The Curse Keepers (Curse Keepers series) by Denise Grover Swank Page B

freaking you out so much? Business is going to
explode
.”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know.” My reaction was embarrassing any way you sliced it. I was a grown woman. I needed to get ahold of myself.
    Marlena walked in from the back room and scanned the dining room. Customers were standing, the food I dropped was all over the floor. “What in God’s name is going on here?”
    People all began to talk at once. “Lost Colony… Roanoke… over one hundred bodies…”
    Marlena’s eyes landed on me. While she was always known for being in control, I was a close second. Finding me pale and sitting on a chair, covered in food, had to be an even bigger shock than the reappearing village.
    “What happened to you?”
    “I’m fine. It was just a surprise.”
    My cell phone buzzed again.
    I stood and took a deep breath. So, I now had five days to close a gate to the spirit world.
    But first I had a mess to clean up. “Lila, I’m going to clean this up. Why don’t you try to get everyone back in their seats? Marlena, can you tell Fred that he needs to remake all the meals from table nine?”
    “Ellie.” Claire leaned her face into mine and whispered fiercely, “What are you doing?”
    “I’m getting back to work.”
    “You have a curse to fix.”
    I grabbed Claire’s arm and dragged her to the back room. “How am I supposed to do that, Claire? I don’t have the slightest idea what happened, or how to fix it. What do you want me to do?”
    Her gaze fixed over my shoulder, her eyes widening. She looked like she’d just spotted the Better than Sex chocolate cake Myra made for the customers at the inn. Her mouth dropped open and she lifted her hand and pointed. “There’s your answer, right there.”
    I whipped my head around, and my stomach spasmed before falling to my feet.
    Collin Dailey stood in the back entrance of the restaurant. The door was partially open, the sunlight casting a glow around him. He looked like an angel with his impossibly good looks and an aura of golden light. I felt my resolve weaken until he opened his mouth. Condescension dripped off his words. “Do you believe it now?”
    My heart snapped closed like a Venus flytrap. Collin Dailey was an egotistical prick. But prick or no, unfortunately for me, I needed him.
    He took my silence as agreement. “We need to go.”
    I looked into the dining room, then back at him. “Now? I’m not done with my shift yet.”
    His jaw dropped in disbelief. “You’re seriously telling me that saving humanity from vengeful sprits can wait until you finish
your waitressing shift
?”
    “Well…” When he put it that way, it seemed ridiculous. But I needed the money to pay my rent. I was going to be counting pennies as it was. Not to mention I couldn’t leave Marlena with the chaos out front.
    He took two steps toward me and grabbed my arm. “Are you really this self-centered?”
    I jerked my arm out of his grasp, my anger making my head buzz. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
    His voice lowered. “I am a Curse Keeper, a descendant of Manteo and worthy to carry the title, while you, on the other hand, are a spoiled, self-centered fool who thinks this is all a joke.”
    My eyes narrowed, and it was all I could do to keep myself from shoving him out the back door. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”
    “You are shirking your responsibilities, and that’s all I need to know.”
    I had to admit that it was hard to argue with that, but his attitude was infuriating. “Like it or not, you and I are stuck together until we figure out what we need to do.” I took a deep breath. “Now tell me what we need to do.”
    All expression left his face. “You really don’t know?”
    “No.”
    “
Any of it
?”
    “She knows a little,” Claire said, still eyeing Collin with a hungry look. “She’s not completely clueless.”
    I’d almost forgotten she was there.
    He cocked an eyebrow, turning his attention to her. “And you