The Curse Defiers (26 page)

He pushed out a breath. “Let’s presume you’re right about Ahone wanting you to use the ring at the gate, and I suspect you are—why would he encourage them to take it from you? That doesn’t make sense.” He paused. “But if my grandmother was right about the Dare line being the only ones with the power to use it, they won’t be able to do anything with it anyway.”

None of this speculation changed the fact that David was in danger
right now
. My fears pushe
d to the surface, but I buried them again. I didn’t have time to cry. “I told her that you hated David and you’d need some other incentive to cooperate. I said that you needed the spear and the Sword of Galahad.”

He shook his head. “What’s the Sword of Galahad?”

“It’s a sword from the twelfth century that was blessed for King Richard the Lionheart to take to the Crusades.”

“And why would they want that?” He squinted in confusion. “Why would
we
want that?”

“It was blessed to kill demons.”

His eyes widened. “You’re shitting me? They think they have a sword that can kill demons?” he scoffed. “What idiots.”

“Collin, they
do
have a sword that will kill demons. Tsagasi confirmed it. Hell, I have a sword that kills demons. I killed three of them two nights ago. But that’s not all the Sword of Galahad does. Tsagasi says it can subdue gods too.”

His face paled. “How can such a thing exist?”

“I don’t know, but I need it.”

He shook his head, clenching his jaw. “No, Ellie. That’s the
last
thing you need. You’ll become a target.”

“Wake up, Collin! I already
am
a target!”

He paced for several seconds looking like he was about to be sick. “So you told her the only way I would show was if she gave you the spear and the sword. What did she say?”

“She only agreed to the spear. I told her I had to check with you.” I suddenly remembered the phone and dug it out of my pocket. “She handed me this and told me to call her when you had your answer. She said to use the most recent number.”

He reached for the mobile. “That’s no burner.” I handed it to him and he frowned. “It’s an
iPhone
. How much money do these people have?”

When he tapped the screen, I recognized the screen saver and instantly felt like I was going to throw up. “Oh, God, it’s David’s.”

I reached to snatch it back, but Collin refused to release it. “Ellie. There’s a video on it.”

My breath caught. “I want to see it.”

He held it close to his chest, pity in his eyes. “I think I should see it first.”

His pity only made me angrier. “Why? Are you trying to
protect
me? Too goddamned late for that. I’ve had to face more shit in the last couple of months than I did in my entire life before meeting you.”

“Ellie.”

“You can’t protect me from this, Collin. You can’t protect me from
anything
.”

He looked devastated. “I know.”

His hold loosened and I grabbed the phone with shaky fingers, holding it out so we both could see it.

Then I pressed play.

The video started with Miriam’s face. “Hello, Elinor. If you’re watching this, then you’ve discovered who I am. I want you to be completely aware of what you’re dealing with.” She stepped away from the frame, revealing David. He was tied to a chair, his face bloody.

My stomach jolted and I sucked in a breath. Collin snaked an arm around my back, pulling me to his side.

David looked at the screen, and I could tell that one of his eyes was starting to swell.

“Tell Elinor what we instructed you to say.”

“Go to bloody hell.” He spat blood at her and it landed on her skirt.

The man next him—the man who had gone out to talk to Miriam before she left—hit David in the face and his head slumped to the side.

I felt wobbly, but Collin’s hold tightened.

“I expected better manners from you,
Dr.
Preston,” she reprimanded in a disapproving tone. “Now tell Elinor what she needs to do.”

He looked at the camera, anger radiating from his body. “Ellie, don’t listen to her. Don’t do it.”

The man hit him again.

Miriam released an exaggerated sigh. “Dr. Preston, we really don’t want to have to do this, but you leave us with no choice.”

Blood dripped from his nose and down to his light-blue dress shirt. The one I’d ironed for him that morning, even though he’d protested he could do it himself. Hysteria bubbled below the surface and I struggled to keep it under control. “All right, but I want to give her a message first.”

Miriam hesitated. “Fine. But then you must deliver the message you were instructed to give.”

He looked into the camera, his face softening. “Ellie, listen to me.”

I released a soft whimper. They were beating the shit out of him and he was still only thinking about me.

He leaned forward as though he could get closer to me. “If something happens to me, don’t blame yourself. I wouldn’t give up a single minute with you. Give Myra’s boyfriend my regards. And remember that I love you, Ellie. I’ll always love you. Not even death can separate my love from you.”

“Enough,” Miriam shouted. “Deliver the instructions.”

