The Curse Keepers Collection by Denise Grover Swank

days. The robin signifies today and the blackbirds are the five remaining days. The cardinal . . . ” His voice trailed off.
    I didn’t want to think too hard on what a red bird signified. My mouth turned dry and I swallowed. “So one of the gods left the birds?”
    “One of the gods or maybe a spirit, but it was definitely a message.”
    “Did you get one?”
    “No.” His mouth puckered, and he actually looked unhappy about it.
    We rode in silence the rest of the ten-minute drive. I didn’t feel like chatting, and Collin didn’t seem inclined to share any more information. Not that I could have handled any more information. I was overwhelmed with the little he’d shared. I needed to focus on retrieving the cup. Then I could think about confronting life-sucking spirits. I tried not to think about what would happen if we didn’t recover my artifact.
    When we reached Rodanthe, Collin turned down a side road, toward the ocean. On the Outer Banks, you didn’t have to drive very far on either side of the highway before you reached the ocean or the sound. But it soon became apparent that Mrs. Evelyn Abernathy had money. Her two-story house sat right on the beach, and if the structure had been damaged from the storm months earlier, it had already been repaired.
    Collin parked his truck across the narrow lane and leaned over his steering wheel, watching the house.
    “Got a plan?” I asked. “Because I don’t have enough money to buy it back. How much did she pay anyway?”
    “Eight hundred dollars.”
    Eight hundred dollars. I thought Oscar was being kind when he gave me five hundred. “Do you have eight hundred dollars?”
    He gave me an amused look. “What do you think?”
    I wasn’t sure why he looked so happy. We were screwed. I bet she wouldn’t take a hot check, not that I could write one. I’d run out of checks months ago.
    Collin pointed toward the house. “Look, there’s no car in the carport. I bet she’s not home.”
    “So we wait?”
    “No, I’ll go up and check it out. Stay here.” He opened the door.
    Something about the way Collin answered set me on edge. “I’m coming with you.”
    He stopped and pinned me with his dark gaze. “It would probably be better if you wait in the truck.”
    We had a momentary standoff before I lifted my chin. “It’s my cup. I should go with you.”
    Turning his back to me, he mumbled, “Suit yourself.”
    I followed him up the steps to the back door. When we reached the deck, I stared at the ocean, taking in the sea breeze and whooshing sound. Daddy used to say that we were born of the sea. Despite living next to the ocean my entire life, I’d hardly been on it, yet every time I was next to it like this, I felt something , a sense of belonging and rightness. But whatever the feeling was, it was even stronger today, and the mark on my palm tingled, especially the closer I stood next to Collin. Could my connection to the sea come from the curse?
    Collin knocked on the back door and stuffed his hands in his back pockets as he glanced around the beach. While my gaze was focused on taking in the scenic view, I could tell his was methodical. What was he up to?
    We waited for several seconds before Collin knocked again.
    “She’s probably not home,” I said, stating the obvious.
    He continued his scan of the area. “Looks like it.” He then peered through the large glass windows overlooking the sea.
    Against my better judgment, I glanced too. I’d never been inside a beach house, though it was my dream to live in one. My financial path made that dream nearly impossible and despite all my teasing with Oscar about marrying for money and my wasted efforts with boring men, I knew I’d never settle for anything less than what my parents had. My mother and Daddy, not Myra. Before Daddy got sick, he and Myra had had a comfortable relationship, which as an adult I realized was exactly what Daddy needed after Momma’s death. But Momma and Daddy had had