“It’s your mom’s headstone.”
“For real?” His voice is breathy as he drops the pruners and runs right for it. He turns to me. “I can hardly remember the day we buried her. Except that it was cold. Rainy. This stone wasn’t here then. There was just a bunch of dirt next to her casket.” Kneeling in front of the marker, he rubs his hands on the smooth marble surface and then traces his finger on the edge of the now-empty space that held his mother’s locket. His brow creases. “What happened here?”
I bite my bottom lip. “Um, I needed something that was in that compartment for tonight’s spell.”
He pulls his attention toward me for an explanation but thankfully, Jack walks up with two shovels and distracts him. “What do we do with these?” Jack squints at the gravestone in the dimming light. “Is that…?”
“Yeah. My mom. She’s right here.” Cooper pats the stone, then rises to his feet. Clearing his throat, he appears to force back the emotions that threaten to overflow and points to the shovels in Jack’s hands. “What’s next?”
I point to his mother’s grave. “You and Cooper need to dig twelve holes in a circle around the headstone and then plant each torch deep enough that it won’t fall over, but not so deep that it’s shorter than us.”
While they dig, I smear the ends of each mullein torch with tallow, rendered beef fat I snagged from Miss Delia’s to provide the fuel they’ll need to burn, and shake a
As they work, I set up a little altar of sorts on top of Clarissa’s headstone with fresh fern leaves from the woods outside the caretaker’s cottage, a fat white candle, and a small clay bowl that I fill with a vial of holy water from Miss Delia’s shelf. After dipping some acacia leaves in the bowl, I sprinkle the altar with the water, then pull out another small bottle filled with althaea root and place it next to the water. These are the secret ingredients that will hopefully make all the difference to making this spell work.
As Jack and Cooper ignite the mullein torches, I light the candle and close my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I utter a silent prayer that Maggie, my intuition, my spirit guide, and research have all pointed me in the right direction. A recurring fear niggles at the back of my mind, reminding me that I don’t have the ancestors’ mortar, but I tell myself it shouldn’t matter. Miss Delia worked almost eighty years’ worth of magic without it after it was stolen from her great-gran. Hopefully I can get through tonight without it, too.
“We’re ready.” Jack’s voice fills the muggy night air.
As the lard and
I open my eyes. The tallow is on fire, spewing black smoke toward the midnight-blue sky.
It’s nearly time to start. I pull out my hunk of ruby from my pocket. It sparkles in the candlelight. “Do you each have yours?”
They dig out their own stones and show them to me. “You really think these will be useful?” Cooper asks.
“They have to be. When we broke The Creep, I knew the Beaumont Curse was in the ruby.”
“Yeah, but you threw it into the fire,” Jack says, needlessly reminding me of my biggest mistake ever.
“And it broke into three pieces,” Cooper adds.
“But the curse wasn’t broken. So logically that means it’s still in the ruby.”
Cooper looks around the clearing. “But Maggie said we needed ice. I don’t see any.”
“That’s because we don’t have any. Yet. It’ll be here.” I sound a lot more confident than I am. Because truthfully, I’m not sure how we’ll fill that important void, but I’m putting my faith in Maggie.
“Okay. So what’s different this time?” Jack asks.
“Well, for starters, we don’t have the mortar so we don’t have to worry about me throwing it into another fire. And then there’s this.” I step toward my messenger bag and pull out a soft piece of paper towel that’s folded into fours. Unwrapping it, I hold Clarissa’s locket out for them to see. “It was in that little round compartment in her headstone.”
Cooper sucks in a breath. “I remember that!” His pale gray eyes turn misty as he reaches to stroke its face with his finger. “I used to open and close it.” With a trembling hand, he pries his thumb between the two halves and clicks it open, then stares at the photos. His face softens. It’s the first time in more than two weeks that I’ve recognized him.
“I think it’s the key to breaking the curse. If everything goes like I hope, you can have it back later tonight.”
He nods. “I’d like that.” His voice has a hint of its old softness, which only makes me more anxious to get this over with.
I set the locket on top of the gravestone between the candle and bowl of holy water. “Now, there’s one last thing I need. You’re not going to like it, but you’ve got to do it, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.”
Chapter Twenty-four
I extend my hands toward Cooper and Jack; the ruby fragment twinkles in the center of my left palm.
Cooper’s lip twists. “You want to hold hands? Do we have to?”
My heart sinks. I guess his softness only applies to his mom. “Believe me, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. I don’t have enough of my own energy to work this spell, so I need some of yours.”
Cooper’s brow creases. “For real?”
Jack clasps his palm over my ruby, then holds out his free hand containing his own stone. “Yeah, she is. And considering this is all for you, I say you do it and be grateful.”
“Fine,” Cooper grumbles as he takes his place opposite Jack and me. We join our hands, locking us in a circle, though Cooper’s grip around my fingers is tentative and less than committed.
Still, their energy courses through me in a circular motion, up through one arm, across my body, then out the other side. I draw a huge breath and fill my lungs. Within seconds, I sense the restoration begin in my muscles as my blood vessels deliver rich, oxygen-filled blood to my tissues. I haven’t felt this vibrant in days.
Thick, dark clouds converge over the cemetery, blocking out the stars.
An electric hum vibrates in my chest.
Cooper’s eyes pop. “Oh wow.”
“Cool.” Jack’s voice is filled with wonder.
I smile, elated by the tingling sensation that’s fortifying and repairing my body’s natural balance. “It’s an energy circle. It won’t drain your strength, just recycle it a bit through all of us. Think of it like a circuit. But no matter what happens in the next few minutes, don’t let go. Otherwise, you’ll break the connection and the spell will fail.” I shoot a pointed glance at Cooper, hoping he gets how serious I am and that I’m not doing this just to cop a feel.
He nods. “Okay.” Then grips harder, clutching my hand so tight, his ruby shard digs into my palm.
A jolt of electricity shoots up my forearm, searing the flesh beneath my skin. I gasp and fight the urge to yank my hand from his. Instinctively, I sense this bone-deep pain is due to something more than just the jewel wedged into my hand. I glance into his cool gray eyes. His face is still, as if he’s not aware of my discomfort or the intermittent shocks that zap my skin.
Something doesn’t want to me keep hold of him. Whatever that something is, it greatly underestimates me. I’m not letting go, no matter what.
The breeze kicks up, shaking the trees, and rattling the kudzu leaves like maracas.
“You okay?” Jack asks.
“I’ll be fine.” I breathe deep and try to ignore the ache that’s jolting my arm. “It’s time to start. After I start chanting, you guys can join in.”
Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the smooth glass beads of my
