Cursed: The Girl Who Shook the Earth

by E. C. Farrell

  Ash pulls into a parking space. “Pretty crazy, right?” He turns in his seat to face me. “You ready?”

  Swallowing my heart back into my chest where it belongs, I glance down at my trashed outfit. Blood, sweat, and tears leave stains across my tank top, and mud cakes the bottoms of my jeans. Not exactly the ideal get up to meet one’s dad for the first time.

  But I’m not waiting another second longer. Eighteen years without him is far too many as it is.

  “Ready as ever,” I say.

  As we walk toward the sliding glass doors, Ash offers his hand. I thread my fingers through his, finding comfort in his strong, steady grip. Unlike your typical hospital, the Healing Center smells of tea tree oil and cloves. It’s not as cold as a meat locker either. Maybe magic keeps the germs away.

  A few questions and halls later, Ash and I find room 123. I pause outside the door. My dad’s in there. My dad. Someone I long assumed abandoned me and my mom. Someone with unimaginable power who has been a prisoner for eighteen years. Who knows what he’s been through, what Masera did to him?

  “I’ll wait out here,” Ash says, squeezing my hand again.

  I rub the back of my neck, half-wanting him to come with me, half-wanting that offered privacy. Holding my breath, I give him one last kiss, then step inside. The man from the picture my mom showed me lies in the bed. Though much thinner and sporting a few more fine lines around his eyes, he looks almost exactly the same as he did eighteen years ago. Except now I can see the pointed ears.

  Like Finn, perfection smooths almost every feature on his handsome face. Though I know he’s human, there is something very not human about him as well. Then his gaze slides away from the window and toward me. Only one corner of his mouth lifts when smiles. This slight imperfection tones down some of the otherworldliness about him.

  “You must be Case,” he says in an accent that almost sounds Welsh, though not quite.

  My pulse picks up a tick and I shuffle forward to stand awkwardly at the edge of his bed. “You must be Beck, uh, my dad.”

  He flutters his fingers, a gentle, graceful movement I can’t quite describe. A gesture that reminds me of Finn. “It’s understandably odd,” he says. “You can call me Beck if that’s more natural.”

  I hook my thumbs into my belt loops to give my hands something to do other than hang helpless at my sides. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Beck.”

  “And you,” Beck says. “They told me about what you did in Masera’s lab. It’s remarkable.”

  My face flushes and I hunch my shoulders. “I almost took the compound down and killed everybody in the process.”

  Beck strokes his chin. “Handling that much magic isn’t easy. I know many magic users who’ve torn rifts in the fabric of the universe attempting similar feats. And to do that with no training from your family? Unheard of. I’m sorry I wasn’t around to do so. That you and your mother had to try and navigate alone.”

  Tears prickle my eyes. “You were a little tied up.” I wince. “Unintentional pun.”

  Beck laughs. “Not all the time, thankfully.” His face tightens as he frowns. “Only when Masera was doing his experiments. I’m not sure what kind of progress he made in the end, but I’m glad you didn’t let him get a hold of you. I can’t imagine what the consequences of that would’ve been.”

  I inch forward a little farther and settle into the chair at his bedside. Almost as uncanny as his features is the new calm throughout my entire body. Without Masera’s spell banging around inside me, a lovely peace wraps around me.

  “He was trying to figure out how to...bottle up your magic so he could give it to others?” I ask. “Like a super soldier serum?”

  “Something like that,” Beck says. “He never successfully got past the first step of genetically isolating my magic, which was a very good thing. His desire to protect the paranormal world knows no bounds. For the greater good, he might do anything, hurt anyone.”

  I shudder. Though I can definitely understand the desire to protect those I count as precious. “I’m so sorry you were trapped by him for so long.”

  Beck shakes his head. “I’m sorry it kept me from you. But I promise, to the best of my ability, I’ll help you develop your magic. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”

  THAT NIGHT AT THE MERCURY Room, I find Kia in her office. She sits behind her desk, forehead on a palm, dark circles under her eyes. When I tap gently on the doorframe, she looks up with a weak smile.

  I sway between my feet. “Any news on Max?”

  Supporting her chin on a fist, Kia sighs. “They’ve pinpointed him, but Yaritza keeps changing their locations, making it difficult for them to catch up. My hope is that once she reaches those who hired her, the Amazons will be able to rescue him.” Tears roll down her cheeks. “I have to hold out hope.”

  A ball forms in my throat. “Can we do anything?”

