The Keeper's Curse

by Diana Harrison

  Thoreoux whipped a palewraith outward and wrapped it around Breckin’s waist, pulling him backward into him. He crashed into him and Thoreoux took this opportunity to reach for Emmy.

  Emmy looked down below her to see how far up they were and noticed they were only a few feet above the roof of the mansion. Closing her eyes, she let her arms loosen from Breckin’s neck, and she fell.

  She groaned in pain, almost positive she had heard something crack when she hit the marble. Thoreoux and Breckin hovered above her, holding each other in a stalemate grip. Summoning all her strength, Emmy conjured a palewraith and rammed it into Thoreoux’s head. He fell downwards, but his grip didn’t loosen on Breckin, and they both fell to the grass below.

  Emmy ran to the edge of the surrounding parapet of the roof, looking down. The two of them were on their feet and battling again. She felt helpless; she could only hope Breckin’s training and Thoreoux’s lack of it would help, but she could see Breckin was losing even from a distance. What can I do? There had to be something. If only she were more powerful, if only she were stronger.

  If only she had Breckin’s Eldoir abilities.

  Her breathing grew rapid, ideas racing; she could see into his mind, and he could see into hers. If they could bind their thoughts, could they perhaps do more? She remembered she had subverted to him completely once – she was sucked into his mind and she saw through his eyes. She was him. Was that why Milo had stifled their connection? Was that the reason Thoreoux was so intent on breaking their bond, before she could have thought of it?

  Was it possible?

  Breckin! Breckin, try to give me your powers.

  Thoreoux threw him against a tree. What?

  Get into my head, and I’ll get into yours. Give yourself to me.

  I don’t know how.

  You can do it; I did it once. Give all of yourself to me, and I’ll give all of myself to you. We need to be one person. We can do it; we’re exactly the same, remember?

  Lana –

  Please. You need my help.

  She closed her eyes and drained the barriers inside of her head. She let him in, and he came in. It was difficult for her at first; she couldn’t seem to open herself up, but soon she didn’t need to. Emmy could feel Breckin resisting even more than she did, not wanting to do this, not wanting her to be so close and have to show her all of him, but he did it. All of him, his thoughts, his feelings, his power, flowed through her. It was as easy as falling.

  Her pulse raced, her breathing quickened to a dangerous rate – it was so much. He was everywhere, he was enveloping her, drowning her. Every nook and cranny of his mind was exposed to her – his hopes, his fears, his doubts, what made him angry, what made him cry. She was drunk on him – his bravery, his kindness, his black-and-white view of the world, his temper, his anxiety, his impatience, his hatred, his love.

  She fell to the ground, closing her eyes and forgetting where she was. She had never felt this much, never been so passionate in her feelings the way Breckin was. She was seeing, feeling, inside his heart and she wanted it all, so much her chest ached. She loved everything she was seeing, the good and the bad, and the idea of living without it cut her so keenly it snapped her back to her senses. She was in danger of losing him now.

  Emmy got back to her feet, overwhelmed at what was in her. Explosions were going off behind her, beside her and in front of her. She possessed the powers of an Eldoir. There was only supposed to be one with that sort of power, and now there were three, all of them in one place.

  She kicked off the ground, now able to fly. Below her were Thoreoux and Breckin, still unaware of her. Emmy sent a whirl of fire in Thoreoux’s direction. He moved out of the way at the very last second.

  “Get away from him,” Emmy said from above.

  Thoreoux stared at her for a moment, stunned into muteness. Breckin took that opportunity to throw a palewraith at him, and another to tie his arms behind his back. Although he was able to get out of it easily, it gave Breckin the time he needed to ready himself.

  The three of them battled, and although there may have been three bodies, it was really one against one. When Emmy’s arms moved, Breckin’s moved. When Breckin attacked, Emmy attacked. They mirrored each other’s every movement, twice as powerful as Thoreoux. She had never felt so strong, she detected every wisp of wind, every clash from inside the mansion, every blade of grass rustling in the wind. And she could only do it because Breckin believed in her. She wanted to fall into him even farther than she already was. The tingle of her skin, the double vision, and combining of thoughts made Emmy almost sure no two people had ever been this close.

