The Keeper's Curse (23 page)

Whoever
he lived with didn’t wake up as he fumbled through the darkness,
still not letting go of Emmy’s arm. After a flight of stairs and
down a hallway, they had reached his bedroom.

“
Okay, so,” he said. “I think I’m kind of messed up right now,
so we should probably sleep this off. Take the bed, I’ll ... sleep
on the floor.”

“
No, Breckin,” Emmy said just as he fell to the ground. “I
should probably go home, I need to make sure Jade got home
alright.”

“
Don’t be stupid, someone just tried to kill you. Can I borrow
a blanket?” He didn’t bother waiting for a reply, pulling the top
cover hanging off the edge of his bed and wrapping it around
himself.

The
excitement from the last hour or so had drained her, and the idea
of getting some sleep before dealing with the aftermath of what had
happened was indeed tantalizing. The chances of those strange
people finding her again tonight were low, and both her friends
were safe. Probably.

She
sighed, rubbed her eyes and stared at Breckin’s bed in the dark.
She headed over to his door to close it in case his uncle saw her
in the room, when Breckin mumbled a response.

“
No, keep it open.”

Emmy
hesitated. “What if someone sees us?”

He
chuckled quietly in the dark. “Um, I’ve sort of got a problem with
small, enclosed spaces.”

“
Oh.” She let the matter drop, leaving the door open. Suddenly
she remembered back in Ministrial when Breckin had refused to ride
in a pod, which now made more sense. With the last bit of her
energy left, she climbed into Breckin’s bed. She saw him moving
around into a comfortable space on the floor as she slipped under
the covers. “Breckin?” she whispered.

“
Mm?” he said, his eyes closed.

“
How did you know where I was?”

He moaned
again, tossing and turning. “I’m not sure ... I ... I think I was
dreaming, and then I was forced awake. And I heard your voice, and
saw you were at the school and I ... I just knew I had to help
you.”

So it had
worked. It was a two way street – they could talk back and forth to
each other. “Thank you.” She waited for a reply, but none
came.

She
wrapped the heavy blankets made of animal fur tightly around her,
digging her face in them. They smelled just like Breckin himself, a
mix of grass, tea leaves, and cotton. It smelled so good it jolted
her awake. Then she realized – she was in his bed.

Suddenly
the idea of sleep ran away, leaving her shivering despite the
more-than-effective blankets covering her. She was in his room, in
his bed, surrounded by his scent. He was a few feet away from her,
his deep rhythmic breathing indicating he had fallen
asleep.

It was
ridiculous to be thinking about those things, she realized, but at
least it got her mind off what she had learned that night, and the
attack, and what could possibly have happened to Jade. She sat up,
pulling the blankets off her and craned her neck to where he was
sleeping on the floor.

Frustration – illogical, baseless frustration – burned in her
at the sight of him. He didn’t want to hurt her, clearly. Besides
Cyrus, he didn’t seem to want to hurt anybody, despite the fear and
distrust he received from everybody around him. She feared him too,
but for an entirely different reason.

She didn’t quite understand why he intrigued her so much. He
wasn’t a mystery really – that choirboy face always told her
exactly what he was thinking – but she still wanted to know
everything about him. He was helpless in revealing how he was
feeling, but it didn’t explain
why
he was feeling it. She had started up a habit of
watching him, and noticed, despite the fact that he usually wasn’t
alone, he didn’t talk much. The only time he was ever animated was
with Gabe or Rozelyn.

And
inexplicably, she wanted him to be that way with her. She wanted
him to trust her, despite that she could read his thoughts, that
there were people out there who wanted to kill him, and that – most
importantly – she had been dreaming about him before she had ever
met him. Whatever all this meant, she thought, he wasn’t doing it
to her.

The lines
on his face that never seemed to let up were finally gone, making
him look even younger. A stray lock of his hair had fallen over his
closed eye, and that bothered her. It obscured his face.

Without
thinking, she got to her feet and leaned over him, inches from his
face. Her inner voice chided on, but it wasn’t enough to stop
her.

It wasn’t
like she had never thought about touching him before, but it was
just one of the many things about him she had blocked out. But he
was asleep now, and it was a little thing she wanted to
do.

With
trembling fingers, she reached out and pulled the stray lock from
his face, brushing it back into his hair so it wouldn’t fall back.
The texture was different than she had expected – coarse and thick
– but it still made her legs feel hollow. Her fingers traced the
waves in his hair, her fingers traveling across the skin on his
face and pulling away. His skin burned her, hotter than Jade’s or
any strapper she had come into contact with.

Her
fingers itched to do it again, but, calling on her willpower, she
resisted and headed back into his bed. She would never be able to
sleep if she was looking at him, so she rolled onto her other side,
staring out the window instead.

It took
several hours for her to become tired enough to fall asleep, her
exhaustion finally outweighing her desire to keep listening to the
soft, heavy breathing behind her.

Chapter 15

The
Keeper’s Curse

Emmy did
not wake up the next morning the usual way, by the gentle murmurs
of Jade. The arm pushing her was much too strong. The voice was
different as well.

“
Hey, Lana, you have to wake up ...”

Her body
relaxed at that voice. She must still be dreaming.
“Breckin.”

“
Yes, it’s Breckin. I’m sorry Lana, but you have to get
up.”

Emmy
stiffened, her eyes popping open. And sure enough, Breckin
Crawford’s face was inches from her own. Her sleepiness evaporated
instantly, jolting up into a sitting position.

“
What are you doing here –?” she demanded, and then noticed
her surroundings. She was in a room she didn’t recognize at all.
The peeled wooden walls were covered in photographs of smiling
people; one wall as an exception, covered in what appeared to be a
collection of different animal horns.

