The Curse Keepers Collection (8 page)

“Thanks, Myra. I know.” At times I was really tempted, despite my uneasiness with the place. I felt guilty not being here and helping more, but I loved my little apartment. It may cost a fortune, but it looked out into the sound. Besides, I liked my independence too. I wasn’t ready to give that up yet. But losing it all, the inn included, loomed in my future, closer than I liked.

I spent the next couple of hours changing bed linens, setting out clean towels, and starting the laundry. There were several commercial machines in the main house. We had a good routine worked out: I’d put everything into the washing machines and Myra or her friend Becky, who filled in while Myra worked, would transfer the loads to the dryers. By the time I showed up again, late afternoon if I had a lunch shift, they’d be ready for me. If I had a dinner shift, I’d hang around at the inn until the laundry was all done. It was a routine, a monotonous one, but to me, the definition of routine was boring.

When I arrived for my shift at the restaurant, Lila was filling salt and pepper shakers. She shot me a glare. “Thanks for getting me in trouble yesterday.”

I didn’t need any of her nonsense today. I’d already had enough nonsense in the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime. “I didn’t get you in trouble. Marlena knew my shift was over and made me leave.”

My answer didn’t appease her. She was still grouchy when the doors opened and the early lunch crowd converged.

The dining room was packed by 11:30, and the sidewalk outside was crowded with tourists waiting for a table. I was carrying a tray of food from the kitchen when Bob, the manager of the Kitty Hawk Kites store across the street, burst in the door.

“They found it! Flip on the news! They found it!”

Everyone turned toward him and stared. Bob stood in the doorway, red faced and wild eyed, his thinning hair messy and out of place. I’m sure the tourists were worried this crazed man was about to attack. In fact, if I hadn’t known Bob was usually a sedate, middle-aged man, I would have thought the same thing. That was what worried me.

Fear slithered up my spine, snaking out through every nerve in my body.

“Found what?” someone shouted.

But I knew.

I knew.

“The Roanoke colony!”

My tray fell to the ground, plates breaking, food splattering everywhere. The customers around me shrieked and jumped out of the way, and I knew that I should clean it up, but I was too lightheaded and shaky. One thought ran through my head like a bulldozer, shoving every other conscious thought out of its path.

It’s real. The curse is real.

“Ellie?” Lila’s face came into view. “You don’t look so good. Do you want to sit down?”

I nodded in my haze. Someone set a chair behind me and pushed me down.

“It’s on the news! Someone turn on the TV!”

The television on the wall in the corner flipped on and someone changed the channel until a local station came on. A news reporter stood in front of a taped-off area. Trees filled the background, as well as a crowd. “ . . . it’s too early to know if this is actually
the
legendary site, but researchers are hopeful. What
is
known is that the village they have discovered is completely intact.”

A male voiceover asked, “Mary, how is this possible? We’ve been told that archaeologists have already searched the spot where the village appeared. How could they miss it?”

The woman’s hand held her earpiece to her, and she turned to look at the taped-off area behind her. “Witnesses tell me that late yesterday afternoon when the park closed, there was nothing but a field here. But when groundskeepers came through this section around mid-morning, picking up fallen tree branches from the storm, they found the village. The current thought is perhaps the storm somehow uncovered the colony. If this turns out to be the actual Lost Colony, the experts are calling it the find of the century.”

“Am I seeing structures behind you? They look like thatch huts.”

“Phil, when I said intact, that’s exactly what I meant. Fully erected houses, tools, even food—in edible condition according to one source. It’s as though we’ve stepped back into 1587.”

“How can we be sure this isn’t an elaborate hoax?

The news reporter grimaced. “While that is a possibility, we’ve been told that multiple skeletal remains have been discovered, fully dressed in period clothing. Early reports suggest at least one hundred bodies have been discovered, including several children and a baby. If this is a hoax, it’s a morbid one indeed.”

“And they think this entire site was exposed by last night’s storm? That seems pretty incredible.”

“Part of the ground has been washed away, about two feet, and the village is now exposed. The storm is the only logical explanation anyone can come up with, though even then you must ignore the fact the huts would have stood taller than the ground before the dirt was washed away.”

The cell phone in my pocket buzzed. The excited voices of the restaurant patrons filled my ears. I could only sit and stare at the TV.

“Somebody get Ellie a wet towel!” Lila shouted. “She looks like she’s about to pass out.”

It’s real. Oh my god. It’s real.

The bell on the door jingled, and Claire stopped in the doorway, searching the room. When she spotted me, she hurried over. “I just heard.”

I looked up at her wide eyed and dismayed. “It’s real.”

She nodded, excitement radiating off of her.

My cell phone buzzed again, tickling my leg.

Lila pressed a wet paper towel to my forehead. “Why is this freaking you out so much? Business is going to
explode
.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” My reaction was embarrassing any way you sliced it. I was a grown woman. I needed to get ahold of myself.

Marlena walked in from the back room and scanned the dining room. Customers were standing, the food I dropped was all over the floor. “What in God’s name is going on here?”

