The Curse Keepers Collection (159 page)

“Are you sure, Conner? You deserve a woman who wants to be with you and only you.”

He stood, anger filling his eyes. “What the fuck does
that
mean?”

I got up too and looked down at him. He’d always hated that I was a good six inches taller than him, perhaps because it meant that he was the same height as our father. He already resembled him more in looks. “
Conner
. It doesn’t mean anything. You’re my kid brother. No one will ever be good enough for you in my eyes.”

His shoulders relaxed as he seemed to accept my lie of omission. “I always hated you,” he said without anger.

“I know.” Maybe breaking the damn curse would be the best thing all around. My relationship with Conner could only be improved by having some extra space between us.

“I know she wants you.”

“Who?” I asked before I could stop myself. Then I groaned and closed my eyes for half a second. “I’m not after your girlfriend, Conner.”

“Why, because she’s not good enough for you?”

Shaking my head, I turned toward the screen door, but he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him.

“Answer me!” His face was red and the veins on his neck were bulging.

“No, I’m not good enough for
her
, you asshole.” I jerked out of his grip. “But that being said, I’m not sure she’s good enough for you either. You’ve put up with more shit than anyone deserves. I only want you to be happy.”

“Happy?” he shouted. “How in the hell can I be
happy
? No one wanted me. You were the golden child. Even our abusive, alcoholic father preferred you.”

“Are you talking about how he took me out on the boat?” I asked.

“You could have brought me! Just once!”

“
Are you shitting me?
I was terrified! We weren’t on joyrides, Conner. He was drilling his manifesto into my head. I didn’t want to go, but if I’d protested, Mom would have tried to interfere and he would have beat the shit out of her. If he’d tried to take you, I would have done anything in my power to stop him.”

“Why?”

“To protect you! Are you even listening to yourself?”

“If we’re being honest, you might as well know that I didn’t give the bowl to the museum to protect you.” He licked his lower lip, watching for my reaction. “I gave it to them to hurt you.”

My mouth dropped open. “Why?”

“I told you. I always hated you. I wanted you to sweat it when the curse finally broke.”

His words sliced through my chest, dissecting what was left of my scarred heart. “Hate. Past tense or present?”

“Both.”

It wasn’t a surprise, but it still stole my breath. We had a love-hate relationship, but I had always thought our love for one another would win out. While it proved true for me, it wasn’t the same for Conner. On top of everything else I was dealing with, I wasn’t sure I could deal with the pain of his rejection. It was safer to change the topic. “I thought you didn’t believe in the curse.” I sneered. “I thought you were indulging me just now.”

“I heard the stories, even if it wasn’t at our grandmother’s knee, even if I was shoved off into the corner. I don’t
want
to believe them, but deep in my gut, I do.”

“And you’d risk destroying humanity over some childish grudge?”

His eyes narrowed and he looked murderous. “It’s not a childish grudge. It’s very grown-up.”

“The fact that you’d put humanity at risk proves how childish it actually is.”

He swallowed. “You’re going to break the curse, but I wish it was me.”

“You have no idea what you’re asking for . . . ”

He took a step toward me. “I do.”

I held my hands out at my side. “You want it? Take the goddamned thing! I would have risked my life a thousand times to protect you from it, but if you’re so headstrong,
come and take it
!”

“You can’t give the role to me. I already asked Gran. You have to die for me to get it.”

I swallowed. “I know.” I kept my hands raised. “But if you want it so bad, come and take it.”

Conner grabbed a beer bottle off the deck and rushed toward me, aiming the bottle at my head.

“Conner!” Rosalina shouted, swinging the door open and running outside.

I ducked out of Conner’s way, which wasn’t too difficult since he seemed to have trouble keeping his balance.

“I’m going to kill you, Collin!” he screamed. Rosalina grabbed his arm and struggled to get the bottle out of his hand. “
I hate you!
” It was the third time he’d said the words this evening.

“I know.” My voice broke. Like I told him, I’d always known. I just hadn’t known how much.

I turned and headed for the door, but he shouted after me.

“Marino has the map!”

I paused with my hand on the door. What the fuck more could he do to hurt me? “You gave it to him to screw me over like you did with the bowl?”

“No, he won it from me in a poker game.”

“So he stole it. He set you up to get to me.”

“You think I don’t know how to play poker?” he shouted as I rushed through the house, heading for the front door.

Rosalina called after me as I was climbing into my truck. “Collin, stop!”

I stood in the open door, my hand on the steering wheel. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. “What?”

“Was he really going to kill you?”

I heaved out a breath, my eyes burning. “Yes.”

“He’s really drunk. He’d been drinking for at least an hour before you got here. He didn’t mean any of it.”

“He did.” I turned to her. “Conner and I have always had a . . . complicated relationship. We grew up in abuse and neglect. I got more of what little attention was given to us, which made him jealous of me. It didn’t matter that it was negative. He loves me, but he hates me more. When he sobers up, he’s going to hate himself for what he tried to do.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I think it’s best if I don’t see him anymore.”

“For how long?” she asked in panic.

