Cleo's Curse

by Allie Burton

  “What’re you doing here?” I took a step back, wanting to see his entire body. “What happened?”

  He raised his gaze one inch at a time, taking in my outrageous outfit. His eyes glimmered in appreciation. His voice was harsh. “What in the name of Tut are you wearing?”

  “Prom dress.” My cheeks heated, and I wrapped my arms around my almost-bare midriff. It’s not like I had a choice. “Why don’t you ask Demetri?”

  Besides, clothing wasn’t the most important thing we needed to discuss. I took in a sharp breath, realizing for the first time I didn’t think fashion was the most important thing ever.

  “All these questions. Which I don’t have the time or the inclination to answer.” Demetri clapped his hands, resembling a kid celebrating or a leader calling for his servants. “Babi, we must prepare.”

  The two men left the room, leaving me alone with Antony.

  Remembering the last words I heard him say about romancing the Knot had anger stiffening my spine. Guilt put a bend in my back and I hunched. He was here and now he would die, too. “What’re you doing here?”

  He plodded around the interior of the cage searching for a way out. “Why did you run away from the professor’s house?”

  Pain radiated, shooting into my beaten-up heart. “Why do you care? You’re only helping me to get the Knot of Uset.”

  “No.” A horrified expression struck his face, causing his eyes to shape into circles and his mouth to gape. He licked his lips and his gaze zeroed in on me. “I care about what happens to you.”

  “Don’t pretend anymore.” Anger, hurt, and humiliation pounded and bruised. I wanted the truth. “I heard you. You said you hated being with me and being part of my entourage.” Which was a weird word for him to use. I didn’t have an entourage or a group or even any friends.

  His bewildered expression cut doubts into my anger. Not enough to stop me from continuing with the final blow. “You said you were romancing the Knot from me.”

  “Ash said that. I didn’t.” Antony’s lips formed a straight line and his brow furrowed. “And those other things I said…about Cleopatra. They were about Queen Cleopatra. From my past. Not CC from my present, and hopefully my future.”

  The pain in my chest lessened. My head cleared, and the burn in my eyes stopped. His future?

  “I’ve always called you CC.” He spoke in a quiet, firm tone, at a level expressing his frustration and the depth of his feelings. “I…care about you.”

  His angry declaration melted the hurt. Pausing, I hung on the edge of ecstasy. My heart counted the seconds in pulsations of uncertainty. I ran to him, put my arms around him, and pressed my lips to his.

  He responded, crushing his mouth to mine. I threaded my fingers through his hair and arched into him. The fists of his hands contacted with my stomach.

  “Ah.” He grimaced beneath my lips.

  I leaned away. “What’s wrong?”

  “The handcuffs.” He lifted his arms. His jacket sleeve rolled down revealing black metal cuffs. “They’re made from a special metal that burns.”

  “So are the bars on this cage.” I held up one of my hands with the red welts from when I’d touched the bars.

  Taking my hand in his two cuffed ones, he lifted my palm to his mouth. His lips pressed down on the tender spot and sent pleasurable thrills through me.

  “The handcuffs and bars are made from meteoric iron. Not only does it burn the skin on everyone…”

  I scowled at the blisters forming around his wrists in horror.

  “It weakens powers of those who have them.” The first time I’d ever heard him sound weak and not in control. “I can’t bend the bars or jump or use any of my super abilities with the cuffs restricting me.”

  The redness of his skin pleaded with me. Every time he jostled he’d get burned. I tore the hem of my skirt.

  “Don’t you think the skirt is short enough?” His not-quite-joking voice had his lips tipping in a short smile, but I could see his pain. “You look gorgeous, but why are you wearing that?”

  Warmth thrummed through me. I couldn’t stop the grin even in our precarious situation. He’d called me gorgeous.

  “Demetri tricked me into trying the outfit on and stole my clothes and cell phone.” I took the strips of metallic and sheer material and wrapped it around the cuffs, protecting his wrists. “Does it help?”

