Abel cursed as he stepped across the room to pour a cup of coffee. He handed the cup to Carly and asked in an even tone, “What’d he do that scared you? Please be specific so I’ll know specifically how to kick his ass.”
“I don’t think breaking his arm’s going to fix this,” Carly spoke in surrender. She eyed Esther, not sure if she could trust her. Is it wise to bring anyone else into this other than Abel?
“Into what?” Abel and Esther asked together.
Carly hated that she couldn’t predict which of her thoughts could be heard.
“You’re not really letting us hear anything else,” Esther informed her. “But I’m not leaving until I get the full story.”
Carly shook her head. It was too dangerous—
“I don’t care how dangerous it is,” Esther interrupted. “In fact, the more dangerous, the better. Carly, when you broke up with Gabe, you said things were going to change around here. Prove it. I know I don’t have my brother’s dreamy face, but it would be nice if you’d still trust me. Please. I only want what’s best for everyone. I only want to protect my home.”
Carly walked over to Esther and took her hand. She didn’t wish to invade Esther’s private thoughts, but it was necessary. Esther didn’t seem to mind, a grin at her lips as she stared back at Carly. Carly didn’t realize what was so amusing until Esther opened the chapter of her mind devoted to Jeremy, and what they did when they were alone.
Carly jumped back in disgust, spilling hot coffee on her arm. She wiped it away, and complained, “I did not need to see that.”
Esther let out a laugh. “Well, that’s what you get for ambushing my brain. If you do it again, you’ll get the unrated version.”
“I don’t want to know,” Abel said, pulling out a chair at the table. “Carly, why don’t you sit down, and I’ll find us something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” Carly protested as her stomach growled.
“I’ll find something anyway.”
Carly fell into the chair, exhaustion creeping into her bones. The struggle with Gabe hadn’t just been physical, it had been supernatural. She could feel that now, along with the weight of what it had taken from her.
“So,” Esther said, sitting across the table from Carly. “What’s up?”
Carly wasn’t sure how to start, so she didn’t speak at all, and instead, opened her memories to Abel and Esther so they could see for themselves. Carly telepathed images of the night Crystal had discovered the amethyst skull in Carly’s bedroom. Of the pact she’d made with Crys, Gabe and Howard to keep the treasure a secret. Of Gabe and Howard fleeing in the morning to bury the skull in an undisclosed location. Of Carly discovering its hiding spot on the beach and agreeing to leave it there. Of Carly changing her mind and moving it after hearing Damon Phillips speak of it in the caves. And finally, of Gabe showing up at her place this morning, warning her that the skull was missing.
Carly heaved out a sigh as the last of her confession blazed in graphic color across Abel and Esther’s thoughts.
“There really is an amethyst skull,” Abel marveled. “You dreamt about it, but I didn’t think…”
“You believe me,” Carly realized. “Do you think I’m right about Damon?”
“The skull’s still in your room?” was Esther’s response as she jumped up from the table. “Do you really think that’s the best place to keep it?”
“Of course not,” Carly replied. “Why do you think I’m here?”
“If it’s been in your room for a week without me noticing, it’s probably safe to assume that lock trick thing you did with your mind worked,” Abel determined. “But considering Gabe knows that was its original hiding spot, he may try to look there. We should bring the skull here and hide it in the attic until we come up with a better plan.”
Carly dared to lock eyes with him. You understand then why I had to keep this a secret?
Abel’s gaze flitted away. “We’ll go now. I’ll drive.”
seventeen
Carly jumped out of Abel’s car before he had it in park, sniffing at the air as she led the way to her front porch. Though the conversation she’d had with Gabe remained fresh in her mind, his scent was long gone. “I think we’re alone,” she muttered, and led the way inside, up two flights of stairs to her bedroom. She grabbed her messenger bag from the back of her desk chair as she walked over to the wall by the bathroom and triggered the spot hidden in the wainscoting that popped open the secret door.
Carly’s heart thudded in her ears as she stepped across the small room to the bench in the back, kneeling on the floor beside it to pull off the top. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she looked down at the amethyst skull. It bewildered her, yes, but not in the way it once had. She saw it for more than an object of beauty—she saw it as hers to protect. If it had indeed been in shapeshifter possession for fifteen hundred years, it was because the strongest of her kind had taken it upon themselves to keep the treasure safe. Carly felt the same innate duty.
Abel hissed out a curse word, and that’s when Carly remembered she wasn’t alone.
“Can I hold it?” Abel and Esther pleaded in unison.
Carly left the skull where it was and stood to face them. If she intended to leave the thing alone with them in their house, it meant accepting they would respect the skull for what it was and the power it held. It meant making them vulnerable to its lure, even if she herself had trouble resisting it.
“If you think it’s best we don’t touch it, we won’t touch it,” Abel promised. “But in that case, maybe you should grab it, Carly.”
