by Anne B. Cole
Silence.
“It’s true. I’m cursed.” Stepping backward, she stumbled over a tree root. Catching her balance, she held her palms up to him.
“Don’t follow me, Sam. No one is safe around me. Promise you won’t follow me.”
“We need to bury Emeye,” Sam replied without attempting to stop her.
She ran past the cabin to the shed. Flinging the door open, she grabbed a shovel and returned to Sam within a minute. Together, they placed Emeye to rest beside a yellow rose bush.
Sam picked wild forget-me-nots and set them on the mound of dirt. Pain and confusion riddled his face.
Gretta stepped backward, frantic to keep him safe. Three more cautious steps widened the space between them. He didn’t budge. Her feet crunched the gravel drive and raced up the dirt road. Faster and faster, her legs covered the distance to the lookout point.
The view of the valley never failed to make her pause. She stood, staring at the fields, roads, and farmhouses.
It’s simple. One leap. If I’m dead, everyone I love will be safe.
“One more day,” Sam gasped behind her.
She whipped around. His chest heaved and sweat dripped down his red face. His legs buckled, causing him to sway too close to the edge. Her hand shot out.
“I won’t lose you, too,” she cried, collapsing under his weight.
“You don’t have to.” Sam rolled them away from the edge into soft grass.
“I have to go, you’re not safe—” She jumped to her feet.
“One day, give me one more day with you.” Sam swiped sweaty hair from her cheek and leaned close.
The kiss she had been dreaming about all summer brushed her lips tentatively. He drew back and her entire being begged for more.
“Gretta—”
“No talk.” She let her mind drain of all worries and pressed her lips to his.
Sam moaned and eliminated space between them. His hands slid to her hips, holding her firmly against the length of his body as the kiss escalated.
She cursed her need to breathe.
“Gretta—”
With a flick of her tongue, his lips parted, but only to groan again. She dug her fingers through his hair and pressed even closer when he nipped her bottom lip.
“Twenty-four hours,” Sam whispered the request. He didn’t wait for a reply and swept her off her feet.
When she didn’t struggle, he grinned in triumph.
Naughty fingers traced circles on his chest as he carried her farther from the ledge. She felt his muscles tighten when her hand wandered under his shirt. Sweet kisses touched her forehead and the tip of her nose. When she tilted her head for more, he gently placed her on her feet and cupped her face. She melted within his touch, his warmth; his obvious desire.
“I love you, Gretta.” Sam kissed her cheek.
“I—”
“No talk,” he repeated her words.
Letting go of her worries, she gave in to her passion. They collapsed in the shade of a giant oak tree and entangled, unleashing their forbidden love.
Chapter 51
Patientia
Gretta
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
At the sound of Sam’s voice, Gretta woke in an unfamiliar room.
“Sam?”
He stood with his cell phone pressed to his ear. “You too. Good-bye.” He ended the call and tossed the phone on an end table. “It’s okay, I’m right here.” He sat on the bed next to her.
“I fell asleep?” She noticed Sam had changed his clothes, yet she wore the scrub shirt a nurse at the hospital had given her.
“Out for ten hours.” He grinned.
“I’m sorry. I wasted our time together sleeping.” She pouted.
“It gave me a chance to think, to work some things out. Katarina brought you some clothes.” Sam pointed to a white tank top and a pair of purple shorts folded neatly on the hotel room’s bedside table.
“You talked to Katarina?” Gretta relaxed, nestling against his chest.
“Last night after you crashed, Ruby came to the hotel under Katarina’s influence. She stayed the night to make sure we didn’t wind up in the same bed.”
The grin on his face flooded her with heat. “I’m sure she wasn’t too happy when you told her we booked the last room in the hotel.” Her cheeks twitched as she imagined Ruby making sure Sam didn’t walk around the room ‘half-naked.’
“Surprisingly enough, Ruby didn’t mind us sharing a room. Katarina must have a stronger influence over Ruby than I had over Lorenzo. She told me before Emeye died, Roxana helped get Tatiana out of Tartarus. They know where Kadir Haty is and are getting closer to breaking the bad luck curse.” Sam nuzzled her cheek.
“Does Katarina know where Roxana is?” Gretta asked as he nibbled behind her ear, sending shivers up her spine.
“No, but I have confidence in my seventh great-grandmother. She will find Roxana.” Sam’s kisses continued along her jawline, ending on her bottom lip.
“Katarina is your distant grandmother?”
“Mmm-hmmm.”
Everything became clear. “The letter. I found Lorenzo’s letter to Anya in an old pitcher at your house. I have it in my notebook, I—”
“Gretta, I don’t want to talk about letters, or the ring, or the curse.” His lips continued kissing her neck.
“But, I—” The roar of her stomach cut her off.
Sam laughed and released his hold. “Let’s get breakfast.”
They drove into Greenview, to a little coffee shop on the square, and ordered tea, coffee, and plate sized cinnamon rolls.
