The Love Curse

by Rebecca Sky

‘Rach, you can’t let her win. That’s what she wants.’

  ‘She’s already won.’ I risk glancing up and quickly divert my eyes. Seeing the concern on his face isn’t going to help control my feelings. ‘She turned Kyle against me. I know I didn’t know him for very long. It’s just—’

  ‘It’s nice having family.’

  ‘Yeah.’ I choke over my words, trying to hold back the waterworks. ‘I have my ma but it’s not the same. She has to love me. But Kyle had a choice, and we were just getting to know each other.’ A tear escapes down my cheek.

  ‘I know what that’s like.’ Ben reaches to wipe it but I turn my face.

  ‘Please don’t touch me.’

  He tries again, raising his hand.

  I pull away. ‘No – it’s not worth the risk. Just … don’t, OK?’ I turn my back. Now more than ever, I hate being a Hedoness.

  ‘Rach, is this about more than Kyle?’

  I snap around, my eyes challenging him to ask what he’s implying.

  ‘It’s about love, isn’t it? Not family love, but … you know, love.’

  He asked – I can’t believe he actually asked that. Of all the people to ask. I try to hide the awkwardness by lifting my chin. If he wants the answer I’ll give it to him.

  ‘You’d think that being related to Eros would come with some perks. Like, I don’t know, maybe a boyfriend, or a magical first kiss. Not my luck. Instead I get to be alone because if I so much as touch a boy, my power takes everything from him.’

  I try to calm my breathing as I wait for his response, hoping he’ll say something, anything, to make me feel better. But his blank expression gives away that he’s as clueless about this as I am. Which is a first – Ben always seems to know what to say. Somehow, his silence takes me back to that police officer with those damn gloves, too afraid to touch me.

  Back to feeling like a freak.

  ‘Rach, that can’t be the only—’

  ‘Don’t,’ I say, taking a step away from him and closer to the store. I’m done letting my power run my life. I’m done running. ‘Do you have any money I can borrow?’

  Ben blinks for a moment too long. ‘Money?’

  ‘Yes, money. I just, I have to get something.’

  There’s a sudden strain in his jaw, but he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out two crumpled bills. He unfolds them and hands me a ten.

  I know what I have to do. That officer was right. I’m different and I have to do whatever it takes to keep others from being different too.

  With the bill clutched in my fist, I march to the store and shoulder through the door. A chain of bells jingle from the handle. Marissa and Kyle are talking to someone at the far end of the first isle. I ignore them and walk up to the elderly man at the till.

  ‘Afternoon, miss, how can I help you?’

  ‘Do you sell gloves?’

  ‘Let me check what we have.’

  I tap on the counter until he comes back carrying a handful of options. I pick through them, finding two leather sets – one red and one black – and a variety of floral gardening gloves. My mind flashes to Ma’s navy-blue going-out gloves. I never realized what they were for before. S2L’ s warning starts looping again – Your mother needs you.

  ‘I’ll take the red ones, thanks.’ I force a smile and plop the money down. When his back is to me, I slide the gloves on. The soft leather protects me from myself. This won’t stop people from touching my exposed skin, but it’s a start. He slaps the change into my red leather palm, eyeing me with deep curiosity. Seeing as it’s not exactly glove weather, I don’t blame him.

  I close my fist around the coins, noticing a quarter. ‘Is there a payphone?’

  He nods to the restrooms.

  ‘Thanks.’

  The gloves stick to my pocket as I slide the rest of the change in. I should be using Quiver to call Paisley. But I’m not sure when I’ll have another chance to connect. I’m desperate to find out about Ma, so using the phone is a risk I have to take. I plop a quarter in and begin dialling when a scuffle comes from the store back. Both the teller and I turn to see Marissa and Kyle standing shoulder-toshoulder, blocking the aisle. Between their legs, I catch glimpses of a man convulsing on the ground.

  ‘He slipped,’ Marissa lies.

  I glare at her and slam down the receiver, storming out of the store.

  I throw open the van door to find Ben reclined in his seat, listing to the radio. ‘She’s at it again!’

  He raises a brow and turns down the volume.

  ‘Marissa! She just turned some guy.’

  Ben sits up. ‘What?’

