The Price Guide to the Occult(33)

Outdoors, Nor felt a little better. She wrapped her grandmother’s sweater more tightly around herself and was comforted by the scratchy wool against her skin. The sweater was so large it practically dragged on the ground, but it smelled like Judd: pipe tobacco and cayenne pepper and the sharp tang of antibacterial soap.

Bijou, who’d followed her outside, trotted off the path, drawn by a rustling in the rhododendron bushes. His little ears pricked up, and his thoughts filled with flashes of wild animals — raccoons, rabbits, and wild turkeys. He was desperately hoping for a turtle. Nor crouched down to peer into the brush with the little dog and then fell back with a start.

What they were looking at was definitely not a turtle.

Glowing yellow eyes in a narrow canine face stared back at them. The red fox quickly leaped over her and, with two silent bounds, was over the fence and into the thick of the forest.

Before he disappeared from view, Nor caught a few of the fox’s thoughts. He was there to see her, not out of curiosity, but as if he’d been sent on a mission to check on her. What was stranger was that he was off to report that she was safe. Why would someone need to know that?

“He didn’t seem to like you much,” a voice said.

Nor jumped. “You scared the hell out of me,” she yelped, glaring at the boy sitting on the porch of Apothia’s little white studio. “What are you doing here?”

“I came with Dauphine and my cousins,” Gage said coolly. He tipped his head back and took a long drag off a cigarette.

Nor had the intense desire to punch him in his smug face.

“Then why is everyone else who came with Dauphine inside helping,” Nor asked spitefully, “while you’re sitting out here in the cold?”

“Good point.” He paused to take another long pull off his cigarette. “But then again, who else is out here with me?”

Well, he’s not wrong. Nor watched the ash spill from the end of his cigarette before finally admitting, “To be honest, you probably know a lot more about what’s going on than I do.”

Gage studied her, then moved over and motioned for her to sit next to him. “What do you want to know?”

“You’re going to tell me?” Nor was surprised.

“I’m feeling generous this morning, but who knows how long that’ll last, so you better talk fast, kid.”

I could probably get at least one good punch in. Probably. “Why do you —” Nor started, careful to keep a comfortable distance between herself and Gage when she sat down, “and a bunch of people I’ve never even met — seem to know so much about my family? Things no one else knows?”

“We really are starting at the beginning, aren’t we?” Gage shook his head. “Well, that’s because of an agreement made between my ancestors and the mighty matriarch of your family, Rona Blackburn.”

“What kind of an agreement?” Nor asked.

“A binding one, apparently,” he said sardonically. “Did you know it was my ancestors who put out the fire that almost destroyed the island? No, you’ve probably only been told about how your great-great-grandmother bravely saved all those books from being burned to a crisp. And Astrid Blackburn didn’t rebuild the whole island, not single-handedly at least. My family helped her, just like they’ve helped every Blackburn daughter, including Rona herself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Where did you think Rona went after those bastards burned down her house?”

Nor mulled this over. “So your ancestors have been here since —”

“Since before yours,” Gage said. “By the time the so-called Original Eight showed up, my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Lachlan Coldwater, had already been here for almost five years. He was kind of a hermit, but he had a wife, Nellie. They had kids, and their kids had kids. And so on.” Gage turned to look at her. “Do you get what I’m telling you, kid? Anathema Island doesn’t have eight colonizing patriarchs, it has —”

“Nine,” Nor finished.

“I was going to say one, but yeah, I guess you could say nine.”

The ramifications of what he was saying slowly dawned on her. Not eight original men, but nine. Nine. Nor’s heartbeat quickened with dread. “But you said your ancestors took Rona in,” she hurried to say. “So why would she —” She stopped herself before she could say it.

Gage gave her a look. “I know what you’re thinking. That’s the big unanswered question, isn’t it? No one’s certain whether or not my family is included in old Rona’s backfired curse. Every generation, the male descendants of my family hold their breath and wait to see if it’s their turn to succumb to the charms of a witch.”

Nor blushed. “You know about that?” she asked quietly.

“Of course.”

“And those descendants would include —”

“Yours truly.”

Of course. For a moment, Nor didn’t know what to say. It did clear up a few things, such as —

“Is that why you didn’t want to work with me on that science project in seventh grade?” she blurted out.

Gage stared at her and then snorted with laughter. “Fuck, I’d forgotten all about that.” He shook his head. “Yeah, but I also thought you would have made a lousy partner.”