Allure

Forever entwined

Love everlasting

Till the end of time

My chest swells. The locket is filled with Clarissa’s love for her son. A mother’s pure love. It couldn’t be more specific to Cooper. And just like the Beaumont Curse, which was first cast when Lady Rose gave birth to her only child, this too features a mother and son. I’d say that’s pretty curse- specific.

This is the key to combating the Black Cat Bone and breaking the Beaumont Curse.

But now that I’ve got it, what am I supposed to do with it? My heart pounds as I gaze at the top of Clarissa’s headstone to where I imagine Maggie sitting. “I don’t know what to do with this. Cooper’s not wearing his mojo anymore, so I’m pretty sure I’ve got to break the curse as soon as possible. But the ancestors’ mortar still needs to rest, and my energy’s not back.”

“You have everything you need.” Maggie’s voice carries on the breeze.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The refrain repeats, this time more faint. “You have everything you need.”

Chapter Twenty-three

I set aside Miss Delia’s spell book and rub my tired eyes at the table in the caretaker’s cottage. I’ve read it cover to cover three times this afternoon. I think I’m ready. At least I hope I am. Picking up my phone, I dial Jack. He answers on the third ring.

“Hey, can you pick me up at Dad’s in about an hour? I’ve got one more thing to do but then I think we’ll be ready to try to break this.” Not really. I’m actually only half betting we’ll be ready but I’m not going to let him in on that.

“Yeah. Just so you know, you owe me big time. It hasn’t been easy to keep him here.” His voice is clipped.

“It’ll be worth it. I promise. We’ve got to do this thing tonight. I can feel it.” At least that’s what I think the green and white psychic power beads on my collier have told me.

“You’re lucky you’ve still got feeling. I don’t.”

Um, I’m not exactly sure what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m too busy and overwhelmed to decipher it now. “All right then, see you in an hour. Oh, wait. Before I forget, make sure both you and Cooper have your ruby pieces.”

“Sure.” He cuts the line.

I glance down at the list I’ve started on the pad in the middle of the kitchen table. Between the stuff in Dad’s workshop, the supplies I brought back from Miss Delia’s, and a few plants I can clip from the forest around the cemetery, I should have everything covered.

In the meantime, I’ve got to take the strongest purifying bath I can whip up and hope the Planetary Sun bath crystals I snagged from Miss Delia’s will help restore a little bit of my physical vitality. Otherwise, I’m not sure how I’ll get through the night.

An hour later, exactly to the minute, Jack pulls up to the caretaker’s cottage in the golf cart. Cooper’s in the front passenger seat, his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face. Though he’s ditched the leather jacket, he’s still sporting the rest of his new getup, plus one new accessory: his bottom lip is red and swollen. Jack slides out of the cart and walks around to the screened porch. Though he tries to hide it, there’s a hitch in his gait. His left eye is purple and swollen.

I suck in a gasp. “What the heck happened?”

“I kept him at the Big House.”

I squint at the shiner. “You okay? Did you ice it?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. It’s nothing compared to losing chunks of my skin. Plus I got in a few good swipes of my own. That felt better than any cold pack.” He smiles.

I glance at Cooper who’s slumped in the seat, looking about as happy to be there as a kid in the principal’s office. “Awesome. I guess. You think he’ll help load these in the cart?” I point to the pile of tools I’ve pulled from Dad’s workshop.

Jack smirks. “Doubtful. You’re lucky he’s here at all. All he wants to do is be with Taneea.”

“Great. I’m going to need a little more cooperation when we do this.”

“Good luck with that.”

Together Jack and I load a few shovels, a pruner, and some other supplies. Luckily Dad’s been busy running errands for Beau. Otherwise he’d freak if he saw us taking this stuff.

Twenty minutes later, we’re at the cemetery. The sun’s just starting to set and the sky’s the same orange hue as a ripe cantaloupe. Jack jumps out and gets to work on my instruction to bring back a bunch of tall wildflowers I saw growing along one section of the graveyard. Cooper stays slumped in his seat.

I pause on my way past the cart. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this, we can just forget it. The curse can take over and steal your soul.”

“I’m here, aren’t I? Jack didn’t have to hold me prisoner in my own house. I could have spent the day with Taneea and met you guys here.”

“Look, I know you think we’re working against you, but it’s for your own good. Whether you like it or not, taking off the Protective Shield mojo made you vulnerable to the curse. And since you keep disappearing and won’t take our phone calls, we had to make sure you’d be around when we were ready to try a Break Jinx.”

“How do I know you’re not just using the curse as an excuse to try and get back with me?”

I roll my eyes. “We’ve been best friends for eight years. If you can’t tell when I’m being honest with you or believe that I’m looking out for your best interests, then maybe we’re too late. Maybe your soul is already gone.”

He steps out of the cart. “No, it’s not. I can’t know for sure, but I’m guessing if it was, I wouldn’t care about the curse. But I want to break it once and for all. What do you need from me?”

My heart skips a beat. Maybe the old Cooper is still in there.

“Your help. With a bunch of things. I ran into a little…trouble with a spell I tried to work for myself so I don’t have the strength I normally do. I need to rely on both you and Jack.”

“No problem. That kid’s a lot stronger than I gave him credit for. Though it was a lucky shot.” He rubs his swollen lip.

I smirk. “From the looks of his black eye, I’m betting you had it coming.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” His mouth pulls up into a half grin.

It’s nice to joke with him again, even if it is over Jack and him brawling. The important thing is that he’s on board, at least for now. If all goes well, I’ll only need his cooperation for a couple more hours. By then, hopefully, he’ll be back to the Cooper Beaumont I know. And maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll remember how much he used to care for me.

Cooper and I trudge to meet Jack among the wildflowers. He’s already cut long spires of mullein, the long, spindly weed that has soft, furry leaves and little yellow flowers. I gather a bunch of stalks and bind them together into six-foot-long bundles with the ball of twine I snagged from Dad’s workshop. Cooper and Jack cut as many plants as they can find, then help me create a stack of twelve knotted bunches that we can use as Magic Candles when we try to break the curse. When we’re finished, Jack and Cooper carry the mullein bundles to the deepest part of the cemetery, not far from the banks of the salt marsh.

While Jack runs to get the rest of our supplies, Cooper and I walk through the section that’s blanketed with kudzu. I point to the bright white headstone I uncovered earlier in the afternoon. It’s the only object sticking out from the bright green carpet of vegetation.

“See that?”

He nods. “Yeah.”