Page 84 of A Curse On Black Lake (Black Lake Gothic Cowboys #1)

Chapter sixty-three

Eliana

We’re on the edge of the lake, the black water staring back, opening its arms to my oblivion.

“Why does that matter?” he asks.

“Because I don’t particularly want to die today,” I mumble to the water.

He laughs. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re not the one making the decisions,” he says.

I look around, still trying to figure out how to get away from him. I could try swimming across the lake. The section we’re in isn’t that wide. I could make it to the other side, but then what?

Maybe I can outsmart him, get him talking, and distracted and then make a run for it.

“Get on your knees,” he commands.

I shake my head, taking a step back from him closer to the water.

He pulls the knife again, holding it to my jugular. The sharp tip pierces my skin. “Get. On. Your. Knees,” he says, and barely flicks the knife cutting me.

I drop to the ground, pain shoots up my knees, and he stares down at me with a devilish look. I thought I knew him, and maybe I did, but he changed. “What happened to you, Edward?” I ask him.

His lip curls in a sneer, and anger wafts off of him in waves. But this isn’t simply anger. He’s furious, to the point of vengeance.

“I don’t know how you could ask me that. My parents took me away from you. They split us apart when we were meant to be together forever,” he says with such conviction I realize he truly means it.

“Eddy, we were seventeen, what did we know about anything?”

Child, you cannot reason with evil.

“I did,” he spits. “I knew I loved you from the moment I saw you.”

I try to keep my expression as blank as I can and squeeze my hands together, willing them to stop shaking. None of this makes sense, but I don’t know that there’s anything to make sense of.

We are sorry, child. So sorry it has to be this way. The Spirits say.

My stomach drops, and I swallow the tears building in my throat.

I’m going to die today.

“I wanted to bring you here because I want to tell you a story, but I think you already know the ending.”

“Why would I already know the ending?” I ask him.

“You don’t think I know about it, all of it?”

I stare at him, not sure how to answer that.

He smiles and rubs his thumb across my cheekbone. I have to force myself not to jerk away from him and think about Killian’s loving and caring touch. He’s possessive in the ways that make me melt for him. All the wonderful ways.

“Our families helped found this town, Eliana. It’s our job to end the curse that was put upon it by my ancestor,” Eddy says.

If he’s telling the truth, that would mean … does he know? The only way he could potentially know is if he went through the town records, and that’s if he was looking in the right places. But why isn’t Edward written in the records? We would have seen it. Wait … none of his family was born here.

Edward chuckles and drags the knife down the line of my throat to my shirt. I can feel the sharp teeth making a small tear in my collar. “How did you learn about the curse?” I ask him.

He hums and looks out over the lake again, knife still pointed at my throat.

“Your grandma Lily’s journal certainly helped.”

“You were in my house?” I ask.

“Of course I was, but I read that when we snuck into the study as kids,” he says.

“So what does this have to do with me?”

“Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought,” he sighs.

“It doesn’t matter. When I learned of the curse, everything clicked into place for me.

I suddenly realized my purpose in life — to end the curse.

But you’d have to fall in love with me first. And I knew that would be simple.

We fell for each other as teenagers. It would be even easier as adults.

But, in order for it all to work out the way I wanted it to.

I knew I had to practice. I would have only one shot with you, it would have to be perfect. ”

“What do you mean, practice?” I ask him, even though memories of finding dead squirrels, cats, birds, frogs, and sometimes raccoons, come racing back.

We even found a stray dog I had fed now and then, butchered.

I think part of my mind blocked it out because I love animals. It broke my heart to see such cruelty.

“I started small, of course. When I was thirteen, I hardly had enough muscle to overpower people. Remember how lanky I was?” he asks, and laughs to himself. “But once I did, it was simple. Smile, make a woman feel like I’m listening, and I care,” he says.

I start to open my mouth and ask how many women he’s killed, but my gut tells me to let him keep going. He wants to tell me about this.

“When I heard your Grams passed, I knew it was time. I was finally ready for you, for us. I came back. I left you gifts. What did you think of your perfume? It took me forever to get it right.”

My throat tightens, and anger, grief, rage flow through me. I nod, swallowing thickly. “It was beautiful, thank you,” I rasp.

“Good, it took me a long time to grow enough lavender for that much oil. I was hoping you’d have it on so I could smell it on you,” he says, leaning down, dipping his nose into my neck and breathing deeply.

“Oh, well, I should’ve grabbed it before I set the house on fire,” he mutters, and the bottom of his lip grazes my skin, making me shiver. The predator is at my neck, and my every instinct is to fight him, but I know I’ll lose.

