Chapter 7 #3
Kurt opened his duffel bag and pulled out a few items. A candle, a bell, a few sticks, and some sparkling dirt. What was he was going to do with all that? He put the duffel bag down next to his chair. “Stick your finger in the bowl of water, Mallory.”
She glanced over at Dante, and he nodded. So she stuck her finger in it, and Kurt scooted forward, staring at the ripples.
“Is that it? Can I take my finger out now?”
“Not just yet.”
He just stared at the water, like he was mesmerized by it. She couldn’t help wondering what he was looking at or searching for. She scooted forward and tried to see something in the reflection of her finger and hand. The movement caused a few more ripples.
Kurt sat back and muttered, “Hmm…”
“What did you see?”
He narrowed his gaze at the water. “I’m afraid you’re cursed, all right.
I witnessed a ritual. Definitely a group I’m not familiar with.
Is there any reason someone might be angry with you?
I saw a jungle-like setting. The people looked Northern European, with light hair, skin, and eyes, but wearing brown wool clothing, and they seemed hot and sweaty, like their clothes were out of place. ”
“Mallory… Did you go on safari recently?” Dante asked.
Horror replaced confusion in her brain. “I didn’t, but maybe my father did. He’s in South America, building a huge resort right on the banks of the River.”
“That’s where your parents are? That’s why you didn’t want them to know about any of this?” Dante asked.
“Yes. This deal is my father’s baby. He wants to offer adventures to people with lots of money who want to pretend they’re roughing it, and then when it’s all over, they’ll go back to his five-star hotel.
Of course, there will be plenty of spouses who want nothing to do with hacking their way through a jungle, or whatever, and will gladly wait at the resort and spa. ”
“He must’ve pissed off someone,” Kurt said.
“There could be activists in the rain forest that my father’s cutting down. As if the place hasn’t been ruined enough.” Mallory sighed.
“Can you break the curse?” Dante asked.
Kurt scratched his head. “I don’t know. If I knew what sort of curse they put on her, I could definitely undo it. As it is, I’m just flying blind.”
“Would it help if you knew the weird things that were happening to her?”
Mallory bolted upright. “That’s kind of personal.”
Kurt looked from Dante to Mallory and back. “It might help, but I don’t want to make the lady uncomfortable.”
Mallory felt silly for overreacting. It wasn’t as if she was bleeding green during her periods. “I’m sorry. Of course. I’ll tell you. It’s just going to sound crazy.”
Kurt laughed. “I married a vampire. Crazy is my middle name.”
Dante didn’t blink. Surely, he couldn’t believe in vampires… Oh crap. The back of her neck prickled. Were vampires real too? She suddenly felt light-headed.
One crisis at a time, Mallory.
She tried to take slow, easy breaths and calm the hell down. “Okay. Here goes. I see dead people. And I turn into a spider monkey sometimes. It started about two months ago, I think.”
Kurt didn’t seem at all shocked. He just nodded and said, “Turning into a spider monkey makes sense if a South American jungle is the origin of the curse. That’s their habitat.
Dead people? That could be from anyone anywhere, but I get the sense that there’s only one curse, and it’s only from this group. The two symptoms must be related.”
“So what do monkeys and dead people have to do with one another?” Dante asked.
Kurt shrugged. “I wish I knew. At least I know more now than I did five minutes ago. I think I can try a general curse-breaking, and hopefully it will work—at least partially.”
“Hopefully?” Dante repeated.
“If I knew more, I could be sure. All I can guarantee is I’ll do my best.”
“Of course,” Mallory said. “I’m so grateful for your help. I hope you know that.”
Kurt laughed. “Your money is gratitude enough.”
Mallory hadn’t realized there was money involved.
She felt like a doofus. Of course there was money involved!
Who did this out of the goodness of their heart?
Had Dante offered to pay him? How much did this kind of service cost?
She leaned in closer to Dante and whispered, “How much does he charge?”
“Your firstborn,” Kurt said, deadpan. A moment later he laughed, hard.
Mallory must have been holding her breath, because it came out in a whoosh.
“Jesus, Kurt,” Dante said. “Way to freak out a young lady.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist teasing her. And don’t worry about the money, Mallory. Dante told me you lost your job.”
Maybe Dante had wrangled a discount. Or perhaps the wizard did have a big heart—along with a weird sense of humor.
Kurt poured a mound of sparkly dirt in the middle of the water bowl. Then he stuck a few sticks in the middle of it. “Now, close your eyes and concentrate on your breath. Try to empty your mind and just follow your breathing as if it’s the only thing you need to think about right now.”
“Is that because I might stop breathing if I don’t think about how to do it?” Mallory asked.
“No.” Kurt chuckled. “I just don’t want you putting any crap from your brain into my spell.
You could inadvertently do that because you’re so closely tied to this curse.
Thoughts are very powerful things. Emotions follow thoughts.
If you think about your breaths and nothing else, there’s less chance of your affecting the outcome. Make sense?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“Then do it.”