  She didn’t even need to keep her eyes open; she could see through Breckin’s. He guided her through every offence from Thoreoux, and every defence. Thoreoux was falling apart before their eyes. She could see the nervousness in his eyes, frantically trying to keep up with them. With lightning speed, he blasted Breckin backwards and flipped around to Emmy.

  Emmy bolted away from Thoreoux, swirling several palewraiths into a tornado and hurling them in his direction, on the other side of Breckin. She whisked through the sky onto the other side of Thoreoux; they had him cornered. Now was their chance.

  “Master!” It was Rathbone, bloodied and sweaty, running out onto the front grounds. “We need to retreat now! Some of your best are already dead! They killed Olwenn, we need to go!”

  Thoreoux’s eyes were wild, going back and forth between Breckin and Emmy. It was the hesitation on their part he needed. Before they could attack again, Thoreoux was gone. He disappeared in a blur, Rathbone with him.

  Emmy hung in the air for a moment, unsure of what to do, when she felt Breckin slip away from her. Now that Thoreoux was gone, he was breaking them apart, making them two separate people again, and the toll on Emmy’s body was anguishing. The power had been too much for her delicate, half human, non-Eldoir body. She swayed, the world growing fuzzy in front of her. She couldn’t seem to get a proper amount of air.

  “Breckin,” she slurred. “I don’t think I can –”

  Her body went limp, and she began to fall out of the air. By the time she fell into Breckin’s arms, her eyes were already closed.

  Chapter 27

  The Reverse Incantation

  Emmy couldn’t seem to move. Her eyes were closed so she couldn’t see anything, but she was pretty sure she was in the hospital; if the pungent, medicinal smells didn’t give it away, feeling her body poked and probed at would have.

  “Your friend will be fine,” she heard a man’s soft voice say. The bedside manner tone indicated he was a doctor. Was she back at Methelwood Mercy? She tried to open her mouth to speak, but her body felt so heavy, and she was so exhausted.

  “I was worried she was dead.” Breckin. “But then I realized if she was then I’d be ...”

  “Don’t worry Mr. Crawford; her body is just rejuvenating, like recovering from a sickness. Having your powers – especially on a half-human – would be overwhelming on the body. Still, it was clever of you two; it probably saved both your lives.”

  Emmy’s already limp body relaxed even further; she was alive, and was going to be fine. She slipped back into unconsciousness, letting herself rest.

  Sometime later she felt herself waking up again, her head clearer than before, but she still wasn’t quite strong enough to open her eyes or indicate movement. Before she felt like she was at the bottom of a lake, and now she was just right underneath the surface.

  “You should have told me where you were going,” Rozelyn’s voice said. She sounded too exhausted from fear to be angry. “Circlet didn’t even tell me where you went, didn’t even tell Noah. I waited and waited and you never came back, no one knew where you were, and then I find out Jade’s gone, and Cyrus and Emmy –”

  “Roz, I’m sorry,” Breckin replied, trying to keep his voice calm for the both of them. “There was no time. Even ask Circlet – if she hadn’t come when she did I’d be dead now, and so would Lana.”


  Rozelyn inhaled unevenly. Emmy heard footsteps padding across the linoleum, probably heading over to Breckin’s side.

  “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she murmured fiercely. “Those hours nearly killed me, not knowing where you were. Please, next time, even if you can’t take me with you, just let me know.”

  “You wouldn’t let me go.”

  “No, probably not. Just do it anyway.” She sighed, and Emmy heard their clothes ruffling; they were probably hugging now. “I never had to worry about you before. That Keeper thing always calmed me down, but she’s here now. I’m going to have to worry about you dying the rest of my life.”

  “Everyone has to worry about the people they care about dying.”

  “It’s not the same, and you know it.”

