Chapter 10

CIRRUS

Wynter storms out of the house. She's upset and shaking. "Baby, what's wrong?" I stop measuring the banister and rush over to her.

"She's gone and I don't know how to lift the curse. I think she was the one who was supposed to show me."

"Who?" I am confused.

"Corrine. The spirit that was inside. She's moved on, and now I don't know what to do, Cirrus."

Becoming frustrated with me, she stomps down the porch steps and walks over to a willow tree. I follow her a few paces behind.

"There is something about this tree. The land is dead, but the tree is still alive," she mumbles and I observe what she's seeing. The tree doesn't look to be very much alive.

Moving closer to it, she touches the bark and closes her eyes.

A loud voice swirls in the air as her hair lifts from the gust of wind.

"Nafari child, heal the land and your heart. That's the only way to break the curse. Make what was wrong right again."

Wynter opens her eyes and frowns. I look around at the mess that surrounds us and groan.

"How are we supposed to fix this? The dark magic surrounding this town is keeping the land sick," I mumble, and she looks at me. Her eyes widen, and she seems excited.

"Cirrus, the vision. The night we kissed! We were here. The house was beautiful, the land green and lucious. That's it. To break the curse we have to restore my family's home."

I look around again at all the destruction and groan.

"Bumble cakes, how the fuck are we going to do that?"

ASTOR

Rus is a fucking idiot. I can't believe I am spending my vacation days tracking him down in bum fuck nowhere to tell him he's being stupid. I mean camping sounds fun, but for his bachelor party?

"I haven't been camping in years," Sin says while packing up a tote full of supplies.

I load up a cooler full of drinks and snacks, then dump it in the back seat.

"But damn I'm not looking forward to three days stuck in a car. We will have to find some spots to stop or something."

I nod and continue going through my backpack. I just finished a big case and could use the break, but I'll still need to do some work. I have other cases to go over and some research to do.

"That's fine as long as you take turns driving. I have a few dispositions to read," I mumble, making sure I have Mr. Bates files and information.

"Astor, this is supposed to be a vacation. No work."

"Yeah, I can't commit to two weeks of not working. I will go offline while we camp."

"Because you don't have any choice. There is no signal," he mutters, then sighs.

Sin tosses his bag and a few blankets in the back, then nods his head toward the totes. Moving over to help him, I curse him out a little at how fucking heavy these are.

"Do you think we will really need all this shit," I complain and he laughs.

"No idea. Rus wasn't very informative. For all I know we could get to this Spells Hollow and it's a fucking glamping place."

"Better not be! I hate all that frou-frou shit."

Loading up the tent and supplies, I close the hitch and then lock up the house while Sin talks to his neighbor. They are going to keep an eye on the place.

When he returns he's all smiles and I make a promise to push my asshole mood to the side. He deserves to have some fun.

"So what do we know about Spells Hollow?"

"Shit all. Google doesn't have any info on this place except some haunted bullshit and urban legends."

"Great," I say, sighing, turning on the truck. "Load up the tunes, let's get on the road then."

"Are we there yet," Arsen whines, and I'm about to fucking throttle him.

"No, we are still stuck in traffic on the 40 East. Just like we've been for the last hour," I grumble, then go back to emailing my secretary.

There was a nasty accident. We heard it on the radio as we were driving, and like an idiot, I didn't put two and two together. So instead of taking an alternate route, I continued driving into this massive traffic jam.

We haven't moved in over thirty minutes, so I parked the car, rolled the windows down and turned the engine off. A few people in front of me actually decided to get out of their car and stretch.

I'm contemplating kicking Sin out for a few minutes so he can fucking frollick in the wildflowers on the side of the road or something.

"Didn't you bring your Kindle, or Nintendo with you? You know how much you hate to be sentient for a long time with nothing to do."

"It died and I brought the wrong charger so the next truck stop we find, I need to buy one."

"Well that sign for the Loves was a half mile back. Maybe you should get out and walk, and I'll pick you up there if we ever move?"

"Hmm, tempting, but no. I think I'm going to rest my eyes."

Grunting, I send my email and wait for her to reply. I may have given her a few days off, but she knows not to leave me waiting long. I am a fair boss and I pay her well, but when it comes to my job, I'm known to be a bit of a workaholic.

Lights flash behind me and a cop car comes screaming past us on the shoulder, almost hitting the guy in front of us that was doing some form of yoga stretch.

He yells at the cop, but I don't think he can hear him or even cares. He's on a mission to get to the scene of the accident.

"Can you believe that guy," the man shouts to his wife, who is currently in a downward dog position in some tiny ass shorts.

I get stretching when you're on a road trip, but they are taking this to the extreme.

"Marla, I can see your ass, woman," he snaps, and I turn my eyes back to my phone as he searches for someone to berate.

"Karl, it's fine. I'm wearing panties today," she yells back, then moans obscenely, stretching lower.

"What the hell is going on?" Sin mumbles, and I laugh, shaking my head. Glancing at him, his eyes are closed.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, bro. Get some sleep. You're driving the next leg."

"I am over this fucking trip. Like about to turn this truck around and go home. Fucking done!" I snap as Sin hands me the jack for my truck.

After being stopped for two hours for that accident. We ran into some terrible weather. Rain so hard that I could hardly see out the damn windshield and then when it turned into a drizzle, my God damn fucking tire popped.

"I think this drive is cursed. There is no other word to describe the amount of fucking bad luck we have had."

It's late, and Sin has been snoring for the last hour. My eyelids are heavy and all I want is to take a small nap. The coffee and energy drinks are no longer helping, and I have to piss like a goddamn racehorse.

