The Curse Keepers (Curse Keepers series) (43 page)

“What is up with you gods and your fucking sacrifices?
Go to hell
!”

Daddy stepped forward from the shadows. “I am ready to pay the price.”

“No!” I screamed. “No! He doesn’t know what he’s saying!” I scratched the next symbols.

Daddy turned to me, his eyes clear and coherent. “Your mother died for you, Ellie. Now it’s my turn.”

“No! I’m not going to lose you too!” I grabbed his arm and dragged him across the porch and toward the front door.

The spirit sent a blast of air toward us, but I held onto Daddy’s arm and managed to get the front door open and push Daddy inside.

“DO NOT DEFY OKEUS, CURSE KEEPER!” The loud voice shook the porch.

“
Fuck you
!” I shouted, lifting my palm and shoving it toward him, shouting the words of protection.

The spirit howled, screaming into the night as he disappeared.

I scratched the last of the symbols on the door as Myra appeared in her nightgown, bleary-eyed and frightened. “Ellie? What’s going on?”

“Daddy was outside, and he was almost attacked.”

Her eyes bulged, and she swung her gaze out to the yard. “Attacked by what?”

“Myra, the curse is real. It’s all real. Okeus, the dark creator god, has marked Daddy as a sacrifice, but as long as you keep him inside and behind the marked door, you’ll both be all right.” The gods might have marked Daddy, but I’d do everything to protect him.

Myra tilted her head. “Ellie, listen to yourself. What are you saying?”

I searched her eyes, pleading with her to understand. “I know it sounds crazy, Myra, but it’s real. Please.
Please
, keep Daddy inside. Hopefully this will all be a bad dream tomorrow. I have to go.” I ran toward the screen door.

“Ellie!”

I turned around to face her.

“I believe you.”

Those three words meant so much. I ran back and hugged her. “Thank you.”

“Ellie, be careful.”

I rushed to my car and drove back to my apartment, tightly wound, my thoughts a scrambled mess. Ahone’s messenger said that he and Okeus weren’t my biggest threat tonight. So what was? Collin? I just couldn’t believe it. I knew he wasn’t the most honorable man, but our link didn’t lie. It wasn’t Collin. Maybe Ahone’s messenger was warning me that the gate wouldn’t close if I didn’t make a sacrifice and I’d face my nightmare. Hundreds of spirits intent on torturing me. I fought to catch my breath. That definitely seemed like the biggest threat.

Both gods demanded a sacrifice, so what were my options? The way I saw it, I had three: One, I accept Okeus’s offer and pledge myself to him and save Daddy’s life. Two, I provide a sacrifice of some kind to Ahone to close the gate. Three, I do nothing. If I chose one, I’d save Daddy but lose the world, and most likely myself, to evil. If I chose three, I’d most likely spend the rest of my life constantly on guard, protecting Daddy and myself and watching the world be overrun with spirits. I only had one option I could live with, the second. But I could never sacrifice Daddy.

I would sacrifice myself.

A surreal calm settled over me. I thought my decision would freak me out more, and while I was terrified, I was more worried about what would happen if I didn’t follow through with it. What would Collin say? What had Collin sacrificed?

Unbelievably, I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up to my cell phone ringing.

“Ellie, I’m setting up here,” he said after I answered. “I’m worried that we’ll run out of time. I need you to meet me at the botanical gardens.”

“You’re already there?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you bring me with you?”

“I’ve been here for a couple of hours and didn’t want you out here out in the open.”

“But
you’re
out in the open.” I didn’t intend for my tone to sound so accusatory.

“What are you saying, Ellie?”

What was I doing? “Nothing. I’m sorry. I’m on edge.”

His voice softened. “I am too. It will be over soon.”

“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” I hung up and grabbed my purse and keys, so nervous I thought I’d throw up. I looked around my apartment, wondering what would happen to all my things. Maybe I should have made a list of what I wanted done. But what did it matter? It was just stuff. The important thing was that I was saving the people I loved and everyone else in the world with them. Panic washed through me when I thought about how I
would accomplish my own sacrifice, but I took a deep breath.
Calm down. You can do this.

I was scared to be outside this deep in the night, but none of the gods bothered me. They were probably waiting to put on a show.

When I drove into the Lost Colony complex and pulled in the botanical gardens parking lot, I climbed out of the car and found Collin waiting for me in the shadows.

“Ellie.” He stepped out and held a hand toward me. He was shirtless, only wearing jeans and his shoes, but his body was covered with markings. As I stepped closer, I saw that his eyes shone bright with excitement and nervousness.

I took his hand, and he turned to walk to the back gate. He was so quiet. So solemn. Should I tell him about my decision? I couldn’t imagine he’d go along with it, not after all his protests of doing everything to save me. “Collin, I’m scared.”

He stopped and put his hands on my waist, bending over to kiss my lips gently. “I’m scared too, but we can do this. I believe in us. I have faith.”

Ahone’s messenger told me that I believed but I lacked faith. Is that what he meant?

He kissed me again, more possessively this time. When he pulled back, his eyes had changed, and held fierce determination.

He opened the back gate and we walked hand in hand toward the giant oak tree. Hundreds of pillar candles circled the tree trunk. It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so serious.

“How long did it take you to set this up?”

“A few hours.”

“I would have helped you, Collin.”

