The Keeper's Curse (27 page)

“
If you want to help your little soul partner,” he said,
“don’t do anything stupid.”

She heard
the clacking of his shoes walking away, and after about a minute,
she opened her eyes, and he was gone. Emmy swiftly checked to make
sure no one was in the hall, and when the coast was clear, she
checked to see what Cyrus had given her.

It was
just a piece of paper, but she was too curious not to read
it.

Evangeline,

You now know - as
Thoreoux and I were unable to stop you from finding out -
Crawford’s soul is inside you, and you are responsible for both of
your lives. Thoreoux has had eyes in Methelwood for years, and as
Breckin and you have probably already theorized, I was sent here to
kill you if you proved to truly be the Keeper.

The attackers
sent on you last night, as well as the animals you have probably
seen lurking around, are spies of Thoreoux, and they watch every
move you and I make. They know you know about the curse, and have
no reason not to kill you now. I don’t know if I should be telling
you this, but if you felt a sudden rush of power last night,
suddenly able to fight your attackers off, that was me. I ordered
you to save yourself, giving you just enough time before Crawford
arrived.

Although you are
probably tempted to show this letter to Breckin, I beg you not to.
By telling you this much, I have already jeopardized my own life.
We both know Breckin well enough to know that he is impulsive and
reckless – he will go straight to the authorities, Thoreoux will
know what I have done, and he will kill me.

If you trust me,
and do as I say, I will tell you everything we need to do next. I
am sincere when I say I have no intention of harming
you.

Cyrus
Crow

Emmy must
have read the letter five times before she truly understood the
meaning of it. And it still didn’t make any sense. It went against
everything she knew about Cyrus.

This was
too much, she couldn’t deal with this right now. She slipped the
note back into her pocket, went back to Jade’s room, and didn’t say
a word.

Chapter 17

The
Crow Mansion

The whole
family came over to Jade’s room in the evening for supper. Jade was
thrilled, slightly embarrassed from all the attention she had
gotten, but pleased nonetheless. More than anything, she was just
restless from having to stay in bed all day.

“
So, Doc, am I free to go yet?” Jade asked when Milo came to
check up on her.

The young
doctor shook his head reprovingly, but Emmy could see he was
repressing a smile. “There’s a reason I hate dealing with
strappers. So unpredictable.” Jade put on her best pleading face.
“But you do seem well enough. Everything seems completely
healed.”

“
Completely healed,” Jade said.

“
I’ll let you go, but I’m going to be giving a note to your
teachers informing them to not let you perform in any physical
exertion for the next week.”

Jade’s
expression fell when Milo exited the room. “If his face wasn’t so
attractive I would’ve punched it.”

Emmy was
the only one who laughed at this. The Woodworkers gathered up
Jade’s things as she dressed into her regular clothes. Jade fell
behind to walk with Emmy as they went to check out at the front
desk. Her eyes kept darting toward Alex.

“
What is it?” Emmy said.

She was
jittery, like she was on a caffeine high. “Emmy, you’re never going
to guess! Alex came to visit me yesterday when I was alone.
Apparently he was really freaked out about my accident
–”

“
You didn’t tell him what actually happened, did
you?”

“
No, of course not! But that’s not the important part.” Jade
gripped Emmy’s shoulder, her eyes shining. “Alex asked me to the
Blossom Ball! He said he regretted not asking me out sooner, and
wasn’t going to let the chance slip away again.” Jade said all of
this incredibly quickly.

Emmy
tried not to show her scepticism. “Why are you telling me
this?”

“
I want to make sure you’re okay with it. Come on, Emmy, the
day of the Blossom Ball is the most celebrated day of the year!
Please don’t tell me to turn him down.”

“
Jade, I’d never do that. You don’t need my
permission.”

Emmy
suffered through one of Jade’s bear hugs, trying not to look too
uncomfortable. Jade then went on to tell her about this glorious
ball that took place on Methelwood’s first day of spring. Emmy did
her best to keep her eyes on Jade and feign interest, but all she
could do was roll around the crumpled up piece of paper in her
pocket, not knowing what to do with the information.

***

Emmy knew
she would be in trouble for bailing out of class, but she had to
know. She had tried sleeping off her curiosity, tried tearing up
the letter, only to put it back together again. She had spent the
whole following day with Breckin, the topic always coming back to
the sub-humans, and the disgusting sight of seeing palewraiths
being controlled and dying.

“
I know what you’re thinking,” Breckin had said. “You think
the people were cursed, don’t you, because of those sick-looking
palewraiths oozing out of them? Cursed by a book?”

The topic
did keep her distracted for a while, but since it was such an
unpleasant one, the conversation never lasted long.

All she
could think about was Cyrus.

It took
her several tries, entering several shops and asking the employees
the following morning, where she could find the Crow mansion. Her
questions were regarded with either fear or blatant avoidance; no
one would give her the answer. That was, until she finally got the
information from a nice old lady in a boutique shop, who gave her
succinct directions with a smile.

Emmy
found out that day how rare owning a private home in Methelwood
was. The living complexes housed over ninety percent of
Methelwoodians, so hardly anybody had exclusive property. To own a
mansion was unheard of.

After
rushing to The Noir Beanery and avoiding Vera’s glances, she ran
out back, grabbed a family horse from the stable, and took off
bareback into the woods. Not surprisingly, the Crows were quite
reclusive, which would make her ride a long one, leaving her time
to think over the many reasons why Cyrus Crow might have given her
that letter.

Her
muscles were so tense by the time she had arrived she didn’t even
notice the toll her body had taken on her ride. Her emotional
upheaval was much worse.

