“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.
Chapter Six
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.”
Again with this destroying business. Nevertheless, I was having second thoughts.
“With great sacrifice comes a great reward,” the god said.
“That’s just it.” I gave him a sarcastic grin. “I’m not much into sacrifice.”
“You need money for your boat.”
“Yeah . . .”
“As a sign of good faith, you will get the money to replace your engine. But if you accept, you must seek out the Dare Keeper.
“And if I take the money and don’t break the curse?”
“Your misery will have only just begun.”
Shit. So I faced being destroyed by the Dare Keeper’s power or Ahone’s punishment if I didn’t do his bidding. Some choice.
“I will need your answer before I leave.”
“This is a big decision. I don’t want to be hasty.”
“You’ve had a month.”
Was a month long enough to make such a life-altering choice?
“Humanity rests in the balance.”
Ahone didn’t know me very well if he was using that argument to sway me. I knew it was my duty, but that wasn’t necessaril
y the incentive I needed. Humanity had treated me like shit most of my life. What did I owe it?
“But your brother’s life depends on it.”
So he did know my biggest motivator.
The light pulsed but gave no answer.
I struggled not to show my terror to the god. I suspected the threat came from the other Keeper, but I wouldn’t put it past Ahone to use my brother as a bargaining chip to get what he wanted. Conner might hate me, but I was still his older brother. I’d spent my entire life looking out for him, trying to keep him safe. I didn’t plan to stop now. But my grandmother was right. Ahone might be tricking me. But could I really risk ignoring him if there was a chance he was right?
I’d spent a month debating this decision, but in the end, it was an easy choice. If there was any chance of freeing myself of this curse and saving my brother in the process, it was worth the risk.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
The light pulsed. “You have made the right decision. Find her and be ready. I will give you a sign within a month, and then you will have forty-eight hours to break the curse.”
“What’s the sign?”
“You will know when you see it.”
Fucking gods.
The light shrunk to a pinpoint and disappeared. I sat out on the water for another hour, wondering if I’d just made the best decision of my life or the absolute worst. But at least I was taking action. It sure beat sitting on my ass, waiting for something to happen.
I steered the boat back to shore, the engine cutting out several times on the way back. When I checked my mailbox the next day, I was surprised to see an envelope from my insurance company. I’d made a claim for the damage the boat suffered in the last hurricane, but the company had denied it. The envelope contained a letter saying they’d reversed their decision, along with a check. Which, incidentally, equaled the amount it would cost to replace the engine.
If I cashed this check, I was committed. But who was I kidding? I was already committed.
If I was really going to break the curse, I needed to get my hands on the Dare weapons before the other Keeper had the chance. But tracking down the collection on my own was tricky. I snuck into Marino’s office late the next night, finding the file with the photographs but little additional information other than the name and address of Emilio Ricardo’s attorney. I suppose a treasure map with a giant X was too much to hope for. A trip to Greenville and three days getting friendly with the attorney’s receptionist was little help. The week I trolled around Charlotte trying to locate the collection’s actual location was also a bust. But I’d spent nearly two weeks on the Dare weapons when what I really needed was to find the Dare Keeper. I abandoned my search and headed back to the OBX.
Instead of going home to Buxton, I stopped on Roanoke Island and drove straight to Manteo, figuring I needed to begin looking for the woman determined to destroy my life. Since my hand had itched when I was docked next to the small downtown area for my charter-fishing venture, it seemed like the logical place to start.
My palm was already tingling when I parked by the lighthouse on the south side of downtown. I couldn’t believe my luck. Could finding her really be this easy? Using my hand like a metal detector, I tracked her to a restaurant downtown—the New Moon. I considered going in, but didn’t want to risk it. What if she figured out who I was? If I was going to take the offensive, I wanted the element of surprise, and I wasn’t prepared to make a move yet.
Instead, I went into the sandwich shop across the street and ordered lunch, taking my meal outside to sit on a park bench across the street from the New Moon. I watched the restaurant for an hour, spending part of my time pretending to read tourist pamphlets before walking around the block and moving to another bench down the street while keeping the restaurant still in view.
Piecing together the information from Ahone and my grandmother, I knew the Dare Keeper was female and younger than me. Since I’d been watching the restaurant for over two hours, I knew that the customers who’d been there when I arrived had already left. And my hand was still tingling, so I figured she worked there.
