The Curse Keepers Collection (150 page)

The world swayed and I fell to my side, pissed that it would end like this, terrified by what I’d find in the blackness this time.

Collin was directly in my line of sight, and I watched him fight the white figures who now brandished swords of their own.

My protectors rushed from the other side and surrounded Collin. Letting the supernatural creatures take point, Collin fell back. After a moment his gaze landed on me, and the way his eyes widened told me a lot about my condition. He was by my side within seconds, trying to pull the sword from my right hand.

“Ellie, let go.” He sounded frantic. “We have to touch marks.”

“My hand won’t let go.” I laughed, but I knew it was my blood loss that was making me act like a drunk. “It’s the Sword of Galahad.”

“Fuck the Sword of Galahad.” His fingers dug deep, but mine still wouldn’t budge. “Ellie,” he pleaded. “Work with me here.”

“I’m trying. My mark won’t let go.” I rolled from my side onto my back. Though I was more tired than I could ever remember being, I forced my eyes to stay open, terrified of the darkness. It would come for me soon enough.

The stars overhead shined in pinpoints that burned bright before shrinking.

“She needs the one who guides the Curse Keeper,” I heard Tsagasi say.

“David!” Collin shouted as he stood and took several steps away.

The stars were swirling now, and I realized I was reliving the birth of the universe. The beginning of everything. And the end.
I
was the salvation and the destruction of the world.

“I am the alpha and the omega,” I whispered in awe.

“You’re a bloody pain in my arse,” David mumbled as he dropped to his knees next to me, his hand encompassing my right hand. He leaned over me, his battered face blocking out the stars. “Let go of the sword, Ellie.”

I stared up at him, his injuries only adding to my guilt. “They hurt you because of me. They killed Myra because of me. I hurt everyone I love. I can’t hurt them anymore. Soon there won’t be anyone left.”

“I’m too bloody stubborn to leave you alone, so don’t you dare leave me, you bloody fool. I need you, Ellie.” His voice cracked. “Let go of the sword.” His mouth lowered to mine and my fingers relaxed and the sword fell as I felt his love fuse with mine.

Then David was gone and Collin was with me, pressing our marks together. Power surged through my hand and into my body and I cried out, unable to take it all in. The stars filled my vision again, and then I was swept back to the beginning when the universe began. Only this time, I wasn’t alone. Collin was with me. An explosion of energy and light ripped through my consciousness, hurling me through time and space as I witnessed the birth of the stars, violent eruptions that filled the black expanse with clouds of reds and oranges, blues and greens. The beauty was almost too much to take in as the massive power of the explosion filled me, consumed me, and then hurled me to the birth of our own star, our own planet. Once again, I was the first drop of water to join with the molten lava on the surface of Earth. Time raced by, and I experienced the birth of Ahone and the other gods, the evolution of the earth, the creation of humanity. It all came to a screeching halt at the gate to Popogusso. I stood in front of it, wearing the ring and holding the Sword of Galahad. Collin was next to me, brandishing a spear, and I was chanting in a language I didn’t recognize. Suddenly I was infused with an overwhelming power, and the gate to hell erupted with a blinding white light.

I knew my purpose.

I was the alpha and the omega.

Demons would fall before me.

Collin released my hand, severing our connection, and we both gasped for breath. He fell on his back, next to my side. “My God, Ellie. I was there. At the birth of the universe. I was there watching it with you.” He pushed up on his elbows. “How can you see that and be the same?”

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t. Especially after seeing the last part.

“I can usually feel your emotions, but this time I only had a vague sense of being with you, like I was looking over your shoulder. Did you feel me through our connection this time?”

“No.” I sat up. “
No
.”

Tsagasi appeared next to us, his face grimmer than usual, holding the ring between his thumb and finger. “You’re not done.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-S
EVEN

“The demon that calls itself the Great One has escaped and is returning to the body of its deceased host,” Tsagasi said. “If you hurry, you can catch it.”

Myra.

She might be dead, but I would destroy the thing that killed her.

I took the ring from the little man and put it on my left hand. Then I scrambled to my feet and retrieved the Sword of Galahad.

Collin jumped up, still wielding his own weapon. When he started to pick up a sword from one of the fallen Guardians, Tsagasi stopped him.

“You don’t have time to waste. My friends and I will collect them while you pursue the Great One.”

Collin nodded, but I turned back to the little man. “Are all of these weapons warded?”

“No.”

“Find me one that is. David needs it.” I had no idea what we were about to face, but I wasn’t leaving the man I loved unprotected.

Tsagasi waddled over to a group of bodies and pulled a short sword from the pile. “Here. This will work for him.”

David took the weapon, and the three of us took off running for the parking lot, but it soon became apparent that David’s injuries were slowing him down. “Go without me, Ellie. Get the wanker,” he said, holding his side.

“Sorry, Doc.” Collin grabbed his arm and pulled him along. “You’re one of us now.”

We climbed into the front seat of Collin’s truck, with me in the middle, and Collin sped down Highway 64 toward the bed and breakfast.

“I saw this thing when they held me prisoner,” David said, shouting to be heard over the wind rushing through the windows. “I know what it does. I know how to stop it.”

“How?” Collin asked, his grip tight on the steering wheel.