Just like
her teacher had taught her, she flung her body over the flank of
the horse and tied the reigns to a tree. She didn’t want the poor
creature anywhere near the Crows.

When Emmy
saw the Crow mansion for the first time, propped on the edge of a
ridge, she almost laughed – it was exactly what she had expected it
to look like. It was far older than any of the buildings in
Methelwood, which were mostly made of wood, whereas the mansion was
made of solid granite, flanked by crenulated turrets and lofty
spires that soared up high in the clouds. It wasn’t quite ugly,
Emmy had to admit, but it did look like a prison. The entire
outside was patched all over with leaded stain glass windows,
making it appear to have bars on the outside. On the top of almost
every apex point some sort of statue of a soldier or animal rested
theatrically. It was twice the size of Urquhart.

She took
a deep breath as she walked through the pillared gateway, down the
cobblestone path, and up to the entrance. She expected some sort of
monster to jump out that got across the general message of “GO
AWAY”, but none came. Possibly the Crows were so sinister they
didn’t need to threaten people not to come with trolls or
ogres.

Halfway
down the path she heard a noise – a branch snapping. Emmy resisted
the urge to scream; she felt so exposed in this barren field where
anything could get her. Should she go back and get her horse? It
would be safer than running to the front door –

“
What the HELL are you doing here?”

Emmy’s
feet gave out from under her, and she fell. She rolled over onto
her back and found herself staring at a pair of leather boots.
Reluctantly she raised her head until her eyes reached Cyrus’s
face.

“
Why did you do it?” was all she could say.

The side
of his mouth bent downward, like the opposite of a crooked smile.
With one hand he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards the
front door.

“
You know, Rathers, I’ve really had about enough of you,” he
shouted a little too loudly, as if he were putting on a show,
dragging her when she dug her heels in the dirt beside the pathway.
“Here you are, trying to, what, plead for my help? Did it ever
occur to you – no, don’t you run away –” With surprising strength
he was able to open his double doors while still holding onto her.
“Did it ever occur to you that you should just give up now and stop
trying to charge me when there’s no proof?”

He
slammed the door shut, spun around, and grabbed the collar of her
coat, pressing her against the wall.

“
You shouldn’t have come here,” he whispered. “They can see
us.”

“
I know,” she whispered back, not sure what they were hiding
from. “I read your letter. You saved my life.”

“
The Eldoir saved your life.”

“
If you hadn’t ordered me to protect myself there wouldn’t
have been time.”

“
I was just trying to make a point.”

He
admitted it – he had saved her. She couldn’t believe it.

“
What?” Emmy dared. “That I can trust you?”

“
Do you?” He was mocking her.

Emmy
squirmed; it was hard to trust someone always pinning you to things
and staring daggers at you. Still, if this was genuine, there was a
sliver of a chance she would survive this.

“
I need more,” she said. “I don’t know why you didn’t let me
die. I need an explanation.”

“
I admitted to you flat out that I’m supposed to kill you.
What more do you need?”

Maybe it was desperation, but Emmy couldn’t help but notice
his word choice – he said “
supposed
to kill you”, not “going” or
“planning”.

“
I can’t run. This is the safest place for me.”

“
You’re wrong,” Cyrus said, letting go of her. “My advice to
you is to run, before I can get you again.”

She
didn’t understand him. “Are you forced into doing this?” She had to
know. “You could have killed me by now, but you haven’t. Will
Thoreoux kill you if you don’t kill me?”

His face
went blank, smooth, pale – an emotionless mask that was the
antithesis of Breckin’s face. “Yes.”

She
couldn’t read his expression, but the terror he was giving off was
palpable.

“
Then run.”

He
sneered at her, but he didn’t grab her again. “I told you, he sees
us everywhere. You think I’ll make it that far?”

“
It’s worth a shot,” Emmy said. The next thing that came out
of her mouth was insanity. “I’ll help you if you’d
like.”

“
You’re an idiot, Rathers. This isn’t just about
me.”

She
backed away from him, hurt by the rejection. “Then who is it about?
What’s worth risking your life over?”

Cyrus
opened his mouth, probably to insult her again, but he didn’t have
the time. Emmy heard a thump-thump from behind Cyrus. She looked
over his shoulder into the parlour he had led her into, seeing a
stoned staircase, and a little person walking down it.

“
Cyrus, is there someone at the door?”

It was a
boy. A miniature version of Cyrus.

Cyrus
cast her a warning look and turned around. “It’s nothing, Brynn.
Get back to your homework.”

The boy’s
eyes turned wary at the sight of Emmy. “Are you sure –”

“
Now
.”

The boy
rolled his eyes but obeyed, heading back up the stairs and out of
sight. Emmy’s insides twisted, knowing there was only one possible
explanation for who that could be.

“
Breckin told me Thoreoux didn’t just kidnap you,” Emmy said.
“They took your brother, too.”

“
Yes, and he’ll be fine,” Cyrus said, enunciating every
syllable, “as long as I do what I’m told.”

Her mind
was reeling again; in a matter of days Emmy had almost been
murdered, found out someone’s soul resided in her, and now this.
Her assassin didn’t want to kill her.

It was
ridiculous, she knew, but she felt an intimacy with Cyrus, like
they shared a kindred spirit. The only reason Emmy stayed in
Methelwood was for her mother, risking her life, just like Cyrus
was doing now.

“
You said you wanted to meet again in your letter,” she said.
“Do you have a plan? Is there something you can do? Something I can
help you with?”