  “Yes.” He let his wrists drop close to his body with a relieved sag. “I still can’t use my powers. This stuff is like Superman’s kryptonite.” He sagged onto the floor, demonstrating his weakness.

  Hopelessness invaded my soul, leaving me flat. “Demetri called this outfit a sacrificial gown. And said he’d have to kill both of us, because we both have been energized by the Knot’s powers.” I slid on the floor next to him, laying my legs beside his, and put my head on his shoulder. “What’re we going to do?”

  “We’re going to find a way to escape.” He moved both his hands toward mine and clasped our fingers together. “We’re going to take Babi and Demetri down and neutralize the Knot of Uset.”

  His attitude reassured and lifted my spirits. “You sound so decisive and positive.”

  “You bring out the best in me.” He squeezed my fingers tighter, as if trying to give me his positivity. “We’ll fix your grades and you’ll get back into your school. And then, your parents will see you. Really see you.” He bent his head to study me. The light in his green eyes dimmed. “I’d hate for you to move back to New York, yet I understand, and want you to get what you want. What you need.”

  My chest swelled with a solid thud. A thud breaking down my protective barriers. I grasped his chin. “I need you.”

  Tugging his chin forward, I kissed him. A kiss showing him how much he meant.

  * * *

  “Concentrate harder.” Antony’s rough voice ordered.

  Fear and frustration crumpled my focus. “I can’t.”

  “You can. It takes a little mental effort.” His tone ripped through my confidence.

  I didn’t know how to imagine myself visible. I’d never needed the skill.

  Not true. I’d always needed the skill, because no one saw the real me in my past. My only new ability was to be invisible, and I’d learned that wasn’t much use. My enemies could see me.

  “Listen to me.” His handcuffed hands grabbed for my flailing hand.

  The strength of his fingers squeezing mine tried to press his confidence into me. Confidence in me.

  “Olivia researched the facts. Without these power-siphoning handcuffs, I’ve faded in and out several times.” His green gaze blasted into mine. “I sense your abilities. Somehow we’re connected.”

  A vision flashed in my mind. Of the Knot tying us together.

  “Haven’t you noticed anything unusual?” He raised our connected hands. “Olivia said when you were training you threw her across the room.”

  “I thought she was letting me win…” Except even with no powers I couldn’t throw another person that far.

  His lips quirked. “She was using her super strength against you, and yet you still threw her. Far.”

  My brain filtered through other images, where I thought adrenaline or excitement had given me an extra boost. “I jumped out of the dumpster when I went back to retrieve the Knot. I didn’t jump as far as you, though.”

  “The powers build slowly.” His expression held patience and belief. “You need to practice.”

  If only I had as much belief in myself. Doubts weighed me down like eighties’ shoulder pads. “You knew about this and didn’t tell me?”

  Shrugging, he studied the floor. “I wasn’t sure…”

  Air whooshed from between my ribs. This wasn’t about powers. It was similar to when he’d tried to pretend I wasn’t invisible. “You weren’t sure about me? Being able to trust me?”

  “We’d just met, and you didn’t possess the Knot of Uset for very long.” He rushed through his explanation. “I didn’t know how quickly the
powers would take effect. Energize you.”

  Energize me. That’s what Demetri had said I’d done to Antony. It wasn’t me doing the energizing, it was the Knot. This wasn’t about our relationship, it was about the magical relic.

  I dropped his hand and reached under the jeweled collar of my outfit. “Can the Knot of Uset help you out of those handcuffs?” I tugged the Knot from my neck and held it out.

  His eyes bugged out. “They let you keep the Knot?”

  I wasn’t sure why he was so shocked. “Demetri and Babi didn’t want to touch the rope. I think they’re afraid if it energizes them, they’d have to be killed, too. And with the Akh Master arriving soon, I think they believed it was safe with me because I didn’t know about my other powers. Can it help you get out of the handcuffs?”

  Antony’s gaze flew around the room. From the door to the bars, from the wall to the other wall, from the floor to the ceiling. He continued inspecting the roof. “No. It can help you out, though.”

  “I’m not stuck in handcuffs.”

