The Line That Binds Series Box Set (74 page)

“LJ, baby,” I said, pulling her chin up to look at me. “I think we should tell your dad what’s going on. We need his help. It might be hard to convince him, but I’m sure he’d want to know what’s really happening.”

“You’re right. Anything to make sure this doesn’t happen to Gavin,” she said. “I think Dad’s at work.”

“He is,” I replied. “Did the doctors say anything today?”

She glanced around the room, pinching her eyebrows as she thought about my question. Her lips trembled lightly. “I’m not sure… I…”

“Shh,” I said, cupping her face in my hands and drawing her eyes back to mine. “It’s okay. We can talk to your dad in the morning.” I rubbed my thumbs over her cheeks to wipe her tears then ran them over her delicate lips. She looked at me, her eyes full of anguish I couldn’t steal away. I pressed my lips to hers, wanting the curse to disappear with one kiss like some stupid fairytale. Why couldn’t it be that easy? Why couldn’t my love take it all away?

I pulled back and wiped her cheeks again. “I think you should rest. I’m going into the basement for a bit. I’ll be back up later.”

“Are you staying?”

I kissed her forehead. “Forever.”

Muffled sounds came from the closet. I cracked my eyes open to the gentle light outside my windows then turned my head toward the sound. The closet light was on. A silhouette sat on the floor beside a trunk, flipping through papers.
Ben?

He stood and padded over to me. “Hey, baby,” he whispered, bending beside me and smoothing his hand over my head. “I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll close the door. Go back to sleep.”

I closed my eyes again, wondering if I was dreaming as I felt his lips kiss my forehead.

The back of my eyelids looked like they were on fire.
What time is it?
I opened my eyes to the bright room and stared at the alarm clock until the numbers came into focus.
Just after nine.
What time did I go to sleep?
A bunch of noises came from inside the closet. I rolled over, noticing books, papers, and files strewn across the floor in front of the closed door.

What the hell?

The chill of the room attacked my skin the instant I left my comforter. I glanced down at my bare legs and picked at the hemline of the green T-shirt I was wearing. Why would I only wear a shirt to sleep when it’s so cold? I needed to buy some flannel pajamas.

I shuffled over to the closet, listening to the muted sounds behind the door before opening it wide. Ben was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out, papers covering every inch of his jeans. The trapdoor was open behind him and Aunt Janine’s antique trunk was open beside him.

His eyes rolled over my body, lingering deliciously on my legs.

“Morning,” I said, staring at the dark depressions under his gorgeous eyes.

“Morning,” he replied with a tiny grin, setting a few papers on the floor.

I squatted next to him and ran my hands over his short hair, enjoying the way it tickled my fingers. “I like this haircut,” I purred as I leaned in closer to him. His eyes closed and he inhaled deeply. I loved how he reacted to my touch, how his body surrendered to me. Taking advantage, I slid my leg over the papers and straddled his lap. His eyes opened again as I ran my hands down his neck and brought my lips to his.

His hands slid up my bare thighs, squeezing firmly once then letting go. He backed out of the kiss by dipping his head sideways. “LJ, wait… Dammit,” he mumbled, looking down between us and scrubbing his face with his hands. “Sorry.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, sliding off his lap and kneeling beside him.

“I’m okay, just a little tired.”

“You look
really
tired. Did you sleep at all?”

“No, I didn’t. But that’s not a big deal. Listen, I’ve been able to stay quiet enough that your dad still doesn’t know I’m here. He’s up already, though. I think he’s downstairs in the kitchen,” he said, then stopped to listen for a second, hearing nothing. “Like we discussed last night, we need to talk to him about the well. I’m thinking I should call Pop over to help break the news. Someone else on our side can’t hurt, right?”

I reprocessed his words.
Telling Dad about the well.
Bits of last night started filtering into my thoughts: pulling on the green shirt—
Ben’s shirt
—to go to bed, helping him sort through some papers, him tucking me in. I rubbed my temples. “Why are we telling him again? I’m trying to remember. I don’t remember,” I admitted, realizing that I’d lost something new.

He grabbed hold of my hand, entwining our fingers. “I found Gavin by the well yesterday and we decided that we have to find a way to stop this before it hurts anyone else.”

A single tear slid down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, knowing I had to hold myself together. “I remember that now.” Ben’s sweet words from last night rushed back to me too, filling my heart with more love than I’d ever known. He never wanted to leave me. No matter what ended up happening, I knew I’d never be alone.

“Hey,” he said, getting up on his knees and slipping his arms around me. “It’s going to be okay.”

Even though doubt had already smothered every bit of my hope, I believed him.

He kissed my lips lovingly. “Now get dressed, Bubbles. I have a feeling this is going to be a long day.”

I decided to shower too because I honestly couldn’t remember if I’d taken one yesterday. When I finished dressing and towel drying my hair, Ben was sitting on my bed with more papers scattered around. “Have you found anything?”

“No,” he replied, setting a stack down and standing up. “But hopefully we’ll have more eyes as soon as we get downstairs and spill the truth.”

I nodded and twisted my fingers together nervously.
How can I tell Dad this?
It all sounded crazy.
Crazy.
Same thing Mom had said.
I talked to Mom?
I could hear her voice so clearly.
Aunt Janine was crazy. The idea of a curse is absurd.

Suddenly remembering the farewell letter I’d written to Dad yesterday, I snatched it out of the dresser drawer and tucked it into my pocket. Giving it to him today was for the best. He needed to know that I’d want him to move me into a facility. I dreaded the thought of him having to care for me when I could no longer take care of myself.

