Chapter Three
It didn’t take long for Naples Community Hospital to be crawling with Rossis and Angelinos. Gabe’s entire, massive, noisy, opinionated, and incredibly close family was already in Barefoot Bay to celebrate the wedding of a family member they’d all thought would never get married. With the news of Rafe’s accident, they had merely shifted their presence from the resort to the hospital.
Lila had gotten to know all of them, to some degree or another. While she was grateful for their concern, love, and ability to distract Rafe from his pain and fear, all she really wanted to do was find Poppy and get more information about this damn superstition.
She must have gone for coffee, Lila guessed, looking out into a waiting area and not seeing her. Nino and Poppy had met Lila and Gabe in the ER more than an hour ago, and it was the first time Lila had ever seen Poppy cry. Not Nino. He teared up at the sight of a good Bolognese sauce, but Poppy was normally calm in any crisis.
Poppy was definitely taking Rafe’s fall from a tree harder than Rafe himself. He hadn’t had permission to climb it, obviously, but he’d thought if he was looking down on the grass, he would find the rings.
When Poppy turned to ask Uncle Nino a question, Rafe had scrambled up before she could catch him. Poppy had warned him to come right back down, and he had. The hard and fast way.
So Poppy took all the blame, but Lila suspected that wasn’t what brought the usually stalwart housekeeper to tears. It was the dream. The curse. The river of blood.
Now they’d lost something valuable and broken something that wasn’t easy to fix.
That left—
“He’s going to be fine.” Gabe put his arm around Lila and leaned close, whispering the promise he’d made at least six hundred times that day. “One bone, and the growth plate isn’t fractured.”
“I know,” she said, stepping to the back of the small crowd in the hospital room.
“You want to go outside?” Gabe asked. “There’s enough professional security in this room that a crowned prince would be safe, if you’re worried about Rafe.”
That was for sure. At the moment, Rafe seemed happier, joking with Gabe’s spunky cousin Vivi and her serious—and seriously handsome—FBI agent husband, Colton Lang. The two of them played off Vivi’s brother, Zach Angelino, Gabe’s tall and commanding cousin and co-owner of a Boston-based security firm. Rounding out the family circle was sweet Samantha, Zach’s wife, a Harvard-educated attorney; Gabe’s sister Nicki, the psychologist; and his brother Marc, a former FBI agent and bodyguard. Even the oldest brother, JP, had joined the group, showing that he and Gabe might rub each other the wrong way, but when it came to crises, Rossis stuck together.
Marc’s wife, Devyn, had stayed at the resort with their three kids and Sam and Zach’s baby, getting help from Gabe’s parents. Someone said Chessie, the youngest sibling, was on her way with Mal and their newly adopted daughter, Gabrielita.
“I know he’s safe, but…” Lila leaned into Gabe on a sigh. “I want to find Poppy.”
“She’s out there,” he said, guiding her toward the waiting room. “She’s been on the phone for a while.”
Lila spotted her, looking out the window, a phone to her ear, nodding as she listened and talked. As if Poppy sensed Lila’s gaze on her, she finished her conversation and hung up with an expectant expression.
“I’m going to talk to her,” Lila said, pushing up.
Gabe held her back with one hand. “Be careful what rabbit hole you go down, Lila. There’s nothing to be gained. If you get all wrapped up in that superstitious shit, this day will get even worse.” He held her gaze, love and determination in his deep-blue eyes. “We lost the rings, so what? Rafe broke his arm, what kid hasn’t? We’re getting married tonight, Isadora Winter Lila Wickham. Nothing is going to stop that.”
She smiled when he used the four names, something he rarely did, but it reminded her of their history, the depth of their relationship, and all they’d overcome to be together.
“Maybe there’s something we can do. Maybe Poppy knows something.”
“Something to unhex the hex?” One cynical brow shot north. “Yeah, we can grind the toenails of a goat and mix them with pig’s blood and drink it under a full moon. That’ll save us.”
She didn’t even smile. “But, Gabe. What if it’s Rafe?”