Carly nodded, and took in a deep breath as she looked back to the skull. She threw the messenger bag over her shoulder and crouched down to pick up the treasure. Electric ecstasy flowed into her fingers, but before it could overpower her, she imagined an invisible boundary between herself and the skull. It wanted to be a part of her, she felt that much, but without understanding why, she dare not let it take control.
Carly stowed the skull in her bag and noticed that once it was no longer making direct contact with her skin, she found it a bit easier to make sense of her thoughts. She hated how vulnerable the skull made not just her, but all of them. She hated that there was nothing more she could do to keep them safe.
“It’s not your job to keep us safe,” Abel asserted, and fell to his knees to study the hollow space inside the bench. “So don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”
“I’ve already looked in there,” was how Carly chose to respond. “I didn’t see anything else.”
“Well, there’s something wedged in here,” Abel told her. “I’ve almost got it.”
“Almost got what?” Esther asked. “Or am I the only one thinking we need to get the hell out of here?”
“Got it,” Abel determined, and snapped back up to face them. “It’s a picture.”
“Of what?” Carly questioned, peering over his shoulder. She was stunned by the beautiful young brunette woman in the Polaroid photo, whose pale blue eyes were smiling back at the camera—the palest blue eyes Carly had ever seen. “Is that… Gabe’s mom?”
“Based on the pictures I’ve seen of her, that’s what she looks like,” Abel answered, and flipped over the photo. On the back in handwritten capital letters was spelled out: PLAN B. “What the hell?”
“Maybe the mystery solving can wait?” Esther suggested, tugging at the sleeve of Abel’s shirt. “Are we ready to go?”
“We’ll come back and look later,” Carly suggested, skimming past them to lead the way back into her room. She perked up her ears, listening for any disruption from the floors below. But as far as she could tell, they were alone.
Carly tried to think of only the skull and its safety as Abel drove them into Sterling, but her mind kept wandering back to the photo of Cassandra Hutchinson. Could it have been Howard who’d hidden it there for some reason? He’d admitted to hiding the skull there years ago and had had access to the passage. But the house had previously
been owned by Carly’s mother’s family, and solely by Carly’s late grandfather, Honorius, for many years. Was it possible Honorius had something to do with the photo?
Carly shook herself from her speculation as she followed Abel and Esther into their house, on up to the attic. The past would have to stay where it was when the present demanded so much of her. She huddled with Abel and Esther in the small clearing at the top of the stairs, her gaze flitting to the armoire across the room. It was tempting to hide the skull there, but unwise, considering the stash of photographs of Gretta Crawford and Paul Hutchinson already concealed inside.
“Maybe over here?” Abel said, swimming through a sea of stacked boxes to a pile in the corner. He maneuvered several boxes around and finally dug into one. “Whoa.”
“What?” Esther snapped. “I don’t know how much more I can handle today.”
“I think these can only help,” he replied, and held up a stack of books. He glanced over the titles before reading them out loud. “The Psychic Mind, Precious Stones and Crystals, and Mind Control Over Matter. It looks like they were published in the seventies, but there might be some interesting stuff in here.”
“We’ll look through them,” Carly said, making her way toward him. “But let’s get this skull hidden first. You think this box will work?” She peered down into the open box that Abel had pulled the books from and noticed the remainder of it was filled with hats. Perfect. She dug through the items, came up with a Stetson, and turned it upside down. Careful to keep her boundaries, Carly dug the skull from her bag and settled the treasure inside the hat. It wasn’t that it was easy to resist the temptation of the skull, but she understood that she had to. She hoped Abel and Esther understood as well.
“We’re not going to do anything that would put any of us in danger,” Esther vowed as Carly closed up the box. “Abel and I will carry on as usual, and Gabe will remain none the wiser. Which is why we have to go to his party tonight.”
Carly flinched. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“And what happens if we don’t show?” Esther proposed. “If we skip, that means Jeremy skips, too. Even with Katia distracting him, Gabe’s going to notice that half his friends stood him up. The less we give him to think about, the better.”
“I have to agree,” Abel spoke as he quickly piled boxes on top of the one now disguising the skull. “We’ve got to carry on as usual, and for us, that means pretending everything’s okay even though it’s not. At least we’re all good at it by now.”
Carly appreciated that they were so committed to keeping her secret, but that didn’t make it any easier to walk away from the skull. For as much as she wanted to let it go and separate herself from it, the amethyst skull would always haunt her.
Abel’s hand fell in on Carly’s shoulder, sending a spark down her arm. “Maybe you should try that trick you did before—where you imagined the skull locked up tight.”
“You think that worked?” Carly asked, meeting his dark gaze.
Abel flashed a small smile. “Didn’t it?”
“The skull’s been safe so far,” Esther pointed out. “Even considering its vulnerable location. You’ve done something right.”