Ben pulled his phone from his pocket and punched his thumbs to the screen. After a moment, it chimed a notification. “Pop said he’ll be over in a few minutes.”

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Dad yelled from the doorway, startling us.

“Dad, I can—” I started to explain until Dad rushed in and grabbed Ben by the front of his shirt, shoving him backward.

“Mr. Wayde, I—” Ben said, then grunted harshly as Dad pinned him to the wall.

“Dad!” I screamed, grabbing his arm and yanking in a sad attempt to pull him off Ben.

“You have got to be some piece of shit to take advantage of her in this condition,” Dad growled.

“Dad!” I screeched. “Let him go! You don’t understand.”

Ben kept his hands out to his sides, letting Dad manipulate his body with no resistance. “I know you don’t understand, but you will if you let us explain.”

Dad fists twisted the top of Ben’s shirt tighter and shoved him into the wall again. “Why should I listen to a kid who’s screwing with my daughter’s head?”

“Dad!” I screamed again. “Just listen! Please,” I cried, falling to my knees.

“LJ.” He finally let Ben go and squatted beside me. His hands fell on my shoulder, trying to comfort me, but I shrugged them off.

“No,” I said, getting to my feet. “You have to listen, Dad.” I moved to Ben, who had his hands shoved into his pockets, looking down at his shoes like a sad little boy. I looped my arm through his and he looked up at me uneasily.

Dad’s eyes were vacant, staring blankly at the wall. He sat on the bed and raked a shaky hand over his nose and mouth.

“I know how it looks, Mr. Wayde. Please, just hear me out. If you still think I’m a piece of shit after, I’ll leave. But I love your daughter, sir, and I always will.”

That snapped Dad’s eyes back to us. Their intensity had returned, nearly spitting flames with the amount of anger they contained.

“My memory loss has everything to do with this family, but not in the way you think,” I said, jumping right to the point. “Charles Stockton lived here with his family. He was in love with a servant named Dahlia…”

“Wentz,” Ben finished for me before walking to the closet and grabbing a picture from the floor. He stepped in front of Dad and showed him the image. “Charles didn’t marry Dahlia, he married someone else. Dahlia wasn’t thrilled about that, so she cursed the Stockton family using the stone well out back.”

Dad let out an irritated sigh. “A curse? You’re serious? You expect me—”

“Dad, this is serious. It’s all true. I can hear people’s wishes because of it, and I can grant them. My nose bleeds afterward. It’s the reason for my memory loss. It happened to Aunt Janine.”

“And that’s why her nickname was Genie,” Lloyd’s voice cut into the room. We all turned to see him standing in the doorway, rolling a toothpick over his lips. He shrugged off his jacket as he stepped into the room. Then he pulled some folded papers out of his back pocket and handed them to Dad.

Gavin shuffled in through the door behind him. “No one else answered the doorbell,” he said, lifting his cast hand with his thumb pointed toward the hall.

“You believe this, too?” Dad asked Lloyd with a much calmer voice.

Lloyd nodded and crossed his arms, propping them on the crest of his round stomach. “Genie told me the truth years ago. Unfortunately, she didn’t tell me everything. That’s why we don’t know if she even found a way to end it all.”

Dad’s eyes flitted back to Ben, softer now, more confused than angry.

Ben and Lloyd proceeded to tell him everything about Aunt Janine, the Stockton bloodline, Dahlia, and the well. They explained the papers Lloyd handed over as the Stockton family tree, which they were able to outline from the files Ms. Mitchell had given Ben. I added anything I could remember. The wishing process was the clearest thing in my mind, so I talked about it without much difficulty.

Dad chewed on the information cautiously, letting us speak with little interruption. Gavin listened also. He’d picked a spot on the bed and remained seated and silent the entire time.

“A real curse,” Dad said, staring out the window toward the well again. “How did she do it? How did she curse the well?”

“We’re not sure how. Spells. Magic. That’s what comes up in most online searches. Some say an incantation has to be spoken with rituals, others say just believing the words that are spoken is enough,” Ben replied beside me. His hand was locked with mine, his thumb rubbing circles my skin reassuringly.

“And we can’t just tear the well down?” Dad asked, still peering out the window.

“I asked Genie the same thing, wanting to help her,” Lloyd answered Dad. “She said it didn’t matter. As long as there was heartache here, there would always be a curse.”

I looked at the two well stones next to Gavin on the bed. When Ben removed them from the trunk earlier, I struggled to remember when we’d found them. The first came back immediately, along with the feeling of Ben folding himself around me after we’d read the stone’s words, here in my room.

Give of yourself, part of the line. Make one wish to set the bind
, I read the words from the first stone. My gaze slid over to the second.
Memories gained, memories lost. For someone’s today at your yesterday’s cost.

A few minutes ago, Ben told the room he’d found the second stone in Janine’s office the day after the Halloween party. I tried to remember…

Dad finally turned to look at all of us again. He placed a hand on his hip, looked down to the floor, and rubbed his forehead for a silent minute. When his eyes lifted, they met mine. He took a deep breath and straightened his posture. “You’ve searched throughout this house already. What can we hope to find? The last stone?”

“Possibly,” Lloyd replied, dropping the arm he had propped on top of the tall dresser. He dug his fingers into his hips and resituated his pants. “Or it could be a few words written on something as small as a sticky note. Genie stashed things all over this house, forgetting where she’d placed them, forgetting what she’d even done. She’d often zone out, especially toward the end.”