  Kia dabs her nose with a tissue. “For the moment, no. The best thing you can do is work with your father to learn to use your power. With a little more practice, the Amazons might allow you to help.” She manages a smile, but her eyes droop and her lips quiver.

  My heart aches.

  “If they let me, I absolutely will.” I wrap my arms around my waist, swaying between my feet again and staring at the floor. “About this afternoon—”

  “I understand,” Kia says before I can finish. “I understand why you and Ash did what you did. It was an impossible situation and you both chose to do what you thought was right. In the same way I was.” She sinks back in her chair with another heavy sigh.

  Tension grips my shoulders. “All the same, I’m sorry. I know Ash really didn’t want to use that power.”

  “Sometimes we have to do things we hate to stop a greater evil,” Kia says in a soft voice. “Navigating that is incredibly difficult at times.”

  I nod slowly. “Really difficult.” Shifting a third time, I take a step back out into the hall. “If you need anything...”

  “Thank you, Case. Also, the Tribunal will still want to see you in the next few days, mainly to discuss the logistics of registering as an official citizen of our world.” Kia steeples her slender fingers. “I’ll help you coordinate. You won’t have to figure all that out by yourself. I promise.”

  With this assurance relieving some of the stress, I jog back upstairs to find Ash in the upper room alone. He takes my hand and guides me out to the roof. We sit a moment in the quiet, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon in the distance. It burns the sky a brilliant red, shoving the dark clouds from earlier in the day back as the earth tilts toward evening.

  Downstairs, Jeremy rests in his room, healed and lulled to sleep by Kia’s magic. Worry for Max continues to rage through me, exacerbated by an inability to do a single thing about it. If and when I meet Yaritza again, I won’t let her get away like she did at Finn’s house.

  Even after everything, Dharma wanted to arrest me along with Masera and his guards, but Tamara flat out refused. With no further sign of that rogue spell, I should have full control of my magic. Not to mention the fact that I now have a high fae to teach and train me. As soon as he gets out of the Healing Center.

  I sigh at that thought and scoot closer to Ash, resting my head on his shoulder. “So Daughtry, how are you feeling after all this chaos? After we took down your dad and you had to break all kinds of moral codes to do it?”

  Ash slips an arm around me. “Like a weight’s been lifted. My dad always kind of...loomed in the background for me, this sort of, dark thing casting a shadow on the future. Now I feel like I can move forward.” He smiles and it’s brighter than any sun. “What about you?”

  I snuggle farther into his side. “Ask me again after my parents meet up for the first time in eighteen years.”

  Ash grazes his fingers along my skin. “What’s the plan there? Wait until after your dad gets out of the healing center?”

  I shrug. “Haven’t run it past either of them yet, but that’s probably
going to end up being the plan. I figure their first meeting should probably be private, you know?”

  “Good idea.” Ash kisses my temple. “No matter what happens, you’ll always have home with us. Always be family.” He presses his lips to mine and I melt into him, steady for the first time in my life.

  Epilogue

  IN THE MIDDLE OF A minor anxiety attack triggered by the prospect of bringing my estranged parents together, I flop to the floor of my newly repaired apartment, staring at the ceiling.

  This time, no earthquake aggravates my already fried nerves.

  Stillness wraps itself around me. Something about this, everything about this, calms my rapid breathing. My emotions no longer set off magic that shakes the earth. The necklaces and bracelets on the doorknob hanger I made with my second foster mom don’t sway, the shampoo and body wash bottles stand steady in the bathtub, and my lights glow steady. No creepy flickering in sight.

  I exhale slowly, pressing my palms into the cold tile under me as Ash steps into the bathroom and crouches into a squat, a soft smile on his face. “How you feeling, champ?”

  “So not calm,” I say, walking the tips of my fingers along my eyebrows and then my temples. “But really, I think it would be weird if I wasn’t nervous about bringing my parents together after almost twenty years. Especially when one of them is from a completely different realm, and the paranormal government isn’t jazzed about them meeting and her learning all their secrets.”

  Ash gently brushes a knuckle down my cheek. Goosebumps scatter across my skin. I close my eyes, enjoying the rough feel of his skin. The steady rhythm anchors me to this place and helps remove another layer of anxiety so my throat opens up a little, allowing air to pass through more easily.

  “That would be totally weird.” Ash twists around, then lies on the floor next to me, his socked feet propped against the cabinets next to mine. “Not a bad view.”