  I climb into the front beside him and roll down the window, and we keep our eyes peeled on the door. Minutes pass painfully slowly, until finally Marissa and Kyle exit the store with armfuls of bags.

  Ben hops out and rushes over to them. ‘What’d you buy?’ he asks, glancing past them. ‘There’s no way Ron gave us enough to cover all that.’

  ‘Ron?’ Marissa’s grinning at me. ‘You should know by now I don’t need money to get by.’

  ‘What did you do?’ Ben tries to step around them, but Kyle blocks him.

  ‘It was awesome, man. She kissed some dude and he gave her everything she asked for. Check this out.’ He holds up a set of keys.

  ‘Tell me you’re not that stupid.’ Ben runs his hands through his hair, keeping them tangled at the base of his neck.

  ‘They’re for that SUV.’ Kyle points to the black Tahoe with tinted windows, parked behind a rusted propane tank in the corner of the lot.

  ‘You’re in the wrong car,’ she yells to me, and swaggers over to the vehicle, clicking the doors unlocked with the fob. ‘I got us an upgrade.

  Marissa swings open the rear and is about to toss her bags in when she pauses. She peers inside, a sudden look of confusion on her face.

  ‘What the hell?’

  Marissa slams the door closed again, leaning against the bumper.

  Her reaction makes me feel uneasy so I make my way over to the SUV.

  Ben’s with Kyle a few yards away, but Marissa’s odd behaviour catches his attention too. ‘What’s going on, Riss?’

  Marissa says nothing, but she seems to be having trouble breathing.

  ‘Riss? What’s in there?’ I reach for the handle but she raises the fob and clicks the doors locked again. ‘What the hell? Just open it.’

  Ben’s almost at the SUV. ‘Marissa, open the door.’ His patience is dropping fast. ‘Open the door, or I’ll take the keys from you myself.’

  She turns her back but he reaches around and grabs them from her death-like grip.

  ‘Ouch,’ she complains, overdramatically rubbing her hand.

  He ignores her and presses unlock. I open the door, stand back, and look in.

  There are no seats except for the front two. Instead, a computer station with various monitors and speakers flanks one side, its screens filled with surveillance photos of us at the church with Pastor Ron.

  We stand there, staring, mouths agape.

  Kyle comes up behind us. ‘Oh shit.’

  ‘It’s official, you’re an idiot.’ I’m shaking. I don’t care how mean it sounds. Marissa isn’t exactly my favourite person right now. ‘Seems you have a thing for turning cops.’

  ‘Shut up, Rach! It’s not like he announced what he was in the store.’ Marissa stomps away, smoothing down her hair, trying to regain her composure.

  ‘Even if he did, it wouldn’t stop you,’ I say, getting in her face. ‘All you care about is your damn self.’

  ‘How dare you! This whole mess started when Mother Superior asked me to help you. This is your fault.’

  ‘My fault? I’m not the one who just turned a cop with James-Bond-level surveillance equipment. This is on you.’

  Marissa lurches at me, fists clenched.

  ‘Not again.’ Ben steps between us. ‘We don’t have time for fighting. We need to fix this mess.’ He pauses, letting us soak in the gravity of our situ
ation. ‘Where’s the officer?’

  When she refuses to answer, he grabs her face so she can’t look away. ‘Marissa, where is he?’

  Jealousy washes through me. I hate that he can touch her without the same consequences as touching me.

  Marissa diverts her eyes from Ben. ‘I told him to go to sleep in the bathroom and not leave until someone told him to.’

  I roll my eyes. ‘Of course you did.’

  Ben drops her chin and holds up his hand. ‘Rachel, please. You’re not helping.’

  I ignore him, a wave of worry filling me. ‘So that’s it then. We’ve been found. We can’t go to the river house, not now that they know about Ron. My parents are screwed!’

  Marissa leans past Ben to glare at me. ‘Oh goody, we live to flee another day.’

  I clench my fists.

  ‘Well,’ Ben says with a deep breath, ‘the good news is we’ve detained this officer and can throw them off our trail. Temporarily, at least.’

