Conjure (17 page)

She nods. “It certainly seems like an important piece of Beaumont history.”

“Yeah.” I grow quiet, revisiting the vision and scouring my memory for details. Then suddenly, disparate pieces click together in my mind like tumblers in a lock. I gasp, struck by a bolt of mental lightning. It’s so obvious, I don’t know why I haven’t realized it until now. I grab my sketchbook and pencil, and shove them into my bag.

“Sorry, I gotta go.” I jump to my feet. “I know how to save Cooper.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Cooper scratches his head. “So let me get this straight. You want us to steal my stepmother’s ruby pendant?” The porch swing creaks under his weight as he leans forward.

Jack snorts. “Dang, Em. One museum heist and you’re going hard-core. What’s next? A bank robbery?” He laughs, delighted with himself, then squeezes Maggie, who insisted on following me home from the beach. She snuggles into him, tucking her knees up on the cushion, and strokes his temple with her elegant finger. I’m working to be more accepting of their relationship, but their coziness is a little hard to take, particularly as I’m leaning against the door, the only one standing because plopping next to Cooper on the swing would feel too much like a bizarre double date. I wish I could be that giddy and carefree. But I can’t because I know what’s at stake.

I glare at Jack. “Don’t be a jerk.”

He shrugs. “Hey, I’m not the one pursuing the life of crime, Gangsta.” He pounds his chest with his gloved fist and flashes me a sideways peace sign. He’s an idiot, but now that he’s wearing Cooper’s brand-new, bright white golf glove, he’s an idiot with style.

“I doubt that is the case,” Maggie purrs, tracing the curve of his ear. “Perhaps we should hear her out.”

Despite the fact I’m totally grossed out by their uncomfortable PDA, I forgive her because she’s on my side. I think.

I turn to Cooper. “I didn’t say we should steal it, exactly. I just said we need it.”

Cooper hitches his brow. “But why? I don’t understand what it has to do with The Creep.”

Well, neither do I. And in all honesty, I don’t completely know how it fits in with the Beaumont curse either. But thanks to my talk with Maggie, I do know two things: the curse started with Lady Rose’s son and has affected every generation since, and every mistress of High Point Bluff since Lady Rose has worn that ruby. It can’t be a coincidence. Somehow, they’re connected, and the necklace is central to undoing the curse. But I can’t exactly explain all that right now, unless I want him to hate me forever for lying to him. It would be better to get the ruby, give it to Miss Delia, and let her figure out how to combine it with the antidote. Maybe we can take care of this on our own, and he’ll never even need to know. But for now, I’ve got to come up with a good story to convince him.

“Uh, I can’t really explain how they’re connected, but they are. You just need to trust me.”

Cooper shakes his head. “I’m not sure about this. Missy really loves that necklace. I doubt she’ll just hand it over.” He crinkles his forehead. “Why are you standing over there by yourself, Emmaline? Come sit down. You’re making me nervous.” He scoots over, making room on the swing.

Great, now I have to sit, otherwise I’ll look like a total dork. I cross the porch and ease into the cushion, trying not to sit too close. Just being near him makes the temperature rise at least ten degrees, which is saying something because the thermometer’s already pushing ninety. Despite the heat, I’d love to imitate Maggie and nestle next to Cooper, draping my arms around his neck, but that’s an impossible fantasy since I threw away the
gris-gris
bag. It’s probably just as well, anyway. Jack would make a nasty crack, and after all the drama of the last few days, I’m not sure if I’d punch him or cry.

Jack sneers and leans forward. “That’s total crap, Emma. We’re in this together. You can’t go all top secret on us now.”

My head snaps in his direction. “I’m not keeping anything from you.” Technically it’s true, since I’ve only directly lied to Cooper. “We’ve got a curse to break, and we need the necklace to do it.” I try not to sound as defensive as I am.

Cooper twists toward me and rubs his worried brow. “I’m not trying to be dense here, but I don’t get the connection. I mean, the necklace has been in my family forever, but no one until now has gotten The Creep. How do you know it’ll help find a cure?”

My mind sputters to answer.

Maggie quirks her brow. “Miss Delia needs it. Isn’t that enough?”

Jack narrows his eyes, unconvinced. “But how does Emma know that? She hasn’t been over there for two days.” He glares at me. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been doing your artwork instead of trying to save my life. I’m only dying over here, but it’s okay, you work on those pastels.”

