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Authors: Denise Grover Swank

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal Romance, #Science Fiction Romance, #Fantasy Romance, #Ghosts

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BOOK: The Curse Defiers
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“Then what happened? Which one was it?”

“That’s the odd part,” I said. “I asked her for her name and she never gave it to me. They always seem eager to identify themselves, like their names are their calling cards.”


Her?
You knew it was a female?”

I wasn’t surprised by the question. Most of the spirits I’d met were animals. “It was an old woman. I would have thought she was just any old woman, nothing special, if it weren’t for her glowing red eyes.”

“What did she look like?”

I described her, but David’s brow stayed lowered, his mouth pursed. I could tell that he didn’t recognize her from his research. “Did she say what she wanted?”

“To tell me my future.”


What?

“I told her that I didn’t want to hear it, but she pushed on anyway.”

“And what did she say?”

I took a deep breath. “She said I was a vessel that would either save the world or destroy it, and that it would happen soon.”

He sagged back in his seat, his arm still around me. “Bollocks.”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“Did she mention Okeus?”

A shiver ran down my spine. Obviously, David’s thoughts were headed in the same direction as mine. “No. I asked her if she had a message for me from Okeus, and she said I would see the ‘Great One’ soon enough. As though he wasn’t enough of a pompous ass without the new title.”

His hold tightened and he sat up, burying his face into the crook of my neck. “I’m trying to figure out a way to protect you.”

I lifted my hand to his face, my thumb lightly stroking his cheekbone as I stared into his hazel eyes. “I know.” I gave a half shrug. “But maybe there isn’t one. Maybe I’ll just have to be on high alert for the rest of my life to avoid getting ravaged by him.” I couldn’t bring myself to say “raped.” Okeus had indicated at our last meeting that forcing himself on me was option number two if I didn’t willingly comply. “You would think the tattoo of Ahone’s mark on my back would protect my uterus along with my Manitou.”

“Alas, they are two very obviously different things. While your soul is
yours
, your uterus could harbor a life with its own soul.”

“I love how we’re rambling on about my uterus. It’s so romantic. Just what you want to do with your boyfriend. Next thing you know, we’ll be discussing my menstrual cycle,” I grumbled.

“That might not be a bad idea,” he said. “Maybe you shouldn’t leave the house when you’re ovulating.”

“I’m done with this conversation.” I started to get up, but he pulled me back down. “Besides, I’m on the pill now. Ovulation isn’t an issue.” But could that stop a god? How much control did Okeus actually have over worldly events?

“Maybe we can convince Okeus that you won’t provide the perfect baby for him.”

I laughed, leaning my forehead against his. “You mean like how irresponsible I am and what a terrible mother I would be?”

He placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then looked into my eyes. “No, more like trying to convince him that you’re incompatible DNA-wise.”

I groaned in frustration. “DNA was never the issue with the other women he used, David.”

He shook his head slowly. “I completely disagree. Okeus seems to think he was too powerful for the women who gave birth to his monstrosities. He thinks your Curse Keeper blood and power, along with the fact that you’re a witness to creation, will make you strong enough to give birth to a child who inherits both your powers. But what if we can convince him that he’s wrong?”

I gave him a blank stare. “You want to convince a malevolent, egotistical, arrogant god that he’s wrong?” I climbed out of his lap and shook my head. “Good luck with that, David. I’m going to bed.”

He stood and grabbed my hand, twining our fingers together. “Ellie, don’t get frustrated with me,” he said, sounding tired. “I’m doing my best.”

I felt like a bitch. After being out in the heat all day working at the colony site, he’d returned home to help with the bed and breakfast. Then he had spent the rest of the evening researching for information to help me. I locked my hands around the back of his neck and rested my cheek on his chest. “I’m sorry. You deserve better.”

“Ellie.” He tilted my chin up so I was looking into his face. “We’re both exhausted.” He paused and his eyes turned serious. “Why don’t you quit working at the restaurant? My university salary isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to cover our expenses here. Especially if I sublet my house in Chapel Hill.”

I released a heavy sigh. “We’ve discussed this before. You don’t owe me anything. I can’t let you do that. It’s bad enough that you’re working at the inn when I’m not here. Not to mention the money you spent buying back my father’s pocket watch.”

