm and dragged her back to them. “Duality. Power and intuition. Choices and fate. Life and Death. You and her.”

“I don’t understand!” she cried.

“Good and evil. An ancient prophecy brought to life by the curse in your House. If she rises again, she will bring unparalleled evil with her.”

Adrienne’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at the cards. He was reading them at a level she couldn’t imagine, one only a spirit could see.

He released her. She dropped to her knees.

“Which will you be, Adrienne? Because I know which your sister is. Without balance, there is destruction. I can kill you now, but I risk unleashing her upon the world without you to balance her.”

“You … you’re saying I’m meant to become a
mambos
, like my mother and grandmother?” she asked.

“I’m saying you are meant to become
the
mambos who prevents what the spirits fear will happen, should your sister reclaim what she’s lost,” he said quietly. “
This
is what prevents me from taking you. You were chosen, girl, to stop an ancient prophecy. The threat and the solution both originate from your House.”

She touched the cards. She tried to find untruth in his logic or an instinct that warned her he was manipulating or lying to her.

If anything, his words felt truer than any others she’d ever heard.

“If I become … powerful,” she murmured. “I can help Jayden.”

“You can help his family.
My
family. We are connected to yours and have been for four hundred years. The curse has linked our fates in a way that cannot be broken,” he answered.

“But Therese …”

“Has helped kill twenty three women. Innocent women.”

She looked up, unable to fathom Therese hurting anyone.

“No,” she said forcefully. “She gave me the journal. The song will break the spell. Why else would she do that, if she turned me over to you?”

“Because, sister of Therese...” He knelt beside her, bringing his intensity with him. “The song she wrote will free her of the spirit world. It will allow her to reclaim what she’s lost. Your sister has been dedicated to black magic for quite some time.”

“If that’s true, why did she give it …” she drifted off. “So I could bring her back. She didn’t know it was a song, did she?”

“Not until you figured it out.”

Adrienne felt ill.

“And now you have a choice, Adrienne,” he said. “You can accept your fate or you can become the last life I need to fulfill my debt and let the zombie loose upon the world. I fear, however, that my penance will be extended, if I don’t let you live. A dangerous prophecy is upon us, one you are involved in. If evil is loose upon the world, and I am the one who allowed it to happen … I’ve been down that road before. I don’t want to take a second trip.”

She shrank away from him. Her mind was reeling with the information he provided. The events of her week began to fall into place. The warnings her cards gave her, the connection she felt with Jayden... Jax’s threats.

The dark side of her sister she’d tried to forget.

Even the timing of her ability to sing being stripped. If what the Red Man said was true, she’d missed warnings from the spirits, who had taken a different type of action to prevent her from singing the song. The careful truth she’d been avoiding – that Therese had more than a curiosity for black magic – crystalized. It wasn’t possible that Therese claimed a temporary host without knowing what happened to the women whose bodies she overtook.

She dropped her gaze to the black journal. Pain like that she felt five years ago when she first heard the news her beloved sister had died robbed her of breath and made her double over. Her insides hurt with the kind of pain that came from no physical source but managed to be far more crippling.

Picking up the journal, she began to cry. The pain intensified, fed by fear that she was doing something she’d regret. Adrienne opened the diary with hands that shook almost too much for her to hold it.

She lowered the pages over the candle until they caught fire. Flames devoured the dry paper. She dropped the journal.

“Good girl.” The Red Man said. “Now, you leave, before they come back to claim your body.”

She shuddered, fresh terror filling her. Adrienne gathered her tarot cards clumsily and stuffed them into her backpack.

When she looked up, the Red Man was gone and light from the hallway spilled into the attic, indicating the door at the bottom of the stairs was open.

Unwilling to believe her sister meant to kill
her
, even if she’d taken other lives, Adrienne stumbled down the stairs, falling more than once. She ran blindly down a second set of stairs to the main floor and darted to the front door, wrenched it open, and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk.

She stopped and looked around, wanting to scream or break down and sob. Aware her danger wasn’t passed, she wiped her eyes quickly and oriented herself. She didn’t know anything about New Orleans or even what direction Jax had driven her. How did she get home?

A flash of red came from her peripheral. She turned and saw the faint glimmer of the Red Man’s robe leading up the stairs of the neighboring house, whose windows glowed warmly with light. The glimmer faded and disappeared.

Rene’s neighbor. The woman from the clinic.

Hope surging, Adrienne raced down the path the red light had gone to the front door of Jax’s neighbor. She pounded on the door and soon heard the sounds of someone approaching the door.