  “I know. Sometimes I still can’t believe she’s here. Before I met her I remember being freaked out knowing that I could drop dead at any moment if she got in an accident, or got a disease or something, but this is worse. I’m responsible if anything happens to her, Roz.” Emmy felt the tips of his fingers brush her forehead. “I’d send her away, if it would keep her safer. But she’s best off here. She’s going to hate me one day.”

  “She doesn’t hate you,” Rozelyn said. Another awkward silence. “Breckin? Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “Do you .... I mean .... are you going to leave me?”

  Breckin laughed nervously. “That was direct.”

  “I’m serious. I mean, she – Emmy – she holds your soul, and you can talk to each other in your heads and you spend an awful lot of time together –”

  Breckin cut her off, and the deep intake of breath indicated he had pulled her in to kiss him.

  It was Emmy’s anger that did it. Its zealous jolt pulled her to the surface of consciousness, and she became fully awake. But she didn’t dare move: she wanted to know the answer to this question more than Rozelyn did.

  “Rozelyn, listen to me.” His voice was so gentle, so vulnerable – Emmy had never heard him talk like that before. Or at least, not around her. “When Thoreoux pulled that knife out and raised it to plunge through Lana’s heart, the only thing I could think of was you. I thought of Noah, and Mom and Becca and even Gabe but the last face I saw was yours, and I didn’t understand why.” His breathing was very uneven. “And I think it’s because I never ... I never told you that –”

  “I love you,” Rozelyn said breathlessly.

  “I – what! No! You can’t do that, you just stole my thunder!”

  Rozelyn let out a peal of harmonious laughter. “Isn’t that funny, I was thinking the exact same thing when you disappeared.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. But you love me?”

  “Yes. I love you. I want you to understand Lana and me. I care about her a lot. She saved my life tonight, and she did it just as much for me as she did for her. I would do the same. But she isn’t you. Roz honestly, you’ve been this security blanket for me for years now, and I can’t imagine my life without you anymore. I need you so much it scares me.”

  “Damn it, Breckin, I’ve told you every single day since we’ve gotten together that I’m not leaving you.”

  “Good. Because you keep me sane. You never get mad at me, you never look at me like everyone else does, either waiting for me to fail or expecting so much I know I will fail. You’re one of the only people I believe when you say I’m not what Thoreoux makes me out to be. You keep me grounded.”

  “I do believe it. And I’ll keep on saying it until you believe it too.”

  “Lana doesn’t do that. I feel about her almost the exact same way I did with Becca. And since she’s apparently dating Cyrus, I’m sure she feels the same way about me. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

  Keep your face still, Emmy ordered herself. Keep it still until they leave.

  Rozelyn let out a sigh of relief. “You’re amazing.”

  “Please keep on thinking that.”

  The two of them shared a small laugh right before Emmy heard a clacking of footsteps and somebody else entered the room. The voice sounded like Noah’s.

  “Hey, Breckin? There’s some Ministrialians downstairs that need to ask you a few more questions. Apparently there are some missing bodies.”

  He didn’t sound pleased about the interruption. “Alright, I’m coming.”

  Emmy counted in a steady rhythm to one hundred, keeping her breathing regular, but when the time came, she broke.

  It was ridiculous; she had almost died that day, people were probably dead, and she had no idea whether or not Thoreoux had gotten away. That was important. Not this.

  “Don’t,” she told herself, but she was crying before she got it out. She rolled over into the pillow, muffling the weeping noises to avoid drawing attention from the hall. The crying helped; some of her anger and frustration poured out of her, but it didn’t stop the misery. She tried to stop thinking about him, but how could she? She could, at that very moment, tangibly feel how happy he was.

  She hugged herself around the middle, wondering if that was where his soul was. It was there, inside her, she was the bearer of his life, and he didn’t care. She wished she could open herself up, tear it out, and get some peace that she hadn’t gotten since the second she had met him. But it was there, and she wouldn’t get relief from him until she died.

