Chapter Twenty-Three

Iris/Crina

The pressure against her stomach from Wade’s shoulder made Crina want to get sick all over his back. She had to think. Get herself out of this situation. Her jaw hurt from Violet’s punch and she vowed to get even.

Just let me go. Iris felt like a wisp of smoke. She could barely think anymore, let alone fight Crina for control. You’re a murderer. Your curse killed all those first-born sons. You will rot in hell.

Cease your jabbering. Crina’s thoughts were strong and angry.

Iris held onto whatever energy she had left. Or maybe this IS your hell.

“I said stop! Get out of my head.” Crina squirmed, twisting her body, her fists thudding against Wade’s wet back.

“Iris? Keep fighting her.” Wade’s voice boomed through her thoughts like an overhead speaker. Iris wanted desperately to touch him, but Crina had control and Iris couldn’t feel a thing. It was like having her head, arms, and legs strapped to a gurney. No matter how hard she tried to make a body part move, it wouldn’t budge.

But Crina had no problems moving. She kicked and punched Wade until her foot connected with his hurt side and he dropped her. She landed hard, her head and back smacking against the deck.

“Crap,” he seethed.

The pain caused stars to flash against Iris’s eyelids. She was back. “Wade, hurry. She’s gone. Get me to Daisy.” She sat up. Her stomach turned, bile burning her throat. Tears stung her eyes and tumbled down her cheeks.

Violet helped Iris to her feet and wrapped Iris’s arm over her shoulder for support. “We got this. Right?”

Iris’s eyes met Violet’s gaze. “My head. I can’t… She’s too strong.”

“No, she isn’t,” Violet protested. “You keep coming back. Fighting her. If she were too strong, you wouldn’t be here. So, come on. Man up.”

“Okay.” Iris sounded anything but strong. She shivered against the cold. Her wet hair stuck like ice on her face. But she forced a smile for her sister. Put on a brave face, Gram would tell her. She’d been saying that ever since Josh and his friends started bullying her at school.

Your hold is waning. Crina broke through her foggy mind.

Wade held his side and staggered over. He was soaking wet. “Let’s get this done before that psycho returns.”

It was like shards of glass sliced at her head with each step up the deck stairs to the house. Some party stragglers teetered down the driveway waiting for Ubers. Dena kept herding the few leftovers to the entry as Lauren aided a girl out of the tent. Carys held a green trash bag as she picked up red cups and other garbage.

“What happened to you guys?” Carys looked pointedly at Wade. “Were you in a knife fight?”

Dena pushed on a guy’s back. “Come on, dude. Keep moving.” The guy walked as if he were on a moving train. She stopped in front of Wade. “Oh gosh, you’re drenched.”

“Can you grab some sweats from Iris’s room?” Violet asked her.

“What about Wade? I’m sure your stuff won’t fit him.”

Violet glanced over him as though she was assessing his size. “My dad has stuff in the guest room.”

“Will do.” Dena jogged off for the house.

Violet guided Iris to the apartment beside the garage. Miri let them in and helped Violet cover Iris and Wade with beach towels from the storage bins by the door. Iris sat on the couch. She was so cold her teeth rattled against each other. Her head was silent. Was Crina gone? Maybe the cold was the key to keeping her away.

Violet kneeled down in front of Iris, rubbing her arms. “We must get you warm. You could get hypothermia.” She glanced at the door. “Where is Dena?”

Iris half listened as Wade told Miri and Daisy what had happened on the beach. Her fingers were still pale and like raisins at the tips. Her jaw hurt and she remembered it was from Violet’s punch only when Wade mentioned it.

Dena barged in with clothes, and Violet took Iris into the bathroom to change. The thick makeup Crina had put on Iris was almost gone. Mascara and eyeliner ran from her eyes like black rivers. Hints of glitter reflected in the harsh lights over the mirror. Iris struggled out of the wet costume and into her sweatpants, T-shirt, and hoodie.

The scent of fabric softener sheets on the clothes comforted her. Laundry and baking smells always made her think of Gram. She wanted her gram so hard right then. Everything always seemed okay when she was around. She pulled some tissues from a box on the sink and wiped as much of the black smudge away from her eyes.