“They want you to meet them in the Manteo aquarium at eleven on Tuesday night.” His gaze dropped as though he was ashamed, then he looked up again. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I didn’t want to tell them where the gate was, but they forced me.”

“He lied to them,” I blurted out.

His uninjured eye widened and his back stiffened. “But don’t do it, Ellie! Don’t meet them. They’ll kill me anyway, and they won’t let you go when they’re done.”

The man punched him twice more and David slumped in the chair. The camera turned back to Miriam. “Elinor, I hope I haven’t underestimated your attachment to young Dr. Preston. Meet us tomorrow night or we’ll deliver him to your front doorstep. And you won’t like the way he looks when we’re done with him.” Then the video ended.

I stared at the frozen frame on the screen. A sob broke loose and I reached back my hand to throw the phone across the room, but Collin grabbed my fist and pried the device loose before I could do it.

“I know you’re pissed, Ellie, but we need this phone.”

I leaned over my knees, my heart cracking into pieces as I finally let myself break down. What had they done to him? What more hell would he have to go through because of me? I struggled to catch my breath. No, the fucking Guardians were the ones who had beat the shit out of him. I needed to blame them. I choked on a sob again, remembering how his sweet face had looked in the video—bloody and bruised. My threat to Miriam wasn’t a bluff, and her video only made me hate her more. I stood up straight, my chest heaving as I fought to regain control. “
Pissed?
You think I’m only
pissed
?”

“Ellie.” He grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “I swear to you, I’ll do everything in my power to get him back. This is not done.”

My control broke again and tears clogged my throat. “I begged you to save him when I went after her. You told me you would and you didn’t . . . you came after me instead. Why should I believe you now?”

His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing away my tears. “Because you’ll always come first. Above everyone and everything. Every fucking time, you’ll always come first.”

I shook my head and sagged into his chest and sobbed, some of the fight draining out of me.

His hand moved to the back of my head as his other arm wrapped around my back, holding me gently against him. “He was already gone by the time I got out back, Ellie. There wasn’t anything I could do. I’ll help you save him.”

His words filled me with hope. But I suddenly realized that I was back to where I was when all of this began—blindly following Collin. Well, I was no longer that naïve, stupid girl who’d followed him like a lost puppy. I was stronger now, and I knew things he didn’t. I jerked out of his grasp. Nothing good ever came from letting Collin take control. “Then you’ll have to tag along with me, because I’m going after him myself.”

Resignation filled his eyes and he took a step back. I reached over and grabbed my sword off the table and strode toward the door.

“Ellie, hold up.”

I spun at the waist and stared at him, my gaze cold. “Are you coming with me or not?”

“Hey, I’m all for going on a recovery mission, and you seem hell-bent on taking over,” he said, his tone light as he held his hands out at his sides. “And fine, I’ll let you. But what’s your plan?”

Asshole. I didn’t have one and he knew it.

He took a cautious step toward me. “Can I just make a suggestion?”

“
What?
”

“Before we leave, let’s look for clues.” He took my nonresponse as a sign to continue. “If they moved the collection out, they would have needed a big truck. Maybe someone noticed.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Who? This building is completely unoccupied except for this section. And the back faces a field. Who would have seen anything?”

A wry grin lifted his mouth. “Someone most people would ignore.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-O
NE

“Come on.” He brushed past me as he moved to the back door, unlocked it, and then pushed it open.

I followed him out and down the steps next to the loading dock. A puddle of water sat in the middle section of the drive.

“I noticed this earlier, but it’s directly under an overhang and it rained last night. But now I think it’s condensation from a car or truck’s air conditioner.” He pointed to it. “This was how they took David.”

Fear rushed through my bloodstream, making me light-headed.
Get it together, Ellie
. “And it was gone when you got back here?”

“Yeah, I suspect they didn’t waste any time before starting their interrogation, and then they hauled him off before anyone could investigate. If they are really watching you—or me—then they probably even knew we were here.”

I put my left hand on my stomach to ground myself. “So what do we do with that?”

“Come here.”

I followed him down the stairs and around the corner, telling myself that following him didn’t mean I was giving him control. “Where are we going?”

“To talk to someone I noticed earlier.” His gaze drifted to my sword and he scowled. “You might want to keep that hidden. It doesn’t exactly make us look friendly.” Without waiting for an answer, Collin walked toward the end of the building and stopped next to a sunken doorway. An older man in dirty jeans and a faded army fatigue jacket lay on his side, curled into a fetal position on a piece of cardboard. He wore a stocking cap even though it was already at least eighty-five degrees.