I got us out of Nashville TN which was a nightmare to drive through. Like who the fuck turns left to make an immediate right to cross over three more lanes to make another left.

I'm glad it was late and not in the middle of rush hour. Yeah to say I'm fucking cranky is an understatement.

Smacking my brother in the arm doesn't work, and I need him to find us a fucking hotel. I have to stop. I need a bed and to stretch out. My ass is numb, and I'm nauseous from the fast food we've been grabbing.

Turning up the radio, I blast it and roll down the windows letting in the strong airflow.

"Wake up, motherfucker!" I roar and Sin jolts awake, his hair a mess and eyes droopy.

"What time is it," he grumbles and I smack the fucking clock. Like for real bro? It's right in his face.

"Find a hotel."

Pulling out his phone he searches our location then chooses one.

"It's almost five am. I feel like it's wasteful to stay here for a nap. Maybe we should rest, get some actual food. Hit the hot tub when they open and explore Knoxville?"

I'm agreeing before I even really think about it. This is supposed to be our vacation after all.

Turning the GPS on, I follow the prompts and almost cry when it takes us twenty minutes to get there.

We pull up, and I am shaking. "I'll order some DoorDash," Sin says, and I nod.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan, but right now I need you to go check us in while I try to unglue my balls from the leather."

He laughs, but opens his door and climbs out, groaning.

"Fuck me. We need a bigger truck," he complains, and I want to beat him with a damn baseball bat.

"Go, Sin, or I am going to kill you," I warn, and he continues to laugh like I'm kidding.

He doesn't know what I would do for a toilet and bed right now. I would do nasty, nasty things.

Climbing out, I do a few squats. My hips hurt and my back is fucking shot.

I will be taking full advantage of that hot tub after my nap.

ARSEN

I have a bad feeling. I don't know why, but something is up. Texting Rus again, I wait for him to reply. I know he doesn't have the best signal, but how was he calling Astor?

Glancing over at my brother, I notice he's still asleep. Yesterday was rough. We aren't used to being in a car for over fourteen hours. Plus the traffic, weather and blown tire didn't help.

I leave him to rest a little longer, grab my room key, then quietly leave. I've been in my swim trunks for a few hours now, waiting on him, but he can come find me when he wakes up.

Walking toward the elevator, I press the button to go down and wait. This hotel is nice. But for the price we're paying it better be. The doors ding, then open and a woman gives me a smile.

"Going down," she asks coyly and licks her lips.

"Yes, thank you." I know she's bummed when I don't flirt back, but the wedding band on her finger is pretty obvious, and I am not that kind of man. Though I have been tempted before.

Once. When a firecracker with plump lips, curves and midnight hair was marrying my friend.

I never acted on it, though sometimes I wish I had.

As we reach the lobby floor, I now know this woman's name is Lena. She's here on a girl's trip and she wants me bad.

"Well, it was lovely meeting you, Arsen," she coos before sashaying out into the hall. I grunt.

Waiting until she's no longer there, I exit and walk toward the pool and bar. Looks like I'm going to start drinking early tonight.

"There you are. How long have you been down here?" Astor finds me on a pool floaty with a cocktail in my hand. I'm a little buzzed, but not sloshed. Moving toward the stairs, he walks into the pool.

"What time is it? My phone is over there on my towel." I point to where my stuff is, and he shakes his head.

"A little after four. I didn't plan to sleep so long, but I guess I needed it. Work's been hell lately."

"No worries. I've enjoyed myself down here. I think I've decided to sell my house and move somewhere that has a pool," I mumble, then finish my drink. It's blackberry with tequila and it reminds me of her.

"Wow, but you love that house." Astor swims around me for a few minutes, then grabs the other floaty and climbs on.

"It's too big. I bought it on a whim with a picture in my head about starting a family. I don't see that happening any time soon, so time to sell."

"I'll ask Shawn to contact you. He's my realtor and friend. He's honest and trustworthy. He will get you a good price."

Sighing, I nod and run my fingers through my messy hair. It's sticking up all over the place due to drying with chlorine in it.

"Let's jump in the hot tub for a bit, then we can find a place for dinner. I want a steak," I mutter, grabbing my cup and slowly pushing off the floatie. I flipped it a few times earlier.

Astor follows me to the hot tub and I turn the knob to start the jets.

The moment I sit, I can feel the stress leave me. "Damn, I lied. I don't want a pool. I need one of these."

Astor laughs, but groans when a jet hits his back. "We have one at the condo, but I never use it. By the time I'm leaving the office or court house it's so late all I want to do is pass out."

"Maybe you should sell your condo and we find some awesome place together with enough room that it's like two apartments, with a kick ass kitchen, a pool and a hot tub," I suggest, and I can immediately see the wheels turning in his head.

"Fuck yes, that sounds awesome. I don't see myself settling down anytime soon either," he murmurs and then looks out the glass window, facing the outdoor section of the pool.

"Who thought we would remain bachelors? The man who thought he'd be getting married in college and the guy who was married," I grumble, then wince.

Shit. I shouldn't have brought up his ex.

"Yeah," he laughs, but it's hollow. "But as I recall the woman that you still want is available. Why not go after her?"

"Before last week at the bar, I hadn't seen Wyn in years. You know that. She still hates me."

Frowning, he sighs and then groans, standing.

"Fuck it, we can hit the hot tub later. Let's go drown our sorrows and eat some red meat. Then we will continue our trip to NY tomorrow. But tonight let's fuck shit up."