“You’re protecting humanity,” he said with a small smile. “The financial strain shouldn’t fall squarely on your shoulders.”

“And it shouldn’t have to fall on yours either.” My voice rose in frustration. I needed to be quieter. Several researchers visiting the colony site were staying in the main house, and I didn’t want to wake them.

“Ellie,” he whispered gently. “It’s okay.”

I took a deep breath and pressed my cheek to his chest again. Just his tender voice helped center me. What would I ever do if he grew tired of me and my crankiness? I’d become so dependent on him in such a short time. I didn’t know how I’d survive without him. My boss at the New Moon was awful, and I’d have loved nothing more than to quit. Still, being totally dependent on Collin had bitten me in the ass. Granted, this situation was totally different, but it was difficult enough to accept that I needed David so much emotionally—I wasn’t sure I could give up my financial independence too. “I need to take care of myself.”

He stroked the back of my head. “I know, love. I know. But you’re getting worn out and you haven’t even really had to battle anything yet. Just consider it, okay? You would have your hands more than full with the B&B.”

“Okay. I’ll consider it.”

“Let’s go to bed.”

I nodded my agreement and we headed upstairs to my childhood bedroom. When I let go of my apartment and moved back home, David had suggested we sleep in Myra’s room, but her things were all still there, awaiting her return in December. But I knew deep in my gut she wouldn’t be back. She’d just started her dream job at Duke University—working in the history department—and had begun a relationship with one of the professors. Myra had spent the past several years caring for my father as his illness slowly stripped him away from us, so I was grateful that she had found happiness and love. She was also so much safer two hundred miles away than she would be at home. But I missed her like crazy, even if she’d been avoiding my calls lately.

After I stripped off my clothes and put on a short nightgown, I climbed into bed, snuggling into David’s side.

His fingers lightly stroked my arm. “Ellie, I think you should stop taking guests in the main house, even if they are researchers.”

I propped up on my elbow, searching his face, which was spotlit by the full moon. “But we’re bringing in extra money.”

“I know, love, but let’s be honest: it’s a drop in the bucket. You said yourself you’re about to go into foreclosure. What if you lose the house before finding all of the clues your father left? It’s next to impossible to search when there are guests staying here.”

A heaviness weighed down on my chest. He was right on both counts.

“Not to mention there’s someone on the other side of this wall behind us.” He laughed softly. “We have to make sure we’re quiet if we want to be able to face the guests the next morning at breakfast.”

“Very funny.”

“You have to admit we were much more liberated in our sex life when we were living in your flat.”

“My bedroom was on an outside wall.”

“Exactly,” he teased, lifting the edge of my nightgown. His hand slid up, over the z-shaped scar on my abdomen, tracing the underside of my breast. “Before I forget, one of the boarders said he smelled something bad in his room. Maybe we should get someone out here to look for rodents. It could be a dead mouse or maybe a squirrel or bird that got trapped in the attic.”

“Great,” I grumbled. “Just what I need. To spend more money.”

His fingers soon distracted me from my financial woes and had me panting with need. His lips skimmed along my neck and up to my ear. “What do you think about going out of town for a few days?” His voice was low and husky.

My eyes widened in surprise. “You’re seriously suggesting a vacation? Now?”

He laughed again as his hand concentrated on making me squirm. “No, not exactly a vacation. More like a change in scenery.”

“I’m listening,” I forced out, trying to focus.

“You know how I’ve asked several of my colleagues to keep an eye out and an ear open for anything about the Ricardo Estate? Well, I heard back from one today.”

I grabbed his hand to stop his torture. “What did he say?”


She
e-mailed tonight to tell me she’d been invited to see a collection of antiquities, and it was all very secretive.”

I bolted upright. “Is it what we’re looking for?”

He rolled to his side and propped his head on an elbow. “She can’t be sure. She already went to see the collection in Charlotte. She said it was mostly an assortment of weapons and pocket watches. It didn’t contain the candlesticks or other paraphernalia that you saw in those photos from Marino’s guy.”

“So it’s not the estate?”

“Not necessarily. She says she saw a watch similar to your father’s. I sent all of my colleagues a photo of it when I put out word about the collection.”