I kept to the side and put the hand that was holding the blade behind my back. But I was carrying a three-foot sword—if the guy paid any attention to me, he would see it. I’d make it work, because there was no way Collin was questioning the guy on his own, and I wasn’t about to put the sword down.

Collin looked down at him. “I need your help.”

The man blinked, his clear blue eyes focusing on Collin. “I ain’t got time to help you. Can’t you see I’m sleepin’?” Then he closed his eyes again, curling up tighter.

Collin reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

The homeless man cracked one eye open.

Squatting next to him, Collin set a five-dollar bill on the concrete stoop. “Have you noticed anything unusual here in the last few weeks?”

The man pushed himself up into a sitting position and grabbed the money in his fist. “I keep to myself. It works better that way. That’s why I hang out back here.”

“I need to know if a big truck has been back here this week.”

The man eyed Collin’s wallet, his fingers fidgeting.

Collin put a ten on the pavement.

The man snatched it up. “Yeah, it was here last night. Big white truck with no words on the side. I had to hide in the corner because they’ve kicked me out before and I was comfortable in this spot.”

“So they’ve been here for a while?”

“Yeah, for about three weeks. The big truck came in and they unloaded lots of silver boxes. But last night another big truck came and took all the boxes away.”

Collin pulled another bill from his wallet and placed it in front of the man. “Tell me what you know, not what you think I want to hear.”

The man nodded and snagged the bill, bolder this time.

“Do you remember any defining characteristics about the people who came and went? Anything different about any of them?”

“The guys movin’ it all were just regular guys, but the cars were fancy, usually two of them. Two different men would come, both dressed in suits. Once there was a woman, all hoity-toity.”

“Was she older? Did she have white hair?” Collin asked. “A long stick up her ass?”

The man cracked a smile. “Yeah, that was her.”

“Did you hear anything they said?”

The old man shook his head. “Nope. I kept out of the way.”

“What about this morning?” Collin asked, shifting his weight and glancing toward the loading dock. “Did you see any activity back here?”

“Yeah, I saw a silver car leave just a bit ago. Didn’t see it come earlier, but like I said, I was sleepin’.”

The cry of a bird came from overhead. A shiver ran down my spine, but I took comfort in the fact that it was late morning and the sun was beating down on the pavement. My imagination was getting carried away.

Collin rested his forearms on his knees, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Did you see who got in it?”

When the man hesitated, Collin started to pull out more money.

Another bird cawed, joined by a third. Anxious, I spun around, the sword still in my hand, and moved into the center of the street.

Collin stood and narrowed his eyes. “Ellie?”

Screaming filled the air and three large, black birds started to circle over our heads. “Raven Mockers. What are they doing here?” I asked, shading my eyes to look at them.

“That’s impossible. Raven Mockers don’t come out in the daylight. They’re nocturnal.”

“Well, someone forgot to tell them that . . . that and everything else they’re not supposed to be doing.”

Two of the birds swooped down, landing in the middle of the road before they transformed into an old man and woman—the same woman who had killed Allison.

The old woman tilted her head to the side and studied Collin with a sly grin.

A shiver settled at the base of my neck and I lifted my sword, ready to defend him. My action caught her eye and she laughed, her eyes sparkling. “Curse Keeper, we meet again.”

“What do you want, Raven Mocker?” I asked.

“What I always want. To eat.” Her gaze was drawn back to Collin, while the male stood behind her. “Son of the earth,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been curious about you.”

Collin glanced from me to the Raven Mocker, clenching his fists at his sides. “Ellie is protected by Okeus. You can’t harm her.”

The Raven Mocker laughed and then lunged toward me, but she was purposely slow, as though she was taunting me. I jumped out of the reach of her claws, raising my sword.

Collin moved closer to me as she retreated.

The woman and man split apart, the man moving toward the building and the woman toward the field. We all stood about fifteen feet apart, facing each other.

“Okeus wants her protected,” Collin snarled.

“Okeus wants her
alive
,” she said. “And we don’t care what Okeus wants. We answer to another.”

The homeless man had climbed to his feet, though he was still in the sunken doorway. “Who are you talking to?”

The male Raven Mocker rushed toward the homeless man, sinking his claws into his shoulder, dragging down. The man screamed in pain and fright as blood soaked through his jacket.

Not again. I couldn’t watch them kill someone again.

The homeless man shrank back into the corner, grabbing his arm while he moaned. The male Raven Mocker paced back and forth in front of him, taking swipes at his face and arms, leaving surface wounds.

I started to rush to his aid, but Collin grabbed my arm, his fingers digging deep. “Ellie, stop.”

