by Brenda Drake
He removed a bottle of water from his backpack, unscrewed the top, and drank half of it down. “You see, she’s beautiful as well. She has it all. And you were right. I didn’t see it coming.” The crumbs from the dry crust on his sandwich fell onto his shirt. He brushed them off. “The thing is she’s a fate changer. Our people hunted hers.
“But I guess you probably knew them already. Miri said it was the reason she and you moved here. Wish you had told me. If you had, I never would have joined that group with Ramon and Bart. Not that I did anything wrong with them. I’d never disappoint you like that. I just hate knowing I hung out with people like them.”
A man and a young girl of about seven or eight holding an underinflated, pink balloon strolled down a line of grave markers. The balloon trailed the girl, bouncing up and down in the wind. As they passed, the girl looked at him with hollow eyes. He imagined she was going to see her mother. The look in her eyes was just as his were when he’d first lost his mom—vacant.
Andrei tugged his cell out of his pants pocket and checked the time. Nearly three. He didn’t know why the time mattered. There wasn’t anywhere he needed to be. No one to celebrate this momentous occasion with him. Today he was an adult. He could make his own decisions in life now. But he didn’t feel any different. Other than the apparent cold or flu he’d caught on the plane.
As the man placed a bouquet of flowers on the fresh grave, the little girl lost hold of the balloon, the wind carrying it away. The girl screamed, which turned into wailing.
Andrei shot up and sprinted around the gravestones, grasping his phone. The balloon headed for the pond. He scrambled down the embankment. The string attached to the balloon tangled around a branch of a tree leaning over the shallow end. He carefully stepped over the rocks. His foot slipped over a slick one, and he righted himself before falling, dropping his phone. It plunked into the water before he did.
Shit. He plunged his hand into the water, searching for his phone. The phone was in the murky mosses, and he pulled it out, shoving it into his pants pocket. Then he continued over the rocks and stretched up for the balloon. It took some time to unravel the string from the twisted branches.
When he came back up from the embankment, water making his pants cling to his legs, the girl and her father were waiting for him. Andrei handed her the string.
“My balloon!” the little girl squealed, taking it.
The father clapped Andrei’s shoulder. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. We released the balloons at her mother’s funeral several days ago.” His voice cracked a little over that last word. “She wouldn’t let go of hers.”
“Sorry, man.” Andrei smiled at the girl. Death didn’t care about taking mothers from kids. Or the hole that it left behind, the feeling that no one in the world would ever love you as much as your mom had.
The man held his daughter’s hand and led her back to the grave, the pink balloon drooping after her. Andrei went back to his mother’s plot and gathered his things. Before leaving, he turned to the marker with his mother’s name etched in the stone.
“I love you,” he said and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “I miss you so much sometimes it hurts. Thanks for being the best mom while you were here. I’ll be back as often as I can.”
By the time he reached the nearest subway station, a sharp pain had shot across his scalp and his face heated.
Great. Now, I’m getting a fever.
Andrei boarded the crowded subway car and grabbed the nearest railing. Little flickers of light swam around his vision. Feeling dizzy, he grabbed an empty seat. He tugged his bottled water out and chugged the rest of it down. There were so many unique, sometimes unusual people, rocking in seats or on their feet as the train sped to the next station.
He took out his phone to check the time. The screen was black. He held the button down to turn it on, and it remained off.
Crap. Water damage.
By the time he got off and went up the street, he was feeling better and his pants were almost dry. The heat caused all the high-rise buildings to look like wavering images. He got in line to go up to the top of the Empire State Building. By the time he reached the 102nd floor, nearly an hour had passed.
His mother loved looking out at the city from the Observation Deck. It was a perfect, clear day. The breeze at that height refreshing. He ambled around checking out the view every few feet, checking out the New York skyline.
We’re in the same place now, Mom.
After one last look, he caught an elevator down and found the nearby subway. He could’ve walked, but he felt weak. Whatever he was coming down with sucked.
