Page 14

After that, I washed up as fast as I could.

Kendall was sitting up on the bed when I reentered the bedroom. I felt a little guilty for what I’d done but still would’ve done it all over again.

I held my towel around my waist to prevent it from falling. “You ready to explore the beach? We’d better get going before the sun goes down.” I couldn’t help noticing the way she was checking me out.

Fuck yeah. There may be hope after all.

“Yeah. I’d love to head down there.”

Kendall slipped into the bathroom to change into her bathing suit. When she came out, she was wearing a casual cotton sundress over her bikini.

I’d changed into my swim trunks and put on a plain white T-shirt.

When we emerged from the room, we had to pass through Maria Rosa’s main living area to get to the front door.

When Pedro leapt toward me, Kendall instinctively ducked. The monkey hopped up onto my shoulder and began to nip at my hair before practically flying away again.

Kendall was caught off guard when Maria suddenly led her by the hand to a table in the corner of the room.

Oh shit.

We’re never getting out of here now.

“What’s going on? What is she saying?” Kendall asked.

Not wanting her to get even more freaked out when we’d first arrived here, I’d chosen not to immediately tell Kendall that Maria was actually a psychic and clairvoyant. The majority of her business came from people who walked in off of the street for readings. I translated what Maria was trying to convey to her.

“Maria’s a psychic. She said she’s sensing some negative energy surrounding you.”

Kendall swallowed. The fear in her eyes was palpable. We both watched as Maria took both of Kendall’s hands in hers. The old woman’s eyes were closed as she concentrated. I continued to decipher what she was saying as best I could.

“Maria says she’s seeing a baby…and it has two heads.”

Kendall’s head whipped toward me. “What?”

I struggled to understand Maria’s ramblings, which were a bit fragmented.

“There’s a curse that’s been put on you, one that you may not be able to rid yourself of without her help. She says there is something going on involving a baby and that the baby or you could be in dire danger if the curse isn’t removed. I don’t understand what she’s talking about with the two heads.”

I had to say, as much as I loved Maria, this shit she pulled always creeped me the fuck out. One night as I was getting ready to leave for the airport, she cornered me and told me that there was a dead girl on the other side who was coming through and wanted to speak with me. I freaked out so badly thinking it was Lucy that I almost never came back here again. Thankfully, Maria never brought it up after that day.

I decided to play around a bit to deter Kendall from getting too weirded out. “She said in order to remove the curse, you have to kiss me.”

“Are you serious?”

My expression gave me away, and she rolled her eyes.

I listened more closely to Maria. “Okay…I think I’ve been translating wrong. She doesn’t see a baby with two heads. She sees a baby, but the head of the baby is actually a coin with two sides, heads and tails. Does that make sense to you?”

Kendall turned pale. Either Maria was freaking her out, or something about this crazy shit was actually resonating with her.

I continued translating. “This represents a decision having to do with money that may also involve a child in the future.”

Kendall placed her head in her hands. This was upsetting her. I needed to get her the fuck out of here.

I turned to Maria. “Vamos à praia. Podemos terminar mais tarde?”

“Come on. It’s getting dark. I just told her we’re heading to the beach.”