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“Ellie. Any information about your mother’s death is important, even if it doesn’t help us with the curse. It’s important toyou.”
“Finding Ahone’s mark is our biggest concern,” I sighed. The information seemed like a coincidence, but David was right. There were no coincidences. Not in this. “Steven said he notified the police, but they couldn’t find any evidence such a collection existed. No one Momma worked with knew anything about it either.”
“So he thinks she made it up?”
“I asked him that and he said no.” I looked up at him. “This morning, I asked Myra if she’d ever heard Daddy mention anything about the Ricardo Estate and she says she did once, years ago.”
“You think the collection your mother surveyed was the Ricardo Estate? If so, it might be related to her death.”
“I don’t know. Steven didn’t call it the Ricardo Estate, but Daddy did—if Myra remembers correctly, that is. She said Daddy was talking on the phone and was secretive.”
“It does seem like there’s a connection. We just need to find a reliable source.”
“After my conversation with Myra this morning, I asked Collin about it on the phone this afternoon, but he refused to tell me anything.”
He scowled. “Like I said, we’ll find areliablesource.”
“One more thing.” I shifted my weight. ‘When the curse broke, the dreams about the animals and the spirits weren’t the only ones I started to have.” I told him about the dreams I’d had about my mother’s death and the bloodstains on the floor of my bedroom.
“So, I was really staying in your old room?”
I stood. The familiar anxious feeling I always experienced when I thought about her murder made me jittery. “Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry.” He stepped in front of me and his arm encircled my waist, pulling my head to his chest.
Holding my breath, I rested against him for several seconds, taking comfort in his embrace. Something in me yearned for more. I looked up into his face.
His gaze was on my mouth.
David wanted this too.
It would have been so easy to lean closer and press my lips to his. To see if I could actually feel something with another man after Collin.
But would that be fair to David? He had given up everything to help me, so how could I risk breaking his heart?
I took a step backward, my hands trailing down his shirt, knowing I needed to break contact, yet so desperate to stay in this moment.
If I was destined to live a life without love, what was I even fighting for?
His face searched mine, confusion and desire jostling for control of his features.
I reached my hand to his cheek, rubbing his stubble with my fingertips. I was fighting for David. So that he and the other seven billion people on this planet could live their lives without facing the terror lurking outside my door each night. The countless monsters hell-bent on destroying us all.
This was no time for me to explore my romantic life. My hand dropped and I turned away. “We need to keep looking.”
David didn’t answer for several seconds.
I spun around to face him, the desire on his face nearly my undoing.
“Ellie.”
I shook my head. “David. I can’t.”
He ran his hand over his head, looking at the staircase. “That wanker did a number on you, Ellie, but I’m not him.” He walked out of the room, leaving my heart and emotions in a tangled mess.
I grabbed my purse and keys and ran for my car, feeling a sudden, unstoppable need for the ocean. I hadn’t been in days, not since my encounter with Ukinim and Ilena. When I reached the beach, I parked my car in the lot and, leaving my shoes in the car, ran for the water, needing that burst of power to recharge my body and weary spirit.
By the time I got back to my car, I realized over an hour had passed and the sun was nearing the horizon. I hadn’t thought to bring a towel, although by now I should have been smart enough to pile a bunch in my trunk.
