The Curse Keepers by Denise Grover Swank

Author:Denise Grover Swank [Swank, Denise Grover]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BluA
Published: 2013-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The rush of power sucked my breath away. I was aware of everything at once, the Manitou of every living thing. Plants, animals, people. Bacteria, insects, fungus. The pulse and throb of their life force echoed around me. Inside me. Through me.

I was aware of the wind and the water, the earth and stars. The sand dunes in Nags Head, the ocean waves of the Atlantic, the storm brewing fifty miles away. I was in the center of the universe. I was outside the universe. I was everywhere at once.

What I experienced in the warehouse in Buxton was only a small sample of what I felt now. I wasn’t just a Keeper of the Curse; I was a Keeper of the Manitou of every living thing threatened by the gods and spirits. I felt the loss of the dead birds we’d seen over the last two days, the unbalance it caused. And more I hadn’t even known about. Deer in the forest. Cows on a farm on the mainland. Dogs, cats, raccoons. The Manitou cried for the loss.

It was up to me and the man before me to right the wrongs.

A magic more ancient than gods, as old as the birth of the world, flowed through our veins. Manteo hadn’t simply used the power of the Croatan gods to create the curse; he’d appealed to a much older force.

The birth of the world began with the earth and the water. I was the child of the water, born of the sea. Collin was the child of the earth, born of the land. We were the yin and yang of the Curse.

I looked up at Collin, seeing the same rapture on his face that I felt. I could feel his heart beating in his chest. The inhale and exhale of his lungs. The hair follicles on his skin standing on end. We were linked together by a force older than the world. By power that was strengthened with our union.

His lips parted in surprise as his gaze lowered to my face, and I realized that he’d stopped his chant. His fingers tightened over my hand, squeezing our palms tighter. His free hand wrapped around me, his palm pressing into the small of my back. We were skin to skin from the waist up with the exception of my bra, the rise and fall of our chests synchronized.

My skin tingled, burning with the ancient force and longing. I brought my left hand to his chest, the need to have every part of my body touch him overpowering all reason. His fingers moved higher up my back, flexing and gripping my skin as though he felt the same way.

I lifted my chin, looking deep into Collin’s eyes. The blatant desire staring back at me made me want him even more. I slid my hand up his neck, my fingertips trailing over his pulse. His lips parted more, his breath coming in shorter gasps. I wanted to taste him, to nip his lower lip and run my tongue over it.

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