When he got off at the Union Square station, the sun was lower in the sky. A crew was setting up a flat screen in the park, while vendors prepared their stands. He crossed the street. Each step caused excruciating pain through his bones. The stairs to his apartment were almost impossible to manage.
He plunged his hand into his pocket and removed his keys. The door swung open before he could get it open.
Daisy stood on the other side.
He was stunned to the spot. Did he imagine her?
She flung her arms around him. “Where have you been? Didn’t you get my messages? I told you to stay here. And why aren’t you answering your phone? Who does that? For all we knew, you were dead in the city someplace.” Her words rushed out so fast that she didn’t even pause to take a breath.
He pulled back and slid his hands on either side of her face, stared into her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m here. This is a surprise. Why are you here?”
“Guess she’s your birthday delivery,” Benton said from the couch. “She brought others.”
“Others?” Andrei glanced over her shoulder, searching the room. “What others?”
“Miri, um, my sister, and Reese,” Daisy said. “They’re here to help me. Us.”
She was acting strangely. There was something in her eyes. Fear?
“Help us with what, exactly?”
Her hands were shaking when she put them over his. “I found your father. He looks just like that photograph of your parents you showed me.”
“I can’t believe it. Where?” Was she playing a trick on him? No. She would never do that. This wasn’t something someone kidded about—not a person like Daisy anyway.
“He was at my sister’s brunch,” she said. “I asked him about your mother, and he confirmed that he was the man in your photograph. He didn’t know about you. Your mom never told him.”
Andrei’s hands fell away from her face, feeling queasy. “Does he want to see me?”
“Yes. His name is Daan, and he’s excited to meet you.” She took his hands in hers. “There’s more.”
“More than finding my father?”
She swallowed hard, dropping her gaze to their hands. He waited for her to speak, but something was keeping her from doing it.
“Can you two be quiet? I’m trying to watch something here.” Benton turned up the volume on the flat screen.
“I can’t take the suspense,” Andrei whispered. “Just tell me.”
Her eyes glistened with tears when she glanced back up at him. “Your father is Reese’s uncle. A Van Buren. You’re his firstborn son.”
It took a few beats before the meaning of her words hit him.
Van Buren?
Firstborn son?
I can’t be.
“You’re the cursed heir,” she confirmed his thought. “I can save you. Miri and my sister went out to get the supplies. Reese is finding a spot for me to extract the curse. But we have to do it fast. You’ll die at the time of your birth, which is approaching fast.”
She pushed on the screen of her phone and held it out. “I know it’s hard to believe. But here. Look. This is him.”
He glanced at it and stopped. “That is him. My father. You did find him.”
“Well, he sort of found me. Or really, it was a complete accident—um, no…no, it wasn’t. It was fate.”
It was as if she�
��d delivered news about some stranger. There was no excitement at the news. All his life Andrei wanted to know his real father. It changed sometime when he turned sixteen. He’d become angry with the man he never met, the man he only had a face to go by, a face almost the same age as his was becoming.
“What are you saying?” His vision went out of focus, and he blinked until it was clear again.
“You’re the firstborn,” she said quietly as if saying it would kill him on the spot. “You’re it. The heir.”
The pain returned in his head, practically bringing him to his knees. “If I die,” he muttered rubbing his temples. “You will, too.”
He lost his balance and started to fall. Daisy grabbed onto his waist, and he brought her down with him. They hit hard against the wood floor.
“Ouch!” He vaguely heard Daisy’s cry. It was as if he were underwater, drifting, all noise muted, his body too weak to stay afloat.
He was sinking, and Daisy was going with him.
Chapter Nineteen
Daisy
Benton helped Daisy get Andrei to the couch. She could hardly breathe thinking about him dying. She knelt on the floor beside Andrei and brushed the hair off his forehead.
“Hey,” he said, weakly.
The door opened, and the sound of rustling bags entered. “Oh my gosh, he’s back,” Aster said, dropping her bag on the small kitchen table.
