2 Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo (27 page)

Cheney looked back and forth between us and whistled. “So you’re saying it is impossible to find out who cursed her.”

“I don’t know if it’s impossible, but it certainly isn’t going to happen today,” Baker said.

I closed my eyes.
Damn it.

“Okay, well, we’ll keep thinking about this, but let’s finish looking for your friend,” Olivia said with sympathetic eyes.

Everyone got up slowly, leaving Edith asleep on the couch, and headed out. Olivia pulled Cheney to the side and spoke to him in a hushed tone. Holden came over to me.

“Your grandmother should wake up in an hour or so.”

“Okay,” I said, but I was preoccupied watching Olivia whisper to Cheney. What was going on?

“I don’t know if this matters to you or not, but she does care about you.”

I finally looked at Holden. “Excuse me?”

“Your grandmother. She cares about you.” He seemed so uncomfortable it made me uncomfortable.

“She has a funny way of showing it.”

“She thinks she’s losing you and it’s making her hold on tighter.” He cleared his throat. “I just thought you might want to know.”

With that, he walked over and joined Olivia. Cheney came to me. “What was that all about?” I asked.

“Nothing. We were just talking about the list. I’m going to go back to the castle with you.”

“Why aren’t we helping?” I needed some sort of win today. I wasn’t going to let everything slip away without a fight.

“They have it covered. Let’s just go back.”

“Are you giving up?” My heart was breaking.

“Come back with me, please.”

“I don’t want to give up.”

“What else can we do?” His eyes lit and turned hot. “I’m tired. I’m tired of fighting and surprises. I’m sorry you’re cursed, but you brought it on yourself, and now you’re taking me down with you.”

He walked a few steps before turning around. “But that’s my own fault. Everyone warned me about you.”

I closed my eyes. “I’ll go to the Office.” I fought the lump in my throat.

“Typical. Running away as soon as I express anything negative about you. But guess what, you’re not perfect.”

“I know I’m not perfect.” My voice shook, but I couldn’t stop it. “I know I messed up and I’m sorry. Maybe I can’t fix this, but that doesn’t mean I am going to stop trying. Help me.” I took his hand. “I’m sorry I ruined your life.”

He yanked his hand away. “You really want to fix it, break the curse.”

“I can’t.”

“You haven’t even tried. Why the hell did you become a changeling? You’re supposed to have all kinds of power, but you can’t do anything. I don’t want to die. I have a kingdom to run. I have plans. Break the damn curse.”

“I can’t,” I whispered.

He glared at me. “How about this? I kill one of your friends every hour until you get off your ass and break the fucking curse yourself. You’re a witch and an elf. There is no way a little hoodoo should take you out.”

“I know you won’t hurt my friends.”

A slow smile spread over his lips. “Won’t I?”

He disappeared and I stood in shock. What had gotten into him? Worry trickled in. He wouldn’t hurt my friends, would he? I transported to the castle and ran frantically from room to room, looking for them. I found Cheney with Jessica, Katrina, and Leslie lined up in his office.

“What’s going on?” Leslie asked, her voice quivering.

I ignored them and focused on him. “You’re scaring them. Stop it.”

“You stop it.” He pulled out a knife. “Do I need to prove my resolve?”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not going to hurt you,” I told them. “You’re not going to hurt anyone—”

He hurled the knife. It hit Jessica with a thump. She made a noise and fell to the floor. Katrina or Leslie, maybe both of them, screamed, but it barely registered. White-hot fury rushed through my veins and roared in my ears. I lunged for Cheney, clawing at his throat. “I’ll kill you,” I snarled.

He laughed, infuriating me further. “You’ll only kill yourself,” he said, escaping my hold.

Cheney drew a sword from thin air. I glanced around, but I had no weapons. The tip of his sword came so fast I couldn’t get out of the way in time, and it slashed my left arm. I growled and he lunged again. A sword appeared in my hand, and I blocked him with such force he stumbled back. He smiled wide and dropped his sword, but I wasn’t done with him. Cheney had been a pain in the ass since the first day I met him. Always fighting with me, always getting under my skin.

I lifted him by the throat with my mind. I became a changeling to save this jackass and now he was killing my friends. He was no better than Jaron. Those endless conversations about how our rebellion was about the king and how Cheney would never get hurt, only to hear him talking about how he was going to kill both of them and take the throne himself. He had lied to me, lied to me for years, but even he never attacked my best friends. I squeezed Cheney’s throat tighter.

“Selene, let him go,” Katrina said.

I ignored her.

“Shit, Selene, I’m bleeding over here. Let him go.” Jessica’s voice came from the floor, startling me.

I looked back at them.

Leslie shrugged. “Plan B.”

I released my hold on Cheney immediately. He fell to the floor, coughing and rubbing his throat. “It was Olivia’s idea. She could feel the power in you. I just had to get you to release it—but the only way I knew how to get you to act without thinking was to make you mad or scare you.”

“So you stabbed my friend.”

He gave me a half smile. “I have excellent aim.” He went over and helped Jessica up, pulled out the knife, and healed the wound.

“So is that it? Is the curse broken?” Jessica asked.