After paying close attention to the employees I could see through the restaurant’s windows and in its patio area, I narrowed it down to two women, both waitresses. One was a redhead with girl-next-door looks. She smiled and chatted with the customers on the patio, her laugh floating across the street. While she caught my interest, she looked too friendly and happy to fit the profile of a woman intent on destroying me. And, oh yeah, humanity. The woman who kept opening the front door for patrons seemed the more likely choice. Her long black hair was a sharp contrast to her pale skin and her dark eyes. When she met customers at the door, her greetings sounded forced. She was a woman doing her job until something better came along. She had to be the Dare Keeper.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to make a spur-of-the-moment judgment. I wanted definitive proof. I went back four times over the course of the next week and a half, ruling out the possibility of the cooks since both were men. The other women who worked in the restaurant appeared older than me. But both of the younger waitresses I’d noticed were working during all of my visits.
I had two weeks left, and I still wasn’t sure who the Keeper was.
I moved my boat up to the Wanchese docks, which were a short drive from Manteo. Twenty-five days after Ahone’s second visit, the hot, humid night added to my insomnia, so I took the boat out on the sound, hoping to catch a breeze off the water. I dropped the anchor and lay on my bedroll, staring up at the cloudless sky, second-guessing my quest. It was a crazy scheme, but it was too late to turn back now.
Had Manteo felt this way after making his decision centuries ago? Had he stared at the sky like I was doing now? I’d spent most of my life cursing him; I’d never once thought about what might have spurred him to make his decision. I’d been raised to believe he’d created the curse to protect his family and his people. I was breaking the curse to protect my family and myself. Ahone said future generations would speak of my name. It suddenly occurred to me what he hadn’t said: whether they’d praise it or curse it.
As I watched the night sky, a star appeared in the center of the summer triangle directly overhead—a star that didn’t belong there. It pulsed like the previous two stars for a few moments, but then expanded to at least ten times its size and exploded, sending pieces of light raining from the sky. They fell like fireflies, landing in the water around the boat.
I sat up in shock. This had to be my sign.
I officially had forty-eight hours to find the Dare Keeper and break the curse. The clock was ticking.
I steered the boat back to the dock as the sun rose, then drove to Buxton to my grandmother’s house. She was sitting on her front porch snapping a big bowl of green beans when I pulled into her driveway, like she was waiting for me. Then again, I supposed she was. I was certain her lost souls had told her what I was up to.
“Collin,” she said as I walked toward the house. “I wondered when you’d finally show up.”
I climbed the porch steps and she motioned to the chair next to her.
When I sat down, we were both silent for a minute, the crisp snaps from the beans filling the quiet before she said, “So you’re really gonna do it.” She said it as a fact, not a question.
“I have to do something, Gran.”
“You can do exactly what all the Keepers before you have done. You can obey the rules and perform the duties assigned to you.”
I sighed. “But what if it’s not enough?”
Her hands stopped their busy work and she was silent for several seconds. “We both know you’re going on a fool’s errand, so don’t insult me by pretending otherwise.”
My face burned.
“Have you gotten the bowl back yet?”
I sucked in air in surprise and began to cough. “Excuse me?”
She picked up a bean and tore off the end. “The bowl Manteo used in the
ceremony. I know that Conner gave it to that museum. Have you gotten it back yet?”
I shook my head, wondering why I was so stunned that she knew. Of course she knew. “No, not yet.” I’d been too focused on finding the Dare weapons and then the Keeper.
“Wait until she’s with you to get it.”
“What?” I leaned forward and turned my head to face her. “Why would I wait for her?”
She dropped the bean in hand and narrowed her eyes. “You’re turning your back on everything, Collin. All I’m asking is for you to wait for her to be with you to retrieve it. The spirits have spoken.”
I scowled. “It would be smarter to get it now.”
“The matter of your intelligence is currently in question. He’s tricking you, Collin, and you’ve fallen right into his trap.”
“You don’t know that, Gran.”
“Unfortunately, I do.”
The blood rushed from my head. She was probably right. What had she actually learned from the spirits? I considered asking, but decided I’d rather not know, particularly if I couldn’t do anything about it. “It’s too late. I’m committed.”
“I know that too.”
“So what do I do? I have less than forty-four hours to break the curse.”
Gran set the bowl full of beans beneath her chair and turned to me. “Then you follow through with this crazy scheme and do your damnedest to close the gate.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me besides your advice that I wait for her to get the bowl?”
She wrung her hands, looking nervous. “She’s strong, Collin. She’s hidden herself well for fifteen years, but over the past two weeks, I’ve been getting faint glimpses of her power. She may very well destroy you anyway.”
“So what do I do?”
“When you were young, do you remember how I told you that you are the priest and she is the conjuror? You have your information and she has hers. Under no circumstances should you share information with her. What you tell her could be your end, Collin. It could be the end of us all.” She turned to me and placed her gnarled hand on mine, her eyes wide. Her voice shook with fear and my breath caught. Not once had I seen my grandmother scared.
This Is Your Destiny (A Curse Keepers Secret Book 3) Page 6
