Page 111 of Reaper’s Curse

I swallowed a chuckle and rolled my eyes, but I didn’t think I’d mind if Chace did go all doe-eyed. In truth, I rather relished the idea.

“I’m sure many will find you breathtaking in this outfit.” Camilla unzipped the dress and helped me extricate myself from the folds of fabric. “This dress was a joy to design and create, and the girls were a huge help.” Camilla placed the dress back in its bag and hung it at the back of the room. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to come early the day of and help you get ready.”

“Oh.” I hummed. “You don’t need to do that. Won’t you have a bunch of preparations to do for yourself?”

“We can get ready before we come.” She tugged her twins to her side and gave them a snug hug. “And the girls would so enjoy helping you and being in the castle before everyone else.”

I could only imagine what it must feel like to be young and walking into a magical, royal birthday ball. “When you put it that way―”

“Fabulous.” Camilla clasped her hands. “Then it’s decided.”

Kira grabbed her mom’s hand. “You know what else is decided?”

Camilla’s brow rose.

Kira tugged her mom toward an empty chair and then pushed her into the seat. “That me and Myla need a few minutes alone with Ms. Raven. You wait here.”

“Yes, child,” Camilla humored. “I’ll be right here, waiting.”

With a skip and a conspirator’s grin, Kira ushered me and Myla into the bedchamber and shut the door. I took a seat on the bed as Kira placed her ear against the door to verify her mom stayed put.

“Okay,” she whispered, turning toward the room and nodding at her sister.

Myla pulled several drawings from her cloth satchel. Laid them flat in my lap.

Kira bellied up to my side. “I’m going to translate for her, okay?”

I’d watched the girls interact and had a pretty good handle on their dynamics. Myla didn’t speak, or at least I didn’t think she spoke, but through their twin connection, Kira knew what Myla wanted to say. Just like Myla knew the places Kira visited when Myla stayed at home.

Kira nudged me in the thigh, prompting me to sit on my knees beside the bed. The twins flanked my sides and spread the pictures out in front of us. Five drawings in total. A female reaper, a specter (drawn like a ghost), a symbol, the palace tower, and a chair bound with chains.

I sucked back a breath and soaked in the images.

“This is the lady.” Kira pointed to the reaper. “Some believe the curse began with her. Because of the way she snagged Dad’s interest.”

This big, ugly curse all because of one reaper? I didn’t believe it.

“She took our dad and now governs the specters.” Kira shifted the images, pulling another one forward. “She sometimes uses the chair…mostly on me.”

Why you? I thought, recalling my dream of the underground caverns where the lady―Watcher―had Kira wound in chains, sitting upon a chair much like the one in the drawing.

Before I could ask about that experience, Kira shoved that picture aside and pulled forward the ghost. “These guys are bad for the people. Always hurting them. Making them forget themselves.”

“I want to stop them,” I said. “I’m looking for the way⁠—”

Kira raised her hand. “They’re here because of Daddy and Daddy’s family. The lady is owned by them, and for them, she brought the ghosts here with this.” Kira pointed to the symbol. “Destroy that, and her control over them will be gone. They will hopefully be gone.” Kira frowned, glancing up at me. “She is not a nice person, is she?”

“Probably not,” I replied. “Not after all she has done.”

I glanced from Kira to Myla, then squeezed them both to my sides.

An unexpected yawn rose through my chest.

I stifled it and returned my focus to the collection of images. “Do you know where I can find this symbol? The magic she used? And how do I break the connection once I do?”

Kira pointed to the drawing of the tower.

“It’s in the tower?” I asked, then pointed toward the terrace doors. “This tower?”