Miri placed the one she was carrying beside Aster’s, then rushed over to the couch. “What’s the matter with him?”
“Don’t know,” Daisy said. “I think it’s the curse.”
Aster came up behind them. “It’s the same thing that happened to Reese.”
“What curse?” Benton scratched his head.
Daisy had forgotten he was there.
Oh no. Think. Think. What curse?
“That’s what we call the flu,” Aster said, and Daisy was glad she did.
A knock came at the door. Everyone glanced at Benton.
“It’s for one of you.” He headed down the hall, then said over his shoulder, “I don’t know anyone in the city, and Chad doesn’t arrive until Monday.”
Aster opened the door, letting Reese in. “I have it all arranged,” he said. “Did you get the items you needed?”
“We have everything,” Miri said.
Daisy checked her phone. It was nearing seven. She stuffed it back into her backpack and removed her onyx crystal and tarot deck. “Let’s do this. It’s getting late.”
Miri shook Andrei’s arm. “Andrei? Wake up. We have to go now.”
He didn’t move.
“Andrei,” Daisy said louder than Miri had and knelt on the floor beside him. She patted his cheek. “Come on. Get up.”
“We’re going to run out of time,” Reese said. “We’ll carry him.”
Reese wrapped his arms around Andrei’s chest, Daisy grabbed his legs, and they lifted him. As they carried him across the living room, Daisy lost her hold on him. His feet landed with a loud thud.
She gathered up his legs again. “He’s going to be too heavy for me to carry. Let’s try to wake him up again. Besides, he’ll need to help me with the ritual.”
“I have an idea,” Miri blurted, rushed to the refrigerator, and opened the freezer door. “Perfect.”
“What is it?” An uneasy feeling sank in Daisy’s gut.
“Ice.” Miri cracked an ice tray as she headed over to them. “Open his shirt.”
Daisy tugged his collar out, so Miri could dump the ice.
Andrei startled awake and groaned. “What’s up?”
“You have to walk,” Daisy said. “We have to go…?”
“To the roof,” Reese answered.
Reese and Daisy aided Andrei one excruciating step at a time up the flights of stairs leading to the roof. Her side ached, and fear settled around her like thick smoke, heavy in her lungs, weighing down her legs. The time was ticking down along with many questions. What if it didn’t work? What if she lost him? What if she died? She shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind. She needed to be brave for Andrei.
Brave.
Being that required a lot of guts and strength, and she wasn’t sure she possessed either of them. Not when his life was at stake. It was different when Daisy was the only one who’d suffer. She didn’t have a problem risking it. But with Andrei in danger, she was anything but brave. She was terrified.
Andrei’s head bobbed a little. He was weak and completely out of it, and he had to be functional for the ritual, or it wouldn’t work.
Miri yanked open the metal door leading to the roof and it banged against the brick wall. There was an old, rickety folding table in the middle of the roof with two lawn chairs. Reese and Daisy helped Andrei sit down in one. A metal rod protruded from a punched-out hole in the center of the table.
Reese pushed Andrei’s chair up to the table. Andrei leaned forward, his head drooping, chin practically touching his chest.
“The table is a little shoddy,” Reese said. “Best I could find in such short notice. I’ve grounded that pole in the table to the lightning rod over there.”
Aster gave Daisy that look older sisters gave younger ones. The one that said, “I’m older, and I know more than you do.” Aster did know more than Daisy, though. Her sister went through this ritual before when she had saved Reese.
“It should work as a good ground wire,” Aster was saying. “The curse’s power must be directed away from Andrei and you, or it could kill you both. The curse is like a lightning strike. When you pull it from him, the magic charge will go down that rod and to the ground.”
“I got it.” Daisy forced a brave face. She wasn’t sure she could pull it off.
