Page 34 of House of Hearts
I ignore the frenzied beating of my heart. “I wanted to haunt you, actually.” I clutch the pendant slung around my neck. He tracks the movement with a bob of his throat. “I just never expected to get haunted in the process.”
“As I recall, you don’t believe in ghosts.”
“I didn’t, but—” The words are small through my teeth. “I had every intention of leaving this campus today, but Emoree wouldn’t let me. She wanted…” I swallow and blow out a breath. “She wanted me to find your brother. That’s what she sent along with this locket, but I don’t knowhowI’m supposed to do that now or why, if it’s true, he’s not fully to blame.”
He’s fixated on the sway of cattails in the distance. “Our goals aren’t so dissimilar, Violet. You want to find Percy. We want to find Percy. You want to get revenge for Em, and honestly, so do we. This curse has been tearing us apart for generations now. It quite literally forces us to hurt the ones we love the most.”
My chest pangs at the idea of that. It’s a world away from the picture I had of Percy a week ago: a conniving, two-faced killer ready to kiss her and discard her without a care in the world. It’s nearly impossible to imagine him genuinely caring for Em.
I stare miserably at the water as it darkens minute by minute, burning away to a deep, fathomless black. “If Percy knew about the curse, why did he let himself fall in love with Emoree?”
“I don’t think it works that way.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t it?”
“No,” he retorts quickly, “that’s why it’s called falling. You’d have to be insane to jump in the first place.”
I flinch at his wording, and it takes a split second for him to catch why. He winces apologetically before shifting directions. “I don’t think Percy meant to fall for Emoree; it’s all part of this curse business. The curse knows what’s bound to happen before it even begins, and once it starts, there’s no stopping it. Though it didn’t stop my mother from trying to—never mind.”
“To what?” I pry, turning back to face him.
He bristles like he’s been snagged on a thorn.
“She was planning an arranged marriage,” he explains, a stiffness to his voice. “Funny thing about being cursed, it doesn’t stop your family from playing matchmaker. I think it might have incentivized it, actually.
“She knew there was no getting around the curse once in love, but she let herself believe she could end it. In a horrible way it makes sense, right? Mom picks out a daughter-in-law like a pedigreed broodmare, and no one has to die because Percy doesn’t love her. A win-win. Except there’s no dodging fate. Percy met Emoree when she transferred last year, and…well, you know the rest.”
We’ve reached the other side of the lake now, and Calvin expertly steers us back toward the pier. “I assume you’ve got a wife lined up, too? Or did your mom give up on that?”
He snickers. “Why? Are you interested?”
“In no way, shape, or form.”
Calvin lets his free hand hang over the edge, his fingertips skimming across the water. “No, it was always ‘the heir and the spare’ with me and Percy. Percy is not only the oldest; he’s also the smartest, the most talented, the most, well, everything—which means everything hinges on his continued success. The rest of us?Psh. As long as our mug shots aren’t plastered on the news, the family doesn’t care. But, for Perce, Mom had big hopes for him. And let’s just say scholarship girls are great for charity and statistics, but they’re not marriage material.”
“She didn’t like Em?”
He examines a speck on his sleeve. “She didn’t like the fact that he was doomed to kill her—as most mothers wouldn’t, I imagine. But even beyond the curse business, it was all about what Emoree represented. Her mother works at a laundromat. Her father, the mill. It was out of the question.”
If this were a cartoon, you could count on me to have smoke out of my ears at this point. “So that’s it, huh? She’s not good enough for your family?”
He winces at my tone, but I’m not done. “Her mother slaves away at her job—wakes up at the crack of dawn to get to the laundromat and takes care of everything. The owners live out of state, and they don’t lift a finger for that place. And if we’re speaking of fingers, her father has lost two to the machines at his factory job. They’re hardworking, good people; their jobs are a lot harder than your mother’s. How dare she? How dare you—”
He lifts his hands up. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t care howmany fingers the man has or doesn’t have. It’s my mother. She’s obsessed with image and the ‘betterment’—notice the air quotes, Violet; her words, not mine—of the family. I thought Emoree was perfectly lovely and I was happy for Percy.
“As long as it’s a fling and nothing serious, she doesn’t care. Percy was out here with heart eyes, and, trust me, no one expectsthatfrom me. No one expects anything from me at all, actually. I’m the resident fuckup of the family.”
I’m still fuming, so there’s no chance of me breaking out the world’s smallest violin for him. “Excuse me if I don’t feel bad for you.”
Calvin looks at me like I’m not seeing him, or at least not the full scope of him. Like I’ve got some caricature in my mind.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting pity from you.” He rolls his eyes and some of that stoicism washes away, and he’s back to being thoroughly amused by the situation. “All I want is your help. If not for me or for Percy, do it for Emoree.”
We’re back across the lake when the wind picks up, and I know immediately that this night will be another cold one.
He’s the first to get out, and when he offers a hand to hoist me up, I reluctantly take it.
“F-fine, I’ll help. Only because I literally can’t leave or pack my things or do anything and there’s only one person in this world who would be trying to hold me back. It has to be Emoree. She wants me to figure this out.” I dig my hands in my pockets and stare miserably at the pier beneath me. “Can you tell me something, though?”