  He’s right, we still have a head start, and that’s something. ‘Marissa, you need to fix this,’ I say, grabbing her arm to try and get her attention. ‘Go in there and ask him if he was alone. If not we need to know where his partner is. And if he is alone, I don’t know, tell him he isn’t a cop or something. Last thing we need is him calling in reinforcements.’

  ‘Fine,’ says Marissa, glaring down at my red-gloved hand before shrugging it off her arm.

  ‘Then let’s get going,’ says Ben. ‘We shouldn’t hang around. Kyle?’

  Kyle strides over, a bag of potato chips in his hand. ‘What’s the plan?’ he says to Ben, ignoring me completely.

  I shrug off the wave of sadness and focus on how to get us out of this mess. We have two vehicles, and nowhere to go. The police know where we are. Shaking them off should be our priority. Then I need to get to my ma – and she’ll help save my dad.

  ‘We’ll split up,’ I say, realising it’s the best way to lose the police. ‘If Marissa and I take the Tahoe, you boys the van, and we both go in opposite directions, there’s a good chance one group of us will get away. And if the police pull you over you can blame everything on us.’

  Ben steps close. ‘They’ll have a GPS tracking system in the SUV.’

  ‘Then we’ll swap it out as soon as we can.’

  His eyes dart over my face. ‘I don’t like separating. But it’s a good plan.’

  Marissa places her hands on her hips. ‘I’m not being left with her.’

  Ben takes a calming breath. ‘If Kyle and I take the SUV, you two have the best chance to—’

  ‘Nope.’ She crosses her arms and turns her back to him.

  Kyle laughs. He’s acting so weird. ‘No use arguing, man. Rissa’s made up her mind. Let’s split up. We can each protect one of the girls.’

  ‘I don’t need protection,’ Marissa says.

  Ben sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. ‘We know you don’t but we need to split up somehow.’

  My plan is smarter, but unless I duct tape her into the Tahoe, she won’t come with me, and at this point, I don’t have time to waste arguing. We need to get going, now. Part of me wants to go with Ben. A huge part of me. He has this way of making me feel safe when no one else can. But I’m struggling with controlling my gift around him. The buzz grows stronger beneath my skin, and I’m afraid that soon looking at him will make me explode. My gloves can’t protect either of us from that. Then there’s Kyle. To say he’s being a jerk is the understatement of the century. Jerk or not, he’s my cousin, and I’m not going to give up on him. He doesn’t like me now, but maybe he can learn to again.

  I blurt out my answer. ‘I’m going with Kyle.’

  Both Ben and Kyle stare at me like I’ve lost it.

  ‘Me?’ Kyle points to himself.

  All I can do is nod.

  Marissa puts her hand on her hip. ‘She does have a point.’

  ‘What point?’ Kyle throws up his arms. ‘She’s made no point. I don’t want to go with her.’

  ‘Rach, wait.’ Ben grabs me and the electricity is palpable.

  I yank away.

  He blinks and steps back. ‘Why, uh, Kyle?’

  ‘He’s my cousin.’ I can’t bear looking into those eyes, so blue and full of questions.

  ‘He had you in tears.’ He steps closer. ‘Why do you really want to go with him?’

  I hug my stomach, afraid I’ll succumb to the need to reach out and touch him. Trust Ben to see through my motives.

  Despite how much I want to tell him that being near him makes me want to lose control, I can’t. Even saying it makes my powers well up inside me. But it’s not easy to keep it in either. And it’s not just about how hot he is, or how good he looks with his shirt off, or the way his dark brown hair makes his blue eyes pop. I wish I could tell him how I feel, how I love the way he protects people, listens intently, puts others first. The way he cares. Hell, he’s risked his dream of becoming a police officer to help us. But wishes don’t change the facts – I can’t risk my power hurting him.

  ‘I just do,’ I say, avoiding his eyes.

  ‘Fine, all right,’ he replies in a clipped tone. ‘Shall we?’ He waves Marissa after him to the SUV.

  ‘No way. We’re taking the van.’ She picks up her bags and heads across the lot. ‘Right after I deal with this cop.’

  Kyle runs after her, leaving me alone with Ben again.

  Ben sighs. ‘So where are you going to go?’

