“You could be right, but where are you planning to go?”
“We need to go to theOnly Love.”
His brow furrowed. “You want to stay on a ship that in the present day is a wreck?”
“It isn’t a wreck for you, when you are aboard.”
Worry lived on his face. Fear skittered down her spine. Grace had never seen him worried before.
“That has been so for more than nine decades, while the effects of my curse have been consistent. I have no idea how theOnly Lovemight change now that I believe my curse to be changing.”
She could handle fear; it’d been her constant companion since before she left Boston. Now…now it wasn’t. Oh, she had the good sense to be afraid of DeLille and rising flood waters, but fear like that which sent her fleeing from Boston—that was gone. “Neither do I. I do know thatSweet Dreamsis not a safe place to be, as you havebeen trying to convince me. Your ship is the only other place I can think of that might survive a flood.”
“Even if it’s a wreck?”
“Wood floats, whether it’s a ship or a raft or a single plank. Besides, I suspect DeLille won’t look for me there.”
“What if he’s looking for me?” Luc asked.
“Does he even know you exist?”
“Remember what I told you about being attached. If he believes the legends about the cursed pirate, then he believes I exist. His actions certainly indicate he does,” Luc stated.
“Let’s assume he believes not just in you and your curse, but also the ability to control you. DeLille must think he knows where the gris-gris is or he would not eliminate his patsy.”
“Patsy?” Luc arched an eyebrow.
“A person set up to take the blame for mistakes or wrongdoing,” Grace said.
“Guidry certainly fits that description. Given that reasoning, you are right. We need to leave. However, I’m still not convinced theOnly Loveis the best retreat.”
“Do you have another idea?”
“No.”
“Then until we can think of somewhere else, theOnly Loveis our best choice.”
“As you wish. Shall I help you pack?”
“I can handle that. You need to make your own preparations.”
Luc took her hand. “One of those preparations is that amulet. You promised last night you would use it today.”
“Yes, I did. Can you get it for me? I need to clear the desk so we have space to perform the ritual.”
Minutes later, they stood, hand in hand, staring at the white velvet pouch atop the desk. Grace broke their hold and removed the red tissue paper from the pouch, and spread the paper open to reveal the amulet. Then she arranged the amulet on the table, laying the gold chain and cylinder to one side. “I understand this gold piece, now that I’ve done all that research.” She opened the cylinder’s latch and withdrew the small gold sheets. “The sheets in the cylinder contain instructions, telling the reincarnated spirit how to proceed on itsjourney. In the early Greek, Orphic tradition, the belief was that the instructions would help the spirit escape the circle of grief that they believed was the cycle of reincarnation.”
“However, you are not an ancient Greek, and you received this from a VooDoo priestess,” Luc said. A worry line formed between his brows.
“Knowledge of the ancients is imprecise at best,” Grace pitched her voice to soothe. “We do know that the Greeks interacted with peoples from all over the Mediterranean, including northern Africa. That, the tradition of these cylinders emigrated to one of the African cultures, from which VooDoo originated, is not out of the realm of possibility.” She bent to inspect the characters inscribed on the sheets.
“You said the instructions would remove the spirit from the reincarnation cycle. Will you and Grainne both vanish?” Luc’s tone was a mix of disbelief and concern.
“That is a possibility, if this is an ancient Greek cylinder. Because of its source—coming from Mambo Ayezan—I believe the instructions will cause the cycle to change in some other way.” She stroked a hand down his arm in reassurance.
“What would that be?” He spoke with studied calm.
“I can’t be sure until I follow the instructions.”
