Curse of the Egyptian Goddess
Page 8
When my phone rang again, I threw it across the room where it shattered into pieces. I screamed, pulled at my hair, and scraped my nails across my arms until I drew blood. I kicked and hit the floor until my muscles ached, and then I lay silent, staring at the dusty wood floor.
“We love you, Cleo. Go and break your curse.”
I turned toward my mother’s voice, but she wasn’t there. “How can you still love me? I’m a monster. I killed you!”
“We will always love you, Cleo,” I heard my father’s voice say.
Moisture filled my eyes and I cried into the dirty floor until I had nothing left. Like a zombie, I finally pulled myself up and grabbed the notebook. I made my way to my car and drove home, knowing Calvin would hate me when I showed him the story.
I doubted he would still want to break the curse. Rightly so, he would probably say I deserved to go through the hell I’d made for myself. It was all true. I deserved the torture I received every week.
Lightning flashed in the sky before I walked into my apartment building, feeling numb. When Calvin met me at the door, I handed him the notebook and sat down on the sofa to stare straight ahead. He deserved to know. He deserved to see me for who I really was–Apep–I was the serpent who represented all that was evil.
I didn’t turn to see his expression while he read. I couldn’t bear it.
After what seemed like an hour, he pulled a chair directly in front of me and stared into my eyes. “You…did this to us?” he asked softly.
I nodded through the painful admission and closed my eyes. They popped back open when I felt his lips on mine. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t care that you did it. It happened, it’s in the past. We know how to break the curse now and that’s all that matters. It’ll all be over soon. No one else will die.”
He wrapped his arm around me, and I gave his shoulder the remainder of my tears. I didn’t know how he forgave me so easily when I couldn’t even forgive myself, but I was grateful. I felt silly when I dried my tears. I should have known that Calvin would forgive me. What else would the sweetest boy in the world do?
An instant later, his tongue plunged deep into my mouth and his hands twisted in my hair. In one swoop, he laid me back on the sofa and straddled me while he kissed me wildly. Every other thought faded in my head as I kissed back, matching his passion. My heart raced when I pulled at his shirt. He threw it off and bared his strong, muscular chest, and then he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. After he laid me on the bed, he stood back to remove his pants.
It didn’t take him long, but a few of my senses came back during the interim. His necklace stared at me, making me feel anxious, and I wanted to be rid of the curse more than ever. I didn’t want to start our lives under the black cloud. We could start fresh. We could be free.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything before he jumped on me and started kissing my neck. “Calvin,” I cried.
“Don’t stop me,” he begged, leaning back to look into my eyes. “I swear to God I can’t take it anymore. I need you, Cleo. I want you so bad.”
“I know and we will… Let’s break the curse first. We’re right here with the necklaces. We’ll do it and then we’ll have our own Fourth of July celebration. It’ll just be a little late.”
After a deep sigh, he threw himself onto his back beside me. “All we have to do is put the necklaces together, right?”
“Yes.”
“And then we’ll have sex?”
“Yes, and we’ll be free.”
He held his necklace up and I held mine to his. A jolt of electricity ran through my body when they touched. A purple mist formed around them and then expanded until the entire room turned hazy.
Chapter 13
When I awoke, I sat straight up in bed, only I wasn’t in bed anymore, I was in the desert. I squished my toes in the hot sand and the grainy texture cut into my bare feet. The large sun beat down, assaulting the back of my neck with its harsh rays.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” my mother said. She stood near the tent, wearing a white cotton dress. At first I thought she was an angel and I’d died, but then I heard Calvin.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
I looked over at his ten year old body. He wore a striped shirt and I wore a yellow dress. “Everyone’s alive!” I gasped.
“Cleo, Calvin, come in for dinner,” my mother called again with a wave of her hand.
I rose and took Calvin’s hand to help him up. The pout on his face disappeared when he saw his own parents waving to him. We ran all the way to the tent and then hugged our parents like we hadn’t seen them in years. And we hadn’t.
I stared at my mother while she dished up my plate for dinner. She was so beautiful, just like I remembered. Her kind face smiled and she looked so happy to be alive. I smiled too.
“What were you two doing out there?”
“Dreaming,” I said, unsure if Calvin and I had imagined the last ten years of our lives.
“What did you do with your necklace?”
“What necklace?” I sucked in my breath and held it for a long moment.
“The gold one, with the snake on it.” My mother looked at me and raised her eyebrows. “The one you said you bought in town.”
“Oh.” My wide eyes didn’t hide my surprise. “We lost them.”
“Calvin lost his too?”
I nodded.
“Good. That snake looked kind of creepy if you ask me.”
I agreed.
When my dad came in all dusty and dirty, I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I love you, daddy. Calvin doesn’t have to leave, does he?”
He placed a hand on my back and laughed. “Why would he leave?”
“I thought his father got called away on an important assignment.”
My father shook his head. “He turned it down. In fact, they’re moving to Madison so we can study our findings together and maybe even write a book. I’m afraid you may be stuck with Calvin for a while.”
The words sounded like a symphony of beautiful music and I hugged him again, believing that all my bad luck was behind me.
Calvin and I snuck out that night to meet each other like we had so many other times. The quiet night was cool and the air smelled fresh. We walked hand in hand away from camp and then we lay down to look up at the enormous star-filled sky with a whole new perspective.
The curse was lifted, our families were alive, and I got an honorable redo for the mistakes I’d made over the last ten years.
I reached my hand over to him and smiled, my heart filling with happiness that he wasn’t leaving and we would be together always.
He took my hand but frowned back at me. “Let’s break the curse first,” he mimicked, making me sound like a wicked witch.
The End
About the author
Lisa Rayns lives in a small town in South Dakota. She gave up working with explosives to write paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels, so her occupation hasn’t changed much. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and two adorable Siamese cats.
Other Works:
Wanted: Vampire – Free Blood, her first full length novel, will be released by The Wild Rose Press in Spring 2012. This first book in the trilogy will be followed by New Blood and Bad Blood.
Connect with Me Online:
My Website: http://www.lisarayns.com
My blog: http://lisarayns.blogspot.com/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/lisarayns.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/lisarayns
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