“It’s a demon that mimics its host. It kills the host and stores the body in the victim’s home. It leaves a token that stays with the body, a stone that hangs from a cord around the victim’s neck. It helps slow down decomposition. But once the body has decomposed too much, the demon must retrieve the token and find a new host within twenty-four hours.”

“And if it loses the token or doesn’t find a new host within that time frame?”

“It dies.”

Tears filled my eyes. “I visited the demon in Durham, not Myra. How could I not know? Why didn’t the mark on my palm give her away?”

“The marks on her door,” David said. “In essence, they cocooned her, protecting her from detection.”

I cast a glance toward Collin. “You said they’d figure out ways to hide themselves from us.”

He nodded, his mouth pressed into a tight line. “And when we saw her at the university, the pendant with symbols hanging from her neck probably prevented us from knowing she was a demon.”

I couldn’t let myself think about the fact that this thing had killed Myra. That I’d slept in the house where Myra’s body was hidden. I’d tried to keep her safe, and she’d ended up just like Momma and Daddy. Had she suffered? Did she blame me? Did Steven play a part in Myra’s death and possession? Or was it a coincidence? Rage burned in my chest. David was right—there were no coincidences in any of this.

The blackness Claire had seen was the evil stench from the demon. Claire’s ghost—the one who was so desperate to help me—was Myra. When was the last time I’d seen the real Myra? Apart from the protective markings on her door, how had I missed the fact that she’d been replaced by that thing that called itself my mother? But I
had
noticed. I’d just attributed the changes in her to the stresses of her move and her new job. Could I have saved her if I’d paid more attention? I sucked in a deep breath to regain control of myself. I could grieve later. First I had to kick a demon’s ass.

When we pulled up next to the house, Claire was pacing the porch in a skimpy robe, tears streaming down her face.

I jumped out of the truck, heart racing. Had something happened to Drew? “Claire. What’s wrong?”

“Ellie,” she choked on my name. “My ghost . . . ” Her voice quavered. “It’s Myra.”

“I know,” I said, letting several tears fall. “She’s dead. She’s been dead for weeks.”

“But you just saw her! How?”

“A demon.” Those two words explained it all.

She threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”

“I think the thing that killed her is in the house right now. It’s here to get her body.” I wiped my tears and lifted my chin. “And I’m going to make sure it never leaves.” Collin had helped David out of the truck and both of them were heading toward us. I grabbed David’s arm to stop him. “David, you stay outside.”

He started to protest, but I moved my hand to his chest. “I need you to stand watch in case it tries to escape, and I need you to protect Claire.” I spun around to face my best friend. “Claire, ask Myra if there’s anything else I should know before going in.”

Collin, who was standing next to us on the porch now, handed me the Sword of Galahad, keeping Allison’s sword in his own hand.

I lifted my gaze to his face, needing his reassurance that we could do this.

“The Sword of Galahad belongs to you, Ellie. Now let’s find this thing.” Then he held the door open and waited for me, holding his sword in his right hand.

“Ellie,” Claire said, her voice still shaking. “She says to look in the attic.”

I sucked in a deep breath. The location made sense, and now I knew exactly where to look, but the stark reality of the situation still ripped a hole in my heart. How could Myra have been dead in my house without me knowing about it? What kind of daughter was I?

“Lead the way,” Collin murmured as we edged past the kitchen toward the living room. He turned from side to side, checking the shadows as we made our way to the staircase. “Is there anyone else here?”

“Five researchers.” I cringed. “They rent the bedrooms upstairs.”

“Shit.”

We picked up the pace as we headed down the hall toward the staircase leading to the attic. The house was old enough that it had been built with an actual staircase and not a pull-down ladder. Which meant the demon had easy access. I flicked the light switch at the top of the stairs, but the room was still encased in darkness. My breath caught in my chest.

“Ellie, what’s wrong?” Collin whispered next to me.

“It’s dark.” I shook my head, feeling stupid, but I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to handle a dark room again. After a couple of seconds my eyes adjusted to the dim interior, and two small dormer windows let in enough light to show the outline of the room’s contents. “Let’s look around.”

The attic was a graveyard for every discarded thing in the house. My father, a notorious pack rat, had saved just about everything we’d ever owned. Halfway across the room, we found a small pentagram, the corners dotted with the bodies of dead animals—birds, mice, and squirrels. We’d smelled something bad off and on for a couple of weeks, and this explained it. A human body would have smelled worse. Which meant there was only one place Myra could be.

I picked my way to the back of the large space, Collin following silently on my heels, until we stopped in front of a chest freezer.

“Ellie, this thing is plugged in and running.”

I bit my lower lip and nodded. I wasn’t surprised. The demon would have wanted its host’s body to last for as long as possible. Freezing Myra’s body would have given it an indefinite amount of time. I grabbed the handle.

Collin placed his hand on mine. “Let me look.”

I shook my head, trying to work up the courage. “I owe it to her, Collin.”

He removed his hand and I lifted the lid. The freezer light blinked on, and there at the bottom was her bruised and broken body, a vacant look in her eyes.

“Oh, God.” I took a step back, sucking in deep gulps of oxygen. I was going to pass out. “Myra.”

Collin pulled me to his chest. “We’ll get the piece of shit that did this. I promise.” His arm dropped and he leaned into the freezer as I turned away.