“You did that?” I whisper.

He leans back and squats down so we’re eye level. “Of course, you needed a fresh start. Did you notice my love notes to you?”

I frown, not sure what he’s talking about now.

“The Monitio Flos de Letum, the beautiful Death Flower, was all meant to be. It was too perfect not to use. Your ancestors are the ones who named it, so it only made sense for me to use it. I will admit though, it was very difficult to get the flower and cut it in time. But it certainly gave me a new appreciation for what you do. Drying is such a delicate process. It took me a while to figure out how to dry the flower, so it remained intact.”

“I — I noticed. It was very well done.”

Edward grins madly. “Thank you. Anyway, I hoped my last gift in your garden finally got through to you. Granted, I was angry. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Killian, so it wasn’t my best work, a little too gory in my opinion, but the rest, well … I finally got it right.

“Her skin tone, her hair, the dress. It was perfect. I picked her for you because I didn’t appreciate the way she stood by while that whore Jane Reed yelled at you. Being a bystander is equally as bad as being the bully.”

He pauses, observing every reaction. “Did you like it? Did it make you happy?”

Bile pushes up my throat. “Yes,” I rasp.

“Good, I’m glad. But that was simply part of it. We are destined for each other. It’s written in the stars, but in order for us to accomplish our destiny, we have one final act that I can’t do alone. Which brings me to why we are here, and when we’re done, we can finally start our forever.”

Everything must have balance. Everything is linked.

“Are they speaking to you?” Eddy asks.

“What?”

“The Spirits, you always get that look in your eyes when they speak to you. I noticed when we were kids. It’s yet another thing I adore about you. We’re they?”

I don’t answer.

“What did they say, Eliana?” he commands.

“Uh, they said you’re right. This is the moment.”

“See! I knew it. I wish I had your gift,” he says. “We have so much catching up to do, but you’re so … distracting,” he says wistfully, pushing back a few strands of hair with the tip of his knife.

“We are here because this is where it all started. Cassandra Jameson — well, she took on Radcliffe after Jasper was killed. He took his last breath near here. For a while, after his death, the town didn’t grow, about ten years from Jaspers death they got an influx of population, of course strange things were still happening, but they got to the point they had to center the town around more land in order for it to expand.

So the Lennox’s made a deal with Jameson and sold the land.

It’s been in the Lennox family ever since.

So I thought the best place to end this curse would be where it started. ”

“What do you think, my love?” he asks.

I nod.

“I knew you would understand.”

“I do, but it would be better if I wasn’t handcuffed,” I tell him.

He smiles, what I can only call lovingly, at me. “That’s fair. But don’t run from me. I like the chase. A few of my practice rounds learned that the hard way.”

“I won’t,” I rasp.

Heart punches.

Sweat drips down my spine.

Edward comes around and unlocks the cuffs, tossing them on the ground next to me.

I wait for my moment, watching from my periphery to come back around, and as he does, I hop to my feet and run in the opposite direction.

“You promised!” he yells.

Adrenaline surges through my veins, and I run as fast as I can up a hill. Then his body slams into mine, and we struggle, rolling back down the hill. We come to a stop, and he pushes my face into the grass. The dirt fills my nose.

He flips me onto my back, and I cough the dirt from my mouth as he grabs my wrists, pinning them above my head. I scream so loud my throat aches as I try to get free.

“No! No, no, no!” he screams. “You cannot run from me! I told you!”

I scream again, and he screams back, in my face.

“No one will hear you,” he says, bringing the knife back to my throat. “Get up!” he yells.

The knife hits my heart, and I pause. I'd rather die fighting him than give him what he wants. No, I don’t want to go out this way, but he is right about one thing: it will lift the curse because I’ll die loving Killian.

I smile to myself, the irony. It’s hilarious, really.

“Stand,” he commands.

I get to my feet, and he grabs my hair to yank me back down the incline to the water’s edge.

Edward loops an arm around my neck, as if we’re hanging out, then he sweeps my feet from under me. I yelp trying to catch myself, and he comes down on top of me, pinning my forearms with his knees. I fight and wiggle, trying to knee him in the balls, but he’s too strong.

“I saved myself for you. I never touched those disgusting women. You are the only one worthy for me,” he says, dragging his lips across my cheekbone, and to my utter disgust, he licks my chin, up past my lips.

I tremble beneath him, and tears burn my eyes. Pinning my lips together, I keep the whimper behind them. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.

He groans, taking a deep breath of me, and a tear slips through. “It’s time, my darling Eliana. It’s time for us to live in eternity together,” he says, wrapping his hands around my throat.