My mouth dropped open in shock and horror. “You’ll let them kill him?”

He didn’t answer, his face pale.

Disgust washed through me in hot waves. “Maybe you can stand back and watch him suffer, but I can’t.”

I jerked out of his hold and lifted my sword as I took several steps toward them. I needed to get between the Raven Mockers and the homeless man.

The bird overhead still circled and cawed.

The old woman lunged as I passed, purposely missing again. She laughed when I jumped out of her way and wielded my sword in a defensive position.

“Ellie. Goddamn it!
Stop this!
You’re going to get yourself killed!” Collin shouted.

The male Raven Mocker released a loud caw and the black bird overhead joined in, as though they were chanting a taunt.

The old woman grinned, her lips pulling back to reveal her yellowed razor-sharp teeth. She stood six feet away but she reached her hand toward me, rolling her fingers as if she wanted to dig them into my skin. “You are slow today, Curse Keeper. I think the Great One is wrong about you after all.”

“Okeus?” I asked, sliding closer to the doorway, and the old woman moved with me. Tsagasi had already said it wasn’t, but it didn’t hurt to get confirmation from one of the Raven Mockers.

She spat on the ground as she matched my movement, keeping her sharp eyes on me. “Someone more cunning than Okeus.”

“Ahone,” Collin grunted as he positioned himself closer to the male Raven Mocker.

“A thousand curses on Ahone’s head.” She spat again.

A glob of spit landed on the homeless man’s arm and sizzled. Smoke rose from the spot and he screamed.

Her eyes narrowed with hatred. “Soon he will pay for his transgressions.”

So if they weren’t working for either of the gods, who
were
they working for and why were they here now?

The only way to defeat them was to take the offensive. I stood at the corner of the doorway, the homeless man shrieking in pain behind me. He grabbed at the hem of my shirt, pulling me backward.

“Help me!” he screamed.

Collin was a good fifteen feet away from me now, with the male Raven Mocker circling around and separating us. Collin’s gaze shifted from the male Mocker to the female one and then to me, his eyes flying open in horror as I fought to untangle myself from the homeless man’s grasp. I jerked free and moved several feet to the side, but the injured man fell face-first on the street.

The old woman took advantage of my distraction and rushed toward us, clawing the man’s back. The angle was wrong—her side was to me—but maybe an injury would slow her down. I grabbed the sword with both hands and lifted it like a bat, swinging with all my strength and embedding the blade into her back.

She shrieked and bolted upright, nearly pulling the weapon from my grasp. “You will pay for that, Curse Keeper.” Thick black blood spilled onto the pavement as I wrenched my weapon free.

Collin’s face hardened as he glanced from me to the Raven Mockers, the homeless man still screaming in pain. Fear and anger filled his eyes as he ran between the demons and then turned to face me, lifting his palm. The mark on his hand began to glow.

“
I am the son of the earth.
”

The wind howled and a pinpoint vortex appeared.

“No, Collin!” I shouted above the gusts. “Let me destroy them!”

The old man’s face contorted in anger and he ran toward me, lashing out as a bird’s scream came out of his mouth. I held the sword in front of me with both hands and planted my feet, bracing myself. It was a risky move. Even if I dealt a killing blow, there was a strong likelihood he’d be able to claw me before he succumbed.

“. . .
born of space and heaven.
” Collin’s firm voice boomed through the open space and my head.

The vortex widened and the suction increased. The old man was struggling to reach me while the old woman turned her attention to Collin. I decided to take the offensive and surged forward, sinking the sword deep into his chest. But even as I pushed the blade in with the continued momentum of my lunge, I knew it was too low. I had missed his heart. With the sword embedded in his chest, I was close enough for him to wrap his arms around my back. His claws sunk deep into my shoulder blades. A maniacal laugh escaped his mouth, followed by a putrid odor. The scent and the pain overwhelmed my senses, and the edges of my vision turned black.

Who would save David if something happened to me?

“
I am black earth and sandy loams . . .
”

I could hear the panic in Collin’s voice. The pure terror in it registered as a sticky warmth coating my back, plastering my shirt to my skin and trickling down, seeping into the waistband of my pants. How I separated his voice from the chaos going on around me was a mystery. But somehow it gave me strength. I couldn’t leave him either.

The wind grew stronger. The monster still had his claws embedded in my back, and they sank deeper yet, digging into my muscles and dragging outward toward my sides. I gritted my teeth to keep from giving him the satisfaction of a scream. His feet began to slide and I realized he was being pulled into the vortex.