“The four-century-old pocket watch?”

“Yeah.”

That didn’t make sense. “So if it
is
the Ricardo Estate, what happened to the other stuff?”

“I don’t know, but there’s something I should mention about Allison.” He paused and waited for me to meet his eyes. “She’s a history professor at Chapel Hill and she’s an expert on old weaponry, particularly from the Middle Ages. The curators of the collection asked her to examine one of their swords.”

“Swords? And isn’t that the wrong time period?”

“She says they told her this particular sword was rumored to have been blessed by priests for a knight to carry into the Crusades.”

I shook my head. “I’m confused. What would that have to do with the curse?”

“Ellie, the sword was blessed to fight
demons
.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Oh, shit.”

“She took several pictures of the sword. And she says she has something she thinks I’ll want to see.”

I fingered the gold band on my right middle finger. “What is it?”

“She wouldn’t tell me.”

“And you want to go see it?”

“If you’re open to it. I won’t go without you. I’d be sick with worry the entire time I was gone.” He pulled me back down to him and placed a sweet kiss on my lips. “And I thought I’d check on my house. I haven’t been back in over a month. You’ll get to see where I live, and I can pack up most of my things so we can start renting the place out. Maybe we can stop and see Myra too.”

I only hoped Myra would
want
to see me. “That sounds like a good idea.”

His hand resumed its previous task on my breast. “So we’ll go?”

“I’ll have to get off work.”

“If your boss won’t let you off, then quit.”

“David.”

His mouth replaced his hand as his fingers glided over my abdomen and between my legs, making me squirm. “Promise one way or the other that you’ll get off work.”

“You fight dirty.” But he didn’t have to convince me. Wild horses couldn’t keep me from going to Chapel Hill this weekend. If Allison had seen a sword capable of killing demons, I needed to figure out how to get it. And if I had to quit my job to go, maybe that was the catalyst I needed to get me out the door of the New Moon for good.

“When it comes to your safety, I’ll use
all
my resources to protect you.” Then he proceeded to show me how talented some of his resources were.

Long after David fell asleep, I lay awake in his arms. My mind returned once again to the old woman’s premonition, and a feeling of dread weighed down my limbs and kept my eyes open late into the night.

C
HAPTER
T
WO

“You can have Saturday off over my dead body,” Phoebe, my new boss, said, brushing past me and heading into the back room.

I stood in the middle of the dining room of the New Moon ten minutes before we opened, wondering how that could actually be arranged. Phoebe and I had butted heads ever since I showed up two minutes late for our first mandatory staff meeting right before the reopening of the restaurant. While Marlena, my old boss, had believed in firm authority, she’d also possessed a heart. Something Phoebe Willington seemed to be without.

A sudden wave of grief and guilt washed over me. The two emotions were usually hand in hand when I thought about my old boss, who had also been my friend. She’d died because of me, because I’d refused to side with Okeus.

Now Marlena’s husband was a widower and her three children were motherless. The only thing I could possibly do to make things right was to make Kanim, the bastard spirit who had killed her, pay. Only I hadn’t seen Okeus’s messenger spirit since Collin opened the gate at our ceremony, and I didn’t know where to look. Collin had given me a map that documented the sanctuaries of a dozen Croatan spirits, along with the gate to hell—a location with which I was all too familiar. But there was no mention of the wind gods, Okeus and Ahone, or either of their messengers. David and I had visited at least half the marked sites, but always during the day. They were difficult to find since the landmarks had all changed, not that we could get too aggressive anyway. No sense flushing them out if I didn’t have the means to permanently destroy them on my own. Perhaps that would all change if we could manage to secure this sword.

I followed Phoebe into the back, my voice firm. “Look, Phoebe, I know it’s short notice—”

She turned to me with blazing eyes. “You’re damn right it’s short notice. Not to mention it’s on the weekend. You already have Sunday off.”

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

She shook her head. “You already have special privileges. No one else gets away with only working day shifts.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. You made me work last night after I worked all day.”

“And that’s because Nina quit. It was a special circumstance.”

“That seems to happen every week. And whose fault is that, Phoebe? Maybe if you were nicer, your employees would stick around for longer.”

