Allure (The Hoodoo Apprentice #2) (Entangled Teen) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty-three

I
set aside Miss Delia’s spell book and rub my tired eyes at the table in the caretaker’s cottage. I’ve read it cover to cover three times this afternoon. I think I’m ready. At least I hope I am. Picking up my phone, I dial Jack
. He answers on the third ring.

“Hey, can you pick me up at Dad’s in about an hour? I’ve got one more thing to do but then I think we’ll be ready to try to break this.” Not really. I’m actually only half betting we’ll be ready but I’m not going to let him in on that.

“Yeah. Just so you know, you owe me big time. It hasn’t been easy to keep him here.” His voice is clipped.

“It’ll be worth it. I promise. We’ve got to do this thing tonight. I can feel it.” At least that’s what I think the green and white psychic power beads on my
collier
have told me.

“You’re lucky you’ve still got feeling. I don’t.”

Um, I’m not exactly sure what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m too busy and overwhelmed to decipher it now. “All right then, see you in an hour. Oh, wait. Before I forget, make sure both you and Cooper have your ruby pieces.”

“Sure.” He cuts the line.

I glance down at the list I’ve started on the pad in the middle of the kitchen table. Between the stuff in Dad’s workshop, the supplies I brought back from Miss Delia’s, and a few plants I can clip from the forest around the cemetery, I should have everything covered.

In the meantime, I’ve got to take the strongest purifying bath I can whip up and hope the
Planetary Sun
bath crystals I snagged from Miss Delia’s will help restore a little bit of my physical vitality. Otherwise, I’m not sure how I’ll get through the night.

An hour later, exactly to the minute, Jack pulls up to the caretaker’s cottage in the golf cart. Cooper’s in the front passenger seat, his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face. Though he’s ditched the leather jacket, he’s still sporting the rest of his new getup, plus one new accessory: his bottom lip is red and swollen. Jack slides out of the cart and walks around to the screened porch. Though he tries to hide it, there’s a hitch in his gait. His left eye is purple and swollen.

I suck in a gasp. “What the heck happened?”

“I kept him at the Big House.”

I squint at the shiner. “You okay? Did you ice it?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. It’s nothing compared to losing chunks of my skin. Plus I got in a few good swipes of my own. That felt better than any cold pack.” He smiles.

I glance at Cooper who’s slumped in the seat, looking about as happy to be there as a kid in the principal’s office. “Awesome. I guess. You think he’ll help load these in the cart?” I point to the pile of tools I’ve pulled from Dad’s workshop.

Jack smirks. “Doubtful. You’re lucky he’s here at all. All he wants to do is be with Taneea.”

“Great. I’m going to need a little more cooperation when we do this.”

“Good luck with that.”

Together Jack and I load a few shovels, a pruner, and some other supplies. Luckily Dad’s been busy running errands for Beau. Otherwise he’d freak if he saw us taking this stuff.

Twenty minutes later, we’re at the cemetery. The sun’s just starting to set and the sky’s the same orange hue as a ripe cantaloupe. Jack jumps out and gets to work on my instruction to bring back a bunch of tall wildflowers I saw growing along one section of the graveyard. Cooper stays slumped in his seat.

I pause on my way past the cart. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this, we can just forget it. The curse can take over and steal your soul.”

“I’m here, aren’t I? Jack didn’t have to hold me prisoner in my own house. I could have spent the day with Taneea and met you guys here.”

“Look, I know you think we’re working against you, but it’s for your own good. Whether you like it or not, taking off the
Protective Shield
mojo made you vulnerable to the curse. And since you keep disappearing and won’t take our phone calls, we had to make sure you’d be around when we were ready to try a
Break Jinx
.”

“How do I know you’re not just using the curse as an excuse to try and get back with me?”

I roll my eyes. “We’ve been best friends for eight years. If you can’t tell when I’m being honest with you or believe that I’m looking out for your best interests, then maybe we’re too late. Maybe your soul is already gone.”

He steps out of the cart. “No, it’s not. I can’t know for sure, but I’m guessing if it was, I wouldn’t care about the curse. But I want to break it once and for all. What do you need from me?”

My heart skips a beat. Maybe the old Cooper is still in there.

“Your help. With a bunch of things. I ran into a little…trouble with a spell I tried to work for myself so I don’t have the strength I normally do. I need to rely on both you and Jack.”

“No problem. That kid’s a lot stronger than I gave him credit for. Though it was a lucky shot.” He rubs his swollen lip.

I smirk. “From the looks of his black eye, I’m betting you had it coming.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” His mouth pulls up into a half grin.