People all began to talk at once. “Lost Colony . . . Roanoke . . . over one hundred bodies . . . ”

Marlena’s eyes landed on me. While she was always known for being in control, I was a close second. Finding me pale and sitting on a chair, covered in food, had to be an even bigger shock than the reappearing village.

“What happened to you?”

“I’m fine. It was just a surprise.”

My cell phone buzzed again.

I stood and took a deep breath. So, I now had five days to close a gate to the spirit world.

But first I had a mess to clean up. “Lila, I’m going to clean this up. Why don’t you try to get everyone back in their seats? Marlena, can you tell Fred that he needs to remake all the meals from table nine?”

“Ellie.” Claire leaned her face into mine and whispered fiercely, “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting back to work.”

“You have a curse to fix.”

I grabbed Claire’s arm and dragged her to the back room. “How am I supposed to do that, Claire? I don’t have the slightest idea what happened, or how to fix it. What do you want me to do?”

Her gaze fixed over my shoulder, her eyes widening. She looked like she’d just spotted the Better than Sex chocolate cake Myra made for the customers at the inn. Her mouth dropped open and she lifted her hand and pointed. “There’s your answer, right there.”

I whipped my head around, and my stomach spasmed before falling to my feet.

Collin Dailey stood in the back entrance of the restaurant. The door was partially open, the sunlight casting a glow around him. He looked like an angel with his impossibly good looks and an aura of golden light. I felt my resolve weaken until he opened his mouth. Condescension dripped off his words. “Do you believe it now?”

My heart snapped closed like a Venus flytrap. Collin Dailey was an egotistical prick. But prick or no, unfortunately for me, I needed him.

He took my silence as agreement. “We need to go.”

I looked into the dining room, then back at him. “Now? I’m not done with my shift yet.”

His jaw dropped in disbelief. “You’re seriously telling me that saving humanity from vengeful sprits can wait until you finish
your waitressing shift
?”

“Well . . . ” When he put it that way, it seemed ridiculous. But I needed the money to pay my rent. I was going to be counting pennies as it was. Not to mention I couldn’t leave Marlena with the chaos out front.

He took two steps toward me and grabbed my arm. “Are you really this self-centered?”

I jerked my arm out of his grasp, my anger making my head buzz. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

His voice lowered. “I am a Curse Keeper, a descendant of Manteo and worthy to carry the title, while you, on the other hand, are a spoiled, self-centered fool who thinks this is all a joke.”

My eyes narrowed, and it was all I could do to keep myself from shoving him out the back door. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“You are shirking your responsibilities, and that’s all I need to know.”

I had to admit that it was hard to argue with that, but his attitude was infuriating. “Like it or not, you and I are stuck together until we figure out what we need to do.” I took a deep breath. “Now tell me what we need to do.”

All expression left his face. “You really don’t know?”

“No.”

“
Any of it
?”

“She knows a little,” Claire said, still eyeing Collin with a hungry look. “She’s not completely clueless.”

I’d almost forgotten she was there.

He cocked an eyebrow, turning his attention to her. “And you are . . . ?”

“Claire.”

He turned back to me. “You
told
someone?”

“How do you know she’s not my sister?” From what I remembered, it wasn’t against the rules to tell siblings about the curse, since it was a familial duty. The only problem was that Claire and I didn’t look anything like sisters. But then Myra and I didn’t look anything alike, and technically, she was my family.

He started to speak, then stopped, rubbing his forehead. “Okay, is she your sister?”

I could have lied, but I figured we were already on shaky ground. “No.”

“Then why—”

“She’s the only one who knows. She’s
practically
my sister, so what’s the difference? You say you want to fix this thing, but it looks like you want to spend all your time belittling me.”

“It doesn’t take much effort, trust me.”

I gasped. “Get out.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

I shoved his chest and he stumbled toward the back door. “I said get the hell out!”

“You can’t do that!”

“Oh yeah? Watch me!”

I pushed the bar on the back door and the door flung open. Collin stumbled backward and through the opening. I slammed the door shut and made sure it was locked.

“What did you just do?” Claire asked in disbelief. “You need him.”

My fury still burned in my chest.
Quick to anger, slow to cool,
Daddy always used to say about me. “No man’s going to talk to me like that and get away with it, Keeper or not.”

“So you’re going to just leave the gate open and let the rest of the spirits spill out?”

“No, of course not.” I shook my head. “Collin Dailey has been bred for this. He practically admitted as much last night. He’ll come crawling back, trust me on that. He needs me just as much as I need him. The ceremony requires the presence of both Keepers. He can’t do it without me. But if he wants my help, he’s going to have to eat a little humble pie, because I won’t tolerate him treating me like that again.”

Still, I remembered Daddy’s insistence that all hell would break loose, literally, when the gate opened, and that devastating consequences would occur if the gate wasn’t closed. Not that I could remember a single one of the consequences specifically. But the fear and unease that oozed from Daddy stuck with me, even if the details didn’t. Something terrifying was out there, and I let my temper send away the one person who could help me make it all go away.

Claire sucked in a deep breath and released it. “I sure hope you’re right, Ellie.”

I stared at the back door. I hoped I was right too.

C
HAPTER
S
IX