Rene’s aunt opened the door and stared at her.

“Rene do that?” she demanded, taking in Adrienne’s distraught features and swollen eyes.

Adrienne shook her head, unable to help the laugh that escaped. Within seconds, it turned into crying.

“C’mon, cinnamon rolls,” the woman said. “You in time for dinner.”

“I need … phone,” Adrienne managed.

“You need food. You all skin and bones. I’ll call Rene fo’ you and you eat.”

Adrienne nodded and made herself stop crying.

The nurse was on the phone before Adrienne slid her book bag to the ground. She spoke for a moment then handed the phone to Adrienne.

“What the hell you doing there?” Rene demanded.

“Jax.” She couldn’t get out any other words and definitely couldn’t explain that the Red Man had freed her.

Silence, and then, “Don’t go nowhere. You hear me? Don’t talk to no one, don’t do shit until I’m there.”

She nodded, not caring that he couldn’t see her.

“Put my aunt on.”

Adrienne handed the phone off to the round woman waiting. She went to the window to peek out, afraid she’d find Jax on the doorstep. His motorcycle was gone. The strange flashes of light on the sidewalk in front of his home drew her attention.

With a glance at Rene’s neighbor to make sure she was still on the phone, Adrienne cracked the front door open to get a better look.

She gasped, pushing the screen door open and trotting down the stairs.

The journal fire had spread. The flickering light was from flames that filled the attic of Jax’s house. Smoke poured out of one window on the main floor.

Adrienne watched, uncertain what to feel. Sorrow deep enough to make her hold herself. It wasn’t just about losing Therese and her last belonging. It was for the sense of betrayal that had sunk into her gut the moment she felt the Red Man’s words were true.

Horror and anger mixed with the sense of loss.

What if the Red Man was right about
everything
? He had to claim his last victim or a prophecy foretelling death would fall upon the world, brought by Therese when she rose again. Therese, Jayden, Rene, Jax … they and their families were all connected.

Adrienne couldn’t let her sister return, even if she didn’t understand yet how to prevent it. She had to learn to listen and channel the magic of the spirits and gods – fast – and find a way to unite those who could help her: Jayden, who didn’t know who she was, and Rene, who was loyal to his brother.

Adrienne watched the flames that began to lick at the roof of the house. Scared yet resolved, she mentally urged Rene to hurry, before Jax returned.

Seated in the ice cream shop just off campus, Jayden was trying to determine the exact shade of Kimmie’s skin was when his phone rang. He blinked out of his stupor. He’d been unable to take his eyes – or hands – off her since Saturday night.

He glanced at his phone to see who called. If it was his mother, he’d hang up. After their last talk, he was trying to figure out if he should call her drug counselor about her strange rant or just let her work things out. Today was the day his daddy was dropping the paperwork off at court to sue her for permanent, full custody of Izzy.

Tara’s name crossed the screen.

“You can talk to her later,” Kimmie said. “We’re busy talking.”

He clicked the button to hang up on Tara and set the phone down.

“Where were we?” Kimmie asked, her smile dazzling. “I think you were telling me again how beautiful I am.”

Jayden opened his mouth to speak. His phone rang again.

Come on, Tara, just find another ride home.

He hung up.

She called right back.

“All right, she’ll drive me crazy if I don’t get this,” he said apologetically to Kimmie. “Give me a sec.” Jayden untangled his arms and legs from her in the booth where they sat practically on top of one another and walked to the lobby.

Kimmie rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, Tara,” he said, answering.

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“Hanging out with the most incredible woman on the planet.” He flashed a smile at Kimmie, who grinned.

“Ugh you’re making me sick. I need you to come get me.”

“Later. Or you know what? Find your own ride, Tara. I’m tired of driving you around,” he said. “You drove Daddy crazy until he bought you the car you wanted and now, I take you everywhere.”

“You won’t come get me?” She sounded offended.

“Nope. You’re seventeen. Act like it.”

“Okay, fine. I just got raped by a gang, and now, I’m gonna call Daddy and tell him that you refused to come pick me up because you’re too busy hanging out with Kimmie!”

“You
what?
”

“Oh, are you listening now?” she snapped. “I’m your family, and I need your help. You promised to always come get me.”

“Tara, did you get hurt?”

“Not yet, but if you don’t come here,
now,
I’m going to walk into the first gang infested alley I find.”

“You’re acting psycho, Tara,” he said, not understanding what was wrong with his stepsister. “What’s going on?”

“Just come get me before I do something stupid. I’ll text you where I am.” She hung up.