It’s nice to joke with him again, even if it is over Jack and him brawling. The important thing is that he’s on board, at least for now. If all goes well, I’ll only need his cooperation for a couple more hours. By then, hopefully, he’ll be back to the Cooper Beaumont I know. And maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll remember how much he used to care for me.

Cooper and I trudge to meet Jack among the wildflowers. He’s already cut long spires of mullein, the long, spindly weed that has soft, furry leaves and little yellow flowers. I gather a bunch of stalks and bind them together into six-foot-long bundles with the ball of twine I snagged from Dad’s workshop. Cooper and Jack cut as many plants as they can find, then help me create a stack of twelve knotted bunches that we can use as
Magic Candles
when we try to break the curse. When we’re finished, Jack and Cooper carry the mullein bundles to the deepest part of the cemetery, not far from the banks of the salt marsh.

While Jack runs to get the rest of our supplies, Cooper and I walk through the section that’s blanketed with kudzu. I point to the bright white headstone I uncovered earlier in the afternoon. It’s the only object sticking out from the bright green carpet of vegetation.

“See that?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

“It’s your mom’s headstone.”

“For real?” His voice is breathy as he drops the pruners and runs right for it. He turns to me. “I can hardly remember the day we buried her. Except that it was cold. Rainy. This stone wasn’t here then. There was just a bunch of dirt next to her casket.” Kneeling in front of the marker, he rubs his hands on the smooth marble surface and then traces his finger on the edge of the now-empty space that held his mother’s locket. His brow creases. “What happened here?”

I bite my bottom lip. “Um, I needed something that was in that compartment for tonight’s spell.”

He pulls his attention toward me for an explanation but thankfully, Jack walks up with two shovels and distracts him. “What do we do with these?” Jack squints at the gravestone in the dimming light. “Is that…?”

“Yeah. My mom. She’s right here.” Cooper pats the stone, then rises to his feet. Clearing his throat, he appears to force back the emotions that threaten to overflow and points to the shovels in Jack’s hands. “What’s next?”

I point to his mother’s grave. “You and Cooper need to dig twelve holes in a circle around the headstone and then plant each torch deep enough that it won’t fall over, but not so deep that it’s shorter than us.”

While they dig, I smear the ends of each mullein torch with tallow, rendered beef fat I snagged from Miss Delia’s to provide the fuel they’ll need to burn, and shake a
Break Jinx
herb mixture on the sticky surface. When the
Magic Candles
are in place, Jack and Cooper prune back the kudzu from around Clarissa’s grave and the rest of the circle, creating a little clearing.

As they work, I set up a little altar of sorts on top of Clarissa’s headstone with fresh fern leaves from the woods outside the caretaker’s cottage, a fat white candle, and a small clay bowl that I fill with a vial of holy water from Miss Delia’s shelf. After dipping some acacia leaves in the bowl, I sprinkle the altar with the water, then pull out another small bottle filled with althaea root and place it next to the water. These are the secret ingredients that will hopefully make all the difference to making this spell work.

As Jack and Cooper ignite the mullein torches, I light the candle and close my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I utter a silent prayer that Maggie, my intuition, my spirit guide, and research have all pointed me in the right direction. A recurring fear niggles at the back of my mind, reminding me that I don’t have the ancestors’ mortar, but I tell myself it shouldn’t matter. Miss Delia worked almost eighty years’ worth of magic without it after it was stolen from her great-gran. Hopefully I can get through tonight without it, too.

“We’re ready.” Jack’s voice fills the muggy night air.

As the lard and
Break Jinx
sprinkle heat on the torches, the scent of grilled meat peppered with apricots and curry fills the newly cleared space, making it smell more like an Indian restaurant than a Lowcountry cemetery.

I open my eyes. The tallow is on fire, spewing black smoke toward the midnight-blue sky.

It’s nearly time to start. I pull out my hunk of ruby from my pocket. It sparkles in the candlelight. “Do you each have yours?”

They dig out their own stones and show them to me. “You really think these will be useful?” Cooper asks.

“They have to be. When we broke The Creep, I knew the Beaumont Curse was in the ruby.”

“Yeah, but you threw it into the fire,” Jack says, needlessly reminding me of my biggest mistake ever.

“And it broke into three pieces,” Cooper adds.

“But the curse wasn’t broken. So logically that means it’s still in the ruby.”

Cooper looks around the clearing. “But Maggie said we needed ice. I don’t see any.”

“That’s because we don’t have any. Yet. It’ll be here.” I sound a lot more confident than I am. Because truthfully, I’m not sure how we’ll fill that important void, but I’m putting my faith in Maggie.