Gretta devoured her pastry and part of Sam’s while he sipped coffee. Neither discussed what they would do after breakfast.
“You want any more?” she swirled a forkful of roll in the sticky icing before popping it into her mouth. “Sam?”
“Hmmm?” He grinned at her in a schoolboy daze.
A knot tightened in her stomach. This ‘one more day’ could be Sam’s last.
“Take me back to the cabin. I can stay with people I know for a few days.” She pushed her plate to the center of the table and stood to leave.
“Come with me.” Sam tossed money on the table. He grabbed her elbow and led her across the street. He sat her on a park bench and took her hand. “What if we—”
“We have to stop pretending there is nothing wrong. I have to go away from here, away from Ryan and Rachel, and away from you. It’s the only way to keep you safe.”
Sam parted his lips, ready to protest.
“You can still help. Talk to Katarina through Ruby. Tell her everything. Please don’t follow me. Once the bad luck curse is broken, have Katarina contact me. I promise I’ll come back to you. Until then, you have to stop loving me.” Gretta felt her bottom lip quiver.
Sam squeezed her hands together within his own. “Do you love me?”
“No.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” His eyes twinkled.
“I’ll stop. I have to. You can’t walk around wearing a bulletproof vest every day.” She willed her tears back.
“If it’s what you want, I’ll leave right now. But I don’t want you to see me go.” Sam cupped her face with both hands. His thumbs closed her eyes.
She took in a ragged breath, remembering when Lorenzo told Anya to do the same thing. Lorenzo had left her and returned to the navy. He never saw Anya again. A death curse, uttered by a man named Victor, had killed him, not the bad luck curse.
“Good-bye, Sam.”
His lips grazed her forehead. Hers parted for a final kiss, one that didn’t come. His fingers trailed from her cheeks.
Gretta refused to watch him leave, frantic to call him back, but she couldn�
�t bear to endanger him. Clenching her fists, she heard a bird chirp, a hawk screech, and a truck drive by.
Sam’s truck. I forced him to leave in order to keep him safe.
She heard whispers, more than one voice. She opened her eyes to an old woman holding a purple paisley pocketbook. She stood directly in front of her, smiling and nodding like a bobble-head.
“Hush now.” The woman swatted an even older man with her pocketbook and pointed to the end of the bench.
Gretta followed her gaze. Sam sat on the bench, holding something very small in his hand.
“You have to go, Sam. It isn’t safe,” she cried, sinking back into the bench in defeat.
He balled his hand into a fist. “Roxana never communicated with you when she was entwined within Emeye?”
“No. She never spoke to me and she had erased all of my memories of her and most of our time together in the past. Please, just go.” All the strength and fight within her drained away, leaving her with nothing but sadness.
Sam stood and shifted his feet. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “Gretta, you’re supposed to be standing for this.”
The old woman behind him giggled.
“He’s gonna do it. Go on, boy,” the old man tittered. The woman bonked him in the stomach with her pocketbook.
Sam pulled Gretta to her feet. He lowered his voice so only she could hear. “Roxana’s husband lived to be ninety. Katarina’s lover, Henry, lived over a hundred years. All four of them lived well beyond normal life expectancy. Before Emeye died, I heard Roxana’s voice inside my head. She told me if we unite, the longevity curse would protect me, protect us. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
After a long moment, Gretta nodded.
“She said, yes!” The old man swung the woman around in a polka jig.
Sam grinned. “I haven’t asked her yet.” He knelt on one knee and kissed her hand.
“Gretta Lucille Dobbs. I love you. Nothing will ever change the way I feel about you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she gasped.
His arms wrapped around her in a tender embrace as the elderly couple cheered.
Sensing the forwardness Anya had so often displayed, she pulled Sam’s face to hers and kissed him. They lost themselves in each other until applause sounded.
A dozen senior citizens had gathered. They shook Sam’s hand and hugged her, offering their congratulations and well-wishes.
After the last of them had left, Sam sat back on the bench and pulled Gretta on his lap.
She boldly reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
“Call your father. Tell him the news.”
“He already knows. Your mother, too. Before you woke this morning, I called and asked for your hand.” At Gretta’s gape, Sam continued, “Claire asked me some hard questions. I promised to take care of you and never stop loving you. Katarina told me she cast a spell on your mother, right after your father’s death. It helped Claire agree to let you stay with Pop and me. Katarina may have our parents under another spell because they both supported my proposal without hesitation.”
He pulled out two gold bands from his other pocket. “When you were asleep, I bought these. I couldn’t decide on a diamond. I want you to pick one out.” He offered the larger band to her. “The local jeweler purchased them from an estate sale. He claims they’re about two hundred years old.”
A rush of warmth flowed within her. “Lorenzo and Anya were married nearly two hundred years ago.”
Sam tilted the ring in her hand so she could see the inscription.
“‘Patientia?’” The strange word rolled off her tongue.
