The Curse Keepers Collection (116 page)

Tom insisted on driving me home. I considered refusing, but I was still shaken from seeing the photo of the little boy. Besides, I suspected that the air-conditioning in his squad car got cool pretty quickly. It was better than walking in the heat.

“Are you going to let me ride in front?” I asked as we walked across the parking lot.

“This time,” he said, opening his car door. He glanced over the top of the car and winked at me. “Don’t get too used to it.”

I slid in the passenger seat. It occurred to me that I’d been in this exact car a month and a half ago when Tom found me in the botanical gardens shouting at Okeus. “Who says I plan to?”

He put his key in the ignition and shot me a weary gaze. “Call it a crazy hunch, but I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we’re thrown together.”

I was envious of his AC by the time we pulled up next to my house. I considered sitting in front of the blasting cold air for several seconds, but David burst out of the door, his face contorted in anger.

“Shit. Your boyfriend’s pissed,” Tom muttered as he climbed out of the car, readjusting his belt.

I opened my car door as David started shouting, “What is the meaning of this? On what grounds did you bring her in for questioning?”

He charged toward Tom, but I jumped in his path and grabbed his arm, holding him back. “David, it’s okay.”

“Bloody hell, it is.”

“Dr. Preston.” Tom hooked his thumbs in his belt. “Ellie isn’t in trouble. I asked her in as a consultant.”

The tension in David’s body faded, and he glanced from my face to Tom’s. “What the bollocks does that mean?”

I dropped my hold on his arm. “Something weird has been happening, and Tom wanted to make me aware of the situation.”

Confusion washed over David’s face.

“I’ll explain it on the way to Chapel Hill.”

Tom narrowed his eyes, anger stiffening his shoulders. “You’re still going out of town? Even after what I told you?”

I met his gaze without flinching. “And I told you I don’t know what it was. We’re going to Chapel Hill to get information. We’ll be back Sunday night.”

Tom didn’t look happy.

“It’s the best I can do.”

The officer moved closer to me and lowered his voice. “People are dying, Ellie. Kids.”

“I know.” My voice broke. A few months ago my biggest worry had been scraping together enough money to help put a new roof on the inn. Now I was expected to save lives even though I had no idea what I was doing. “The only thing I know to tell you is that people can try to protect themselves by putting salt on their windowsills and across the threshold of their doors.” I paused. “It should keep the evil out.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “You can’t be serious? How am I supposed to tell people that?”

“It’s all I have at the moment. If anything changes, let me know.”

“I still don’t like it.”

My patience gave way to irritation. This day had sucked all the way around, and I was just about through with it. “Well, welcome to my world. There’s a shitload of crap I don’t like, but I don’t have a say in any of it.”

We had a stare-off for several seconds before Tom swore under his breath and looked away. He turned and climbed back into his squad car, leaving without another word.

“Did you actually tell Tom Helmsworth what’s going on?” David asked from behind me. He sounded incredulous.

I stared in the direction in which the police car had disappeared. I had a sort-of ally in the police department now. I was still trying to determine if this was a good thing or a bad one. “No. But Tom’s a perceptive guy, and he’s figured out quite a few things on his own. He knows I had something to do with the badgers disappearing.”

David put his hands on my hips and pressed his chest against my back. “It was inevitable, I suppose. As long as he’s not blaming you.” He paused. “I take it that something else has happened . . . ”

I spun around to face him, and an unexpected wave of love and gratitude washed through me as I took in his concerned expression. I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and holding him tight. My hormones might have been infatuated with Collin, but I needed
this
man. He was my rock, my stability. He was the support I needed that Collin wouldn’t—or couldn’t—give. But after what had happened at the beach—both with Collin
and
Okeus—I was suddenly terrified of losing David.

“Hey.” He gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead and pulled away to study my face. “What’s going on?”

“Can we just go? You have no idea how much I need to get out of Manteo.”

“Of course, love. I’ve put your suitcase in the trunk already. Do you need anything else?”

