Chapter 30
N ick had seen some unbelievable things happen that day. The incident with Raven back at the bridge when her mark had emitted an unearthly glow had been at the top of his list of unbelievable events.
That was until he saw Grandpa Lee emerge from the house pointing a shotgun at him.
His grandfather looked unwell. His eyes were deeply bloodshot, and his dark complexion was ashen. Dirt smudged his overalls, and Nick saw drops of crimson on his shirt.
But Grandpa Lee’s grip on the gun didn’t waver.
“I can’t let you leave, son,” Grandpa Lee said in a taut voice on the verge of breaking. “I can’t let you bring in folks from the outside.”
Nick struggled to pull his gaze away from the shotgun. The barrel seemed as dark as the abyss.
“Grandpa, you’re sick,” Nick said. “You had a seizure, possibly heart failure. I’m stunned that you made it back home.”
“I’ve always been tough.” Grandpa Lee lifted his broad chin with evident pride. “I was out for a bit, but I got it together. Hell, I was ’bout to go back to fetch you and your gal, ’til you showed up here.”
“Can you please lower the gun?” Nick asked. “Can we talk, please?”
“Put down the car keys.” Grandpa Lee motioned with the gun. “Toss ’em onto the porch.”
Nick obeyed, the fob clattering onto the floorboards next to the mud-covered boots Grandpa Lee still wore.
“Okay?” Nick asked, hands raised.
Grandpa Lee lowered the shotgun slowly. Nick wondered if his granddad really would have shot him and decided it was wise that he hadn’t pushed it. Grandpa Lee wasn’t in his right frame of mind.
“Come have a seat on the porch.” Grandpa Lee shuffled to one of the Adirondack chairs and eased onto it carefully. He angled the gun across his lap.
Nick took the chair next to him. “Grandpa, we need to get you to a hospital. You collapsed out there.”
“That’s enough of that, son. I’m not going anywhere. Neither are you right now.”
“All right, I’ll drop it,” Nick said, but he felt dizzy. He clasped his hands in his lap as if to stabilize himself. “You know what Amiya and I saw out there? Are you willing to talk about that?”
His grandfather grunted. He removed his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. “I never wanted you to know, not until it was time, not until after we had prepared you.”
“Prepared me for what?”
“The truth,” Grandpa Lee said. He slipped his spectacles back on, his gaze sharpening. “Westbrook is cursed, son. The land, the people, everything on it, it’s all cursed. Including me.”
Grandpa Lee wiped his lips with a blood-spotted handkerchief and added, “Including you.”