Miri lit a bundle of sage and smudged the area with it, waving the smoke over the entire roof. “Give me your tarot cards.” Daisy handed them to her, and she smudged them with the sage smoke, too. “Now, you have a clean slate.”
Miri returned Daisy’s deck to her.
Aster put her arm around Daisy’s back. “You got this, little sis. I’ll be right here with you.”
“I’m sorry your wedding week is ruined,” Daisy said.
“It’s not ruined.” Aster squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll be back in plenty of time. Come on. Let’s get this done. Do you remember everything I told you on the plane? How to perform the ritual? We can go over it again if you want.”
“No,” Daisy said. “I got it. Have him pick his fate card. Touch it with my crystal. When the images separate, Andrei and I grab hands between them with my crystal between our palms. No letting go. Simple.” On paper. But really doing it might be a whole other story. “He looks so sick.”
“The closer he gets to the time he was born, the sicker he’ll get,” Aster said. “It was the same with Reese.”
“Why am I not getting sick with him?” Daisy asked.
Maybe he’s not the heir. Oh please, let him not be.
“From what I read,” Miri said, “nothing will happen to you until he dies. Your heart will just stop.”
“‘Read’?” Daisy gave her a questioning look. “From what?”
“An old family book of mine.” She dropped the bundle of burned sage on the roof. “It’s where I got the ritual to help Aster with Reese. One of my ancestors spoke to a fate changer. She could speak to the curse. Much like you could.”
“Good to know.” Daisy swallowed hard. If it came to her dying, she hoped it wouldn’t be painful. With her luck, it would be excruciating.
Daisy bent down beside Andrei. The chair wobbled a little when she bumped against the armrest. Running her hand across his jawline, she turned his head toward her and kissed him, wanting so badly to feel a response from him. But he was too weak, and all he could do was pucker slightly. She worried he wouldn’t have the strength to do the ritual with her.
“Hang in there, okay? I can’t lose you, Andrei.” She removed her hand from his cheek.
“You’ll never lose me,” he said. One of his killer croo
ked smiles hinted on his lips. It was so slight she would’ve missed it if she weren’t so close. “Kiss me again.”
She pressed her lips to his and this time he returned the kiss. She pulled back and stared into his eyes. “We can do this.”
“We can do anything together,” he said.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Ready.”
Daisy took her seat opposite of Andrei. She placed her onyx crystal on the table and removed her tarot cards from its deck.
She took a calming breath, inhaling the scent of sage. “Andrei?”
He raised his head, barely able to open his eyes and look at her. It hurt to see him like that—drained and vulnerable.
“You have to hold my hand and don’t let go. You can’t let go, understand?”
“Yeah, got it,” he said so weakly that it panged her heart.
Reese stood behind Andrei. “I’ll be right here to help him.”
“Thank you,” Daisy mouthed and fanned her tarot cards across the table. “Andrei, pick a card.”
He struggled to keep his head up. “Okay,” he said, his hand shaking as he flipped one over.
Daisy gasped. It was a raspy, guttural sound. She was expecting to see the Death Card, the thirteenth trump of her tarot deck, but actually seeing it freaked her out. She just stared at the image of a skeleton in black armor on a white horse stomping on a king. Frozen. The little hope she had that he would pull a different card—that he wasn’t the cursed heir—was crushed.
“Daisy,” Miri pulled her from her trance. “The time. It’s running out.”
With a deep, painful breath, Daisy touched the card with her crystal. It flew up, and the images of Death separated—one right side up and the other upside down.
“Now when they start spinning,” Aster said, “you grab hands.”
Just then, the images spun in different directions.
“Now!” Asher yelled.
Daisy plunged her hand between the cards, her crystal resting in the cup of her palm. “Andrei, take my hand.”
He lifted his head and stretched his hand out grabbing hers. The crystal rested between their palms. Lightning snapped continuously across the darkening sky directly above their heads. A strong wind blew over the roof, tiny pebbles pelted Daisy’s exposed skin, but she held tight to Andrei’s hand.