“Okay. So what’s different this time?” Jack asks.

“Well, for starters, we don’t have the mortar so we don’t have to worry about me throwing it into another fire. And then there’s this.” I step toward my messenger bag and pull out a soft piece of paper towel that’s folded into fours. Unwrapping it, I hold Clarissa’s locket out for them to see. “It was in that little round compartment in her headstone.”

Cooper sucks in a breath. “I remember that!” His pale gray eyes turn misty as he reaches to stroke its face with his finger. “I used to open and close it.” With a trembling hand, he pries his thumb between the two halves and clicks it open, then stares at the photos. His face softens. It’s the first time in more than two weeks that I’ve recognized him.

“I think it’s the key to breaking the curse. If everything goes like I hope, you can have it back later tonight.”

He nods. “I’d like that.” His voice has a hint of its old softness,
which only makes me more anxious to get this over with.

I set the locket on top of the gravestone between the candle and bowl of holy water. “Now, there’s one last thing I need. You’re not going to like it, but you’ve got to do it, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.”

Chapter Twenty-four

I
extend my hands toward Cooper and Jack; the ruby fragment twinkles in the center of my left palm.

Cooper’s lip twists. “You want to hold hands? Do we have to?”

My heart sinks. I guess his softness only applies to his mom. “Believe me, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. I don’t have enough of my own energy to work this spell, so I need some of yours.”

Cooper’s brow creases. “For real?”

Jack clasps his palm over my ruby, then holds out his free hand contain
ing his own stone. “Yeah, she is. And considering this is all for you, I say you do it and be grateful.”

“Fine,” Cooper grumbles as he takes his place opposite Jack and me. We join our hands, locking us in a circle, though Cooper’s grip around my fingers is tentative and less than committed.

Still, their energy courses through me in a circular motion, up through one arm, across my body, then out the other side. I draw a huge breath and fill my lungs. Within seconds, I sense the restoration begin in my muscles as my blood vessels deliver rich, oxygen-filled blood to my tissues. I haven’t felt this vibrant in days.

Thick, dark clouds converge over the cemetery, blocking out the stars.

An electric hum vibrates in my chest.

Cooper’s eyes pop. “Oh wow.”

“Cool.” Jack’s voice is filled with wonder.

I smile, elated by the tingling sensation that’s fortifying and repairing my body’s natural balance. “It’s an energy circle. It won’t drain your strength, just recycle it a bit through all of us. Think of it like a circuit. But no matter what happens in the next few minutes, don’t let go. Otherwise, you’ll break the connection and the spell will fail.” I shoot a pointed glance at Cooper, hoping he gets how serious I am and that I’m not doing this just to cop a feel.

He nods. “Okay.” Then grips harder, clutching my hand so tight, his ruby shard digs into my palm.

A jolt of electricity shoots up my forearm, searing the flesh beneath my skin. I gasp and fight the urge to yank my hand from his. Instinctively, I sense this bone-deep pain is due to something more than just the jewel wedged into my hand. I glance into his cool gray eyes. His face is still, as if he’s not aware of my discomfort or the intermittent shocks that zap my skin.

Something doesn’t want to me keep hold of him. Whatever that something is, it greatly underestimates me. I’m not letting go, no matter what.

The breeze kicks up, shaking the trees, and rattling the kudzu leaves like maracas.

“You okay?” Jack asks.

“I’ll be fine.” I breathe deep and try to ignore the ache that’s jolting my arm. “It’s time to start. After I start chanting, you guys can join in.”

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the smooth glass beads of my
collier
that lay against my clammy chest. I’m going to need every section tonight, especially the light blue and pink beads, intended to help hear the voice of spirit. If ever I needed my spirit guide, tonight’s the night. Next, I envision the red and white beads that convey the power of spoken word and prayer, hoping they’ll help me get this incantation right. Finally, I visualize the most important section, the purple, white, and black beads, the ones intended to make it easier to communicate with the dead. As much as I appreciated Maggie’s help this afternoon, there’s only one dead person I’m hoping will show up tonight, prodded on by the acacia leaves, althaea root, and holy water.

My mind clears. Lifting my lids, I let the words flow:

“Ancient curse cast at the birth of a son,

Stealing his soul when of age he has come,

Cast in revenge for a hideous crime,

Enduring nearly three centuries of time.

From Lady Rose and her child,

Every Beaumont son reviled,

Through each generation,

Thanks to Sabina’s damnation.

But that ends tonight,

As we beckon the light,

And seek the only power,

That can force the curse to cower.