I remembered. I remembered everything. “I never gave Jaron my memories,” I said and sank into a chair, letting that night, the night my human parents, Jim and Laurel, died, replay in my mind. I didn’t know who or what killed them, but Cheney was right—it wasn’t me. I’d been out walking in the woods, thinking about the two men I left behind to become
this
. I hated being a child. It was degrading. But I had to perpetuate the illusion. I looked ruefully at the stuffed rabbit clutched in my tiny hand. Ridiculous. When I got home, dinner aromas—garlic and basil and fresh yeasty bread were thick in the air. Something felt off though. I wandered to the kitchen. A pot of water was boiling over, and a frying pan of tomato sauce was popping and spattering the stove. I stood on my tiptoes and flicked everything off, a bad feeling nesting in my stomach. I dropped the stuffed animal, Peter, to the floor and went to look for them. I found their bodies in the hallway, as if they’d been running away. They’d been mauled, but there were no signs or scent of animal—no sensory clues about the attacker of any kind—in the house. It wasn’t natural. My control slipped and I screamed. Old anger and resentment rushed back, and I ceased to see anything until Cheney appeared in front of me.

That was the night I met Edith, but I didn’t want to go with her. I didn’t want to attach to another human, not when they couldn’t defend themselves against the fae, and I knew what happened to Jim and Laurel had everything to do with me. At Edith’s house I went to bed, still in shock, and the next morning I didn’t remember anything. I was just like any other human child.

But that didn’t explain how Jaron was able to give me memories real enough to fool me—though most of them were fabricated. I never intended to physically harm Cheney. I was maneuvering him to be an ally against his father, and that worked. But what was Jaron maneuvering me toward? “He’s manipulating me.”

“It doesn’t matter now. You broke the curse.” Katrina pulled me up. “Everything’s going to be okay.” She hugged me, and Jessica and Leslie joined in. I was going to live. Cheney was going to live. Jessica was okay. We would get Devin back. Grandma cared about me.

I broke away from them. “I need to sit down.” I felt a little dizzy.

“You okay?” Cheney asked.

The things he’d said still echoed in my mind. I understood he was trying to make me mad, but they had roots. I had done too much, messed up too many times. “I’m fine.”

“We’ll give you guys some space,” Leslie said, pulling the others out of the room. Cheney and I looked at each other.

“I don’t know how you did it.”

“Did what?”

“Pulled the knife. Only royalty has a holding.”

I shrugged.

“Maybe it’s a power thing,” he said more to himself than to me. “So you remember everything?”

“I do.” I didn’t feel any differently about him now than I did before, but I wasn’t positive he still felt the same way.

Cheney looked at the floor. “Then I guess we can break the bond.”

The air burned in my lungs. “Yeah, I’ve already arranged it.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

My heart screamed for me to tell him I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to stay bonded with him, even if it complicated things. I wanted to make it work. Yet my brain kept me quiet. There was too much between us and I had betrayed him one too many times. I didn’t deserve any more chances and I knew it. I couldn’t keep making selfish decisions. If Cheney wanted out, I wouldn’t stop him.

The sun had set and the cemetery was dark. Cheney followed me inside and caught my arm before I turned down the first row.

“Selene, I just want you to know—”

“Have you broken the curse?” Toinette said, appearing out of nowhere.

I tore my eyes away from Cheney. “We did. And I didn’t use the gris gris bag. Do you want it back?” I held it out to her.

“Once a gift is given, it cannot be taken back. Follow me.” She led us into the mausoleum and instructed that we face each other. “Are you both sure you wish to break the bond?”

“Yes,” Cheney said immediately.

“Of course,” I said.

She bound our hands together with a scented leather rope and waved incense around us until I started to feel lightheaded. She dumped a pile of bones between us and chanted, moving in a slow counterclockwise circle. I felt Cheney’s eyes boring into me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. She poured a clear alcohol on the ground surrounding us and set it on fire.

“Now pull the strap. Break free from it.”

My eyes finally met his. He nodded and began to pull. I resisted, going in the opposite direction, so much like our lives. My muscles strained and shook as I fought not to allow myself to be pulled to him. The cord broke with a snap that sent a pulse outward. The fire burned away. I looked at Cheney. I didn’t love him any less. I loved him exactly the same and my heart broke because I had ruined everything.

“It’s done,” I said.

“What do we owe you?” Cheney asked, his eyes wide and somewhat shell-shocked.

“Selene and I will settle accounts when the time is right,” Toinette said.

“Is that all we need to do?”

She nodded, and I transported away as fast as I could. I went to the Office and was surprised to see it was open and that Sy was working. “I thought you were looking for Devin.”

“Yeah,” was all he said.

Why was everyone being so strange? I went back to his apartment and lay on the couch. I didn’t have a yoga studio or income anymore. Maybe Sy would want a roommate. Chicago seemed like a nice town. I wouldn’t mind bartending.

“What are you doing?” Cheney said from the doorway.

“Lying here.”

“Why did you leave?”

“You meant the things you said earlier when you were trying to make me mad.”

He nodded. “They’re all true.”

“Well then, problem solved. You’re free and clear. I’ll come back here. No harm, no foul.”

“Don’t be dumb, Selene. Yes, I meant every word I said—but I still love you. That has not, and will never, change. I want you in the castle. I chose you to be my wife and I still want that. You belong there. You will be a great ruler, once you’re a bit less dramatic.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “I can’t always be here to pick you back up. You need to value yourself more for what’s in here,” he tapped my chest, “than for how other people see you.”

“So you want me to come back?”

“Of course.”

I laughed and wiped a tear away. “I’ll get my stuff.”