Page 64 of Cursed Encounter
Sandra drops her gaze from his. I can’t read her face, and something is keeping me from being able to pull her emotions. I don’t have the first clue how to control my abilities, but I could really use the help now.
Her eyes slide to the side, pinning me with a curious look.
I inhale slowly, pushing down the fear slithering up my spine.
She can’t know.
She can’t.
I stop trying because I’m not strong enough to use my magic yet. Maybe one day… if I’m given the chance to survive this curse.
“Have you told my father where I am?” I blurt out. That wasn’t why I’d called a meeting, but I suppose it would be good information to have.
“He knows where you are, yes.” Look at her, answering without answering.
It makes me think my father is keeping tabs on Donovan even beyond Sandra’s help. I glance around, but I’m not good at spotting these sort of things. I suppose it would be good in the kind of life Donovan leads, and if I stay with him…
I cut the thought off. It’s dumb to think whatever this is between us will last beyond this curse linking us together. I suppose it won’t really matter if we both die.
I have to hold back a snort at the thought. I mean, it’s silly, but it’s the situation I’m in and how I’m choosing to handle it. If I don’t find it ridiculous, the alternative is curling up in a ball and crying. And, well, I just can’t go down that road.
“I’m running out of time,” I tell her flatly. “If this is a curse of death, then I’m struck with it too. Is Mr. Aubert aware of that?”
“I filled him in on what’s happening. I wish I could say he took the news badly…”
“But he didn’t,” I finish for her. Imagine that, my father’s happy I’ve managed to curse his enemy, and he doesn’t care if I go down too. To her credit, she does look regretful about delivering this information.
I know in my heart that I loved my mother deeply, even if I can’t remember her. I sense she was a good mother. But I can’t help thinking that she had to have been blinded by her feelings for my father if she hung on the way she had. All those years. All that time, not letting someone else in because she was so stuck on a man who used her and didn’t care about her. All the things she could have been spared.
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask. “There’s no way out of this. The Heart Bonding won’t work because it would be a lie. The magic would know. Besides, I can’t live my life that way. I’d never feel right tricking the divine spirits, even if we somehowdidmanage to pull it off.”
“It would help if we knew how the curse was set. What exactly did Mr. Aubert do? Say?” Fabien’s tone is almost accusatory. I want to smile at him so badly, but figure it’s better to keep my eyes on Sandra.
“I wasn’t there. I don’t know. As I told Astra, I refused to help him with it.” I believe her when she says this. There’s a hint of anger in her tone when she speaks about it. No matter how much she’s helped my father, it’s clear that putting a curse of this caliber on a child is too far for her.
“Do you think he was able to get someone to help him?” I ask. “Or have any idea when he did it?”
A long moment of silence goes by.
This is when the waiter chooses to swoop in and attempt to see if we’re ready to order. I can only imagine he’s been over there waiting for a break in this obviously intense conversation. I don’t know about everyone else, but my nerves are so shot I can’t even think about putting something in my stomach. I blindly order a grilled cheese. I think I saw it had tomato on it, which sounds absolutely gross and not something I would normally order. I suppose it doesn’t matter since I won’t be touching it anyway. Fabien orders a shrimp po’ boy, dressed.
“Your mother begged him to help her not long after you were born,” Sandra finally says. “I know he was back and forth, sometimes staying with you and your mom for days at a time. She shut me out, so I know nothing about what happened then.”
“And when did you come to work for him?” I ask with a bite in my tone. Something isn’t adding up. It hasn’t been since the moment she opened up to me.
“I was working for him before he met your mother,” she says. “I’m actually the reason they met, though it hadn’t been planned.”
I can see hurt in her eyes. A wave of regret and sadness washes over me, but it’s quickly drowned out by anger. Not just anger. There’s something more there.
When her eyes lock onto mine, the feelings vanish instantly.
She knows. Fuck. She knows what I’m doing and how to keep me from tapping into her emotions.
“Being away from Mr. Falco weakens you. I can feel it,” she says. She’s not gloating at this newfound information, but I can tell she’s filing it away. No doubt my father will know soon enough. “And you have no control over yourself. It’s a bad combination, Astra.”
I try to pull something from her because I need to be able to understand why she’s a part of this. How does she really feel about me?
It doesn’t take long to realize how bad an idea it is.
