Page 58 of Cold Foot Curse

Jess clasped her hands over her mouth and stared at the cursed thing in horror. She was shaking like a leaf.

She’d known better.

She’d known better and she’d still lost herself in Kade.

This was her fault.

Everything that would happen from here out would be all her fault.

She’d fallen for him, and Kade would pay the price for her mistake.

Chapter Thirteen

Jess yelped in pain as the ache in her hand ramped up to unbearable in an instant.

She sat up in bed and clutched her hand to her chest, panting as tears of agony filled her blurry eyes.

It felt as if someone had jammed a machete straight through her hand, but just as fast as the ache had come on, it faded to nothing.

Shocked, Jess opened her fist and stared at the scar there. It was red and angry looking but hadn’t opened up or anything.

“You messed up,” a deep voice said from the chair in the corner of the room.

Jess shrieked as she realized who was in here with her—Tawk.

He looked relaxed in that chair, as if he had been sitting there for a while. His hands were clasped in front of his mouth, elbows resting on the arms of the chair.

“Wh-what are you doing in here?” she stammered, wishing she sounded stronger than she did.

He flickered his fingers at the locket sitting on the bedside table, where she’d left it last night. She’d fallen asleep staring at it, imagining the blue was getting darker by the moment.

“That little treasure of yours is probably calling to anything with any extra senses right now.” His nostrils flared and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Can you smell the stink of dark magic?”

“Yes,” she whispered, heart hammering against her chest. “Can you hear it?”

“Bum. Bum. Bum,” he said in rhythm with the pounding in her head. “You sure didn’t waste any time activating it, did you?”

“Thirty-two years,” she uttered defensively. Thirty-two years without falling in love. It wasn’t enough, but it was something.

“Your ancestors had powerful enemies. I wonder do you know what they did to deserve the curse on your bloodline?” He narrowed his eyes. “I’ll make some coffee while you get ready. We need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk,” she said, finding the steel in her voice. “I’m here because I want to be. Sister’s Edge doesn’t own me.”

“No, it does not,” Tawk said from the doorway. “But you owe it to Sister’s Edge to listen to what we know about your little curse.”

Her hands were shaking as she watched him disappear out of the door. “Who else is here?” she called after him.

“Just me.”

What the hell was happening? In a rush, Jess kicked off the covers and flew into action, getting dressed as fast as she could. She scanned the room for her phone to message Kade that Tawk was here, but she couldn’t find it anywhere.

“I have the phone,” Tawk called from the other room.

Shhhit.

“You should be wearing the locket now,” he called out. “It’ll be calling for power. You’ll get it stolen quick if you don’t keep it on you.”

Since when did Tawk know every-fucking-thing?

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