The Keeper's Curse (19 page)

“
Hello.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed into a
sitting position. “I never got to congratulate you yesterday. In
peacekeeping class.”

“
What are you talking about? You won.”

“
Still, you did well.” Emmy’s breathing quickened as he
stepped out of his bed and made his way over to hers. She inched
away when he sat on her bed, less than a foot away from her legs.
“You and the Eldoir make quite a team.”

Emmy’s
eyes darted toward the door. She really hoped the doctor would be
coming back soon.

“
Although, you did have a little bit of an advantage over all
of us,” he continued, moving closer to her the more she tried to
move away. Emmy froze as his arm slithered across the blanket and
wrapped itself around her wrist. “Considering you two can talk to
each other in your heads.”

Emmy
choked on nothing but air. “I – I don’t –”

“
Yes you can. Don’t deny it. Now listen very carefully,
because I’m not going to repeat this,” his hand clamped harder on
her wrist until she felt pain. His face was inches from hers. “Stay
away from Breckin Crawford.”

Her mouth
went sand-dry. He was so blatant - she couldn’t sidestep. She tried
to yank her arm out of his, and all he did was tighten his
grip.

“
Or what?”

The sides
of his mouth curled. “And nobody gets hurt.”

Emmy let
out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you threatening me?”

“
I’m threatening both of you.”

Both of you.
Without volition,
Breckin came to her mind, and not in the way she expected. She
didn’t think of his seriousness over trying to pin Cyrus, or the
uncomfortable conversation they had had at The Noir Beanery, or
even the blazing look he had worn when they first met. The picture
that came to mind was when he had laughed at her, the sound ringing
in her head, seeing the soft crinkles on his face.

“
I know who you are. Breckin told me.”

“
Then you know what I can do to you if you don’t listen. Now
promise me you’ll stay away from him.”

His grip
on her started to numb her arm. The look in his eyes was nearly
maniacal, pushing her into subservience, and that was how she knew
she couldn’t give him what he wanted.

“
No.”

He yanked
even harder, and she had to bite her lip to stifle a noise of pain.
“I can wait all day, Rathers. Don’t think I won’t break your other
arm if I have to. Now say it – stay away from him. Don’t go trying
to find him, don’t talk to him, don’t even look at him. Promise
me.”

She
debated it; he was threatening that he would hurt them both of if
she conversed with him – maybe it would be worth it to stay
away.

He pulled her arm closer to him. “Rathers,
please
.”

Emmy
stopped struggling at the sound of his tone. His polished voice
cracked on the demand, making it sound more like a plead. She
forced herself to look at him again and was surprised; he looked
like a child about to get into trouble.

“
Fine,” she sighed, without any intention of keeping her
promise. And just like that, he let her go.

“
There, was that so hard?” His eyes lingered on the doorway.
“You know, my rib is suddenly feeling a lot better. I’m going to
skip the doctor today. Take care of yourself, Rathers.”

Then he
was gone.

Emmy
barely moved for several minutes, besides kneading out the kink in
her wrist.

Now what
was she to do? She laid her head on her pillow, seething. She was
supposed to meet Breckin in an hour to go talk to Circlet. If they
would be able to convince her about Cyrus, he would be gone, and no
longer a threat. Unfortunately, she wasn’t acquainted Circlet well
enough to judge whether or not they had a shot. Still, Cyrus had
directly threatened her, and she wanted him gone.

***

After she
got her cast off and received her medication, which Milo did with
great speed and efficiency, she headed to The Noir Beanery to see
Breckin. Every few minutes she would check over her shoulder to
make sure nobody was following her.

When she
got there, he was already waiting. She stood several feet away from
him, watching him for a few moments. He was skipping on the spot,
his eyes far off in thought. He was thinking about what made him
happiest. Rozelyn.

She chose
that moment to interrupt, walking up to him with a small smile on
her face, which he returned.

“
Ready?” he said.

“
Ready.”

The two
of them walked in amiable silence to the living complex. Breckin’s
mind wandered, which ended up on why he was here -
Cyrus.

Emmy
looked around; the two of them were alone now, in the middle of the
woods where no one would disturb them. She wanted to know more, and
this was her opportunity to find out.

“
So,” she said, jolting him into reality. “Can I ask you
something?”

“
Of course.”

“
All of this stuff with the Crows ... I mean, you seem to know
a lot about them.” She turned away from his usual sharp gaze that
intimidated her so much, and instead looked straight ahead. “But
... it seems more personal than that. How could you know when Cyrus
and Brynn were taken, for instance?”

When she
turned to him again, his face had fallen, that dent between his
forehead returning, which bothered her. She didn’t like to be the
one causing that dent.

I shouldn’t be telling her this. I don’t even know
her.

“
I want to be a counsellor when I’m older,” Emmy said
stupidly. “I mean, uh, I’m a good listener, if you know what I
mean. Not judgemental.”

Despite
himself, he grinned, and Emmy felt a tiny burst of triumph inside
her.

This is so weird. I just met her, and I want to tell her ...
why do I want to tell her?
He was
struggling with himself.
Everyone already
knows, it’s not like I would be telling her anything secret. Still,
she doesn’t know yet, it would be like sharing a secret
...

“
You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Emmy
said.

No, I sort of want to. She’s so refreshing, not knowing
anything. Like I have some control over telling her ...

“
Well,” he said slowly. “This is kind of weird talking to you
about this, because everyone already knows a lot of this. It’s
common knowledge, so I’ve never really
talked
about it before, but ...” he
took a deep breath, “Cyrus is my stepbrother.”