“Forever.” I got into my truck and shut the door, looking at her through the open window. “Tell him that I forgive him.” I took a breath. “Tell him I’m going to end this once and for all.”

Then I drove away.

C
HAPTER
S
IX

I needed money, and fast. I wanted to finish paying off Marino in the hopes that it would butter him up enough to relax his conditions for my involvement in the Ricardo Estate. Now, more than ever, I needed to get my hands on the Dare weapons.

After driving up to Wanchese and stealing enough parts to patch my engine together, I borrowed extra fishing gear from a friend’s boat and headed up Pamlico Sound toward Manteo. The best way to make a buttload of money fast was to take tourists charter fishing. My boat looked like a wreck, but tourists often didn’t realize that charter trips needed to be booked weeks in advance. I had a good chance of catching a few wannabe fishermen by hanging out at the Manteo docks. Some would be more than willing to look past the rust spots in exchange for instant gratification. The only problem with my plan was that I didn’t have a charter-fishing permit, but as long as I was in and out in a short period of time, I ran a pretty low risk of getting caught. Especially since I didn’t plan to make it a regular gig.

When I was in Manteo, especially by the docks, the palm of my right hand felt heavy and slightly itchy. I wondered what it meant, but I was afraid to ask my grandmother, perhaps because I knew what she’d say.

Within a week, I raised over two thousand dollars. But while I was able to settle my current debt, Marino was still making noise about putting me on his payroll permanently. I knew I should just suck it up and accept his offer. I could take the twenty percent from the Ricardo Estate and use it to start my new life somewhere else, far from his reach—maybe in some tropical paradise in the Pacific Ocean. As far from Buxton, North Carolina, as I could get.

All the more reason to break the curse so I could put my plan in motion.

Ahone had told me he’d return in a month, and before I knew it, a month had passed. I started to keep a vigil for him every night—bringing the
Lucky Star
out on the sound to wait for him.

All the time alone on the water had left me with too much opportunity to think. About Conner. About how my grandmother would react when she found out what I intended to do.

About Rosalina.

Not Rosalina herself, but the way my brother felt about her—how he was already so willing to tie himself down. I considered the possibility of having a woman in my life for longer than a week. Bottom line was that I didn’t trust women. My grandmother had been overbearing. My own mother had been so beaten down by my father that she’d forgotten how to live without him. Women either tried to dominate men or were like an albatross around their neck. I knew I was better off without them, but sometimes, like tonight, I wondered.

Every marriage I’d ever witnessed had been a disaster. My parents. My grandparents. My friends’ parents. My aunt and uncle were the only happy couple I knew, but I suspected they were a fluke. There was no way I’d ever make the mistake of falling in love, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to love someone so much I was consumed by her. Most of the time, I thought it sounded like a disaster. Giving my heart to someone was handing her power over me, something I doubted I could ever do and I definitely couldn’t afford. Bottom line, I was too selfish to really love someone. She’d expect me to give something I wasn’t even capable of giving: myself.

But I was lonely. Mom was gone. My grandmother was close to ninety and wouldn’t be around much longer. I had vowed to stay away from Conner, which meant I had no one. I was totally alone. It had never bothered me before, but now it stirred a restlessness inside me. And I didn’t like it. At all. The sooner I got this nonsense behind me so I could leave it all and start out somewhere new, the better.

The wind began to pick up and my palm started to itch. I climbed to my feet, looking into the sky for any sign of Ahone. Sure enough, a light appeared over the water, several feet from the boat. The yellowish glow pulsed as the orb hovered over the water. It was silent for several minutes before it spoke.

“Curse Keeper. Have you made your decision?”

“I have questions.”

“You may ask.”

He didn’t say he’d answer them. Had I expected anything else from a god? “Is the Dare Keeper dangerous?”

“She has the power to destroy you and she will grow stronger still.”

Sounded like incentive enough. “If I break the curse and I reseal the gate, will I be free?”

“If the gate is closed with the gods and spirits permanently locked behind it, you will be free.”

“But they’ll all come out when we open the gate?”

“Manteo trapped them before. You can do it again. But be wary of Okeus’s tricks.”

I released a heavy breath. This was a very bad idea, but I was beginning to think I would do it anyway.

“You need to locate the Dare weapons. She will use the ring to gain power over you.”

“How?”

The ball released a blinding light. “You must keep her safe until the gate is locked again.”

He’d completely ignored my question. I considered pressing him further, but I was struck by the fact that Conner had been right. I’d have to protect the person I was determined to keep from destroying me, my family, and humanity. I could barely stomach the thought of being in close proximity to her, and now Ahone wanted me to protect her. “Anything else?” I sneered.

“Your children and grandchildren will speak of your name for centuries.”

That didn’t seem likely given the fact I had no plans to have kids.

“How do I find the Dare Keeper?”

“Your palm will guide you.”

“You’re serious? That’s
it
?” But I remembered how my palm had felt heavy and itchy before Ahone showed up and at the docks in Manteo. “How will I know who she is?”

“Your palm will guide you.”

“Again with the palm.” His explanation sounded pretty evasive and shady. “And if I don’t do this . . .?”

“It is as I said. She will grow stronger and will develop the power to destroy you.”