And then
she remembered.

“
Viarge
,” Emmy swore. “I have to get
home and check on Jade. We really need to talk about what happened
last night.”

“
Okay, let me take you home.”

“
No, you’ve done more than enough. You saved my life last
night.”

At this,
his face clouded over. “I know, and that’s why I feel responsible
for you. Come on, I’ll help you out through the window.”

“
Window?”

Without
another word, Breckin headed over to his window, opened the latch,
and pushed it upwards. A conveniently placed tree branch was
positioned right outside.

“
We can’t use the stairs?”

“
Do you have any idea what Noah would do to me if he found out
a girl slept in my room overnight? He doesn’t even let Rozelyn come
up here.”

She
giggled at his passionate voice, but Breckin simply looked
bewildered as to why she would find such a thing funny. He went
first, wrapping himself around the branch without any noise.
Breckin held out his hand.

Emmy had
more than her fair share of sneaking out of rooms, but she took his
hand anyway. She nearly screamed when she realized how far up they
were, but Breckin helped her all the way down. Within five minutes,
they landed safely on the grass.

“
Want a lift?”

Normally,
she would have replied “no”, but getting increasingly more nervous
about Jade, she accepted. Emmy jumped on his back, wrapped her arms
around his neck as he ran through the forest.

Within
minutes they were at The Noir Beanery. Emmy’s mouth opened in
shock. Several officers milled around outside – crests of
Methelwood on their black clothing – with open notepads, speaking
to Vera and Sol. Sol’s face was frozen, while Vera stood beside
him, crying.

“
What happened?” Emmy asked, standing several feet away from
the scene.

The
officers, Sol, and Vera all turned to her. For several moments
there no one answered, and suddenly Vera burst into a fresh horde
of tears, running over to Emmy and throwing her arms around
her.

“
You’re alright,” she said. “I didn’t know where you were and
nobody could find you –”

“
Where’s Jade?”

Vera
retracted her hug and mopped her eyes with her billowing sleeve.
“Enforcement found her in the woods this morning. She was
unconscious, and it looked like there had been a
struggle.”

This couldn’t be happening.
“What
?”

“
She’s at the hospital now, and they’re saying she should be
fine.” She sucked in a sob. “I don’t know why on earth she would be
out of the house at one in the morning. I was so worried something
had happened to you, too. I had promised your mother –”

“
Don’t worry, I was with Breckin,” she said, motioning to him.
“Can I go see her?”

“
Of course. But please, I’m begging you, next time you sleep
over at a friend’s place, please tell me. I was worried sick. If
something happened to you, and it was because I hadn’t been
watching you, Annalise would never –”

Emmy
reached out and hugged her again, squeezing her tight. “I’m so, so
sorry Vera. Tell Sol I’m sorry too.”

Vera
waved the apology away. “As long as you’re safe. Go.”

She
didn’t expect Breckin to come with her, but he did; she remembered
he was also a friend of Jade’s. The two of them stumbled through
the forest until they reached the great white building. Emmy rushed
to the unit clerk’s desk, demanding to see Jade Woodworker. The
clerk’s face fell and told her to go to room A13.

When Emmy
found the room, Jade was not alone. Persephone had already arrived.
She jumped up at Emmy and Breckin’s entrance and turned around. Her
eyes were pink from crying.

Jade, to
the left of Persephone, lied perfectly still in her white linen
bed, in an unnaturally straight position. A bruise had flourished
on the left side of her face. Emmy burst into tears.

“
I’m so sorry,” Emmy said again. “I didn’t know, I figured she
had made it home. Was it those monsters that attacked
her?”

“
Had to be,” Persephone replied flatly.

I wish there was something I could do.

“
I’ll call up Ministrial today,” Breckin said softly. “I’ll
try to have them put a guard around you, alright? They won’t get
you again.”

Emmy
wanted to hit him. Why was he being nice to her? He knew Jade never
would have been hurt if it hadn’t been for her.

Persephone let out sound in between a scoff and a laugh. Emmy
was startled by the sound. Puzzled.

“
You would try and protect her, wouldn’t you?” Persephone
stood up, not waiting for an answer. “Emmy, I still need to talk to
you. Alone. We need to go back to my place.”

Emmy
gaped, not wanting to leave Jade, but not wanting to upset
Persephone further.

“
Breckin, can you stay and watch her? Just until someone else
gets here?” Emmy asked.

He nodded
with a grim smile. “Of course.”

Persephone led her out of the room, and in a few minutes, out
of the hospital. The weather was pretty nice outside, hardly any
snow on the ground and above freezing. It was quite a pleasant
change from the usual, but the two girls dragged their feet all the
way to the complex, which made for a rather long walk.

Persephone led Emmy up the stairs to her apartment, opened
the door and invited her in, and led her into the living
room.

Unlike
what Emmy had become used to in Methelwood, Persephone lived in a
lavish apartment. The main source of light came from a
dragon-shaped candlelit lightbox in the corner, casting designs on
the onyx pier table and the art on the walls. At first Emmy thought
they were expensive, rare paintings – most of them drawings
landscapes and people in purple and blue hues – but when she took a
closer look, she noticed they were all signed “Persephone
Nassar.”

“
Don’t be so surprised,” Persephone said, striding over to the
far wall where a bookshelf filled with tomes stood. “I’m
not
unsophisticated.”

Persephone ran a finger across the spines of the books on the
third shelf, until she reached a dark green one and pulled it
out.

“
If you had just told me the voice you’ve been hearing was
Breckin Crawford’s, I would’ve known your problem right away,” she
said.