  “The Knot’s powers can make any shape. Any size.” His voice rose.

  “Like the hammock I made.”

  He glanced at me and back at the ceiling. Excitement flashed in his green orbs and his expression lightened. “You can make a rope ladder and climb to the windows.”

  “What about the bars of the cage? Won’t the bars stop me?” I’d already burnt my hands once. I didn’t want to burn my entire body.

  “You’re not crossing the bars.” He used his joined hands to wave at the ceiling. “There’s no top to the cage. You can escape.”

  “Me? What do you mean me?” I didn’t want to do this alone.

  “I can’t scale a rope ladder with these.” He held up his hands and jingled the metal cuffs. “I’m weak and I can’t access my powers.”

  “Even if I climb the rope ladder, open or break a window, and climb out,” Fear trickled through me in a drip, drip, drip, “I’d be stuck on the roof. I can’t fly like you.”

  “Yes.” The word siphoned my fear. “You. Can. Fly.”

  “What?”

  “You can fly. Or jump real far.” His quick, soft smile had me almost believing him.

  Yet to climb on the roof and jump, when I’d never done anything like that before, and do it alone. “I won’t leave you behind.”

  My lungs slashed into shreds. I couldn’t leave Antony. What if he was punished for my escape?

  “You and the Knot of Uset need to get out of the clutches of Babi and Demetri before the Akh Master arrives.” Antony sounded desperate. As if I was the last hope. “You need to warn the Soul Warriors.”

  Blackness covered my soul. I just found Antony. I didn’t want to lose him. “What about you?”

  He shrugged, a wry smile on his face. “I’m not much good like this.” He held up his cuffed hands.

  “Stop joking around.” The crack in my heart fissured into a gigantic crevice. A crevice big enough to fit an entire trunk show. I couldn’t leave him here to be killed. “I’ll get the Soul Warriors to rescue you.”

  “Good plan, but—” The angles of his face grew deeper, more serious. “—you need to save yourself, the Knot, and the world, first.”

  Like a rail-thin model who’d suddenly gained one hundred pounds, the weight I’d experienced earlier quadrupled. “No pressure or anything.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Cleo

  The Knot of Uset stretched from the floor to the high window. Thirty feet in the air. The golden threads twisted and sparkled. The evenly placed knots were rungs in a ladder. The rope was a living thing. Beautiful and powerful.

  I took a deep breath, soaking in the significance of the moment. To think only a week ago, I’d been trying to improve my grades in school to convince my parents to bring me home. I’d been spoiled and self-centered. Now, the only thing I wanted was to survive so I could protect the Knot of Uset and make sure Antony was rescued. With the Soul Warriors and me against Babi and Demetri, we could do both.

  A week ago, I hadn’t known magic existed, or about evil forces in the world or warriors who fought for goodness and light.

  Antony lay on the ground at the base of the ladder. He’d attempted to climb the rope himself, but with his hands in the special handcuffs he was powerless, weak, and confined. He wrapped his elbows around the bottom section, trying to hold the rope in place. His you-can-do-it expression gave me a boost of confidence.

  He believed in me, trusted I could do this. He believed I could climb the shaky rope and break through the window, jump from the roof, and make it back to the Soul Warriors. All without being detected.

  “Kiss for good luck.” And because I wanted a kiss.

  Getting to my knees, I braced myself with my hands on either side of his head. I swept my lips against his. A light caress that meant everything. My eyes prickled, praying this wouldn’t be the last time I saw him. My chest welled, overcome with what we could have and what we could lose.

  He nipped my lower lip. “You should go before they come back.”

  “Yeah.” I didn’t know what to say. Goodbye? See you later?

  Our first goal was to get me and the Knot from Demetri and Babi’s greedy paws. Antony’s second goal was to neutralize the Knot of Uset. My second goal was a little different. I slammed my foot on the lower end of the rope ladder.

  The rope wavered and I clung tighter. I’d only gone three inches. How was I supposed to climb thirty feet without falling?

  “You can do it.”

