The Curse Keepers (Curse Keepers series) (15 page)

“They keep out the evil spirits?”

“Not just the evil ones. The good ones too.”

I shot him a questioning look. “Good ones?”

“Not all spirits are evil. There are good ones, just like people. And sometimes people—and spirits—are a mixture of both.”

While Ahone’s messenger had appeared unthreatening, Okeus’s certainly didn’t. I decided if I encountered any more spirits before closing the gate, I was assuming the worst about them.

I held out my palm and showed him my mark. “And this?”

“The Curse Keeper symbol. The circle represents the spirit world. The square represents our world. They are neither inside nor outside one another, but coexist.”

“You have one too? What does yours look like?”

He held out his hand, palm up. I grabbed it and pulled it closer. It looked identical to mine.

“If you wanted to hold my hand, you only had to ask.”

I rolled my eyes. “As if.” I placed my open palm next to his. “They’re the same.”

“Of course. It’s the mark of the Curse Keeper. Since we’re both Keepers…” His voice trailed off.

I looked up into his face and winked. “And here I thought your mark would be better since you’re so superior to me.”

To my surprise, Collin laughed. “Obviously, I didn’t have a say in the matter.”

“My mark appeared when you grabbed my hand in the restaurant.” My eyes widened and I whispered. “You knew. You did this.”

Disbelief and worry replaced his amusement. “No. When I came to the restaurant I didn’t know, but when I couldn’t breathe, I began to suspect. It was just like my grandmother always told me would happen. And when you were so close, it was as though I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing your hand. As though you were a magnet, drawing my hand to yours. I told you already. I couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to.”

“But that’s what broke the curse.”

A softness I’d never seen before filled his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

I leaned my back into the door. “What’s done is done.”

He watched me, waiting.

“My mark tingles or burns when something is near.”

His eyes hardened. “When were you near a spirit?”

Oh shit. I needed more sleep. I sucked at keeping secrets when I was tired. “Yesterday at the house in Rodanthe. When you touched me, it tingled then. But even before that. When I looked into the ocean while I was standing next to you. I felt it then.”

Collin’s shoulders relaxed. “When I said we were like magnets, I meant it. The power in our blood is strong, but it’s stronger when the two of us are together, and even more so when our marks touch. We’re naturally drawn to each other.” He moved closer and lowered his voice with a wink. “Thank God you’re not an eighty-two-year-old woman.”

“What if I were an eighty-two-year-old man?”

“Even worse.”

“So…” I found it difficult to think with him so close. “You’re saying that what I feel right now is because of the curse, the power or magic in our blood?”

“It depends. What are you feeling right now?” He turned his hooded eyes on me, giving me a come-hither stare.

I swallowed. “An electrical charge. Why? What are you feeling?”

A sly grin spread across his face. “An electrical charge.”

I couldn’t get caught in Collin’s seductive trap. I knew he had a way with women and maybe he thought I’d be more cooperative if he put me under his sexy spell. Or maybe he didn’t have a goal. Maybe he couldn’t help himself. “Then I guess we’ll come in handy if there’s a power outage.” I gave his chest a small shove. “Let’s go.”

Collin laughed while I tromped down the stairs. “It’s going to be an interesting day.”

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

Our truce ended less than a minute later when I told Collin I wanted to sell my candlesticks to Oscar.

“I am not driving back to Kill Devil Hills,” Collin growled, standing in front of his truck.

“I’m not selling them to someone else. I trust Oscar. So if you don’t want to waste your gas, I’ll drive my own car!”

He dangled the bag in the air over his head, wearing an evil smile. “Seeing how I have the bag, I get to decide where we go.”

I reached for it, but Collin held the pack higher, out of my reach.

“Really?” I asked. “What? Are you a twelve-year-old boy now?”

He laughed. “I think all men are really twelve-year-old boys deep down inside.”

“I’m serious, Collin. They’re mine. Give them back.”

He watched me for a moment, then handed me the bag, but he didn’t release his grasp. “Ellie, do you plan to pawn these or sell them?”

I wasn’t sure why he cared, but his face had softened again. It was as though his façade had dropped, and he let me see the real him for a moment.

God, I’m a pushover
. “Sell them.” I looked away. “I’ll never be able to buy them back.”

Collin’s voice lowered with a tenderness I didn’t expect. “You can pawn them for ninety days, Ellie. Then you get sixty more to pay them off. That’s five months.”

I looked into his face, shaking my head. “Can you imagine the interest? Oscar charges twenty-two percent. I’ll never come up with the money to pay it off.” I shoved them back at him, ordering the tears in my eyes to dry up as I walked around to the truck’s passenger door.

Collin slid in the truck and set the bag on the seat between us. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t have anything else.”

He didn’t start the truck, instead staring out the windshield. “No. There’s another way.
I
can get the cup. Why don’t you stay here and wait for me? I’ll be back in a few hours.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t believe he was being so nice. If you could call offering to steal from some unsuspecting woman nice. Strangely enough, with Collin, it was. “No, it’s my cup, and you’re right. I shouldn’t have pawned it. I need to accept responsibility and fix this myself.”

He nodded, then started the truck.

We drove in silence until we hit the bridge. Collin slowed down and cast a worried look at me, but the blood had already rushed to my feet, leaving me lightheaded.

