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He bounced upright, his face red. “You didwhat?”
Who the hell was he to judge me? “You’ve been out on your boat frolicking with all your demon buddies while I’ve been stuck in Manteo dealing with the fallout of their extracurricular activities. Which brings me face-to-face with Officer Helmsworth on a regular basis.” I took a breath, my irritation softening. I couldn’t blame Collin for being upset—this affected him too. “Look, he’s not stupid, Collin. He knows there are supernatural forces behind what’s happening in Manteo, and he knows I’m square in the middle of it. The Raven Mockers are killing people every night and he’s trying to save them. Tsagasi told me what to do, so I told Tom. Was I supposed to keep that from him?”
He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. “What a fucked-up mess.”
“But I only told him late last night, so there’s no way they found out from him.”
He stood upright and turned toward me; his eyes gleaming with determination. “We need to figure out how they know about us.”
“I can’t think of anyone else.”
He stared at the floor for several seconds before looking up. “You’re forgetting about Myra.”
I shook my head. “There’s no way Myra would tell anyone.”
“She’s seeing someone now, right? Didn’t she move to Durham to be closer to him?”
“Well…yeah…but she wouldn’t tell him.”
“What if she slipped? You and I both know how easy it is to get caught up in the heat of the moment and say something you don’t mean to.”
My face burned with the memory of the things I’d said to him. Things I should have kept to myself. Yet despite his betrayal and the fact that the man I loved was in mortal danger, my body responded to the memory of being with Collin. I hated him a little for that, even though it wasn’t his fault. “Steven’s an old family friend. He would never put my life in danger.”
The pain in his eyes told me that he noticed the venom behind my words. “Maybe he accidentally told someone, Ellie. We need to talk to him and find out.”
I just couldn’t believe Myra would tell him, let alone that Steven would sell me out. “What if it wasn’t someone human? What if it a supernatural creature spilled the beans?”
“To what end?”
“I don’t know!” I shouted in irritation. “Maybe it’s Ahone. Miriam took the ring. She knows it does something.”
He pushed out a breath. “Let’s presume you’re right about Ahone wanting you to use the ring at the gate, and I suspect you are—why would he encourage them to take it from you? That doesn’t make sense.” He paused. “But if my grandmother was right about the Dare line being the only ones with the power to use it, they won’t be able to do anything with it anyway.”
None of this speculation changed the fact that David was in dangerright now. My fears pushed to the surface, but I buried them again. I didn’t have time to cry. “I told her that you hated David, and you’d need some other incentive to cooperate. I said that you needed the spear and the Sword of Galahad.”
He shook his head. “What’s the Sword of Galahad?”
“It’s a sword from the twelfth century that was blessed for King Richard the Lionheart to take to the Crusades.”
“And why would they want that?” He squinted in confusion. “Why wouldwewant that?”
“It was blessed to kill demons.”
His eyes widened. “You’re shitting me? They think they have a sword that can kill demons?” he scoffed. “What idiots.”
“Collin, theydohave a sword that will kill demons. Tsagasi confirmed it. Hell,Ihave a sword that kills demons. I killed three of them two nights ago. But that’s not all the Sword of Galahad does. Tsagasi says it can subdue gods too.”
His face paled. “How can such a thing exist?”
“I don’t know, but I need it.”
He shook his head, clenching his jaw. “No, Ellie. That’s thelastthing you need. You’ll become a target.”
“Wake up, Collin! I alreadyama target!”
He paced for several seconds looking like he was about to be sick. “So you told her the only way I would show was if she gave you the spear and the sword. What did she say?”
“She only agreed to the spear. I told her I had to check with you.” I suddenly remembered the phone and dug it out of my pocket. “She handed me this and told me to call her when you had your answer. She said to use the most recent number.”