For a scant second, his olive skin paled, but then he closed his eyes like he didn’t even want to acknowledge the possibility. “Rafe is going to be fine. He’s going to be a ring bearer wearing a cast, that’s all.” He added some pressure on her arm. “And you are going to be the most beautiful, sexy, relaxed, happy, madly in love bride who ever graced Barefoot Bay.”
God, she hoped so. “I’m still going to talk to her.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, saying nothing.
“I won’t mock,” he said. “Much.”
“Gabe, I can’t joke about a life. It could be Rafe. It could be one of us. It could be—”
“The stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever discussed.”
“Then stay here and I’ll talk to Poppy.”
“No, I promise. No scoffing at superstitions.”
“Thank you. Keep your snide comments to yourself and I won’t make you drink pig’s blood and goat nails. Much.”
Poppy turned when they approached, her eyes still damp and a sheen of perspiration on her broad forehead.
“How is Rafe?” Poppy asked.
“Surrounded by loved ones who’ve managed to break every rule or bribe every nurse to stay with him,” Lila said.
“He’s going to be fine,” Gabe added, making Lila wonder if he thought saying that often enough made it true.
Poppy didn’t reply, but lifted her brows, her sturdy features registering doubt.
“Isn’t he?” Lila asked softly.
“Miss Lila,” she said. “You know I put all my trust and faith in our Lord and Savior, but…” She put her head down and pressed her forehead with her fingers as if her very thoughts hurt. “I love that boy so much,” she whispered, her voice husky. “I love him like he is my own child.”
Lila took her hand between both of hers, squeezing. “Well, he is my own child, so you can imagine what I’m going through.”
Midnight-black eyes met Lila’s as Poppy nodded. “And that is why I called my aunt Dondrea. She…practices.”
Lila swallowed.
“I take it you don’t mean piano,” Gabe said.
“She is an Obeah sorceress.”
“Jesus,” Gabe huffed, earning a sharp, heated look from Poppy.
“Mister Gabriel,” she hissed in warning at the curse she hated the most.
“Sorry, Popcorn, but a sorceress?”
Poppy stared at him, pain stamped on every feature. “I pray for Dondrea every day. I pray for her soul, because she has not accepted Christ but continues her…her darkness. But still, I called her.”
Lila knew that call was a testament to how much Poppy loved Rafe.
“Please,” Lila said, shooting a look at Gabe, willing him to just go along with whatever Poppy said.
Poppy took a slow inhale before she spoke. “I was right about the river of blood. When you have such a dream, when blood flows more than a trickle in a dream and you touch it, there is a…a curse.” She whispered the word as though it caused her agony. “There is a lot of bloodletting and poison in Obeah, and when someone dreams of flowing blood, like a river, it means that, somewhere, in the spirit world, much blood has been shed. Someone on earth has to pay the price.”
Gabe grunted softly with genuine disgust.
“Why me?” Lila asked. “Why did I dream this?”
Poppy shook her head. “The spirits do what the spirits do. They choose a target and have no reason.”
“Capricious bastards,” Gabe murmured.
“Just listen,” Lila said.
“I can’t abide by this crap,” he ground out. “It’s preposterous.”
Poppy pinned him with a look. “I agree, Mister Gabriel. With my whole heart and my whole soul, I despise this. I’m afraid of it. It stinks of sin.”
“Then let’s go back and entertain our kid with his broken arm and—”
“But Dondrea says the victim is the first person the dreamer sees when she wakes.”
She let that kick them both in the gut.
“And that person, if the curse is not reversed, will die that day. That very day.”
Neither Gabe nor Lila spoke for three or four heartbeats.
“Then it’s Rafe,” Lila said. “If this is even remotely possible, the first person I saw was Rafe.” She looked at Gabe who, for the first time all day, actually looked stricken.
“I knew I should have stayed with you last night,” he growled.
“Then you believe her?”
“No, I wouldn’t have let you dream.” Gabe looked over his shoulder as a burst of laughter came from the room where his siblings and cousins were gathered around his son. Lila could practically see Gabe fold. He was a man who treasured his family above all else and loved his son with his entire being. “What does this witchy aunt of yours recommend?” he finally asked, sounding disgusted with himself for even posing the question.