Did I? The crushing guilt of what had happened with Collin was making me addled. I rubbed my forehead, trying to focus. “Um . . . I need to talk to Becky about overseeing the inn this weekend.”

His hands ran up and down my arms. “I’ve already spoken with her. She’s all set. She’ll call you if a problem arises.”

“Okay,” I said, distracted.

“What did you and Tom talk about? It has obviously upset you.”

I gazed up into his face. “Can we talk about it in the car?”

“Of course, Ellie.”

He led me to his car and we drove out of Manteo in silence as I leaned my elbow on the armrest, staring out the window. Something was terrorizing Manteo, and I had to wonder if Tom was right. Was it wrong to leave at a time like this? David didn’t need me to talk to his colleague, and he didn’t need me to visit Charlotte with him. I wondered if I should stay and try to convince him to go without me, only the selfish part of me didn’t want to be alone for that long. Even if it meant possibly saving people. What did that say about me? But the truth was I had no idea what was killing those people or how to stop it. David had more resources at his disposal to figure it out. I wasn’t sure what good I could do if I stayed, and the truth was
I
needed David.

As he started across the bridge from the island to the mainland, I was struck with a new worry. How could I have forgotten about my agoraphobia, which was the curse’s way of preventing me from traveling too far from Manteo and the gate to Popogusso at the edge of the Elizabethan Botanical Gardens? Of course, the curse had allowed me to leave the island before when fate required it.

David must have sensed my trepidation because as soon as we crossed the first bridge, he reached over and covered my hand. “How are you doing?”

“Okay so far.” I usually felt an immediate pressure on my chest when I left the island. Since I felt fine, it appeared that this trip was sanctioned, but the question was by whom? Ahone?

My anger surged out of nowhere, but I pushed it back down. It wouldn’t do me any good right now. I’d save it for when I needed it.

“What happened?” David asked.

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about. “With Tom?”

“Of course, with Tom.”

I knew I was going to have to tell him about seeing Collin, but I wanted to tell him about our newest adversary first. “Tom called and asked me to come in so he could tell me about some recent cases.” Since Tom had told David he’d called me in as a consultant, I decided to keep the harsh tone of his phone call to myself. After I shared the information Tom had given me, I asked, “Do you have any idea what’s doing this?”

“Maybe, but what I’m considering is Cherokee.” He paused, his forehead wrinkling in concentration. “If it’s what I’m thinking, it would mean that it’s not acting completely in character.”

“Yeah, well none of us seem to be acting in character lately, so we’ll take that into account. And besides, you said Big Nasty is Cherokee, so why wouldn’t this thing be?”

“Mishiginebig—or the great horned serpent—crosses multiple tribal belief systems. The Raven Mockers seem to be purely Cherokee, although it’s possible that they were Croatan too and the information has just been lost to history along with just about everything else.” His mouth twisted to the side as he considered it.

“Raven Mockers?”

“They haunt the deathbed of a victim and hasten his or her death. They add the years they shave off the victim’s life to their own, which means they can grow to be very, very old. The victim never even knows the Raven Mocker is there, since no one can see them.”

“They’re invisible?”

“To everyone except for those with powerful magic. The legends say that the victims’ families often report hearing the screaming of a large bird. Did Tom mention anything like that?”

“No.”

David was silent for a moment. “You said the deaths came out of nowhere, and if the victims were in as much agony as legend has it, the families were probably too upset and preoccupied to notice.”

“You said that if Raven Mockers were responsible, they were acting out of character. If it’s them, what are they doing that’s different?”

“The legend says that Raven Mockers go after the hearts of the elderly, but you said one of the victims was a middle-aged woman and the other was a kid. That’s unusual.”

I pursed my lips in silence. This was bad . . . and probably about to get much worse.

“Ellie, the old woman you met in the road the other day . . . ” He cast a wary glance at me.

I shifted in my seat. “Do you think I saw a ghost of one of the victims?” I couldn’t help but think about Claire and her newfound “gift.” “The thought had occurred to me.”

