The Island Curse

Worse

The ticking of the clock competed with the crackling fire for loudest noise in the study. I rubbed my finger along the rim of my porcelain mug while looking around the cozy space. This was Dad's room- his presence loudly proclaimed by the thick tomes on pirates and seafaring, the half smoked cigars he thought I didn't know about, and the loose papers with scribbles and notes jotted on their stained surface. The paneling was dated and dark. The furniture was leather, buttery and brown, and the only decor was the various maps tacked onto the walls.

I rarely strayed in here. The pastel and sparkling tower above my bedroom suited me more, but with my bones aching and feverish, it felt good to be sitting next to cheerful flames surrounded by my father's scent.

"So," I said, unable to handle the silence any longer. The sudden disruption of the quiet spooked Kieran. He jumped, sloshing his hot chocolate over his hand. The string of foreign curses made me snicker, and the fractious glare I received from him only turned the chuckles to full out belly laughs.

"Do you feel better?" he asked when my laughter subsided. He meant it to sound testy, but his full mouth slanted into a smirk as he spoke. Which caused my thoughts to turn to his lips and the fact that just an hour ago they had touched mine.

Squirming, I sobered up and nodded. "Sorry, I'm not sure where that came from."

"Probably just nervous energy," he said. "It's good to let it out."

"But not at your expense, right?" I arched a brow before taking a deep sip of my cocoa. The rich chocolate coated my taste buds, its texture the perfect blend of smooth and velvet. "Where did you learn to make hot chocolate like this?"

"It was my Granny's recipe. She'd make it for us every Christmas, and when she passed, she asked my mum to make sure she shared the recipe with me."

"It's wonderful," I said, setting my cup down. I'd never met either of my grandmothers, and until we moved to Halloran Manor, the only thing Granda ever passed down were stories of the Island. But I had loved every single tale. I wished he was here now. As if he could somehow make sense of all the craziness.

"I messaged Tara and Al. I think they should be here for this."

"Okay," I said. It shouldn't surprise me that they were involved. After all, it was Tara I'd first seen slipping into the cave. "It's just..."

"What?"

"How are we sitting here calmly waiting for people to show up so we can talk about a sea witch and magic? Magic doesn't exist."

"Do you really think that anymore?"

The talking light. The woman made of foam. Even the pool above my room. "No, I guess I don't."

I dragged the blanket over my lap up to my chin and scooted closer to the fireplace. The heat coming off the flames burned, yet I was so cold. Kieran crossed the room and put a hand over my forehead.

"Yer burning up."

Swatting his hand away, I exclaimed, "Of course I'm burning up. I'm practically in the fireplace. You probably feel warm to the touch too."

"Isla," he began, but he stopped when the front door banged open and Tara stumbled into the house.

Her curls were unbound and wild. Her bright yellow coat was splattered with clumps of sand, and one of her knee high socks was bunched around her ankle. Kieran was at her side in a flash, his arms going around her as he guided her into the study and settled her in his empty chair.

"Tara," I wheezed, "what happened?"

"It's Al," she wailed, clutching at Kieran's hands. She was shaking and her chest was heaving.

"D-did he..is he?"

"No." She shook her head. "Worse."

"Shit," Kieran barked, pulling his hands free so he could grab the ends of his hair.

"Would someone care to explain anything to me?" My shrill exclamation captured their attention, but the response was not what I expected.

Tara pointed her slender finger at me. "This is all yer fault. That's what it is!"

"Tara, don't say that."

"It is," she turned to Kieran, "she had to go and piss off the queen, and now we're all screwed."

"The queen?"

"Did you not tell her anything? What were you two doing while I was coming over here?"

Kieran snapped at her to draw her attention back to him. "You need to focus. How long has it been since Al left?"

"Right after you sent us the message. This was only ever going to work if the queen didn't find out Isla existed. Now she does, and we're done for."

"Enough," I screamed. The glass bottle around a ship shattered, the glass tinkling to the wooden floor. I paid it no heed. "Somebody better start talking and fast."

They gaped at me. Licking her lips, Tara inched away from the shards and stood behind Kieran. The blanket on my lap fell to the floor, and I marched past the two teens. Shoving my feet into a dry pair of boots, I shrugged on one of my dad's heavy coats. Between the tears from the sea witch and the wet, mine was useless.

"Going somewhere?" Kieran asked. He stood in front of the door.

"Well, from the little I gathered, Al needs help. We're not doing any good sitting here, and you can explain in the car just as well as you can explain it here."

"We can take care of this. You've done enough."

"You are going to stop blaming me," I snapped at Tara, "until you explain exactly what it is I've done. I can't even defend myself right now." The other girl blushed and looked away.

"You need to be resting. You practically died today." He pushed me back to the fireplace.

I shoved him away and dipped beneath his outstretched arm. Tara made a sound between a sob and a laugh. "We need to help our friend, and then you're going to give me answers."

"No."

"No?"

"No, I'll call yer father."

"Please do that. I'd like you to explain today to him."

"Fine, I don't mind. He knows all about this anyways."

Kieran couldn't have chosen crueler words to speak. My heart sputtered and stopped, and the room began to spin. Daddy couldn't know. When I'd tried to explain what I'd seen after the accident with Mama, he'd told me the mind could play tricks in stressful situations. Convinced me I was imagining things.

Jutting my chin into the air, I drew in calming breaths until the world grew still. Fixing a glare on my friends, I ignored what Kieran said. "You can either take me with you, or I'll call Ewan. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help."

Color leached from his face, but he yanked another coat from the rack and put it on. I said nothing when he twisted the knob and flung the front door open. "You stay in the car, do you understand?"

"We'll see," I said.

"Damn it, Isla. This isn't a game," he fumed, stomping across the yard and getting into his jeep.

Tara hovered in the doorway. All the passion from before had leaked out of her body, making her look deflated, but when I walked by, she grabbed my hand and squeezed. We exchanged soft smiles.

"Thank you for putting Al first."

"That's what friends do," I said, squeezing her hand back. It felt so cold in my grip.

"Yer right. I wasn't being much of one in there."

"You're worried about your brother. I can forgive that."

She opened the passenger door and pulled the lever to move the seat so she could crawl in back. Just before she climbed in, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I hope you can forgive us for everything when this is over."