Thanks. Standing right here, you know.
Leandra gives me an apologetic look. “Sorry. Yeah, I know. You are part of the family now. This one time, Taylen’s right about something. But we…we can’t really talk about it.”
“The pact,” Taylen goes on, ignoring the daggers his sister shoots at him, “meant we all got together—all five of us—and decided we weren’t going to fall in love. We weren’t going to let anyone else in because if we never did those two things, then the curse could not get us.”
I lean on the counter so hard that the glass groans. I shoot up quickly, remembering how old these things are. The last thing I need is to crash through it like a freaking robber with a cord malfunction dropping down from the ceiling. “What curse?”
Leandra makes a sound like a pissed-off cat. “Now you’ve done it, Tay! Are you for real? You can’t tell her about it!”
“Why not? Ellis knows.”
“Yeah, but Ellis is Ash’s fiancée, and the stupid ring got stuck on her finger and cursed her, so she had to find out about it. That specific instance just made sense. But in this case, we can’t tell her. She’ll get so scared that she’ll…”
“What. Curse?” I repeat a little vehemently.
Leandra angles away, so I can’t see her face, and Taylen looks down at his shoes, which his sister has stomped a good number of times. She’s wearing heels, so I wonder how she could damage his toes in the sturdy-looking brown leather he has on. He’s wearing a suit, which means he came from work, or maybe he just likes suits. Leandra is wearing another stunning dress, this one a scarlet color that shouldn’t look good on her with her pale skin, but somehow, it looks incredible molded to her tall, shapely figure.
“We were talking about attachments,” Leandra huffs, her head down. “And how Toren’s always avoided them, but you’re different. And Milo. You’re both wonderful for him, and we just wanted to thank you with all our hearts for being so good for our brother.”
“But you should still know about the curse,” Taylen insists.
Leandra throws her hands up. “Fine! I give up. Just tell her then. Tell her and see what happens!”
“It’s nothing bad,” Taylen says, probably to mitigate the buttload of fear I’m feeling now that I know Toren’s cursed. Or…what did they say about Ash’s fiancée? Did the curse transfer to her through him? What was that about her getting a ring stuck on?
Jeepers. Only in New Orleans. And maybe only the Cromwells. They’re the kind of crazy family that crazy things would happen to. Such as curses.
“Well, go ahead. She’s shaking now. Thanks a lot, dorkus malorkus.”
“Sorry, Luna. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay.” I refuse to grip the counter again. Or grind my teeth or start quaking like a scared rabbit staring down a hungry carrot come to life to pull a reverse food chain trick on it.
“It’s not,” Leandra sighs.
“It is,” Taylen insists. “So, the curse. A few years ago, Granny gave us each an heirloom. She went and had them all cursed before handing them over. Anyway, it’s supposed to lead us to our soulmates. Ash got a ring. Ellis accidentally put it on, and then it wouldn’t come off, but while they were trying to get the bloody thing detached from her body without cutting off any parts, they realized they were falling in love and were soulmates. You should see Ash’s art now that he’s happy. Dang. They say happiness is the greatest killer of art, but I think he’s found his muse. He’s selling stuff like crazy. All he ever did were abstracts before, but now he’s painting all sorts of things. He’s done a few of Ellis, and they’re amazing.”
“Right. I forgot Ash paints.” I don’t realize I’ve said it out loud until Leandra laughs.
“It’s us—the Cromwells. We can be a tad bit overwhelming when we’re all together. Plus, you had your hands full with other stuff. Catching up after five years, cleaning Milo up after he took a cake bath, and fending off one nosy Granny.”
Cursed heirlooms.
I don’t mean to make it into a big deal, but my stomach suddenly sloshes up and down repeatedly, and my head spins. I can feel a throbbing coming on, signaling one heck of a headache. This one is definitely stress-induced.
I don’t want to ask. I shouldn’t ask. Goodness, mercy, lemon meringue pie. “W—what did Toren get?” Somehow, the question is out of my mouth anyway.
“A bracelet,” Taylen responds, heedless of the major quaking going on inside me even though I swore no internal quaking was allowed.
“What did it look like?”
“Oh, it was old, but I don’t know. I didn’t really pay attention.”
“I don’t know what stones it had,” Leandra says. “He snatched it up so fast that I barely got to see it, but it was pretty.”