Emmy
blinked. She was lost for words; how could she have been surfing
through his brain for so long and not picked up on this
information? There was expectancy on his face as she
gawked.

“
How is that
possible
?” she said.

“
My mother, Clara, married Rhoan Crow when I was
nine.”

Emmy was
almost ashamed of herself for missing this crucial detail.
Questions burst into her mind like a tidal wave. “That’s crazy!
Didn’t she know he worked for the man who’s trying to kill
you?”

Breckin
opened and closed his mouth several times.

I shouldn’t have said anything ... Now I’m going to have to
tell her everything.

“
No,” Emmy said, without thinking. “You don’t owe me any sort
of explanation.”

She’s going to find out eventually. It might as well come from
me.

“
It’s okay. Um, see, when I was a kid, my parents didn’t tell
anybody about me being the Eldoir because of the stigma and all.
But since I manifested before puberty I was destroying things all
the time, so of course, people eventually found out.” He inhaled an
incredibly shaky breath. Half of Emmy wanted to tell him to stop
for his sake, but she was becoming morbidly curious as to why he
was being so reluctant to tell her. “Um, eventually Thoreoux’s
goals became public, and a select few took his side. Some people
believed in what he said, others believed he was the true Eldoir.
Anyways, word got around, and he found me.”

His
thoughts were racing so quickly Emmy couldn’t make sense of them.
On top of that, his already soft-spoken voice had lowered so much
Emmy had to lean in slightly to hear him.

“
When I was nine, he ordered some of his allies to kill me in
my home in Hestgarth, and um ... well, my parents were able to get
me out, but ...” his eyes had gone vacant. “Um, he killed my little
sister, Rebecca.”

Oh, God, why am I telling her this?

Somehow,
Emmy was able to keep her face neutral. After years of pretending
to counsel her friends, she had mastered the poker face. It was
worth it not to interrupt; she wanted to hear more. But she felt
her eyes sting.

“
Anyways, um, that sort of became enough for my dad. He and my
mom had this huge fight and he finally just left.” At the same
moment he thought,
Because he knew Becca
was the only thing worth staying in this family for.
“He left the responsibility of me on my mom. I
haven’t seen him since.”

There
were many, many things Emmy wanted to say, and all of them were
empty platitudes. She racked her brain for things her psychologist
self would say, and came up with nothing.

“
So, you asked why my mother married Rhoan – I’m sure you’ve
heard the phrase ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’
Well, she did that. She changed our names, and I shifted to look
like a stranger, and stayed that way for years. She figured Rhoan
would never suspect Mom would ever be mad enough to pull something
off like that, and she was right.

“
We stayed in Rhoan’s house for about three years. It wasn’t a
great situation, but it worked for us. It was kind of brilliant,
actually – Mom was able to get a hold of all Thoreoux’s plans, and
we grew to know all of Thoreoux’s closest friends.”

He was
leaving something out, of course. Emmy’s gut twisted as images
flipped through Breckin’s mind of Rhoan beating him. Breckin could
have fought him off of course, but that would have blown the cover.
Breckin’s mother never knew.

“
Why didn’t you tell your mom he hurt you?” she asked without
thinking.

He was so
uncomfortable he didn’t notice the slip up. “What was the point? We
were safe, and it would have just upset her more. Anyways, Thoreoux
was always looking for me, and Rhoan had tracked down some of my
distant relatives. He was gaining leads on where I was, and Mom
knew it was time to go.” He put his hands, which were trembling
madly, into his pockets to hide them from Emmy. “She knew Rhoan
couldn’t share this information with Thoreoux, so, the night before
we left ... she killed him in his sleep.” He said it very
quickly.

“
I’m pretty sure that’s why Cyrus hates me so much,” he
continued. “I’m the reason his father is dead. Anyway, let’s just
say she did something to me to make sure Thoreoux couldn’t ever
hurt me, and then dropped me in the safest place in the world.
Methelwood. Now I live with my Uncle Noah, my dad’s brother, and
haven’t seen my mom since I was twelve. She’s on the run, knowing
if Ministrial ever finds her, she’ll be thrown in prison on account
about a four page list of felonies.”

Breckin
politely let everything he had said filter into Emmy’s
mind.

Stop being stupid
, he said to
himself.
Everyone knows this, it’s nothing
personal. Still, it’s weird seeing someone’s reaction to this for
the first time. Is she
crying
?

She
lowered her face, letting her thick mane of hair cover her from
view. Well, it wasn’t hard to understand now why these thoughts
never passed through his head on a daily basis.

“
I’m sorry.” She mentally kicked herself for saying the least
personal and stupidest thing she could have said. He had just
shared his worst memories, and even if everyone did know them, it
was still hard for him to say. Even though it was the last thing
she wanted to do, she knew she should probably share something
back. “Look, nothing like that has ever happened to me, but I know
what it’s like to be ripped from your family and your
home.”

As
uncomfortable as it was, she made herself look at him. That naked
sincerity his face always showed made it almost unnecessary to read
his mind. “You’re amazing. No, don’t laugh, I’m serious. Most
people would never be able to handle something like that. I
practically had a mental breakdown when I came here, but you’re
here, and you’re okay. You’re still training to do the job that
risked your life and destroyed your family.”

There was something almost like a mental sigh of relief that
emanated from him.
She didn’t laugh. Or
roll her eyes. Or try to change the subject.
There was a pause, and then,
Why did
I assume she would?

Emmy
opened her mouth to speak again, but Breckin came to a halt. She
looked ahead of her; they had reached the complex. Breckin opened
the door for her, and the two of them made their way up to the top
in silence, walking a little closer to each other than they had
been before.