  “At this rate it will take me all night.” I blew out a couple of short puffs, trying to calm myself. We didn’t have the entire night. Demetri had made it sound as if the Akh Master would arrive any moment.

  I reached with one hand, then one foot to the next rungs. The rope wiggled. I took another reach and another step. Went higher. Stretching my right arm, I grabbed a rung halfway and pulled my body.

  Halfway.

  I beamed in celebration. “I can do this.”

  “Of course you can.” Antony’s voice cheered.

  I grabbed the farthest rung I could and pulled. Right hand. Left foot. Left hand. Right foot. Trying to maintain the balance of the rope ladder. This wasn’t like balancing preferences between a Gucci and a Ralph Lauren. This was much harder and more satisfying.

  Peering down, my vision glazed. The floor was so far away. If I fell, I’d really hurt myself. And worse, our chances at escape were finished. I had to do this. For me and for Antony. For us.

  My heart wobbled with the rope ladder. Was there an us?

  After the kisses we shared, I sure hoped so. Our relationship was similar to me on this rope, dangling halfway to the destination. We hadn’t spoken any words of love or commitment.

  I reached higher, wanting to get to the end quickly. Wanting to succeed so I had a chance to succeed with Antony. My feet moved faster, less tentative. My hands grasped a knot and then grabbed for the next.

  “You’re almost there.” Antony’s pleased tone pushed me farther. His faith got me to the top.

  I punched my fist in the air.

  The rope ladder swung widely.

  My body stiffened and I clung, making the swinging worse. I clasped the edge of the window frame and blew a harsh breath. “I did it.”

  “Great job.” The smile in his voice soothed me. “Now, crank the window open.”

  I grabbed the small metal lever and turned. The crank screeched from not being used. The window opened an inch with each rotation.

  Glancing back and forth between the door and Antony, I cranked harder. Faster.

  I positioned my hands on the edge of the window, preparing myself for the task of pulling the weight of my body over the ledge. I yanked hard, expecting a strenuous pull. Instead, my body lifted as if I did pull-ups every day of the week.

  I didn’t.

  Maybe I did have super strength. Newfound power pumped me up, both physically and emotionally. But jumping from the building would be completel
y different and utterly terrifying.

  Scrambling onto the roof, the night sky seemed darker. Estimating, I guessed it was late evening. The store lights were off, and the streets were mostly deserted. I turned and peeked through the window. “I’m up.”

  Antony let go of the rope ladder and got to his feet. He stared with an expression of wonder and relief. “Take the Knot with you.”

  Nodding, I pulled the Knot out of the window, hand over fist. It folded back into a small rope fitting perfectly around my neck. I tucked it under the collar of the costume. I leaned over the edge of the window.

  My heart crumbled, regarding Antony standing in the center of the cage. Alone. I hated leaving him here.

  “You’ll do fine.” His lips formed a line of determination. “See you later.”

  That was my plan. Get out, get to the Soul Warriors, and come back and rescue Antony.

  Pieces of my crumbling heart dropped to the floor below. I wished a part of me to stay with him. A need surged, electrifying me. If I didn’t tell him how I felt now, maybe I’d never get the opportunity. I needed him to know. “Antony, I love you.”

  His green eyes widened. Surprise or shock? He looked like someone who’d just discovered they were on an episode of What Not to Wear.

  The door below opened.

  Antony’s head turned toward the door. His eyes widened even more, and his mouth dropped. He jerked his gaze to me. “Go, CC! Go!”

  “She’s escaping.” Babi rushed into the room.

  The surge dimmed. I might never know his answer. Pausing, I lay on the roof, watching the happenings below like they were on stage.

  The cage door clanged open.

  Antony bent his head forward and ran at Babi. He plowed into the man, using what little physical strength he possessed. Babi stumbled back.

  Running past him, Antony charged toward the door. I held my breath hoping he’d get free. Babi tackled him, bringing him down to the ground. Antony was recaptured.

  I cleared the stale air in my lungs and filled them with worry. What would they do to Antony?

  “Get Cleopatra!” Demetri stood at the door, waving at the open window. “She’s going to have to get off the roof.”