The Curse Girl (16 page)

With that cheerful thought ringing in my mind, I headed straight for the ballroom.

~

A crowd had gathered. Humans, faeries, trolls, and other magical creatures milled around or stood transfixed by what was happening. But nobody was doing anything to help. I pushed my way into the fray, not caring who I jostled. I could hear Marian’s voice.

“Are you ready for a life of unending agony, William? Are you ready to be a beast forever?”

Relief rushed through me. It hadn’t happened yet. She was probably playing cat and mouse with him, which was horrible, but it gave me time.

I reached the edge of the crowd and stopped short. Marian stood in the center of the room, her hands on her hips. Will was on the floor in front of her, crumpled in a heap. His face was buried in his arm, and all I could see was his tangle of dark hair and one of his hands, outstretched as if he’d been pleading with her.

“Your Curse Girl left you,” Marian said. “You’ve failed the test. Your time is up.”

Will’s voice was muffled. “Please, just spare my sister. And the servants … they’ve done nothing to you.”

“Silence,” Marian hissed. “You’re all alone now. It’s time.”

I finished what I was folding. I spoke loud so my voice would carry over the murmur of the crowd.

“You’re wrong, Marian. He’s not alone.”

The witch swung around. Will’s head snapped up, and his eyes found mine. A happy rush poured through me when our eyes met.

I was so glad to see him.

“You came back,” he said, and he sounded like a little kid. Lost, sad, and happy, all at once.

I took a step towards him. “I was stupid to leave you like that. I shouldn’t have done it, and I won’t do it again.”

Will shook his head weakly. Blood dripped down his forehead and onto his cheek. “No, Bee—you should get out of here now before—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Marian interrupted. She gave me a poisonous smile. “You still haven’t broken the curse. You don’t know how.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong,” I said.

Marian’s smile sharpened.

I gulped a breath and kept talking. ““We found your book of letters. I read one of them this morning, actually. And I realized something.” I took another step towards Will. “What were the words of the curse?
Unless the Brightest Pearl He Grasps.
Naturally, we thought this meant an actual pearl.”

Marian’s eyes narrowed.

“You see,” I continued. “We were looking for stupid necklaces. We didn’t realize you were using a metaphor at first. Deliberately confusing, I might add. Anyway, I read your letter. I made it into a key and when I got back outside I could see it without magic, and I saw what you wrote to Robert. You told him that all the gifts of love, all the human virtues are like bright pearls on a necklace, but the brightest pearl of all is the gift of forgiveness when the one you love has wronged you. At first I thought you meant that you had to forgive Robert for what he’d done to you, but then I remembered something you said to me. You asked me if I knew the depth of guilt, or the agony of betrayal? I don’t think it was Robert who betrayed you.”

She was absolutely still, waiting for me to finish. Her fingers curled into a fist.

“I think it was you who betrayed Robert.”

Will sucked in a sharp breath. Marian was silent.

“The baby,” I said. “Robert leaving you … it all points to one thing, doesn’t it?”

Marian shivered.

“And I guess you thought it was pretty clever of you to make him forgive you—for real—before you’d lift the werewolf curse on him. Of course, Will doesn’t love you, so when you cursed him by mistake, the solution was completely out of your hands, whether you wanted to release him from it or not. And as the curse consumed him, it consumed you too. It made you crazy.”

Her mouth opened and closed, like her words were stuck in her throat. She didn’t try to deny anything I’d said.

I turned to Will. He was raised up on one arm, staring at me with a mixture of admiration, amazement, and terror.

“Will, do you love me?” It was a very abrupt question, and he was taken off guard. I waved a hand. “Not in a, you know, romantic way or anything, but—”

“Yes,” he said, cutting me off before I rambled further. “I really do. I’ve never thought higher of anyone else before in my life.”

“Do you forgive me for running off and leaving you in the lurch?”

“Of course,” he said.

Now it was my turn. I felt as if I were proposing. “Will, I think you’re infuriating, frustrating, and thoroughly conceited sometimes.”

His expression faltered, and he swallowed hard. He nodded.

“But,” I added, my voice softening, “You’re also one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met, and for whatever reason, I care about you. A lot. I daresay you could call it love. Yeah. Love.”

I looked at the crowd, which had fallen silent. “He was pretty mean to me in the beginning, and then after I started to fall for him he lied to me about some things. He really upset me and hurt me. But you know what? When you love somebody, you give them another chance. Because that’s what love is. A lifetime of second chances.”

Will’s face had softened. Our gazes connected, and I swear I felt the electricity jump across the room from his body to mine. “I’m sorry I lied,” he said. “It was so wrong of me. Forgive me?”

“Yes,” I said. “I forgive you, Will.”

A sharp, electric tingle ran over my skin like a shock from a light socket. Will’s head snapped back, and he fall backwards on the ground with a cry of pain. A gust of wind roared through the room, blowing my hair back. Marian’s eyes fluttered, and her skin shriveled like an apple left out in the sun. When the wind still, she looked old and withered. She caught sight of her hands and gasped, horrified.

