park.
The stones’ color fades further, first to a murky cayenne, then to a muddied garnet. The shrieking continues through each change, as if the life is literally being squeezed from each mineral.
Thunder crashes, followed by another lash of lightening a millisecond later. The storm is right on top of us. Hail drops from the sky, peppering the clearing, and my head, with tiny, rectangular-shaped ice cubes.
Jack and Cooper seem to make the same connection. Squinting against the onslaught of slashing hail, their chanting picks up speed, driving the rubies’ gyration even faster. All color and fire drains from the stones, leaving them as lackluster and muted as a hunk of dried black lava.
Within a few moments, the clearing is blanketed in frozen white crystals. Frost grows on the still spinning jewels.
A flash of light bursts. The stones implode on themselves as an earsplitting crack reverberates through the cemetery. A flurry of pale yellow jasmine petals scatter to the ground and cover the hail.
The sky quiets, turning off the hail and rain like a spigot. The wind stills and the clouds part, revealing the twinkling stars above.
I gasp and blink at the dirt, searching for the rubies. They’re gone. Replaced by beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers.
The yellow orb unwinds and zips toward Cooper once again, curling itself around his body from his head to his toes. Unfurling itself, it hovers at his chest, then reaches out to place its energy on his heart. Cooper heaves a huge breath. “I love you, too, Mom. I always will.” His bottom lip quivers.
The light retracts and then drifts back to hover above Clarissa’s grave. It pauses for a moment and then slips back down into the ground.
The flame on the white altar candle extinguishes.
“What just happened?” Jack asks, breathless.
“I’m pretty sure we just broke the Beaumont Curse.” I heave for air as my pulse rages.
A blood-blistering scream echoes in the distance, sending terrified shivers over my body. Vaguely familiar, it seems almost animalistic, though I can’t be sure.
Glancing at the guys, it’s clear they didn’t hear it. So rather than freak them out, I’m going to chalk it up to my utter exhaustion and assume my ears are playing tricks on me.
Jack releases my hand. “Dude, you’re free!” He raises his palm for a giant high five, but Cooper doesn’t move. Instead, he’s frozen in place, probably in major shock.
I glance up at him, afraid of what I’ll find. My heart skips a beat.
He’s beautiful. His face is filled with joy and gratitude, and most importantly, peace. Pulling me close, he clutches me tight to his chest. A shock of pain jolts through me just as my nose fills with the fragrant scents of jasmine mixed with summer rain and his piney deodorant. Strange, I’d thought the zapping would be over by now. But it’s probably just a function of my unbalanced energy and nerve-jangling fatigue.
“Thank you, Emmaline,” he gushes in my ear, his warm breath shooting sparks up my neck. “You did more than just break the curse. You gave me back my mom. Even though it only lasted a few minutes, I know she’ll always be with me. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
Even though his touch still hurts, my heart soars. My Cooper is back. I was right—the Beaumont Curse was behind his foul attitude and absurd Taneea distraction. This is officially the best day ever.
“You’re welcome.” Squeezing him tight, I ignore the pangs as I clasp my arms around the thick muscles that line his back. “But I couldn’t have done it without you and Jack. We did it together.” Pulling back, I meet his gaze. My breath catches. His eyes are still that strange light gray, nearly as colorless as the hail scattered on the ground. Shouldn’t they have gone back to normal by now?
“Yeah, I guess we did.” He releases me and steps to Clarissa’s gravestone, picking up her locket, which doesn’t appear to have been impacted by the rain or hail. “Can I have this now?”
I smile. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”
He beams. “Great. I can’t wait to show it to Taneea.”
The air exits my lungs in a whoosh.
Cooper turns to Jack. “You guys don’t mind if I take the golf cart, right? I want to get back as fast as I can. She’s been waiting on me all day.”
My mind reels, trying to make sense of what’s happening.
Jack’s brow creases. “Sure, why not? We’ll just drag all this crap back on our own, trudging through the mud in the dark. No problem.” You’d have to be incapacitated to miss his sarcasm.
“Awesome!” Cooper slides the locket into his ridiculous long denim shorts, then takes off in a sprint through the cemetery.
Jack’s jaw gapes as he watches Cooper disappear. “What a sphincter.”
My stomach twists in a knot as reality sinks in. “He’s worse than that. He might actually be in love with her.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Could Cooper really be in love with Taneea? The question has looped through my mind a thousand times over the last couple hours as I’ve tossed and turned, yearning for sleep. The Beaumont Curse was broken, yet he still ran right to her, so I know for sure his feelings weren’t caused by the curse.
Taneea’s beautiful, more experienced, and is closer to his age. Plus she’s got much more cleavage than I do. Most guys would dump a girl like me for someone like her. But Cooper’s not most guys. The Cooper I’ve known wouldn’t be interested in someone who disrespects her great-grandmother, gambles, hitchhikes, or gets thrown out of school, no matter how hot she is.
So then why is he fawning all over her? Spending every free second with her and even changing his wardrobe on her command? He doesn’t even look like himself anymore in those embarrassing clothes.
The image of his frosty eyes flashes across my mind. They’re his, but not his, too. For as long as I’ve known him, their color shifts between blue and green depending on what he’s wearing, but lately, they’ve only held that strange, colorless hue.
And then it hits me: he’s not the Cooper I know. At least not totally. Something is causing him to act this way, and I’m guessing it’s got something to do with Taneea and more illicit conjuring.
I need to talk to him, figure out what she’s done, and try to snap him out of whatever trance she’s got him under. Snatching my cell off my nightstand, I dial his number. Predictably, it goes straight to voice mail.
He’s left me with no other choice. Throwing off the covers, I jump out of bed and race to my dresser, then pull out the only thing that’s clean: my peasant blouse and bohemian skirt. We had our first date in this outfit, a perfect moonlit night on the beach, complete with lots of kissing under the silver moon. Maybe it’s a good omen. With my luck lately, it might be the exact opposite.
Ten minutes later, guided only by the light of the nearly full moon, I burst past the spiny palmetto bush at the end of the path that leads to the Big House. I stop short. Taneea’s tacky, hot-pink truck is in the driveway, parked next to Cooper’s station wagon. Although it’s only a quarter past eleven, the front of the house is pitch- black and quiet.
I’ve come this far. I’d better suck it up and go the rest of the way. It might even be good to confront them together. Drawing a deep breath, I climb the front steps and ring the bell. After a silent moment, I depress the intercom button on the security system, knowing it’ll make every phone in the house ring. Noisy, but it’ll get his attention. After a few long minutes and several more rings, I’m still alone on the doorstep.
I stomp down the steps and turn to look at the mansion. I could go home, convince myself I’ve lost my mind, and give up on this entirely, allowing them to live happily—or not—ever after. Except I can’t. Literally. My feet won’t pivot and return down the path. The only option is to move forward, skirting along the side of the house toward the back.
The darkness is creepy, heavy almost. Even the crickets, frogs, and other night creatures are hushed. Under the gauzy light of the moon, I make my way toward the backyard and glimpse the only light, which is coming from