  I’m done running. I’m going back to New York. I need to find a way to rescue my family and fix this messy web Marissa’s spun around us. I kick a rock and glance down the road. There’s a blue highway sign with a big white arrow on top. My heart quickens.

  It reads – Vallecillo, NL, Mexico, 1180 miles, next right.

  Perfect.

  ‘You and Marissa take the highway right and head for the Mexican border.’

  ‘OK,’ Ben says. ‘The police don’t have jurisdiction there and we can probably find a way in without passports. I’m sure Marissa will be up for that challenge. But what about you two?’

  ‘Don’t worry about us. And be careful. You might lose the police, but the Committee could be there.’

  Ben nods, and looks over to the gas station. Marissa and Kyle are coming out of the shop, making their way over to us. He looks at me – a goodbye hangs off his lips. Then it hits me. This could be the last time I see him.

  I suck in a breath, staring back into those deep blue eyes. He saved my life, both literally and metaphorically, and I’ll miss him more than I can bear. Benjamin Blake is the closest I’ve come to falling in love.

  There are times in life when you surprise yourself. This is one of them. I’m in a stolen SUV, trying to evade the police, looking for a vehicle to steal and a place to ditch the Tahoe. That’s not something I would’ve ever guessed possible a few days ago. A strange part of me feels brave and capable and in control for the first time.

  Still, it wasn’t easy watching Marissa and Ben drive in the opposite direction; my eyes were glued to the side-view mirror until the van was all but a speck. The only good thing about this whole mess is that the farther I am from Ben, the less destructive my power is.

  I try to think like Ben would. Going through every possible scenario of finding a way back into New York. I’ll do anything to get my family out of jail. I glance at Kyle. Now that I know what I’m capable of, my family is all I’ve got.

  I don’t tell Kyle we’re heading back for them, not yet. For now, I keep my eyes on the road. We’ve been driving for almost thirty minutes and haven’t come across anything. We have, however, passed a large billboard of a man biting a young girl’s neck, featuring the cast of My Vampire Alien Life. I can’t escape it, even here. I glance out the back again, checking no one is following us.

  ‘Anything?’ Kyle asks.

  ‘Coast’s clear,’ I say.

  He lets out a long breath, and I can’t help noticing that he seems annoyed.

  ‘We�
�ll find something to swap with soon,’ I say.

  Kyle’s grip tightens on the wheel, but he keeps his eyes ahead. ‘When we do, I’m going to stay with the Tahoe.’

  I frown. ‘You want to split up?’

  He doesn’t answer.

  ‘We should stay together.’

  ‘Yeah, well it’s not up to you.’

  ‘I miss the old you,’ I mumble, straightening my gloves and reaching for the radio. I flick it on to a rock station and leave it there. We can argue some more when we find a car, but for now I could use something to take my mind off things. I flop back into the plush seat, staring out the window and listening to the lyrics.

  He could be your hero,

  If you let him try,

  Follow your own arrow,

  Let your heart fly.

  What are the chances? I lean forward and turn up the volume. ‘Do you know who sings this?’

  Kyle turns it off.

  ‘I was listening to that.’

  ‘I prefer silence.’

  I spin to face him. ‘We have to get past—’

  ‘I also prefer you not looking at me.’

  ‘Come on! This is getting ridiculous.’ I turn back to the window. My shoulders stiffen. ‘You know. I was really excited when I found out I had a cousin. I don’t really have a big family. It’s just me, my parents and my nani, but then you and Joyce—’

  Kyle reaches forward and turns the radio on, cranking it full blast to drown me out.

  ‘Really?’ I turn the volume back to a normal level. Kyle pushes my hand away and cranks it back up. ‘I don’t want to fight with you, Kyle. This isn’t who you are. Can we talk?’

  The SUV hisses to a tyre-screeching stop. ‘I’m done!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I can’t deal with you.’

  When I don’t move he grabs my cell from the dash charger and powers it up, searching through for Marissa’s contact.

  ‘Don’t use that!’

  He ignores me and presses call, leaving it on speaker. I try to grab it but he holds me back. After a few rings she picks up.

  ‘The van isn’t so bad after all.’ Her obnoxiously happy voice cracks over the line. ‘There’s a cable I can use to charge my phone and it has satellite radio.’