She put both hands on her hips. “If people bothered to do their jobs, they might keep them. And as for the answer to your question . . .” She lifted her eyebrows, her eyes bugging out like a pug’s. “It’s a firm
no
.”

I reached for the knot that tied my apron behind my back. “Then I quit.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do you think I’m bluffing?”

“I don’t care if you are or not.” I pulled the apron over my head and spiked it onto the floor. “I’ve worked my ass off for this job, but dealing with your attitude just isn’t worth it.” I grabbed my purse off the desk and headed for the back door.

“Fine!” she huffed, throwing her hands into the air. “You don’t have to work the night shift anymore. Ever.”

“No shit, I don’t,” I said. “Because I just quit.”

I stormed out the back door and walked until I got to the parking lot of my old apartment, sucking in deep breaths.

What had I done?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed my best friend, Claire.

“Ellie, I thought you were working today,” she answered. “Is everything okay?” I didn’t usually bother her when she was at her housekeeping job at the Tranquil Inn, so she knew it had to be important.

“Actually, I don’t have a job anymore since I just quit.”

“You did
what
?”

“I think I’m going to hyperventilate.” I walked over to the wooden steps leading up to my third-floor apartment and sat down, running my hand through my hair.

“Ellie, it’s just a job and your new boss is a bitch.”

“But it still paid the bills. And Darrell’s Restaurant will never take me back after all the times Tom showed up to question me while I was working.” We’d grown up with Tom. That, along with his respect for my father, was why he cut me some slack even though there was plenty of evidence that I was tied to the strange things happening on Roanoke Island. Still, his patience was wearing thin. Especially when his intuition told him I knew more than I pretended to know. Too bad he was right.

“I thought you said David
wanted
you to quit.”

“He does, but this means I’m totally dependent on him. I’m supposed to be a strong, independent woman and now I’m just what Collin thought I was when he first showed up at the New Moon.”

“An easy mark?”

“No! An opportunistic gold digger. Now David will end up paying my bills and helping float the inn.”

“Oh, Ellie. There’s a difference. David loves you and wants to help you.”

“It’s still not right.”

“Okay,” she murmured. “So you’ll get another job. It’s not the end of the world. Now tell me what’s
really
going on.”

My head jerked up in surprise. Sometimes I wondered if Claire knew me better than I knew myself. “Something’s wrong with Myra.”

“With her new job?” she asked, surprised.

“I don’t know. She was fine until the day before she left, and then she started to act . . . distant. She hasn’t called me in over a week, and she acts like I’m bothering her whenever I call her.”

“That doesn’t sound like Myra at all. Could she just be nervous about her new job? She hasn’t taught in a long time and classes started this week.”

“Maybe.” But she’d never blown me off before, no matter how busy her schedule. “David and I are going to Chapel Hill this weekend. I think I’ll drop by Durham to see her.”

“Are you going there to pack up David’s house?”

“Yeah, and one of his colleagues might have some information about the Ricardo Estate.”

“Really? That’s great.” Her voice lowered. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I think my boss is coming down the hall. Are we still cleaning your apartment after I get off work?”

“Yeah, see you at three.” I hung up and glanced up toward my apartment. Now that I didn’t have a job, I could go up and clean it myself. But I’d only seen Claire twice since her return from her honeymoon in Charleston, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d been acting different too. While she hadn’t blown me off, she
had
been more subdued than usual.

With nothing to do for several hours, I went back to the inn to help Becky. I called David to tell him that going out of town wouldn’t be an issue since I quit my job. I hung up as I walked into the inn, finding Becky at the office desk.

She looked up in surprise. “Ellie! Why aren’t you at work?”

I shrugged. “I guess inn keeping is my new full-time job.”

Her face fell. “Does that mean you don’t need me full time anymore?”

Oh, crap. I hadn’t considered that. The inn could barely pay her salary and the mortgage along with the other expenses of running the place. But I couldn’t count on being here all the time with my new Curse Keeper responsibilities. “No. I still need you. Tell me what still needs to be done today.”

Relief washed over her face as she told me what she’d accomplished while I was gone.

After I did laundry and some long-overdue deep cleaning, I realized it was almost time for me to meet Claire. I grabbed a bottle of water and stepped out into the August heat to walk to my apartment.