Nothing’s as strong as a mother’s affection,

It offers pure love and unfailing protection,

So we summon Clarissa to help break this curse,

By calling her spirit and reciting her verse:

‘Your heart and mine,

Forever entwined,

Love everlasting,

Till the end of time.’”

The temperature drops at least ten degrees. A crack of thunder booms in the distance.

Cooper’s eyes stretch wide. “You’re calling my mom?” His voice is breathy and filled with apprehension.

“Shh,” I warn, then repeat the verse from the locket two more times. By the time I’ve completed it, Jack and Cooper have caught on, joining in the recitation.

As we chant, the ground rumbles under our feet. Jack’s grip tightens. He’s no doubt thinking about the last earthquake we witnessed beneath the bottle tree at Miss Delia’s. But that was different. Miss Delia was releasing dark magic from some evil curios. We’re doing just the opposite, evoking white magic for protection. I shoot him a reassuring glance and squeeze him back.

A faint yellow light wiggles its way up out of the ground in front of Clarissa’s grave.

My chest swells with joy. It’s working. I recite the verse from the locket again, this time with more feeling and urgency. Jack and Cooper follow my lead.

The wind kicks up and another blast of thunder crashes, this time closer, somewhere above the salt marsh.

The light brightens as it rises from the rich soil. Finally, it emerges, a wisp of dazzling incandescence that curls up into the air like a fancy cursive
s
. The clearing fills with the sweet scent of jasmine. The light spins slowly toward Cooper, approaching him tentatively, then hovering at his eye level.

“Emma?” His voice quivers.

I complete the last line of the verse, then pause only long enough to answer him. “It’s okay, Cooper. She won’t hurt you. I promise.” I grit my teeth as I swallow the pang trailing up my arm.

Jack and I repeat the poem again, watching as the light encircles Cooper, coils around his arms and torso, then nuzzles his face and hair. It finally comes to rest in the crook of his chest and shoulder.

“It’s her,” he whispers. In the candlelight, a tear works its way down the side of his face. He gazes at the shimmering light. “I’ve missed you so much, Mom.”

Ignoring the hot sensation that’s stinging my eyes, I concentrate on Clarissa’s poem, since I’m sure it’s the key to breaking the curse.

The shimmering light slides away from Cooper, then hovers above the candle on her gravestone. Though it’s just a formless wisp of brilliance, it seems to nod at me, as if it’s waiting for me to take the next step.

Except I’m not sure what that is. I’ve barely gotten us this far, and I don’t have a clue what’s supposed to happen next.

The light nods at me again.

The ruby fragments in my palms suddenly feel cool. It’s a welcome relief for the shock flares that keep racing up my arm from Cooper’s touch. Within seconds, the jewels’ temperature drop again from a comforting chill to frigid.

I suck in a breath at the sensation that’s so cold it’s burning. “Do you guys feel that?” I whisper, as they continue to chant.

“Feel what?” Jack whispers back.

“Never mind.” It must be the work of my spirit guide though I’ve got no idea what she’s trying to say.

My fingertips sting. A supersized brain-freeze grips my head like a vise. My right hand, the one in Cooper’s grasp, spasms from the competing signals that convey hot and cold. I want to let go, but I fight the urge, knowing it’ll break the connection and ruin the spell. Competing forces clash. Against my will, my hand flips over, the ruby fragment clutched between my fingers. The back of my hand is still pressed against Cooper’s palm, maintaining our link.

I wrench my hand to twist it back over, but it won’t move.

Fast as a whip, Clarissa’s spirit bounces toward the uncovered ruby and then wraps around our entwined hands. A second later, the radiant light leaps to each of our joined hands, spiraling around our wrists.

She must want to see the rubies.

“Open your hands, but don’t break the connection,” I whisper, then slip back into the chant. Following my example, they each lift one palm, allowing it to cradle their ruby fragment.

The long, curly light rolls itself into a tight, shimmering ball. The glow intensifies and brightens, then starts to pulse.

Thunder blasts overhead, rattling my chest.

Suddenly the orb shoots three long flares that stretch down to our open palms. The light dances on my hand. It’s warm and effervescent and tickles my skin. An instant later, all three beacons grab hold of the ruby pieces like tractor beams and reel them in toward the center of the bright yellow light.

Jack’s jaw drops. “Holy crap.”

I can’t help but laugh because he’s expressed my sentiment, and most likely Cooper’s, perfectly. Defying gravity is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

As the rubies grow closer together, their momentum speeds until they finally click together like a three-piece jigsaw. If it weren’t for the fissure lines along each break, I’d think the Beaumont ruby had been miraculously repaired. The fiery-red stones gleam in the spirit’s light.