A knock came from the door. “Hurry up,” Wade said. “What’s taking so long?”

Violet opened the door.

“Daisy is almost ready,” he said.

Violet came up behind Iris and gathered her hair into a loose bun, securing it with a hair tie.

Iris stared at her sister’s reflection in the mirror. They were like matching shoes, except one was a size bigger than the other. Growing up, she never had to ask Violet how she felt. And Violet never had to ask her. But ever since Aster messed with their fates, they’d become strangers. When all this was over, Iris would do whatever it took to get back to how they were before.

Wade peered in through the crack of the door. “This isn’t prom. We have to do this now.”

Violet nodded and stepped out of the bathroom. Iris followed her, but Wade stopped her, cupping her face in his hands.

“Whatever happens,” he said. “You know…I’m here for you. I’ll do everything I can to get you back.” Everything he felt was in those beautiful dark eyes of his, and the love there burned through her. She held back her tears, wanting to stay strong for him. Needing to stay strong for herself, too. She choked on a sob.

“I love you, Iris. Always have.” He kissed her, his lips firm and warm on hers. It was a kiss filled with hope and desperation. And fear of losing her? Because she was afraid of being lost. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips this time.

He loves me. Her heart ached and soared at the same time. She needed to hear those three words from him. But the evil waiting inside her head, waiting for her turn to take over, made them bittersweet. His lips left hers, and she leaned into his embrace.

She swallowed hard. “I love you.”

He lifted her chin with cold fingers. “You have been my entire world for so long. My strength. Every memory worth remembering for the past five years includes you. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t lose you now. Fight. For me. For your family. But most of all, for you. Promise me you won’t give up.”

She nodded against his fingers. “I promise.”

He kissed her again, with that tender desperation. It was too quick. When he pulled away, an instant cold shivered across her lips.

“Let’s get that spirit out of you,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to where Daisy stood in front of a circle of perfectly aligned tarot cards. Miri was by a table of lit candles.

How sweet. Did you forget I was here? Crina sounded angry as she pushed against Iris. Iris’s heart fluttered fast in her chest, and she swore a stroke was coming on. That familiar numbness overcame her and the sense of Wade’s hand squeezing hers faded.

“Get in the circle,” Daisy said.

A spark rushed over Crina as she gained control of Iris. She let go of Wade’s hand and slowly crossed the wooden floor. She needed a distraction.

The outside world was slipping away from Iris. She was too weak, and with it came an intense pain. A feeling of loss. She would never see Mom and Dad, Gram, her sisters, or Wade again. There was so much she wanted to say to them. Things she should’ve said every day. I love you.

Just die already, Crina thought. You’re causing me to lose my concentration.

You can’t win, Crina. They won’t let you. We can find a way to help you. Iris was reaching for anything to stop Crina.

I am truly sorry. Crina’s thoughts sounded sincere. If there were another way, I would take it. But for me to live, you must die. I have been in an unending nightmare since my death. Your soul is pure. You will continue on to the beyond.

Since her death? Iris had an idea. She had to let Crina take over for it to work. The floating sensation took over Iris as she let go, drifting into Crina’s memories.

The candles fluttered as Dena opened the door. “How’s it going in here?” she asked.

Crina kept her eyes forward, but her peripheral vision was on the door.

“Everyone’s gone,” Dena was saying. “Lauren and Carys are busy cleaning up. I figured the less people around, the less chance of more casualties.”

“Way to sugarcoat things,” Wade said.

She clapped his back on the way to Violet. “Just keeping it real.”

As Crina passed the table by Miri, her hand brushed against the wood, and a thought sparked. She flipped over the table, the candles falling off the top hitting the floor. The flames caught the flaps at the bottom of the nearby couch on fire.

“Get water,” Miri said as she stomped on the other candles to put them out.

Crina darted for the door, swung it open, and sprinted across the driveway. Her head hurt as her feet pounded on the pavement. She could hear boots thudding behind her but she didn’t look back. Iris had to die. That was it. She had to go away for Crina to fully take control and own her body.

