Page 60 of Cursed Lifeline

Mortal or immortal, loyalty lies where the heart is. One day, something, someone, will come along and make you want to take a step back into the land of the living.

If only it were that easy.

With the watchers now turned half-fae, a bitter laugh falls from my lips as I realize the only one of us that will always be mortal is now Esme. Even if this loophole offers her a small sliver of immortality, she will be hunted in her next life.

By who?

Only damned time will tell.

The bigger question is, how do I find her?

Worse, how will I protect her so we never again meet such a horrifying, ill-fate?

As I succumb to temptation yet again and kiss her delicate lips, a deep yearning where my soul used to rest tells me I will know when she comes back to life. I will feel her. When she walks the earth again her soul will call to me. Curse or no curse, like my mother said, how we feel for each other is real. The curse is just tied to the outcome.

With Alfred, Caelum, and Silas now immortal and agreeable to help me break it, luck may be on my side in her next life.

It’s this advantage I hold onto, place my hope in, put my trust in, as I reluctantly release her. Hesitantly, I rise, knowing I have to face tomorrow if it means it takes me one day closer to Esme being brought back to life. Before I leave, I pocket the signet ring I will one day put back on her finger when I can finally love her honorably, and mournfully say, “Remember when I told you I’d never, ever, let you have my heart? I was wrong. I gave you my heart long before you ever gave me yours. I tried to fight it. But my damned heart always belonged to you. It’ll be the same in your next life. I’ll find you, and I vow to love you more than your last.”

Turning, I make my way towards the crypt door and stop just before I teleport out. A thought crosses my mind, something I said to her the first night we met, and suddenly find myself repeating now, “To truly play the game, you can’t let it be over before it ever gets a chance to start.”

Those words hold more weight now than the night I first said them.

Though I know my heart might not withstand the pain, I glance back at my beloved one more time and say, “Play with me, Esme. One more time. And I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

Transporting out of the crypt, the orange hue of the sunrise catches my eye in the distance.

Overhead, the same shrill, alarming sound of a raven rings out. Glancing up, I wonder at its presence. At its prophetic message. At its connection to an unseen world signaling upcoming events.

Death and rebirth.

My only hope as it soars above and eerily follows me back to my mother’s estate is that the tragedy of Esme’s last life will not be there to overthrow her in her next.

Part Two

song: once upon a dream | lana del ray

“Give every man thy ear,

but few thy voice,

take each man’s censure,

but reserve they judgement.”

-William Shakespeare

Hamlet

1922 | Paris, France

Twenty One

Alfred

SONG: The Stripper | David Rose & His Orchestra

The glitteringchandeliers sway and cause a kaleidoscope of colors to swirl before my eyes. Dizzy, disoriented, I lay my head back against the plush cushions of the velvet couch and bring my glass of champagne to my lips just as the dark crimson curtains open. The syncopated rhythm of jazz assaults my ears. My head sways, my vision blurs as I try to focus on the show in front of me.

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