Page 69 of A Touch Charmed

“Let them sleep,” I said. “You can fill them in when Thora and I are on the boat.”

I had a feeling this would be one of the last restful nights the two of them would get for a while. The curse could, and probably would, continue to hit us with physical attacks, but without the poison, it couldn’t do significant damage. Which meant it would likely store up some of its energy until it could make a play at trapping us here.

It would be up to Violet and Donovan at that point. Violet was the only one who could put up a fight underwater without using scuba equipment.

Back at Wes and Audrey’s house, Wes poured us all drinks, then went for a second round when Thora told him everything she’d learned from Nirah, and what had happened with the song and cloak. He and Audrey exchanged several worried looks between them.

I threw back another shot. Losing the cave would drive the stakes higher, but the curse was always going to press on. Its plan had been set in motion long before any of us had been born. There wasn’t anything we could do but face it.

“I can ask my grandma if she knows what the cave was before the descendants trapped the curse inside it.” Audrey swirled her whiskey around her glass. “But I don’t think she knows either, or she would’ve told me about it. That information might be lost.”

“I’m just going to accept from here on out that the legend as a whole is useless,” Wes said. “We can’t rely on it for anything other than the order of attacks.”

“I think we just need to read between the lines more.” Audrey had been a staunch believer in the legend all her life. It was tough for her to let that go. “Ophiuchus was involved, just not the way we thought. Technically, he did create the curse, since he created Nirah.”

“I love how bad you want the legend to mean something, baby.” He kissed the top of her head. “But it looks like I was right about it being bullshit all along.”

She elbowed him hard in the ribs and he let out a laugh, pulling her closer to him.

“How soon before Galen can get an alarm system up and running?” Audrey asked.

“I don’t know.” I hadn’t talked to him about it in a few days. Mostly because I’d been avoiding having to tell him that he matched with Kenna Everett, but I’d have to drag my ass up to his cabin and subject myself to more drama eventually.

So far, the curse had only gone after those of us who had used magic, but it wouldn’t stay that way forever. It had to know the identity of the other descendants. Eventually, it would wise up to how much easier it would be to pick off someone who couldn’t fight back. With Galen’s alarm system, we could keep everyone safe.

“Wes and I have been going back and forth on something for a few days.” Audrey carefully picked over her words. “We’re on the fence because we know how much the island relies on tourist dollars every year, but we also have to consider long-term ramifications.”

“What are you suggesting?” Even as I asked it, I could feel Thora tensing beside me. We both knew what they were going to suggest.

“We should think seriously about closing the island for the rest of the summer.” Wes downed another shot and refilled his glass. “It’s a big ask, but it might be necessary.”

“That’s more than an ask.” Thora knotted her fingers together. “You might be okay, but most of us don’t have a giant portfolio we can fall back on during hard times. For a lot of people, the money they get in the summer is all the money they get for the year.”

I stood and clapped Wes on the shoulder. “I have to agree with Thora on that, my friend.”

I got where he was coming from and I understood why he was saying it, but I didn’t know if I was being so understanding because my business wasn’t as seasonal as the tourist shops. People like Violet’s family would go under within a week. It was that dependent on summer business. The only person in my family who would take a hit in income from shutting down for the summer would be my dad, and I’d just hire him on until we could open again.

Wes would take care of the residents. I had no doubt he’d given this a ton of thought before bringing it to us, but whether or not they’d let him was a whole different story. People on the island had a lot of pride. The help wouldn’t sit well with any of them.

“It’s a rock and a hard place.” Wes rubbed his temples. “The next step for the curse is to trap everyone on the island. So, do we shut down now and get everyone out of here while we can? Or do we wait and let the curse take this town, our families, down with it?”

“You’re saying that like you think we’re not going to beat it.” Thora straightened her spine. “If you’re already talking like we’re lost, what hope do we have?”

“I think we’ll win.” The worry line in Wes’s brow deepened. “I’m just not sure what it will cost. Even the original descendants lost twelve square miles of land, and they bargained for the rest. That was never going to be an option for us.”

Thora frowned as indecision zigzagged in her energy. She was already thinking like a mayor, weighing what would be best for Zodiac Cove as a whole. None of us wanted innocent people here once the curse trapped us. Right now, it was only going after those of us with magic. But how long before it targeted bystanders?

“We have to think about the long term, too,” I said quietly.

I’d already pushed back my jobs another week, but how available could I be if I spent all my time running around healing people? If the curse started picking off residents, would anyone really give a shit about new cabinets?

These were the kind of questions every resident would have to ask themselves. There would be income loss for this summer, but what would happen next summer if a bunch of tourists died here? No way would people want to bring their families back to a cursed island.

“I don’t want anyone to stay here if they’re in danger, but where can they go?” Thora asked. “How will they survive? Most people don’t have extra money or a place to stay.”

“My family has businesses in Boston,” Wes said. “We’ll get them housing and a job while they’re over there. You know we take care of our own.”

“And if they refuse to leave?” she asked.

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