Page 60 of The Curse Breakers

“Bloody hell.” David still gripped my arms.

Trying to catch my breath and control my panic, I broke his hold and bent to pick up my fallen laundry. Some of it had landed in the blood, and I tossed it to the side.

“Whatdidthis, Ellie?” he repeated.

“Youknow.” Everything was suddenly too overwhelming “I don’t know how to make it stop.” I shoved the basket to the side and sat down on the steps, turning my back to the mess in front of my door. I couldn’t face this.

He took another look at the cat and then sat down beside me. “Why do you think you’re responsible for the behavior of a wild animal?”

“Because I set it loose.” I leaned my head against the post. “Not on purpose, but I was part of it all the same. It’s like I told you, I thought we were closing the gate.”

“You see these monsters in your dreams?”

“Yeah,” I took a deep breath. “That badger. Mishiginebig. A couple of others. I used to just see blobs, which is how the messengers of Okeus and Ahone looked right after the curse was broken. But as they got stronger, they began to look like things. I’m guessing their previous images.”

“Why does it eat the hearts?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “The badger told me that their manitou is purest in their heart.”

David rested his forearms on his thighs. “Bloodyhell.”

I sighed. “It’s taunting me. My neighbor’s dog…my daddy loved that dog. And now this cat.”

“Why would it taunt you?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “The animals come to my dreams every night too, begging me to save them from the spirits. And when I’m in the ocean, I can feel the creatures of the water crying out to me.”

“What do you mean youfeelthem?”

I rested my elbow on my leg and my cheek in my palm. “It’s hard to describe…I can sense them.”

“Who?”

“The living things. Fish. Insects.” I turned to look at him. “Plants, amoeba.” I paused. “I canfeeltheir manitou.”

“As a collective?”

I shook my head. “No. Individually.”

“Omnipotence?How can that be?”

I hadn’t considered it that way. “I don’t know, but it’s the only good part of the curse. Collin told me that manitou are recycled from being to being. But when the spirits and gods consume a creature’s manitou, it’s not recycled and the being is doomed to hell.” I leaned over my knees. “I told you that Okeus’s mark protects my manitou from the supernatural beings that have been released, but they also tell me they’ve been forbidden to take it. Okeus says he’s waiting for me to be ‘ready.’ I suspect that means he’s waiting for me to be unmarked.” I decided to keep to myself for the moment the fact that Okeus had vowed to make me suffer for four centuries.

“And then what?”

“I think he plans to take me.”

He clasped his hands and whispered, “Then you really are running out of time.”

“But I’m not entirely defenseless.” I extended my hand, showing him the mark. “I can send the creatures away to protect myself, but I can’t lock them away. I need Collin’s help to do that.”

“So where is this mysterious Collin?”

I shook my head with a grimace. “Doing what Collin does best.” I stood and took a deep breath before I turned around to face the mess in front of my door.

David stood. “And that is?”

“Looking out for Collin.”

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