Jayden stared at the phone. His heart had flipped when she said she’d been hurt. Whatever mess she got herself into, she clearly needed his help, if she was going to make up crazy stories.

She was acting like his mother. Something was wrong with everyone today. Except Kimmie, the only person making sense.

Jayden returned to the booth. “Kimmie, I gotta pick up Tara. She got into some trouble.”

“What? Now?” Kimmie frowned. “We’re supposed to spend the evening together.”

“We will,” he promised. “I just need to pick her up.”

“Okay.” Kimmie was watching him closely. “You’re sure it’s just Tara? Not like … someone else?”

“What’re you talking about?” he asked. He bent down and kissed her, long and deep, until she was breathless. “Just you, baby.”

Placated, Kimmie smiled.

Jayden left her reluctantly. Sometimes, it hurt being away from Kimmie. Today was one of those days, when walking away made him ache to the point where he was tempted to call Mickey and send him to pick up Tara.

But he’d promised Tara when they entered high school that he’d always put his family first. His phone buzzed, and he glanced down.

“Coffee Loa. What on earth are you doing on that side of town, Tara?” he murmured. He programmed the address into his phone’s GPS.

He went to his car and hopped in, waiting until the interior cooled down before pulling out of the parking lot. With the guidance of the GPS voice, Jayden managed to make it to the Coffee Loa in just under thirty minutes.

He expected to see his stepsister waiting for him outside. When he didn’t, he parked as close as he could get and walked down the block to the coffee shop.

Jayden entered and breathed deeply of the scent of espresso and incense. There were two customers in the shop, both of whom looked wasted or drugged. Either way, he assessed they probably needed the huge mugs of espresso in front of them.

A pretty woman in authentic African dress sat behind the register, her eyes on the door. She smiled when he entered.

Tara wasn’t there. Irritated at being pulled away from Kimmie, Jayden crossed to the friendly looking woman at the counter.

“Hi. I’m looking for my sister. She said she was here,” he said.

“Jayden?” Tara whipped open the heavy curtain separating the coffee shop from the back. “Took you long enough.”

He looked her over, expecting to see something wrong after her phone call. She appeared to be fine.

“Come on. I left Kimmie to come get you.”

“We’re not done yet,” Tara said, glancing at the woman behind the counter. “Candace and I need to talk to you, Jay.”

“Make it quick.”

Tara waved him back behind the curtain.

“I’m Candace,” the woman in African garb said.

“Jayden.” He waited for her to duck beneath the curtain then followed.

Tara sat down at a table in the middle of an area that resembled his grandmama’s too much for him to be comfortable. A shrine to one of the gods was on one side, and veves decorated the walls and floor.

“Sit, Jay,” Tara ordered.

“Nah. Let’s just go.”

“Please, Jayden. It’s important to your sister that you sit and talk for a moment,” Candace said, her polished accent and soft voice easing his concern she’d be another crackpot like his grandmama.

He debated for a moment then sat. “What’s this about?”

“It’s about Kimmie putting curses on people,” Tara said bluntly. “She did it to Adrienne and she’s done it to you.”

“Leave Kimmie out of this,” he said firmly. “She’s the love of my life, Tara.”

“Um, no, she’s not. You broke up with her over the summer. Ask Mickey.”

He shifted, uncertain why so many people seemed to think they knew more about his life and heart than he did.

“Do you recognize her?” Tara pulled up a pic on her phone and slid it across the table to him.

Jayden glanced down then looked again, unable to pull his attention away from the angelic girl with white-blonde hair and green amethyst eyes. He knew her from somewhere. He just wasn’t certain where. She wore the cheer squad uniform from the academy, and the photo featured the girl and Tara, grinning for the camera. The picture was a self-portrait taken by Tara.

He knew all the girls on the cheer squad. Why didn’t he recognize this one?

A memory teased him, dancing just out of reach. He heard a faint ballad sung in a voice that was unfamiliar and achingly sweet, a siren song he wanted to hear more of.

“Jay?” Tara prodded.

The song slid back into the depths of his mind.

“I feel like I should know her,” he said then shook his head. “But I don’t.”

“Her name is Adrienne,” Tara said. “You were like, head over heels for her two days ago.”

“No. I’d remember that. I’ve been in love with Kimmie for years.”

Tara gave a noisy, exasperated sigh and looked to Candace expectantly.

“Do you remember these?” Candace asked, holding out the dog tags he’d been searching for Saturday.

“Of course. Grandmama Toussaint gave them to me.” He took them. “How did you get them?”