Dead birds covered the pavement. Hundreds of them.

Yesterday we’d seen seagulls but today there were multiple species. Doves, pigeons, gulls, wrens, owls, ducks, and several hawks.

The combination of seeing the birds and leaving the island tightened my chest, and I gasped for air.

“Ellie?”

“They’re getting stronger, Collin.”

“It’s okay.”

“
No it’s not
! They’re getting stronger, and Okeus is going to come after me.” I grabbed the dashboard and the door. “How am I supposed to protect myself?” I sounded hysterical. I
was
hysterical. This was proof that I was as good as dead. It was only a matter of time. Days. Especially after last night.

Collin pulled over to the side of the road, the sickening thuds of tires rolling over bird carcasses making me want to vomit.

“Why do you think Okeus is after you?”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“What aren’t you telling me, Ellie?”

Collin knew more than I did, which is why, logically, I knew I should tell him what happened last night with both messengers. He might be able to protect me. But it burned in my gut that I was dependent on him for protection. Besides, Collin was hiding things from me. He’d told me himself that he couldn’t be trusted. For now, I’d keep the information to myself and see if I could re-create the symbols around my window. And if Collin proved himself trustworthy before then, I’d tell him. “
You
told me that they would come after me. On Evelyn Abernathy’s porch.”

He tilted his head, distrust in his eyes. “How do you know about Okeus?”

“A simple Internet search.”

“Simple?”

I turned to look out into the sound. “Okay, not so simple. It took some digging.”

“Why did you decide on Okeus? Why not Ahone or a windengo or the Great Spirit?”

“Because Okeus is evil.”

Collin sighed. “Okeus isn’t pure evil, Ellie, just as Ahone isn’t pure good. I told you, just like people, they’re a mixture of both.”

“But the Internet—”

“Ellie, so much about the Croatan beliefs and rituals was lost that most people have no idea what they are talking about. Sure Okeus can be wrathful, but he can also be good to his people. He’d come in handy in a time of war.”

“That’s good, if you’re on
his
side.”

“It’s no different than warring countries invoking God to help them.”

Collin seemed to be defending Okeus too much to suit me. More reason not to tell him about Okeus’s warning. Had Okeus made Collin the same offer? Had Collin accepted? “You said that the symbols of protection kept me safe last night. What kept
you
safe? You left my apartment when it was getting dark. Did you come across any spirits?”

His face hardened. “No.”

“Nothing? Weren’t you worried?”

He turned away. “No.”

“What? The spirits won’t mess with Big Bad Collin?”

His jaw tightened. “I know how to protect myself.”

“So teach
me
.”

He inhaled and pushed out his breath in frustration. “Fine. If we get the cup back
your way
, then I’ll teach you how to protect yourself.”

I cocked my head in disbelief. “If we get the cup back my way? Why wouldn’t you just teach me? It’s like you
want
me to get killed.”

He shook his head and turned toward me. “You don’t know anything, Ellie.”

“
So teach me
.”

“You should already know this. It’s not my job to teach you. Which parent was the Keeper before you? Why don’t you ask him or her to fill you in?”

My breath caught in my chest. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

I didn’t want to tell him about Daddy. “My momma’s gone.” I purposely left my family’s Keeper line vague. The less Collin knew about my family, the better.

That gave him pause. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “She left years ago. I’m over it.” Mostly.

Shifting the truck into drive, he shot me a glance before turning his attention to the road. “It’s nine in the morning. We have eleven more hours of daylight. Let’s focus on getting the cup; then we’ll deal with the rest.”

I needed the cup whether he helped me or not. I knew there were words of protection, thanks to Daddy’s mumbling. If Daddy knew them, Collin was sure to know them too. That meant I had eleven more hours to get him to spill. I might have to resort to my own bag of tricks. “Okay.”

“We need to sell your candlesticks first.” No-nonsense Collin was back. It was probably better this way. At least I knew where I really stood with him. When he was nice, I felt like I was part of a con job.

“Yeah.”

“I know a guy who will give you top dollar for them, but only if you sell. Are you sure you want to sell them? Five months—”

“Sell.”

He turned south on Highway 12. We rode in silence all the way to Rodanthe. I gaped as he drove through the town.

“Wait.” I turned around to watch the town disappearing behind us. “Where are we going? Where’s your guy?”

“Cape Hatteras.”

“Cape Hatteras? But Cape Hatteras is farther than Kill Devil Hills.”

“I know a guy in Buxton.”

“And I know a guy in Kill Devil Hills. Oscar.”

Collin’s face remained expressionless. “I don’t like your guy.”

“I don’t care if you don’t like him. They’re
my
candlesticks!”

He turned toward me, lifting his eyebrows. “Are they?” His gaze returned to the road.

The realization hit me like a Mack truck: He was protecting me. He thought I’d stolen the candlesticks, and he assumed Oscar would turn me in if he found out. Just when I thought I’d figured him out.

Damn him.

Collin drove into Buxton and pulled up in front of a thrift store. The building was completely run down, with several massive metal buildings behind it, all surrounded by a dilapidated wooden fence.

“Really? You’re going to get a good price
here
?”

Collin opened his door. “Trust me.” He got out and looked through the open window. “Stay here.”

The hell with that.

I followed him to the front door.