Something about this guy seemed military. She wanted to say Sir, yes, sir, but instead she just closed her eyes and did as he directed. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out…
A few moments later, she smelled something burning. Fortunately, she was sitting next to a firefighter, so she wasn’t too worried. Dante would say something if the guy was about to set the place on fire.
Kurt was mumbling something in another language. She had no idea whether it was Latin, Spanish, or some indigenous language. She began to wonder how he would know that, then redirected her thoughts back to her breathing and just hoped it worked.
Suddenly her brain felt weird. She took her head in her hands. “Ohhh…”
Dante grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “Are you okay?”
She opened her eyes. “Yeah. Something just made me really dizzy. It didn’t hurt. I’m okay. Sorry if I scared you.”
Dante let out a deep breath. “Don’t be sorry. I’m just glad you’re all right.” His attention snapped to Kurt. “Does that mean it worked? Is the curse broken now?”
Kurt shrugged. “Maybe.”
“When will we know?” Dante asked.
“When nothing happens to her for a long, long time.”
“It sounds like you’re saying wait and see.”
“Yup.”
Mallory wanted to utter something sarcastic, like “awesome,” but this guy was trying to help.
Waiting would be hard, but she really had no choice.
She could hardly criticize him, even if the effort turned out to be futile.
He did say he was flying blind… Maybe the bargain price was a “guinea pig” discount.
* * *
Noah and Dante were eating a hasty dinner before leaving their apartment for their next twenty-four-hour shifts. They were in their uniforms and ready to go.
Noah had to work up his courage to confront his brother—it was now or never. “Look, Bro. I know you think you love her, but you’ve got to be kidding me… She’s cursed! Hasn’t it occurred to you that maybe everyone close to her will be cursed too?”
“I’m fine.”
“So far.”
Dante leaned back and crossed his arms. “What are you suggesting?”
To avoid a hasty answer, Noah shoved a bite of his chicken pot pie into his mouth. He thought it was going to burn a hole in his tongue, but he was a phoenix. He could always grow a new one in his next incarnation.
“I’m not saying you don’t have a right to your opinion,” Dante continued for him, “but I’d prefer it if you’d keep it to yourself. Telling me what you think isn’t going to make a damn bit of difference.”
“I was afraid of that,” Noah said.
“Afraid? What are you afraid of? Do you think you’re going to catch it?”
“I’m not afraid for myself. I’m afraid for you, dickhead.”
Dante picked up the remainder of his chicken pot pie and tossed it in the garbage. “I said I was fine,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Maybe you’re just jealous because I have a relationship and you don’t.”
“For fuck’s sake… Stop thinking with your dick! Dante, the only hope for Mallory is professional help, and you shouldn’t enable her to avoid it.”
Dante whirled on him. “You know what? I don’t think this living arrangement is working. We’re too close and can’t stay out of each other’s business. At least, you can’t stay out of mine.”
Noah recoiled as if he’d been slapped. He didn’t have a chance to do anything about it, since Dante stormed off, slamming the door. Hopefully, twenty-four hours on his own would help him calm down and see things logically.
Noah groaned. Who was he kidding? Dante was the emotional one—he saw with his heart. He admired the fact that his brother was in touch with that side of himself, but also found it frustrating as hell. When Dante didn’t want to see something, he was capable of ignoring reality.
Maybe he was right this time. Maybe they were getting a little too close for comfort, and it was time to find their own places. The thought saddened him.
As Noah put his leftovers in the fridge, he thought about that alchemy formula. He almost had it all worked out. He was about to substitute the more volatile ingredient with a benign one, but hadn’t replaced it before Dante touched something and set it off. Next time would be different.
The neighbors had just moved out. With his and Dante’s paranormal hearing, they’d discovered the people thought they might be cooking meth and that’s what led to the explosion.
If Dante left, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone messing with his process.
Before someone else moved in, he should give that experiment another try—without Dante’s dubious help.
But that would mean no safety backup either.
His whole family was close. Anyone would stick out their necks for one of their own.
It was the same with the fire service. Maybe that’s why he and Dante hadn’t recognized that getting mixed up in each other’s love lives was a problem.
Noah pushed those thoughts aside and focused instead on whatever Kizzy was going through.
He’d heard bits and pieces of her conversation with her father after Ruth left.
Mostly work related. He didn’t hear any more about Kizzy’s feelings for him, but he didn’t expect her to discuss that in depth with her father.
He would have liked more than a mere mention—or maybe not.
The elder Dr. Samuels seemed to have his mind made up. Noah just wished he knew why.
The only thing he really got out of eavesdropping on the three of them was that their father was definitely in charge. He would have to win over her old man. If the guy knew Noah could take care of his little girl, that would go a long way.
And that meant he needed money. If that’s what was really motivating her father’s disapproval, he could have an unlimited supply with alchemy gold.
He’d try the procedure with iron next time.
All that lead exposure made him nervous.
He could get loads of shavings at the ironworks.
He’d go right there after his shift. Chances were Dante would be spending every spare minute with Mallory, but he hoped they’d have a chance to talk at some point.
He didn’t dislike Mallory. Who could? She seemed like a nice enough girl, if you didn’t know she shape-shifted into a monkey at inopportune times and couldn’t tell the dead from the living…