He tugs on the long sleeve of his rash guard and reveals the new swollen and blistered ring around the bottom of his forearm. The all-too-familiar stench of rot floats through the air. I can’t help but wince. When this strip bursts, it’ll reveal both his radius and ulna, which will be a lot harder to hide than his hand. It’s a good thing he’s got a couple of those surfing shirts because they’ve become his new uniform. The long sleeves are uncomfortable to wear in this heat, but at least they provide camouflage.

“Shhh, Jack Guthrie.” Maggie smoothes the deep creases in his forehead. “Your sister loves you. She would not neglect you. I am sure she has her reasons for waiting to see the Grannie.”

Jack crumbles under her amazing powers of pacification, but I can tell he’s resisting them, desperate to stay angry with me. “Yeah, and what are those? Because I can’t think of anything more important than keeping my skin.”

Cooper nods. “I’d like to know, too, because after we went through all that stuff to get the mortar, I don’t understand why we haven’t been back to her house.”

Hey, what’s going on here? I expect the inquisition from Jack, not Cooper. Maybe I need that
Follow Me Boy
charm, after all.

No, I can’t think like that. It would be wrong to force someone to like me, even if it would make it easier to save his doomed soul.

I sigh as a pointy headache whittles a hole between my eyes. All this deceit is making me a little nuts, and it’s clear it’s made them suspicious. I have to tell them something, just not too much.

I huff. “Fine. Miss Delia worked this special kind of curse that let us see into the past.”

Jack and Cooper lean forward. “Huh?” they blurt in unison.

Jack laughs and slaps his leg. “Dang, hoodoo is cool.”

“Yeah, she created this
Psychic Vision
that let us see way back to when The Creep was started. I can’t get into the details because it’s sort of a hoodoo secret, but the necklace was there.” I’ve got to hand it to myself, that was pretty good—not exactly true, but not an outright lie, either.

Jack looks like his head’s about to explode. “Wait, you saw how The Creep was started? What happened? Who did it? And why? Did they make an antidote?” He’s on a roll, pelting me with so many questions I can hardly keep track of what he’s asking.

“Jack, hang on! The vision cut out before we saw everything. But I’m sure we’ll learn all that stuff the next time we work it. We just have to wait a little while before we do it because the equipment has to rest.” Their eyebrows hitch, and I raise my hand, anticipating their question. “Don’t ask me why, it just does. Miss Delia thinks we’ll be ready to try again tomorrow.”

Cooper’s lids widen, and he leans in close enough for me to smell the fabric softener on his shirt. “What did you see? Besides the necklace, I mean?”

There it is, the question I’ve feared all along. His gaze—today it’s the color of green sea glass—is so earnest, so innocent, my heart seizes. He doesn’t realize what he’s asking. “Uh, I can’t tell you.”

Jack scoffs. “That sucks. I’m only the victim, but I’m not allowed to know. Nice loyalty, Em.”

Cooper cocks his head. “But you told us so much before.” He lays his hand on my knee, shooting a jolt of electricity straight to my brain. “Remember all the charms we used at the museum? You told me what they were for. Are you sure you can’t tell us anything? Is it really a hoodoo thing?”

I gulp, stunned by the ecstasy of his touch and the agony of his question. Sweat trickles off my forehead, and my overloaded brain locks. I glance at Maggie, pleading for a little help. Thankfully, she receives my distress call and jumps to the rescue.

“I am sure Emma will divulge all she knows when the time is right. But for now, we must respect the rules of hoodoo. We wouldn’t want her to lose her apprentice position, would we?” She brushes Jack’s jet-black hair off his face.

He shakes his head, but it’s obvious he’s not satisfied. “No, I guess not.” He winces and rubs his temple.

Cooper lifts his hand and sinks back into the swing. “Me, neither. I guess we’ve got to trust Miss Delia. There’s got to be a reason Emma can’t tell us what she saw.”

I heave a sigh of relief and send Maggie a mental note of thanks. She must read the gratitude in my eyes because she nods and flashes a smile before turning her attention back to Jack. As grateful as I am for the save, I can’t ignore the pain that’s twisting in my gut or the tightness creeping across my chest. I’ve lied to Cooper, again. Sure, there’s a good reason I can’t tell him, but it’s still a lie of omission. I’ve got to wrap this up before I get myself in any more trouble. Or he touches me again.

“Okay, so then you’ll get the necklace, right?” I hop off the swing and head for the door to the house. There’s air conditioning in there, which should make it easier to breathe.

Cooper sighs. “Sure, I’ll try.”

