Allure

figure out something new then.

Fifteen minutes later, Cooper’s back, shaking out his arms, which are likely as limp as cold spaghetti. He stops several feet from me, well out of arm’s reach.

“Hey, I’m sorry you had to hear about me and Taneea that way. I’d planned to tell you differently, but I didn’t get the chance.”

I lift my head to meet his gaze. His eyes are cold and nearly colorless, just the faintest hint of gray swirls in his irises. He doesn’t exactly look like a guy in love. He barely even looks like Cooper. An eerie feeling crawls across my scalp. I don’t care how much he claims to care for Taneea, something’s definitely not right.

I rise to my feet and words fly from my mouth. “Who do you think you are?”

He takes a step forward. The piney fragrance of his deodorant has been replaced with something exotic and spicy that smells a lot like Taneea’s perfume mixed with her stinky hand cream. “I know you’re hurt and probably furious, but I wish you could be happy for me. I’ve found real love.”

My pulse pounds as I scan his face. “That’s not what I mean. Are you even still in there? Or has the Beaumont Curse grabbed you a few days early? Am I wasting my time trying to save your soul?”

He looks wounded. “Of course not. You’ve got to break the curse. Just as long as you know it’s not going to make me take you back. I’m with Taneea now.”

Stung, I nod. “Yeah. I got that. Loud and clear.” I should probably let it drop, accept this new reality, but my senses nag, not buying his love story. “How do you know she’s not working some kind of spell on you? We already caught her working gambling charms. She could be conjuring again. You said yourself you felt like you were slipping away. What if she’s causing it?”

He laughs. “That’s ridiculous. I know it would make you feel better to think that’s what’s going on, but when I said that, I was just overreacting to my feelings for her because they’re so strong. Trust me, what Taneea and I have is real. That’s why I need you to break the Beaumont Curse so she and I can truly be together, without it hanging over our heads. So when do you think you’ll be ready to work your magic?”

I don’t know what’s really behind his epic change of heart, but I doubt it’s as neat and simple as he says. If I’m right, I’ve got no choice but to fight for his soul even though it might break my heart. “Soon. You’re still wearing the mojo bag, right?” I scan his tank top, hoping it’s tucked neatly underneath.

“No. Taneea didn’t like it. She took it off.”

My vision flashes white. “She what? You let her? How could you?” The cemetery spins as my brain works to take in all the implications of this seemingly small act.

“It’s not really appropriate to keep wearing it.”

My brow knits. “It’s not like we’re talking about a promise ring. That bag isn’t about us. It’s about protecting you.”

“Emma, come on. Anyone who touches that thing knows better than that. Taneea did and it made her really uncomfortable. She said it’s filled with your feelings for me. It’s not fair of me to do that to her. Besides, now that things have changed between me and you, it can’t possibly have the same power as before.”

Faced with this harsh reality, the very significant pieces click into place. First, as he’s so coolly pointed out, the mojo can’t be the answer to breaking a curse ignited by a Black Cat Bone. He’s made it clear that we’re over. Kaput. Done. So even though the mojo was created for him and was formulated to protect him from a black magic curse, it doesn’t represent pure love. Not even close. Pure love is true. Unconditional. Reciprocal.

Our relationship, at least for the time being, is none of the above.

But more important is the fact that the mojo, which has been keeping the Beaumont Curse at bay, is gone. Now he’s exposed and vulnerable to an early attack. I don’t have the time I thought.

The heat on my neck turns ice cold, and a dreadful feeling crawls across my chest, then inches up my throat, closing it over. I’d thought the mojo was the key, but now I’m back to square one, out of ideas, and out of luck. How am I going to find something that meets all the criteria Miss Delia listed before the curse takes hold?

My breath is shallow. I don’t know how, but the effects of my disastrous energy tea seem to be inverting. Instead of feeling pumped up, I’m more like a deflated balloon. Light-headed, I reach out for the only thing that’s solid, Cooper’s arm, to keep from fainting.

He grabs my hand but only long enough to guide me safely back down to the low headstone, then quickly pulls away. “I told you, I’m with Taneea now.”

As if I needed the reminder. But I’ve got bigger concerns, like trying not to fall on my face in a graveyard. Woozy, I drop my head between my thighs and breathe deep.

“Emma!” Jack calls on his way back from making his own drop-off at the crypt. But he must misinterpret Cooper’s body looming over my hunched shoulders because he dashes toward me and kneels at my side. Looking up at Cooper he snaps, “Dude, what is your major damage?”

I lift my head enough to peek at them both.

Ignoring Jack’s question, Cooper nods toward me. “Call me when you’ve figured out what to do.” Then he turns and saunters toward his cart.

“You okay?” Jack searches my gaze.

“I’m fine,” I lie. “Go after him. No matter what you do, keep him up at the Big House and don’t let him out of your sight until I can figure some stuff out. He’s taken off his Protective Shield so that curse could take hold whenever it wants.”

Chapter Twenty-two

After Jack chases Cooper in our golf cart, I let the tears I’ve kept locked inside flow. They’re as much from my broken heart as from abject frustration and utter cluelessness. Time’s running out and I’ve got no idea what to do next.

Hot liquid stings my cheeks. I’ve got no working mortar, an ex-boyfriend who’s either losing his soul or his mind, and I can’t even visit Miss Delia for advice.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so screwed.

Miss Delia’s voice echoes in my mind, her last words assuring me I can figure it all out. Which only makes me laugh between garbled sobs. I can’t. Every time I think I’ve come up with something, it comes back to bite me in the rear. Who am I to think I can break a three hundred year old curse by myself? Especially one cast by someone as powerful and vengeful as Sabina? I’m not special. I don’t have hoodoo in my blood like Sabina and Miss Delia. I’m just a teenager, a buckrah comeyah with a couple month’s worth of hoodoo training. In other words, I’m nothing.

Looks like Taneea was right after all. About everything. Which burns even more.

A fresh set of sobs threatens to well over, but I suck them up. I will not shed them over her or Cooper. Maybe they deserve each other.

Bitter acid coats my tongue. Maybe he deserves everything that’s coming to him, including his soulless fate.

I shudder, sickened that I allowed such a hateful thought to pass through my head. I should know better. In his heart, Cooper isn’t the canker he’s been for the last couple weeks. Maybe Taneea has found a way to magically mess with his feelings. Though I’m inclined to believe the Beaumont Curse has settled in a bit early, snagged him in its claws before he officially comes of age. The only way to bring him back is to break the hex that holds him in its grip.

But that still leaves me clueless about what to do next.

A familiar scent tickles my nose. Lifting my face to get a better whiff, I breathe deep. It’s sharp and cloying and almost antiseptic. A charge jolts my body. It’s a stargazer lily. Maggie’s fragrance. Maggie, Jack’s ghostly ex- girlfriend whose evil murder at the hands of Bloody Bill and his pirates kicked off The Creep and the Beaumont Curse in the first place.

But there are no lilies in this cemetery, just rows and rows of faded white headstones and grave markers draped with clinging green vines.