  I snortle. “There’s something relaxing about studying a new paint job. They worked super fast. I still can’t believe how quick they got things fixed. As much as I loved living at The Mercury Room, it’s nice to be in my own bed, and my own shower, and to not worry about Max appearing out of the pipes...”

  My voice trails. Rubbing the tight muscles in my chest, I try that yoga breathing again, try not to spiral further in my worry for our still missing water spirit. Somehow, Yaritza has figured out how to block the Amazon witches so they can’t scry on either of them anymore. There’s no telling where they are. Or if Max is even still alive.

  Nausea rolls through me. I fan my face. For the moment, there’s nothing I can do but wait and hope their other means of tracking the bounty hunter will eventually lead to Max’s rescue. Or hope for a miracle.

  “They’ll find him,” Ash says, voice brittle. “They have to.”

  “I hope so.” I swallow around a lump in my throat. “Do you think this is a terrible idea? Having my parents meet? The Tribunal already isn’t a fan of my existence, much less their relationship.”

  “I think...trying to heal old wounds is always a good thing.” Ash laces his fingers through mine. “Even if the process isn’t painless.”

  With my hand interlocked with his, I hum an affirmative. There’s for sure no way this will be painless. Eighteen years is a really long time. Wounds left festering like that won’t heal up with one reunion, but the first step has to be taken, and for my parent’s sake, I’m willing to do it.

  “And don’t worry about the Tribunal,” Ash says. “According to Tamara, there’s already some talk of revealing ourselves to the non-magical community. You and your parents might be one of the first steps in that direction. And if I had to guess, you’re not the only mixed family running around.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. With really ridiculously good-looking paranormals running around, it was bound to happen.” He laughs.

  After a few more minutes of breathing in the smell of fresh paint and resting in my new found stillness, I push myself up, then pull Ash to his feet. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a long kiss. Smiling against my lips, Ash holds me close, enveloping me in his strength, his lovely sweet scent.

  I rock back the slightest bit and grin. “With a kiss like that I can face anything.”

  “Did I finally reach five out of five?” Ash wiggles his brows.

  “Four point nine.”

  Ash digs a knuckle into my ribs, eliciting giggles, then asks, “To The Mercury Room?”

  “The Mercury Room.”

  BECAUSE MY DAD IS CURRENTLY staying in the guest room I vacated now that my apartment is fixed, he beats us to the corner table at The Mercury Room. Even with the excellent care he’s received from the Healers, he’s not fully recovered. However, the light pouring from the mason jar hovering over his head erases most of the shadows still smudging his face.

  And that smile.

  Tears fill my eyes as Ash and I sit across from him. Steam twists up from his mug. I inhale deeply, thankful for my own space again, but missing mornings in the middle room with my new paranormal family. Dad pours Ash and me coffee from the carafe at the corner of the table.

  As I curl my fingers around the warm cup, I dab the corners of my eyes with a knuckle. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” Dad says, drumming his fingers on his knee. “Nervous.”

  I reach out, offering him my hand, and giving his a squeeze when he takes it. “Me too.”

  We both flinch as the front door opens, filling the restaurant with a fresh wave of humidity, and the smell of donuts and pine. All three of us turn to face Mom. She pauses in the entryway, pressing a fist to her mouth as her cheeks flush red.

  Holding my breath, I grip the handle of my coffee cup more tightly, slightly jarred by the lack of rumblings along my bones.

  Then slowly, Mom approaches our table. “Beck.”

  “Caroline.” Dad’s voice hitches halfway through her name. “I’m so sorry.”

  Mom sniffs, rubs her nose, then slowly sits, and rests her elbows on the table. A smile softens her face, removes twenty years from it. “So am I. It took me far too long to read your letter.” Her words warble.

  “I can’t imagine what you must’ve thought,” Dad says. “I should’ve told you everything long before it was necessary to write it down.”

  That small smile on Mom’s face brightens. “Better than leaving it on a post-it note.”

  Dad laughs, then offers her his free hand. The three of us form a small circle, Mom and I now connected to this missing piece of our family, still hurting, but starting the healing process. Just beyond this, Ash offers a grin and a wink and again I know for sure, I’m home, and I belong.

  About the Author

  E.C. FARRELL NEVER met a book she didn't like. (Just kidding! Though she's not going to bad-mouth the ones she couldn't finish, she is still mad about the end of Hunger Games). She likes her characters sassy and her endings surprising. Fluent in sarcasm, she has also studied Krav Maga and could out-burpee you any day of the week. When she's not writing, she often teaches creative writing classes for a local non-profit organization Write Create.

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