“Crina, stop!” Wade yelled.

She kept running, not daring to stop. The neighborhood houses were dark. Hardly any lights were on. The shell of pumpkins with their carved faces stared at her from the porches, bringing memories back to her.

The faces.

Disapproving and full of hate.

She pushed harder, picking up speed. The air rushing in burned her throat and a pain stabbed at her side.

The faces.

Her parents.

Her brothers.

Sisters.

Full of concern.

The villagers.

Judging and full of hate.

Do you remember them? Iris asked. With each memory she released of Crina’s, Iris grew stronger. Iris found one image she believed would stop Crina.

His face.

Armand.

Crina had thought he loved her. He said he did. She believed him, or she wouldn’t have given herself to him, much less several times. They’d meet in the meadow, heat between them building with each touch. After they made love, they lay in the meadow on her mother’s patchwork blanket. Picked flowers and teased each other.

The faces.

Knowing and hateful.

Iris flipped through the images, concentrating on the ones she thought would hurt the most.

Again, her sister’s face. Mother. Father.

They knew what Crina had done. Performing acts that only a married woman was allowed to do. She was his wife, if not by ceremony but by actions. He betrayed her. Destroyed her.

Tomas. He wanted to help her. Marry her. Make a family for her daughter.

Oana. Small and helpless, with strawberry-blond curls. Her pudgy hand grabbing Crina’s finger. The murky river. Water burning her throat. The last words she heard from Armand just before she went under: “Crina! Please. I am sorry. I truly loved…love you.”

No. Stop, Crina pleaded.

I forgive you, Iris thought.

Crina stopped. The tears were hot on her cheeks. Was Iris causing them or was she? The emotions inside her were boggled. She couldn’t tell which were hers. A memory of Iris and Violet hit her. They were young with strawberry-blond pigtails, laughing and running on the beach with an older man struggling in the sand to keep up with them.

I am destroying Iris.

Her face.

Iris’s face. Kind and gentle the first time Crina saw it in the mirror.

She covered that face with her hands and cried.

Wade, strong but caring. He loved Iris.

Just as Crina had loved Armand.

The faces.

The footsteps behind her slowed. “Iris?”

Wade.

Iris turned. She was back. A rush of air brushed her face, cooling the tears on her cheeks. The faces. Iris’s family and friends. Full of love and caring.

“It’s me,” she said to him. “Let’s get rid of Crina.”

Wade came to her side and slipped his hand in hers. It was warm, comforting, as they walked in silence back to the apartment. The tears blurring her eyes made the streetlights look hazy.

The fire was out when they entered the apartment. A charred smell floated in the air.

Violet’s face lit up. “Iris?”

Wade nodded.

“Shall we do this?” Iris released Wade’s hand and stepped into the middle of the circle.

Daisy stood from her seat at the tiny kitchenette table and hugged Iris. “Don’t worry. I can do this.”

“I know you can.” Iris kissed her cheek.

Daisy let her go and took a seat on the floor in front of the circle. “I’m not sure how this works, but no matter what, don’t leave the circle.”

Iris smiled down at her. Daisy reminded Iris of the images she saw of Crina’s little sisters. All five of them. They had hopeful eyes, just like Daisy’s. But their eyes had wanted food to fill their hungry bellies. After each encounter with the Van Buren heir, Crina would bring home breads and meats to them. Sometimes even fruit. Armand was a generous lover, but he was also selfish. He broke Crina’s heart to be a count.

Daisy chanted under her breath in the Romanian tongue of Crina’s homeland.

Unbind the two souls intertwined. Release the spirit and send her home. Crina translated in her head. You impress me, Iris, but you will not win.

Daisy’s hand hovered over a card. The Empress card. An image of an empress sitting on her throne, a crown of stars on her head, a staff in her hand, and a shield at her feet. It represented new birth.

A strong energy hit Iris and her control slipped. She tried to hold on to it, not give in, but the next hit sent her back.

Please don’t do this. It was like she was sinking into a murky black pool, unable to move.