My brain throbs. Didn’t he hear what I’ve been saying? I stop and turn around to face him. “Cooper, you can’t
try
. You have to get it.” Dang, I sound a lot like Jack, which is never a good thing.

“I know, Emma, but it’s not going to be easy,” he snaps. “She loves that thing. It’s not like she’s just going to hand it over. Especially to me.” He picks at the metal chain suspending the swing as his eyes cloud with something dark.

Jack tears himself away from Maggie’s gaze. “You know, thanks to your dad’s prenup, it’s not really hers. Why don’t you just ask your dad to borrow it for a while?”

Cooper glares. “I’m not asking my dad for anything.”

Jack shrugs, totally oblivious to Cooper’s reaction. “Actually, when you think about it, it’s technically yours, since you’ll get it after he dies. You should just take it.”

Cooper’s lip curls. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

I massage my temple, hoping to rub away the mounting headache, and work to contain my emotions. But my cheeks flush with irritation, anyway. Why can’t he understand how important this is? Granted, I haven’t explained everything, but he knows we need it to break the curse, not for some personal gain. He needs to get creative.

I cross my arms. “She doesn’t wear it twenty-four hours a day, does she? Grab it when she doesn’t have it on.” Hmm, maybe I am getting a little too comfortable with crime. I’ll have to work on that when all this curse stuff is over.

Cooper wrenches his jaw. “I thought you didn’t want me to steal it.”

His moral compass is killing me. I know this isn’t easy for him, but it’ll be way harder to lose his soul. Despite his principles, I’m going to save him whether he likes it or not. Anger and frustration boil in my chest as my patience wanes. It’s too hot for this crap.

My hands fly to my hips. “Listen, we all know stealing is wrong, but I wouldn’t ask you to do it if we didn’t really, really need it. Plus we’ll give it back. Eventually. And Jack can help. It’s not like he’s doing anything else.” I jab my thumb at my brother, who’s nearly hypnotized by Maggie’s stroking. His jaw hangs slack as her hand glides across his back, lightly tickling his skin through his rash guard.

Jack snaps out of his pleasure haze. “Hey, I didn’t agree to that. Maggie and I have plenty to do on our own.”

I narrow my gaze and shoot him a mental laser beam. “Are you kidding me? You’re the
victim
, remember? This whole summer has been about us saving your sorry butt. You’re going to help him, all right, and I don’t care if you have to follow Missy around all day to do it. Get that necklace.” Wow. I’ve never gone after Jack like that. But dang, it felt good.

Jack sneers. “Unclench a little, will you?”

Maggie nuzzles Jack’s ear. “Emma is correct. You must help your friend. It is the only way to set things right. We will have our own time, Jack Guthrie.” She winks at me.

With a shrug, Jack laughs. “Sure, why not? Beats sitting around waiting for another chunk to fall off.”

“You have made the right decision.” She pats his leg, then hops off the settee. “Now I must be going. I am certain my grandmother is searching for me.” She chuckles to herself as she walks toward the screen door.

Jack’s face falls. “I thought we’d spend the rest of the afternoon together.”

She smiles. “You have a job to do with your friend, do you not? Now is as good a time as any to start.” Jack and Cooper stare at her, unsure what to do. She tips her head toward the door. “The afternoon is still young. Do not waste this valuable daylight.”

Without another word of protest, the guys get up and march off the porch.

Holy impressive persuasion. This moment is so priceless, I can’t help but stand with her, watching them jog down the path toward the Big House. Her perfume tickles my nose. I think I’ve finally figured out the fragrance. It smells just like the bouquet of stargazer lilies Mom’s boyfriend Gary sent her right before Jack and I came south.

She flashes that gleaming smile of hers. “I am sure they will find the necklace, and you and the Grannie can work some hoodoo magic.”

My chest swells with gratitude. Clearly, I was wrong about her. She’s not some wicked brother stealer—although she could lighten up on the intense public affection. She knows the stakes and just proved she’s on my side. If it wasn’t for her, I may not have convinced them to get the necklace. I owe her big time.

Thrilled by her assistance, I reach out and throw my arms around her. The sweet, cloying scent of those lilies overwhelms as my fingers register the ice-cold temperature of her skin. A shock of energy raises the hair on my arms, and my eyes fly open.

She jumps backward, out of my grip, and throws open the screen door. “I must be going now. I will see you soon, Emma Guthrie.” She races down the steps toward the path that leads to the beach.