When I stepped onto the third-floor landing, I stared at the now-bare front door. It looked naked without all the symbols Collin and I had marked on it.

Claire was waiting for me in one of the plastic chairs on the front porch, watching me with a wistfulness I hadn’t expected.

“I forgot about those chairs,” I said as I moved toward her. “I’m not sure I want to drag them several blocks to the house.”

Claire shrugged, lifting a bottle of beer to her lips. “Toss ’em in the Dumpster. They cost less than ten bucks at Walmart, not to mention they’re tacky.”

“What are you doing outside? You have a key.”

She stared at the door for several seconds. “It’s too sad and creepy in there now that it’s empty.”

“Creepier than my father’s house?”

She cocked an eyebrow, her dark brown eyes bright with amusement, but there was some heavier emotion behind them. “That’s a telling phrase right there—your
father’s
house.”

I released a sigh. “You know what I mean.”

“Why are you doing this, Ellie? You hate that house.”

“I don’t hate it. It just makes me uncomfortable.”

“Well, no shit!” she shouted, waving her hand in the air. “Maybe you should listen to your instincts. Your mother was murdered there. You recently found out that the killer had you trapped in your closet. You were eight years old, Ellie. Eight!” she said, her eyes blazing. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because someone needs to take care of the inn.”

“That’s bullshit. What’s the real reason?”

“Because Daddy hid notes to me in the house and I have to find them.”

“And have you found any since you banished those evil badgers?”

I scowled. “No.” I turned toward the door and put the key into the doorknob. “We need to clean my apartment. I want to be home when David gets back from work.”

“Ellie. It’s me, Claire. I know you better than probably anyone alive. What’s the real reason?”

Tears filled my eyes. “I let him down, Claire.” My voice broke. “I have to try and save it.”

She leaned forward and grabbed my wrist, guiding me to the chair next to hers. Then she reached under her seat and grabbed a paper bag that I hadn’t noticed. After pulling out a second bottle of beer, she popped the top off and handed it to me. “Here.”

I took a long sip, then placed the cold bottle against my chest to help me cool off. “You came prepared.”

She took a drink from her bottle and shrugged. “I was going to make you talk one way or another. Getting you drunk was Plan B.”

“And Plan A?”

She grinned. “
Asking
you.”

I chuckled softly and took another drink. Claire was right. She knew me better than anyone. Being best friends with someone for fifteen years wasn’t for nothing.

“You seriously think you let him down?” she asked.

“Of course I did. In every conceivable way. I refused to relearn the curse after Momma’s murder. If only I’d listened to him—”

Her hand covered mine, her eyes pleading. “Ellie. Enough. We’ve rehashed this every which way left of Sunday.
Woulda
,
coulda, shoulda.
We all have things we wish we’d done differently, but what good does it do us to dwell?”

“Maybe Marlena wouldn’t be dead right now if I’d known enough to figure out what Collin was up to. Maybe Daddy would still be alive too.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” She took another drink. “How in the world could you have stopped Okeus’s lackey from killing Marlena? And Ahone demanded a sacrifice—your father. All the knowledge in the world wouldn’t have prevented either of their deaths.”

“I have to blame someone, Claire.”

“Fine, then blame Collin. Blame Okeus. Blame Ananias Dare and his cohort, Manteo. But stop blaming yourself, because that’s just bollocks, as your Brit likes to say.”

I grinned. “I’m quite fond of my Brit.”

“No wonder. He’s hot and he’s great in bed.”

My mouth dropped open in protest. “I
never
said he’s great in bed.”

“I know. I’m reading between the lines. You’ve told me all about all the awful experiences you’ve had. The fact that you won’t tell me a thing about sex with David speaks volumes.”

“I never told you about sex with Collin either.”

She lifted her beer bottle in salute. “Exactly.”

I laughed and we drank the rest of our beers. Once we were done, Claire pulled out two more bottles, then stopped, her gaze drifting down the landing toward my neighbor’s door.

“What are you looking at?”

She shook her head and handed me the drink. “Nothing.”

“We’re supposed to be cleaning,” I said, taking the proffered beer and checking out the door that had caught her attention. Claire was lying to me, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why.

BOOK: The Curse Defiers
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