Crina knew each card. How could she not know them? She had been bound to them for centuries. When a fate changer takes her own life, her soul is trapped inside her tarot cards for eternity or until another fate changer released her. But because Crina sought revenge on Armand and his heirs, her hate turned her into the very thing she had created—the curse.

She hadn’t known about her gift. Her mother hadn’t known Crina had inherited the ability from her father. She came across her cards in the village. An old woman stopped her. Called her Lemniscate and handed her a deck. When she touched the cards, she claimed them. If she had known changing Armand’s fate would have sealed hers, she wouldn’t have done it. Fate changers are unable to change their own fates, or she would have. Instead, her anger and thirst for revenge brought her to kill herself.

Are you giving me these thoughts, Iris? Stop!

While Crina was distracted in the memories Iris was sending her, Iris pushed and pushed to gain control. A headache stabbed at her temples. Iris was almost out.

Crina glanced at the circle of cards, and Iris knew she would try to break the circle. She concentrated on her legs. Stiff and heavy like concrete.

Her legs shook as Crina tried to take a step but couldn’t.

Stop it! Let me go. A panic rose in Crina’s chest, and Iris had her. She pushed to take control, but Crina held on.

Wade, Violet, and Dena off to the side watched them with worried faces. Miri waved a lit bunch of herbs, sending smoke and a scent of sage across the room.

Don’t send me back, Iris. Crina’s voice was strained. Please. I can’t suffer it anymore.

And I should suffer instead? Iris yelled and used all her force to push harder. You’re crazy. You already had your body. Your chance at life. You decided to end it. There’s no do overs.

“No, Daisy,” Crina cried. “Don’t touch that card. Please.”

“I’m sorry. She’s my sister.” Daisy touched the card.

The empress on the card lit up and fluttered, then the others followed, creating a ripple until the final card settled into place. Images shot up from the cards, and Crina recognized them all.

Who are they? Iris felt stronger. Her fingers thawed like frozen skin near a warm fire. The images were holograms of people from a long-ago past.

My family, Crina answered.

The faces.

Her parents, her sisters and brothers.

Grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Oana.

The firstborn sons whose lives she’d stolen.

None judging.

None angered.

Only friendly smiles greeted her. Their eyes told her more than any words could. They forgave her. Just like Iris had. The hate left her heart, flying off like debris on the wind. A warmth rushed through her veins. It was a strange feeling. All she’d ever known was the cold.

Her mother reached out her arms and spoke in her soft, soothing voice. The language of her people warmed her soul. It is time, dear one. Time for you to come home.

Tingles and sparks rushed through Iris’s body as Crina came out of it and turned. She was beautiful with long wavy hair and big doe eyes. Dressed in the memory of a peasant girl, she wore a skirt, blouse, and shawl.

Somewhere outside, a car door slammed shut, followed by another one.

Crina looked pointedly at Daisy. “You are strong, little flower. My departure won’t end the curse. You must stop it. There is only one firstborn left. The curse lives in him. Find the new Armand. End the curse, and future firstborns will be safe.”

Crina stepped into her mother’s arms. The other spirits surrounded them, merging until they became one bright light, blinding Iris. The tarot cards shot up in the air and rained down around her.

There was no movement. Everyone was silent. The proof that there was life after death stunned them all to their spots. Iris glanced around at the others. “Oh my gosh! Did you see that? Was it real?”

Wade nodded soundlessly.

“It was real,” Violet said and hugged Dena.

“Of course it was.” Miri started picking up the tarot cards, as if nothing spectacular had just happened.

Daisy shot up to her feet and embraced Iris. “We did it.”

Iris hugged her back. “You did it, Daisy, and you were amazing.”

Violet practically knocked her sisters down as she threw her arms around the two of them. “She’s gone, right?”

Iris pulled back from her sisters, swaying. Her legs were weak and her hands were shaking. “Yes, it’s me.”

Wade caught her just as her legs gave way and held her in his strong arms. “I’ve got you.”

She twisted to see his beautiful face. Concern crinkled around his deep brown eyes. “Don’t ever let go.”

“Never.”

The door flew open, startling them all. Aster stormed in with Reese right behind her.