Page 210 of A Curse On Black Lake
“The Monitio Flos de Letum, the beautiful Death Flower, was all meant to be. It was too perfect not to use. Your ancestors are the ones who named it, so it only made sense for me to use it. I will admit though, it was very difficult to get the flower and cut it in time. But it certainly gave me a new appreciation for what you do. Drying is such a delicate process. It took me a while to figure out how to dry the flower, so it remained intact.”
“I — I noticed. It was very well done.”
Edward grins madly. “Thank you. Anyway, I hoped my last gift in your garden finally got through to you. Granted, I was angry.You’ve been spending a lot of time with Killian, so it wasn’t my best work, a little too gory in my opinion, but the rest, well … I finally got it right.
“Her skin tone, her hair, thedress.It was perfect. I picked her for you because I didn’t appreciate the way she stood by while that whore Jane Reed yelled at you. Being a bystander is equally as bad as being the bully.”
He pauses, observing every reaction. “Did you like it? Did it make you happy?”
Bile pushes up my throat. “Yes,” I rasp.
“Good, I’m glad. But that was simply part of it. We are destined for each other. It’s written in the stars, but in order for us to accomplish our destiny, we have one final act that I can’t do alone. Which brings me to why we are here, and when we’re done, we can finally start our forever.”
Everything must have balance. Everything is linked.
“Are they speaking to you?” Eddy asks.
“What?”
“The Spirits, you always get that look in your eyes when they speak to you. I noticed when we were kids. It’s yet another thing I adore about you. We’re they?”
I don’t answer.
“What did they say, Eliana?” he commands.
“Uh, they said you’re right. This is the moment.”
“See! I knew it. I wish I had your gift,” he says. “We have so much catching up to do, but you’re so … distracting,” he says wistfully, pushing back a few strands of hair with the tip of his knife.
“We are here because this is where it all started. Cassandra Jameson — well, she took on Radcliffe after Jasper was killed. He took his last breath near here. For a while, after his death, the town didn’t grow, about ten years from Jaspers death they got an influx of population, of course strange things were stillhappening, but they got to the point they had to center the town around more land in order for it to expand. So the Lennox’s made a deal with Jameson and sold the land. It’s been in the Lennox family ever since. So I thought the best place to end this curse would be where it started.”
“What do you think, my love?” he asks.
I nod.
“I knew you would understand.”
“I do, but it would be better if I wasn’t handcuffed,” I tell him.
He smiles, what I can only call lovingly, at me. “That’s fair. But don’t run from me. I like the chase. A few of my practice rounds learned that the hard way.”
“I won’t,” I rasp.
Heart punches.
Sweat drips down my spine.
Edward comes around and unlocks the cuffs, tossing them on the ground next to me.
I wait for my moment, watching from my periphery to come back around, and as he does, I hop to my feet and run in the opposite direction.
“You promised!” he yells.
Adrenaline surges through my veins, and I run as fast as I can up a hill. Then his body slams into mine, and we struggle, rolling back down the hill. We come to a stop, and he pushes my face into the grass. The dirt fills my nose.
He flips me onto my back, and I cough the dirt from my mouth as he grabs my wrists, pinning them above my head. I scream so loud my throat aches as I try to get free.
“No! No, no, no!” he screams. “You cannot run from me! I told you!”