“No.” He paused, looking serious. “It might have been a Raven Mocker. Legend has it that they sometimes tell a person their future . . . and that the predictions they make are set in stone.”

“So if I’m to believe the message she gave me, I’m a vessel and will either be the salvation of the world or its destroyer?”

“A vessel can mean many things.”

“Yeah.” Maybe so, but my mind kept racing right to Okeus.

“One more thing about the Raven Mocker and its vision. I told you that they can only be seen by someone with powerful magic, but there’s more to it. If they are seen, it’s a death sentence for them. Once a Raven Mocker has been seen by someone with magic, they only have seven days to live.”

“What?” That got my attention. “So if it was a Raven Mocker, it basically committed suicide to give me some lame prediction.”

“There must be more to the message if it was willing to die to give it to you.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. If Raven Mockers tortured their victims, that made them evil. So why did I feel badly that this one had given its life for me? “So all I have to do is see all the Raven Mockers and they’ll all die? How many of them are there?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Some legends say there are countless. Some say the Raven Mockers are the children of Kalona.”

“Who is Kalona?”

“Kalona is the equivalent of the angel of death.”

I sighed. “
Of course
he is.”

“He may be called an angel, but he’s really a demon. If we can figure out a way for you to defeat a demon without Collin’s help, you can defeat Kalona. And without their leader, the Raven Mockers will be lost. They’ll crawl back into their holes until someone else takes control.”

“That’s a big
if
, David.”

“You can do this, Ellie. And I think I know how.” He squeezed my hand. “I know we’re going to talk to Allison about the weapons she saw, but I also want to visit the library while we’re there. There are a few books and documents I want to review, and one letter that I’m eager to reread. It tells the story of a Croatan conjurer who created two weapons capable of defeating demons.”

“
Two
weapons?”

“A gold ring created by an Englishman, consecrated and carved with Croatan symbols by a Croatan conjurer. The other is a spear. I know there’s more to the story, but I’ve forgotten. It seemed like an ancillary tale at the time. But I know the document is in the archives. Once we find it, we can figure everything out.”

“You sound so certain that I can do this, that I can fight these things on my own.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “Ellie, how could I not be?”

We spent the next couple hours of the four-hour drive with David catching me up on the latest findings at the colony site. While he was most interested in Manteo’s dwelling, there were thirty other buildings that had been inhabited by the colonists, one of which had been the home of my multi-great-grandfather, Ananias Dare, and his wife and infant daughter.

I considered telling him about Claire’s reawakened ability and my new memory about Ahone, but I decided both were serious enough to require his undivided attention. We’d get into Chapel Hill early enough for me to tell him. But there was something else that couldn’t wait.

My guilt over what had happened with Collin started eating me alive, getting worse the longer we were in the car. I needed to tell him. Now. David would understand why I had met with him, so I needed to just put it out in the open. “David, there’s something I have to tell you.”

David shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Actually, there’s something I need to tell you first. I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to bring it up, so I’m just going to come out with it.”

My breath stuck in my chest. I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take today. “Okay. What?”

“Allison’s not just a colleague.”

“Okay,” I said, hesitantly.

David shot me a glance before looking out the windshield. “Allison is my old girlfriend.”

“Your old girlfriend is a history professor?”

“Yes.”

I felt like I’d been doused in ice water. It was hard enough to accept that David not only had a college education but a master’s and doctorate degree, while all I had was a Manteo High School diploma and a Dare County food worker’s certificate. But what had I expected? He worked at a university, and while plenty of students were interested in him, he would never get involved with one. Of course he had dated a fellow professor.

“I should have told you sooner.”

My mouth dried up and I took a breath before answering. “Why didn’t you?” I didn’t want to think of the implications.

“I was afraid it could get messy”—he cast a glance in my direction before returning his attention to the road—“on
her
end, and I didn’t want to worry you. I was the one to end our relationship, and I know she hoped I would change my mind. Given the circumstances, there’s a chance that this lead will turn out to be nothing.”