He squeezed my hand. “I know, Ellie. I didn’t want to risk you being out in the open.”

Why did he always say that? Why didn’t he worry about himself?

When we got closer, I saw markings carved into the ground, intricate patterns dug into the grass. I recognized only a few. “What do they mean?”

“They’re like the symbols on your door. Calling upon the ancient forces, listing the gods and spirits that I know. The rest is a prayer of a sort.”

Inside the large circle was a smaller circle with a small round table and Collin’s bowl. “Did you bring the cup?”

I nodded, pulling it from my purse and handing it to him. I tossed my purse to the ground outside the ceremonial area. My legs shook.

“Are you ready?”

“What if this doesn’t work, Collin?”

“Have faith.”

Yet you still have no faith.

Was that the key to closing the gate? That, along with my sacrifice? I had to at least address this with Collin, even if I didn’t tell him my decision. “Collin, Ahone’s messenger told me I needed to make a sacrifice to close the gate. He said you’d already made yours.”

His eyes hardened. “You don’t have to sacrifice anything tonight, Ellie. I’ve made sure of that.”

“With your own sacrifice?”

“We need to get started.” Collin’s hand tightened on my mine and he led me into the smaller circle.

What had Collin sacrificed? I couldn’t imagine him sacrificing someone in his family. But I had two choices: either I trusted Collin or I didn’t.

Is there really any choice?

I stepped inside the circle and the entire world hushed, as though we’d stepped onto hallowed ground. I looked up into Collin’s face for reassurance.

He placed me in the middle of the smaller circle, next to the table. Then, standing in front of me, he leaned down to give me a gentle kiss. “It’s time.”

Collin began to chant in the ancient language. The sounds hung heavy in the air. Everything felt slower. Louder. More meaningful.

The moon floated full in the cloudless sky. The stars shone so brightly I felt like they would rain down upon us.

The veil to the spirit world was close. The air grew thick, and I dragged it into my lungs with each slow breath. Magic was heavy and oppressive here, and I felt helpless and weak in the face of it. I closed my eyes. I wasn’t helpless and weak. And I wasn’t doing this alone. I had Collin.

Collin stood in front of me, pouring a dark brown liquid from an old pot into the bowl and the cup, chanting his melancholy tune. I lifted my eyes
to the heavens. We were but specks in this vast and infinite universe. I couldn’t be a pure soul for nothing. The gift that I carried meant
something
. Something other than food for the spirits.

Collin grabbed my face in his hands, devotion and determination in his eyes as his song continued. My soul was older than anything here. I carried an ancient history deep inside me. What did it mean? For what purpose?

I believe now.

Yet you still have no faith.

Collin pulled my shirt over my head and his hands skimmed my shoulders, his right palm landing on the symbol on my back. My back arched with the rush of power, and he brought me to his chest with loving arms.

Okeus’s symbol was on my back.

The symbols are typically used to invoke the Manitou or other forces. The marks call upon the forces you’re asking for protection, not the forces you need protection from… You wouldn’t include the mark of the thing you were protecting against.

Fear gripped my heart. Why was I frightened? Collin wouldn’t hurt me. Was this what Ahone meant? That I didn’t have faith in Collin?

Collin picked up a rope from the table, placing one end in my left hand. Then he put my right forearm against his right one, wrapping the rope around our arms, binding us together.

“Ellie, do you know what you did?”

I nodded. I’d burned our souls together for eternity. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t be sorry. Not now. Not for this.”

When he finished, he took a deep breath, and his eyes darkened with desire. His free hand found my cheek, sliding down to my neck as his words filled the night. The air grew hazy and some part deep inside me recognized it as magic. How could I know that? Did I need to have faith in the magic inside
me
? I had to admit that something felt off. Collin was supposed to be performing a ceremony similar to what Manteo and Ananias Dare had performed. Yet somehow I knew this wasn’t the same as theirs. Collin was using the union of our souls to strengthen the ceremony. That had to be a good thing. The first ceremony failed.

I changed the cleansing ceremony when I marked you.

My heartbeat pounded in my head. It all boiled down to trust. Did I trust Collin or not? This man I’d seared my soul to, regardless of what he was doing now.

Collin picked up a knife from the table.

Don’t trust me, Ellie. You can’t trust me
.

No. I refused to believe Collin would hurt me. He’d sworn time and time again he’d protect me. When we were joined with our marks, I saw into his soul.

One day, when you hate me for coming into your life, let alone letting you seal your soul to mine, when hearing my name fills your heart with pain, and you never want to see my face again… Even then, you will be my responsibility.

Tears streamed down my face, yet still my heart refused to believe. I thought Collin meant I’d hate him for his past, but the ancient wisdom borne in my soul told me I was wrong.

Collin knew I’d hate him for his betrayal.

I want you to remember this. What you feel with me. Remember that I am yours for now and forever. And no man will ever give you what I can
.

He held the knife above our heads and I watched, mesmerized and in too much shock to fight him as he swiped the knife across my palm and then his. My hand was numb when he tilted our hands over the bowl and the cup, our blood dripping into the vessels. Smoke rose from the surface of the liquids, rising and joining together as it floated toward the tree.

Blood. No blood, Ellie
.

I cried out in pain and shock as Collin pressed our marks together.

The world around me faded, and the spirit world burst free.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY