“By then I knew I’d fucked up and fucked up big, but the gate was open and I only had to keep you safe until the sixth day. Then we’d shut the gate and that would be that. But when Wapi attacked you in the ocean, I knew that the ball of light had lied.”
“What did you expect, Collin?” My tone was hateful and condescending. “Okeus is a liar. He’d do anything to get what he wanted. Besides, you told me that Okeus bribed you to keep the gate open, not closed.”
Collin stared into my face with more patience than usual. “Okeus is a god, Ellie, and gods are by definition self-centered, egotistical beings who will do whatever they have to do to get what they want.”
“You’re defending Okeus again? After everything you just told me?”
My hand was still linked with Collin’s and he grabbed my other hand, searching my eyes. “After you had your vision of creation in the ocean, you told me the gate wasn’t thrown open all the way when you and I met, that it was only partially open and only a few spirits were let loose.”
“So? Okeus lied again. Why are you surprised?”
“Ellie, you told me who escaped that day. Okeus hadn’t.”
The blood drained from my head. “What?”
“You told me that two spirits and one god escaped when we cracked the gate. Who was the god?”
“Wapi,” I whispered, horror washing over me.
“The ball of light came to me before the curse broke. Before the spirits and god were released. Four hundred years ago only one god escaped being trapped in Popogusso by the curse, and he ascended to the heavens to wait for hundreds of years. You saw it in your vision.” His voice was low and insistent. “Who was it, Ellie? Who convinced me to break the curse?”
My mouth gaped in dismay and the edges of my vision went black.
“Ellie, who was the god who escaped being trapped in Popogusso with all the others?” he asked again, more insistent.
Tears stung my eyes and I shook my head. “No.” Everything I’d been led to believe was an outright lie.
“Who deceived me and told me that you would be safe when you are anything but? What sick and twisted god withheld his mark from you until you finally came to me and I took you out on the ocean?”
My mouth opened, but I couldn’t make the word come out. If this was true, what did it mean? Not if it was true—I knew in my gut that it was. I’d seen the proof of it. Only I’d been too stupid to put all the pieces together.
Sympathy filled Collin’s eyes. “You know. I can see the horror in your eyes, but you have to tell me, Ellie, you have to tell me who betrayed you. Who betrayed us both. Which god really wanted to break the curse?”
My shell of control was cracking. The black edges were creeping into my peripheral vision.
“Ellie, who really destroyed your life and killed your father?”
“Ahone.”
CHAPTER FOUR
I was in the upstairs hallway, my pretty white princess nightgown billowing around my legs. I clutched Bunny to my chest, terrified.
I could hear my mother crying downstairs as the rain beat against the windows. A crash of thunder made the whole house shake.
“I’m going to ask you nicely one more time: Where is the ring?” a mean man asked Momma.
“Do you want my wedding ring?” my mother asked. “Here. I’ll give it to you.”
A man slapped her and she cried harder.
I knew I had to help Momma, but I was terrified.
“Amanda, I thought you were smart. Isn’t that why Higgins asked you to come to Charlotte?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’d hate to cut up that pretty face. All you have to do is cooperate.”
I couldn’t let the man cut Momma. I ran to the staircase and set my foot on the top step, but an older man’s voice stopped me. He whispered in my ear, “No, Ellie. Don’t go downstairs.”
Ahone.
“Ellie.” Collin’s insistent voice filled my head.
My eyes blinked open and I was blinded by the sunlight glaring in my eyes. A shadow crossed over my face and Collin’s worried face blocked out the sun. I was on my back and he was leaning over me, his hand by my shoulder, bracing his body. “He was there,” I whispered in horror.
Collin shook his head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Ahone. He was there the night Momma was murdered.”
Collin’s eyes flew open in astonishment and he gently helped me sit up, keeping his arm around my back for support.
“Ahone was there! He told me not to go downstairs. He wouldn’t let me help her.”
“Oh, fuck.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, trying to remember every detail. It was all still there, perfectly preserved like a DVD on pause; all I had to do was rewind it. “The man wasn’t there for me. He was there for a ring.” I looked up into his face. “She told the man who broke into our house that she didn’t know about the ring.” I shook my head. “She was lying to him. I know it, deep in my gut. But how do I know she was lying when I don’t remember anything else?”
Sorrow filled his eyes. “I don’t know, Ellie. Maybe you know from your memories, even if you can’t access them.”
“He told her that he thought she was smart and that was the reason Higgins asked her to come to Charlotte.”
His face paled. “Charlotte?”