not over. We will meet again. And when we do, any happiness you have, I will crush it, along with those you carry in your heart so that you may know the pain I’ve endured for nearly three hundred years. Then perhaps, you will understand why I must have my revenge.
I spy Cooper dashing around the bank, keeping just out of the boo hag’s reach. It’s so intent on catching him and draining his life force, it doesn’t notice the salty death trap looming just over its shoulder.
“Cooper, now!” I yell, hoping he realizes what to do.
“Got it.” He calls, then pivots and changes course. Rather than running from the creature, he tucks his shoulder and heads straight for it, barreling into its slimy, crimson gut.
Caught off guard, the boo hag launches off the bank and flies into the waiting wall of water. It shrieks as it crashes into the salt-infused, captured wave. Sparks fly and its gangly limbs flail as the liquid consumes it. Its rectangular head bobs up over the surface, howling as its red flesh melts and oozes with chunky, black sludge. Steam floats off what’s left of the dying boo hag as its flesh cooks, turning an ashy gray.
Overwhelmed, I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and blink to make sure I didn’t just imagine all this. Nope, there’s still a wall of water looming over the bank, pieces of the boo hag are bobbing on the surface, and Cooper’s safe. At last.
Cooper throws his arms in the air and shouts in victory. He spins around to face me, his picture perfect smile wide across his face. “We did it, Emma! We did it!” He howls with joy, then curls his hand in a colossal fist pump.
Happiness floods my chest as a sense of security and accomplishment sets in. We did do it. Together. The Beaumonts are finally free. Amazing! Giddy, I clench my own hand into a ball and send him my own fist pump.
Only it’s the worst thing possible because I completely forgot that my hand was holding back the wall of water, and that simple gesture is enough to release the flood, releasing its pent-up power on Cooper and the rest of the cemetery.
Cooper must realize what’s about to happen because his face falls slack and his eyes stretch wide. “Emma —” He begins, but the salt marsh crashes down on him and slams the rest of the graveyard.
“Take a breath, Jack!” I manage just as the water gushes over me, lifting me off the ground, but the vines hold tight and keep me in place. The wave finally crests, then recedes after dousing the fire and splashing all the burning artifacts.
The spirit lights dim and slowly shimmer to earth, then wiggle back into their graves.
Gasping, I look for Jack to make sure he’s okay.
His pale blue eyes lock on mine. “Mmmm!” His mouth is still covered by vines.
“I’ll get you out as soon as I can,” I call, then strain my neck to peer over the bank to the salt marsh for Cooper. I don’t see anything but a lot of frothy salt water seeking its equilibrium in the normally calm marsh.
With each passing second, my heart races faster. After all we’ve been through to save him, I might have accidentally drowned Cooper because I foolishly forgot what the heck I was doing.
After a long minute without any sign of him, I’m trembling, and my heart has dropped to somewhere around my knees. I’m sure he’s dead and gone thanks to my incompetence. Tears stream down my cheeks as I tear at the kudzu that’s wrapped around my body. But since only my forearms are free, it’s nearly impossible to break the thick, knotted vines.
A splashing sound cuts the nearly silent night. My heart skips a beat as I peer into the darkness. There are only a handful of spirit lights still hovering in the sky so it’s difficult to tell shadows from real objects.
More splashing. A hand slaps against the surface, followed by the steady beats of kicking feet. It’s Cooper’s freestyle. I’d know it anywhere.
“He’s alive!” I yell to Jack whose eyelids close with relief.
Another long minute later, Cooper hauls himself out of the water, then slogs up the side of the bank.
“Cooper!” I yell, unable to contain myself. I’ve never been so happy to see him in all my life.
His chest rises and falls as he drags himself across the graveyard. Despite his panting, he grins. “I’m okay. That wave pulled me halfway to St. Helena Island Sound. Wasn’t really expecting that.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drop the water on you.”
Staggering toward me, he waves away my concern. “Nah, I needed the exercise.” Then he stoops to where the fire was and digs through the artifacts that were scattered by the wave. He picks up the pirate’s dagger, then heads straight for me. “Let’s cut you loose.”
I shake my head. “No, get Jack first. At least I can move a little. Him, not so much.”
Cooper glances at Jack and laughs. “You do look pretty funny, bro.”
“Mmmm.” Jack glowers.
Cooper crosses his arms. “Are you seriously going to back talk me now? After everything I just went through? And before I free you?”
Jack growls.
“Fine.” Cooper chuckles then stoops to cut him loose.
“Thanks, dude,” Jack says when he’s finally liberated and Cooper helps him to his feet. He stretches his arms up over his head. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Cooper scoffs. “I think I’ve had my fill of crazy this summer. What do you think Emma?” He smiles as he crouches next to me and cuts the vines. Amazingly, the knife is pristine, not even scorched. But that’s not nearly as amazing as the fact that Cooper is here, next to me, alive and not possessed by a hideous monster. If my biceps weren’t still tied to my side, I’d throw my arms around him and weep with joy.
I laugh as my cheeks burn from smiling so wide. “Every time I think it can’t possibly get any weirder, somehow it does.” Luckily for me, the summer’s nearly at its end. Soon I’ll be back in DC, safe and sound, and hopefully out of Sabina’s vengeful reach.
When the last of the kudzu is cut away, Cooper stands and extends his hand to me. I slip my fingers into his broad palm and he pulls me to my feet.
His strong arms clasp me, tugging me tight to his soaking wet body. He stinks like the marsh, but that hardly matters. I’ll take dead fish over boo-hag funk any day.
“Happy birthday, Cooper.” I squeeze him tight, grasping the hard muscles in his back as my heart swells with happiness.
“Thank you, Emmaline. For saving my soul. For killing the boo hag and freeing my family. For everything,” he whispers, his breath warm against my neck.
“I couldn’t have done it without you guys. All I did was say a few words. You’re the one who fought off the boo hag and pushed it into the water. I couldn’t have done that.”
He pulls back just enough to lay his fingers beneath my chin and gently tilt my head to meet his gaze. “No. It was you. It’s always been you.”
Chapter Thirty-three
We load the last box of artifacts into the golf cart just as the sun rises over the salt marsh. The cemetery is so tranquil it’s hard to imagine all that happened here overnight. But it did, and we’ve got Cooper’s freedom to prove it.
The joy I should be feeling is overshadowed by the lingering dread from Sabina’s truly demented threat. Why would someone deliberately set out to destroy another person’s happiness? To crush not only the love in their heart, but also those responsible for putting it there? If Sabina makes good on her promise, everyone I care about is in danger. That means my father, Jack, Miss Delia, and especially Cooper, will be walking bull’s-eyes.
My only hope lies in the fact that Jack and I will be leaving St. Helena in ten days to return to Washington, DC, and Cooper will be back at boarding school, far from my danger zone. Maybe, after we get Miss Delia released from jail, if we lay low and I don’t mess with anymore hoodoo, Sabina will realize I’m not a threat and she’ll give up on her vendetta.