“You gave them to Adrienne,” Tara said impatiently.

He studied Adrienne’s picture again. His heart belonged to Kimmie, but if not … wow. He’d be all over the beautiful blonde.

“These have a protection spell on them. When you took them off, Kimmie’s hexes were able to take hold,” Candace explained, motioning to the tags.

“Grandmama said never to take them off.” He gazed at the necklace, puzzled as to why he did take them off. Why they ended up with a stranger he’d never met, but whom he couldn’t take his eyes off of. “I don’t believe this stuff, but would putting these back on … change anything?”

“It will prevent more hexes and the current curse from growing stronger. But they will not undo what has been done,” Candace answered. “Kimmie can lift her curse or I can help you lift it over time.”

Tara reached for her phone.

Jayden waved her hand away and pulled it closer to him, eyes on Adrienne’s photo.

“What happened to her?” he asked. “Why did she give back the dog tags?”

“Because you’re an ass, Jay,” Tara snapped. “I’ll send you the bloomin’ pic. Give me my phone.”

He rolled his eyes and slid it back to her. “So you think Kimmie what? Made me forget her?”

“Yep. And put a love spell on you so you’d go back to her.”

“That’s crazy. I’ve always loved her.” Jayden rose, uncomfortable with the talk and unhappy they were slamming Kimmie so much. “Come on, Tara, let’s go.” He turned to leave.

“Do you have any missing time? Any days where there are whole sections you simply can’t remember?” Candace asked.

Jayden froze, hand on the black curtain.

“Like where were you Saturday?” Tara added. “You left early in the morning and didn’t come back until after the party started.”

His hand dropped. He’d been thinking about it earlier today, too. Mickey asked him where he was Saturday, and so had another student from the football team.

“Okay. So I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Do you remember Friday and what Kimmie did to Adrienne?” Tara asked.

He thought hard. He remembered going to school and the football game, but there were blackouts. Like, wasn’t there a pep rally? Did he miss it for some reason?

“Here. One of the other girls sent this to me,” Tara said, handing him her phone once more. “Watch the clip.”

Jayden took it and flicked the play button. It was the pep rally.

He was there, greeting all the members of the football time that ran out of the locker room, like usual. Frustrated, he watched, unable to recall the scene at all.

The cheer squad ran back to the center of the gym. He recognized all the girls – but one. Adrienne.

She was small, slender and gorgeous. The camera zoomed in on her as she strode to the microphone. The music for the National Anthem started. She began to sing, and then suddenly, coughed loudly.

“Whoa,” he said, trying not to smile. He immediately felt bad. The look on her face made him sad for her.

She tried again and again, finally running out of the gym. Tara followed her into the locker rooms, and the clip ended.

“I don’t remember this,” he murmured. “Why?” He looked to Candace.

“Because, Jayden, you’re under a curse. Put these back on,” she instructed, handing him the dog tags. “Your grandmama is as powerful as Marie Leveau was. No one near here can do what she can.”

He accepted his necklace and pulled it on, expecting to feel different once he did.

He didn’t. He still loved Kimmie, still didn’t know who Adrienne was or why he felt like he should know her.

His phone rang. Kimmie’s name flashed, and he grinned, thrilled to hear from her. Without caring what Tara and Candace thought, he answered.

“Hey, baby,” he said.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Picking up Tara. I’ll be back soon.”

“Hmmm. Okay. I feel like you’re ignoring me.”

“No, Kimmie. We’re leaving now,” he said, waving at Tara. “Hey, do you know an Adrienne St. Croix?”

There was a pause, then a tight, “No.”

“Oh. I thought she was on the cheer squad. I saw the video from the pep rally.”

“Oh, that Adrienne. She
was
on the cheer squad,” Kimmie said. “She’s a scholarship student and decided not to stay at school. Are you with someone?”

Scholarship?
His dad would have a fit. The tense note in Kimmie’s voice troubled him. She was too perfect to be jealous or upset over some other girl on the cheer squad.

Even one who looked like Adrienne.

“Just Tara and one of her friends,” he replied. “I’ll give you a call in a few minutes.”

“Okay. Hurry.”

“I will.” He hung up, perplexed, and looked at Tara. “I’d never date a scholarship girl.”

“You would this one,” Tara retorted. “She’s nice. I like her.”

He raised an eyebrow. Tara didn’t like any other girl she hung out with enough to compliment her.

“Will you sit down with us?” Candace asked.

“No. I’ve gotta get back to Kimmie,” he said. “Tara, if you want a ride, you better come now. I’m not coming to get you later.”