“It’s inscribed on both rings. The jeweler said it’s Latin for ‘patience.’ Gretta, we don’t have to rush into this. I’ll wait forever for you. I believe being engaged will protect me from the bad luck curse.” Sam slipped her wedding band on his pinky, then plucked his ring from her palm, slipping it onto her thumb.
Gretta’s heart pounded. Standing abruptly, she pulled Sam by the hand and marched him across the grass to the stone courthouse in the center of the town’s circle.
“Where are we going?” Sam asked playfully.
“To get a marriage license.”
His mouth dropped open. “We—we don’t need to rush things. I want this to be perfect for you.” Sam scrutinized her face as if searching for doubt.
Gretta grinned, knowing there was none to be found.
“We had the perfect wedding two hundred years ago as Anya and Lorenzo. Now, all I want is you. Alive and with me forever.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.
His little half-smile, the one she loved and had ached to see all summer, returned.
Sam picked her up and carried her to the courthouse steps.
Gretta looked from the garnet ring on her finger to the gold band on her thumb. One cursed them. The other bound them in safety.
“The love and longevity curses will keep us together. The luck curse—”
“Cannot hurt us anymore.” Sam sealed his lips over hers in a kiss that curled her toes.
Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled.
Gretta broke off the kiss when rain speckled her cheeks. “I love you, Sam Daggett,” she whispered as he swung the door open and carried her inside the courthouse.
Epilogue
The Cursed Blade
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Raindrops dotted the sidewalk leading from the street to the courthouse.
Pulling a tattered coat over his head, a homeless man hugged his cardboard sign close to his chest. He watched two men, dressed in dark suits, escort a beautiful strawberry-blonde woman down the granite steps of the courthouse.
“Poseidon, why are we leaving? My ring is in there,” the woman hissed at the taller man as she twisted back to the door. Her shimmering white dress skimmed the walkway.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Aphrodite. We’ll get your ring back,” he replied, tugging her by the arm.
Several blinding lightning strikes danced across the sky, followed by resounding thunder.
The homeless man took the opportunity to pull out his plastic cup. He rattled the coins in a rhythm proven over the years to earn more than a coin or two. He kept his head down, but watched the three strangers from under the rim of his hat.
The jingle of a nickel and three pennies caught the shorter man’s attention. He nervously glanced at his companions, who were engaged in a heated conversation. Inconspicuously, he shoved a hand into his outer jacket pocket. Appearing satisfied with its contents, he removed the jacket and draped it around the shoulders of the homeless man.
Without spoken words, the homeless man somehow knew what the pocket of his new jacket contained and what he needed to do with it. An overwhelming sense of calm encompassed him.
“Asclepius, it’s time to go,” the taller man called to the man who just gave his jacket away. He rejoined the other two as the woman pulled from the taller man’s grip.
“I refuse to be seen flying around in black. Can’t you do something about this, Poseidon?” the woman shrieked.
“Did it occur to you I’m not fond of flying, either? The sea is my domain, yet my brother has ordered us to follow the humans as birds,” Poseidon grumbled.
“At least you’re a hawk. Zeus told me I had to be a raven because people associate them with death and not life,” Asclepius exclaimed. Slowly, he stepped closer to her before gazing into her lovely face. “You actually look quite stunning in black, Aphrodite.”
The woman’s smile faded as Poseidon pushed between them. “Snap out of it, Asclepius. Between her charm and your sympathetic attitude with humans, I may never accomplish my task of returning the last pieces of the stolen treasure. Let’s redirect our focus a
nd be on our way.” He took Aphrodite’s hand and slipped it though his arm, ushering her away from the courthouse.
Asclepius followed. After a couple of steps on the sidewalk, he glanced over his shoulder.
The homeless man met his gaze and nodded, relaying his acknowledgment of the pocket’s contents and his assignment.
Asclepius returned a short nod and rejoined the other two.
Dirty fingers wrapped around a jeweled-handled dagger before lightly touching the razor sharp edge. He dropped the weapon back in the pocket of his new jacket and raised his gaze to the three. Instead of people, a hawk and two black birds stood on the sidewalk.
For a minute he wondered where they went and thrust his empty hand into his other pocket. A large wad of bills met his fingertips.
Payment so soon?
He refocused on his task.
Attack the next couple leaving the courthouse.
Lightning crackled through the darkened sky. Thunder rolled. The three birds took flight and disappeared as the homeless man eyed the courthouse door.
Please read on for an excerpt from Book Three of The Souls Trilogy, Souls Endure, coming in 2016.
‘Without faith, love may not exist. Without love, evil takes control.’
Protected against the ring’s curse by their bond in marriage, Sam and Gretta begin a new life together. Gifted with a free honeymoon from strangers, they encounter visits from spirits of dead loved ones as they travel to the origins of the curse on Gretta’s ring. The beautiful Greek Islands become not only their honeymoon getaway, but their fated destiny where they will be forced to either break the curse or succumb to its evil.