Carly nodded, her eyes falling closed. It took no real effort to connect with the skull, to sense its tether pulling her in. She imagined the magical object not just locked up, but encased in the dark recesses of her mind. She imagined it hidden away in another world, another time, another realm. She imagined it so far gone she wasn’t sure she’d ever see it again.
Carly’s breath stilled as she opened her eyes. She felt oddly secure that she’d somehow psychically concealed the skull, and also oddly unsettled. She hadn’t expected to mourn the separation.
“Maybe it’s time for a break?” Abel spoke. “I could make some coffee, and we’ll take a look at these books. What do you say, Carly?”
“I’m supposed to meet Jeremy anyway,” Esther announced. “Don’t worry, I understand the skull’s a secret—even from him. Hopefully we can come up with a way so it doesn’t have to be forever. I’m off then. Carly, I’ll be back later to get ready for Gabe’s party if you’d like some help.”
“I’m afraid I need all the help I can get,” Carly surrendered. “And thank you again, Esther. It means a lot to me that I can trust you.”
Esther grinned. “It means a lot to me, too. The boyfriend awaits, so I’ll see you two later.”
“Well,” Abel said as Esther disappeared down the staircase. “Shall we?”
Carly indulged one last look at the box concealing the skull before she conceded to follow after him. “I’m definitely going to need some coffee after all that.”
Abel let out a laugh and led the way down the sketchy ladder to the second-floor hallway. “I definitely hadn’t expected anything else.”
* * *
Carly frowned as she examined her reflection in Esther’s full-length bedroom mirror. She was wearing a bright blue dress borrowed from Esther and the necklace Abel had given her, ready not to attend a party, but to play a part. Because as long as Gabe was looking for the skull, as long as Damon Phillips also had the object on his radar, Carly didn’t feel safe enough to let her guard down.
Carly didn’t normally like dressing up all that much, but saw the benefit in it now. Even though her thoughts were divided into what felt like a million pieces, she could put on a pretty dress and a coat of lipstick and appear put together. No one would ever guess just by looking at her that she had the weight of the world on her mind.
“I don’t really want to go to this thing either,” Esther confessed from over Carly’s shoulder. “But it’s really the best way to keep an eye on Gabe. Besides, you in that dress should make for a pretty good distraction.”
Carly hated that she was blushing, hated that even though he’d lost his mind on her today, Gabe’s mention still shook her. “I’m pretty sure Gabe’s moved on, Esther.”
Esther shrugged. “If only it were that easy. How’d you and Abel make out? With the books you found—not each other.”
Carly turned around to face her. “I skimmed about half of The Psychic Mind, but it’s hard to take something seriously when the top hit online is how the book’s a total fraud.”
“And what would people think if they knew about us? About what we can do? Would they take us seriously? Considering how little we know about who we are, there might be something in there. I definitely want to take a look at them when you’re done.”
“Technically, the books are yours, so take a look any time you’d like. How’d your afternoon go with Jeremy? I’m sorry, Esther, that I put you in a position where you have to keep such an immense secret from him.”
“Well, maybe now you’re starting to see that even though you’d like it to be, the world we live in isn’t so black and white. You have a good reason for asking me to keep the skull a secret, so I am. Just like I thought Gabe had a good reason for asking to keep what happened between us a secret.”
Carly looked at her with wide eyes.
Esther snickered. “I’m not all that surprised you didn’t consider my side of it.”
“I… guess I would’ve been insulted if a guy asked that of me, so I assumed…”
“That I’d think and feel exactly like you? Look, Carly, just to flesh out what happened with Gabe, I was the one who made a move. We were in his room watching a movie. I was a little drunk, and he was a lot drunk. He stopped me the first time I kissed him, but then he just… gave in, and it all happened so fast, and… In the movies, the guy falls in love with you afterward—that’s just how it works. But in real life, Gabe regretted it, and the fact that he was so willing to admit how much he regretted it made me regret it, too. We didn’t talk for a really long time, but eventually, I moved on. I had to, because like it or not, Gabe and I are family. Like it or not, we’re all family. And sticking together no matter what is just what we do.”
Carly had heard many of her friends voice their loyalt
y to the group in that manner before, but hadn’t really felt their intent until now. She certainly didn’t want to put on a fake smile and go to this party tonight, but for the sake of the group, she’d make the sacrifice. Just as they all made sacrifices to keep the group in working order.
“You’re right that Gabe isn’t himself,” Esther went on. “The skull has something to do with it, but whatever he’s got going on with Katia probably does, too. I understand why you don’t want to be around them, but it’s going to be easier to crack Katia if you have an actual conversation with her. Look at tonight as your opportunity to get to know her. Take it from me—the new girl’s never quite as intimidating as she initially seems.”
“I guess not,” Carly replied, glancing at the clock. “Is it too early to head over there?”
“It’s certainly not too early to start celebrating,” Esther replied, stepping for the door. “Besides, I think we’ve kept the boys patiently waiting long enough.”
Legends: Bloodline Book 2 Page 17