Lightning strikes, sending a jagged bolt of white electricity into the cemetery just outside our
Magic Candle
circle.

Jack, Cooper, and I start from the noise. A high-pitched squeal escapes my throat. But rather than slip from each other’s grasp, the jolt only causes us to interlace our fingers and clutch harder.

Rain falls, spattering the surrounding kudzu and dotting the newly cleared plot below our feet. I tilt my head toward the shadowy black sky. The cool drops dot my forehead and eyelashes, refreshing my sticky skin.

As my nerves settle, I recite the poem from the locket once again. The words seem to fuel the orb’s power. Its yellow hue brightens and flashes like a miniature sun. The ruby cluster spins in midair. Revolving clockwise, the jewels gains momentum. As it whirls in a tight spiral, the rubies’ color dims to a dull brick red.

The wind blasts and the sky opens up, dumping a deluge on the clearing. My hair plasters against my head and my clothes are drenched as fat, heavy raindrops pelt the ground so hard, they ricochet and slap my bare legs. Somehow the white altar candle and mullein torches withstand the assault, burning as bright as ever.

A shriek emits from the center of the light, as if the ruby pieces are screaming and begging for their lives. In response, the light appears to rotate faster, whipping the gems around like a centrifuge ride at an amusement park.

The stones’ color fades further, first to a murky cayenne, then to a muddied garnet. The shrieking continues through each change, as if the life is literally being squeezed from each mineral.

Thunder crashes, followed by another lash of lightening a millisecond later. The storm is right on top of us. Hail drops from the sky, peppering the clearing, and my head, with tiny, rectangular-shaped ice cubes.

Ice!
It’s the final ingredient we need to break the Beaumont Curse.

Jack and Cooper seem to make the same connection. Squinting against the onslaught of slashing hail, their chanting picks up speed, driving the rubies’ gyration even faster. All color and fire drains from the stones, leaving them as lackluster and muted as a hunk of dried black lava.

Within a few moments, the clearing is blanketed in frozen white crystals. Frost grows on the still spinning jewels.

A flash of light bursts. The stones implode on themselves as an earsplitting crack reverberates through the cemetery. A flurry of pale yellow jasmine petals scatter to the ground and cover the hail.

The sky quiets, turning off the hail and rain like a spigot. The wind stills and the clouds part, revealing the twinkling stars above.

I gasp and blink at the dirt, searching for the rubies. They’re gone. Replaced by beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers.

The yellow orb unwinds and zips toward Cooper once again, curling itself around his body from his head to his toes. Unfurling itself, it hovers at his chest, then reaches out to place its energy on his heart. Cooper heaves a huge breath. “I love you, too, Mom. I always will.” His bottom lip quivers.

The light retracts and then drifts back to hover above Clarissa’s grave. It pauses for a moment and then slips back down into the ground.

The flame on the white altar candle extinguishes.

“What just happened?” Jack asks, breathless.

“I’m pretty sure we just broke the Beaumont Curse.” I heave for air as my pulse rages.

A blood-blistering scream echoes in the distance, sending terrified shivers over my body. Vaguely familiar, it seems almost animalistic, though I can’t be sure.

Glancing at the guys, it’s clear they didn’t hear it. So rather than freak them out, I’m going to chalk it up to my utter exhaustion and assume my ears are playing tricks on me.

Jack releases my hand. “Dude, you’re free!” He raises his palm for a giant high five, but Cooper doesn’t move. Instead, he’s frozen in place, probably in major shock.

I glance up at him, afraid of what I’ll find. My heart skips a beat.

He’s beautiful. His face is filled with joy and gratitude, and most importantly, peace. Pulling me close, he clutches me tight to his chest. A shock of pain jolts through me just as my nose fills with the fragrant scents of jasmine mixed with summer rain and his piney deodorant. Strange, I’d thought the zapping would be over by now. But it’s probably just a function of my unbalanced energy and nerve-jangling fatigue.

“Thank you, Emmaline,” he gushes in my ear, his warm breath shooting sparks up my neck. “You did more than just break the curse. You gave me back my mom. Even though it only lasted a few minutes, I know she’ll always be with me. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”

Even though his touch still hurts, my heart soars. My Cooper is back. I was right—the Beaumont Curse was behind his foul attitude and absurd Taneea distraction. This is officially the best day ever.

“You’re welcome.” Squeezing him tight, I ignore the pangs as I clasp my arms around the thick muscles that line his back. “But I couldn’t have done it without you and Jack. We did it together.” Pulling back, I meet his gaze. My breath catches. His eyes are still that strange light gray, nearly as colorless as the hail scattered on the ground. Shouldn’t they have gone back to normal by now?