I bend down to scoop up the scattered pages. Most look like accounting sheets for Beaumont Builders, but one is old and yellowed. My fingers tingle as I grasp the thick parchment and squint hard at the tiny, old-time handwriting. It looks like a family tree with two major branches that must go back at least fifteen generations. The names are Beaumont and Guthrie. I can’t help wonder if, and how, each one of these people had been impacted by Sabina’s curses.
Dad grabs my hand, drawing my attention from the document. “Are you okay? You haven’t been injured, have you?”
I grin and place the papers back on the desk. “Yeah, I’m good. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Besides, after we help Miss Delia with her, uh, legal troubles, Jack and I will be back in DC and this will all die down. I’m not planning on working any hoodoo back home so there’s no reason for my archnemesis to bother us anymore.” I frame the words with air quotes as I toss Jack a disapproving glance.
Dad shakes his head. “This is your home now.”
“Yeah, for the summer. But we’re out of here in ten days,” I say.
“That was the plan, but your mother called this morning to say there’s been a last-minute shake-up with the staff at the archeological site in Jordan. She’s been offered a grant to continue the work and lead the project. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. If she takes a sabbatical this year and makes a couple important discoveries, she could make full professor soon. I told her to take it.”
I step back, bracing myself against the cold stone wall. Stay? In the Lowcountry? And face Sabina? My mind spins at this unexpected turn of events.
Jack’s brow creases. “But what about soccer? The school paper? My friends? I’ve got a life I’ve got to get back to.”
“There’s a school here that’s got plenty of clubs and teams you can join. I’m sure you’ll make new friends,” Dad says.
“But you’re always so busy with the plantation. And with Beau gone, you might not have a job. Unless Cooper wants to keep you here.” Jack shoots Cooper a glance.
Dad laughs. “Actually, Beau made me Cooper’s guardian, so I’m the one who makes the decisions. At least until Cooper turns eighteen. Then it’s all on him.”
Cooper crosses his arm. “I don’t want to go back to boarding school. I want to stay here. Learn about the plantation.”
Dad smiles. “Great idea.”
Jack’s brow is still furrowed. “Do you really want to handle us full time?”
Dad sits up in his chair. “Are you kidding? This is my chance to finally be the father I always wanted to be but never could. And if what you’ve told me is half-true, it sounds as if you all might need a little more parental supervision. Or at least help. So what do you say, Emma? You ready to stay here with your old dad? Maybe I can even help you with this archnemesis of yours.”
“Ugh, I guess I don’t have much of a choice do I?” Despite the air-conditioning, the room is suddenly stifling. I need to get out, now, and breathe some fresh air. “Excuse me, I’m not feeling so well.” I sprint from the room and race down the main hall.
My dad might have been forced to serve an evil boo hag and robbed of his free will, but he’s obviously clueless about the seriousness of the danger Sabina poses. Until this moment, I didn’t think much of her threat because I figured if I skipped town, all of this would blow over.
Now that Jack and I are staying, I’ll have to face her and whatever she’s got planned. Not to mention Taneea and Claude, who are probably lurking in the background, planning their next move on Cooper, Jack, and anyone else I care about. And Miss Delia, who’s frail and paralyzed and looking at spending the rest of her days behind bars. The deputies can’t take care of her in there, at least not the way she needs to be cared for. Plus, how can she possibly teach me the rest of what I need to know from a jail cell?
As I charge through the great room, Beau’s words from the Psychic Vision flood back, sending chills over my scalp. He said Cooper and I were destined to get married. What the heck is that supposed to mean? Sabina threw around the destiny word, too, as well as the word, prophecy. How could anyone possibly know what lies in store for any other person? Don’t our own choices account for anything? Sabina was so sure she knew Cooper’s destiny, yet we’ve broken both her curses and now he’s free to make the life he wants. I may not know what my own life has in store, but I want to be the one in charge.
I rush out the veranda doors onto the back patio. Staring out over St. Helena Sound, I breathe in the warm, salty air.
A screeching caw shatters the silence. My earlobes heat. After my fall from the magnolia, I’d recognize that sound anywhere.
An iridescent black crow bursts from the nearby forest and soars across the backyard, headed straight for me. Flinging my arms over my head, I scream as I crouch for cover. It squawks as its sharp claws graze my scalp and the back of my hand, then takes flight again.
My heart pounds as I peer up at the sky, sure it’s headed for another pass, but it flies off, disappearing into the trees.
Bright red blood oozes from my wound.
I’m no bird expert, but I’m pretty sure that was no accident. And, now that I think about it, neither was my tumble from that tree.
Danger, it seems, is everywhere and it’s directed squarely at me. And, by extension, the people I care most about.
Cooper bolts onto the patio. “Are you okay? I heard you scream.”
I wipe the blood from the back of my hand and force a smile. “Yeah. I’m good. It was nothing. Just a bird.”
“I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.” He steps to my side and reaches for my good hand. “I know you said you needed some time, and it’s only been two days since we discovered the allurement, but do you think you have it in your heart to forgive me for all the horrible things I said when I was under that spell? Because you know I’d never say them otherwise.” He flashes an adorable half grin.
Until a few minutes ago, I assumed everything would go back to normal and we’d spend the last few days of our summer together in bliss. Because honestly, any lingering hurt I felt evaporated when he swam out of that marsh alive and whole.
But now that we’re all staying on the island, Sabina’s threats echo in my mind and I realize just how treacherous things might get. Especially for him, since he’s the source of my greatest joy, and Sabina has vowed to crush whatever happiness I have.
I have to do what I can to protect him. Even if it means breaking my own heart.
“So…are we okay?” His voice is filled with apprehension.
“You’ve been my best friend since I was six years old. We’ll always be okay.”
He tugs on my hand. “That’s not what I’m asking, Emma. I want to know where we stand. As us. You and me. Together.” He lifts my hand and places his mother’s silver locket in my open palm. “Because there’s no one in the world I’d rather give this to.” The ruby shards glint in the bright August sun.
My stomach drops and my mouth turns dry. “Uh, I can’t accept this.” My voice quivers as pass it back to him, then ball my fists and hold them at my sides. I can’t allow myself to touch him. His warm, smooth skin will only break my resolve.
“What? Why?” He looks like I’ve punched him in the gut.
“My feelings have…changed.” I force the words from my lying mouth. They taste like poison.
“Is it because of what happened with Taneea? Because I never cared about her. Not for one single second.”
I shake my head. “No, I told you before. I know the allurement wasn’t your fault.”
“Then why?” His royal-blue eyes search mine.