“A counter to the curse,” Poppy said. “You must find something organic that has been lost, but not by the dreamer or the cursed one. Lost by someone else. So the rings will not work.”
“Organic?” Lila asked. “Something alive, so it could be a plant or a…an herb.” She turned to Gabe. “Has Nino lost any spices lately?”
He just shook his head with a blank look, as if he couldn’t bear to respond to this craziness. Yes, it was crazy. But if there was even one shred of truth to it? Couldn’t he see they couldn’t take that risk?
“All she said was something organic,” Poppy said. “And then, you must take something that would shatter if you dropped it from your hand, climb to the height of Indigo Hill, and let it fall…without breaking it.”
Lila pressed her hand on her chest at the impossibility of that. “Where’s Indigo Hill?”
“In the Jamaican Blue Mountains,” Poppy replied.
“What else?” Gabe asked in an achingly tight voice. “Pins in dolls? A little bubbling witch’s brew? Maybe you have a sword I can stick in a stone.”
Poppy totally disregarded him. “Then you must take the person who was first seen after the dream, along with the person who had the dream, and fully drench them together in a water that flows. A river, stream, or waterfall.”
“How can we do all that?” Lila asked. “How do we find something we don’t even know was lost? Get to a mountain? And…well, I guess Rafe and I could take a dip in the gulf.”
Poppy nodded. “It flows.”
“Okay, okay, let’s do this,” Gabe said, fully in his get shit done mode now. “I have a plan. First, let’s hit the beach and find a fish that’s almost dead. Then we’ll walk on a shell but not break it. Stick you and Rafe in the water. Done, done, and done. Anything else?”
“The fish is not lost,” Poppy said simply. “And stepping on a shell is not dropping something from two thousand feet in the air.”
Gabe barely stifled a groan. “Oh, those evil spirits are so demanding.”
“Gabe,” Lila chided. “I’m really worried. This is like a wild riddle that can’t be solved.”
“I don’t believe a riddle that can’t be solved exists,” he said simply. “I just told you our son couldn’t be better protected. Between Vivi, Lang, Zach, Marc, and the rest of the Guardian Angelinos, nothing is going to happen to that kid. My parents are at a villa, and they’ll all take him there. Nino will cook. Poppy will maintain order. No one will take their eyes off him. And you and I will…”
“Find something we don’t know is missing.” She hated to put a pin in his optimistic balloon, but how were they going to do that? A fresh bout of tears threatened, but she refused to give in. Not today, not on her wedding day.
“All before sunset,” Poppy added.
Oh God. The tears burned.
“Where is my nephew, and who broke his arm?” They turned at the sound of Francesca Rossi barreling into the hospital waiting area.
“Hey, Chess.” Gabe reached to embrace his sister. Not far behind her was her husband, Mal Harris, a former spy Lila had known just about as long as she’d known Gabe. A tiny, dark-haired girl clung to Mal’s hand and kept her big brown eyes on Chessie. Gabrielita, the child they’d found in Cuba while searching for Rafe, was now officially the adopted daughter of Chessie and Mal. They’d rushed their own wedding and pressured the CIA and basically moved a mountain to get “Lita” home from the orphanage.
“Sorry we’re late,” Chessie said. “We took Lita up to La Dolce Vita, that petting zoo place by the stadium? Then we couldn’t get out because they shut down every road out of there.”
“Why?” Lila asked.
“One of the goats got away, and God forbid cars have precedence over an escapee goat. Cars with important aunts who have to see their nephew.” She turned to the room where Rafe was. “Though I see the rest of my family wasn’t blocked by traffic. Hey, Vivi!”
Chessie slipped away, and Mal followed, scooping their daughter into his arms to keep up with his wife. All the while, Lila stood stone-still, processing this new information.
A lost goat.
She gave Poppy a questioning look, and the other woman nodded once but held a finger to her lips as if there was yet another rule in the irrational world of curse-breaking. Secrecy.
Lila shifted her attention to Gabe, who was following the exchange.
“I knew there’d be a fucking goat involved,” he murmured.