  She lifted her head.

  Or could she?

  Underneath the white dress Thoreoux had provided for her, the incantation ruffled against her skin.

  ***

  Emmy was woken up the next morning by Circlet, not in the least bit interested in her healing process. She reluctantly rolled on her back to face the governor, who looked as grim as ever. Jade and Persephone were standing in the doorway, with a vague look of trepidation, as if they weren’t sure how Emmy would be when she woke up.

  “What happened?” Emmy’s mouth was so parched the question came out raspy.

  “You fainted,” Circlet said unhelpfully.

  “Where’s Thoreoux?”

  Circlet’s dejected expression said it all. “He – he got away. I’m so sorry, Miss Rathers, we did everything we could. We found a stack of portals in his mansion after they retreated. He and his allies could have gone anywhere.”

  Hopelessness engulfed her. After all that, they had accomplished nothing.

  Circlet must have sensed her distress. “This will never happen again. It can’t. He can’t hide in his secret orbs anymore. He’s in our world now, and we will find him.”

  “You do realize that means someone is hiding him?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. But the word is out now – everyone in both Methelwood and Ministrial know that you are the Eldoir’s Keeper. We have no choice but to protect you at all costs. He will never be in an orb’s distance of you.”

  This comforted her somewhat, but she didn’t let Circlet fool her into believing that everything was suddenly okay again. If Thoreoux had all those portals to all those different orbs in the first place, that meant he had friends in all of them. He would never stop hunting her.

  Which means you’ll always have to stay with Breckin.

  A dull throb inside her chest pulsed. She literally couldn’t stay away from him. She wanted to cry again.

  “So you’re telling me,” Emmy said. “That you nearly got me killed, keeping my curse in the dark, for nothing?”

  “I was hoping to catch Thoreoux.”

  “Well you didn’t.” It was unbelievable; Emmy’s mother had known about the curse and hadn’t told her because she was worried she would stay, and Circlet had known about the curse and hadn’t told her because she was worried she would leave.

  Circlet was suddenly interested in a flock of birds outside the hospital window. “You have no idea how sorry I am, Miss Rathers. You’re a part of Methelwood, one of my citizens, and my foolishness nearly got you killed.”

  “I’m not a citizen, remember?”

  “Yes
you are,” Circlet said. She snapped her eyes back onto Emmy’s. “You think I don’t know? That you lied to me the first day we met? Annalise would have never trained you in the real world, not in a million years. I felt sorry for you and wanted to give you a fair chance.”

  Emmy stiffened, trying to put on a mask of bravado. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “We’re talking about your citizenship, aren’t we? I owe you a debt of gratitude for finding Thoreoux’s secret orb and saving our Eldoir. Don’t fret the procedures – you are going to pass your admission exam.” Emmy went to protest, and then understood. She would take the exam, but it would just to keep up appearances. She would pass whether she was good enough or not. “Your grades are not the best, but considering the circumstances, you shouldn’t even be passing.”

  “I’m doing my best.”

  “You are. And,” she sighed, “since I made you a promise that if you passed your exam, your mother would be set free, so I suppose I should get that in order as well.” Circlet had a hint of a smile on her face. “I can certainly milk this Keeper situation with a judge – how you need a mother, how Annalise had good reason to keep you from Methelwood considering what just happened to you... and all that.”

  Emmy was so happy she nearly burst into tears. It was the best news she had gotten in a very long time. “Milk away.”

  “I’ll leave you to your friends,” Circlet said, strutting out of the room in that dramatic manner she always did.

  Her arms were around Jade and Persephone an instant later.

  “You’re okay!”

  “Of course we are,” Persephone grinned. “You should have seen us last night, we were fantastic! Cyrus too –”

  Emmy gasped. “I forgot Cyrus! Is he okay, too?”

  “Better than ever,” Jade said.

  “Well, now maybe not so much,” Persephone said. “When we brought you into the hospital unconscious, Cyrus punched Breckin in the face. His hand is fractured now.”