“Will?” I called. He wasn’t moving. I started towards him, but the witch blocked my way.

“Not so fast,” she snarled. “You may have broken the curse, but I’m not just going to let you walk away.”

“We broke the curse! You have to let us go. Isn’t that in the rules or something?”

Her lips curled in a sneer. “There are no rules, little girl.”

“Beauty, watch out!”

Marian raised both hands over her head. Something hit me hard, knocking me sideways. I skidded across the floor. When I looked up, Storm was doubled over in the middle of the room, glaring at the witch.

“She broke the curse. You’re being dishonorable.”

“Out of my way, elf,” Marian snapped. With a flick of her fingers, she tossed him aside like a rag doll.

I scrambled up to my feet. Marian stalked towards me like a lion approaching its prey. “Apparently you’ve made some friends,” she said. “But they won’t help you.”

Will struggled to his feet. “Marian,” he shouted. “Leave her alone.”

Marian stopped. She crooked her finger at me, and I fell to my knees.

“No!” Will lunged, and Marian threw him back with her magic. He hit the wall and slid to the floor with a groan. Blood bubbled between his teeth.

Marian turned back to me.

“Now then,” she purred. “There’s no one else left to shield you from your fate. I’m going to turn you into dust.” She wiggled her fingers, and a shimmering blue light appeared between her palms.

A thought clicked in my head. Shield.
Shield!

“Beauty!” Will yelled again, but I was way ahead of him. I knew exactly what to do now.

I grabbed a sheet of paper from my belt and began folding.

Marian hurled the magic at me. I threw up my hands, and the object in them turned real at the last possible moment. The magic hit the mirror and flew back into Marian’s shocked face. She froze in a single, crackling moment, her expression preserved forever in horrified shock.

And then she dissolved into a pile of dust.

I collapsed on the ground with a sob of relief.

It was over.

This nightmare was finally finished.

The witch was dead.

Will crawled to my side and pulled me to him in a careful hug. Was it my imagination, or did I catch a glimpse of the faery called Anna giving me a thumbs-up in the crowd?

“Are you okay?” I said, leaning back to study his face. The cut on his forehead had dried. He winced as I touched his side.

“Broken ribs, maybe. Otherwise just got the wind knocked out of me. You?”

“I’m fine.” I looked around for Storm. He’d been honorable after all. He’d helped us. I spotted the night elf slipping through the door. He turned, and I raised my hand to beckon him back, but he just shook his head and winked.

I guessed he wanted to preserve his reputation.

“Where did you learn to do that bit with the mirror?” Will gasped, gazing at the place where Marian’s dust lay in a pile.

“A faery.” I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand, and with the other I hugged him tight. I didn’t want to let him go. I’d come so close to losing one of the best persons I’d ever met.

His eyes widened at the word
faery
, and he shook his head.

“You,” he said, “Are amazing. Have I ever told you that?”

“Not enough,” I said. I touched his face lightly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Great,” he said, wincing as he got to his feet. He pulled me up after him. “Do I look less … beastly?”

The magical blue quality of his eyes had faded, leaving them ordinary and blue-gray like a normal person’s. His scar was still a soft, pearly white, but the otherworldly glint had faded. His black hair was rumpled from his fall.

But he was beautiful.

I leaned forward and kissed him.

“You’ve never looked better,” I said. And I meant it.

EIGHTEEN

When Will and I staggered through the mirror again, everyone was waiting for us. Rose bounded forward, grabbing me tight in a hug.

“You did it!” She squealed, squeezing my ribs. Over her head, I saw the servants—Housekeeper, Butler, and the others. Housekeeper’s face shone with a healthy peach glow. No more wallpaper skin. Butler had a pleasant smile and a balding head. He bowed to me gravely.

“Hannah,” Housekeeper said to me, her grin splitting her face. “My name is Hannah! I remember!”

“Mine is Winifred,” Rose said, wrinkling her nose. “I think I’ll stick with my curse name, thank you very much.”

She let go of me and ran to Will. I stared around us at the house. With the curse magic gone, everything looked old and faded. There were holes in the roof where the shingles had torn away. Sunlight streamed through them, making a shifting pattern on the floor. It was beautiful.

Will took my hand and kissed it. Together we began to walk through the ruined rooms. “What are we going to do now?”

I slipped my arm around his waist. My smile stretched wide as I realized the wealth of delights that waited for us. I never thought I’d get to show someone from the past around the present day. “There are so many things you’re going to need to do. Let me think … Ice cream. You definitely need to have some double-chocolate chunk ice cream. And a hamburger. Movies, we’ll have to introduce you to that. And we’ll need to find some place for you guys to live—oh, and my family went to the city! We need to find them. You and Rose can go with me. And the servants—they’ll need somebody to help them adjust to modern society too.”

“Your family?” His forehead wrinkled in concern. “How do you know?”

“I found that out when I left this morning. I found out a lot of things, actually. Like the fact that Drew isn’t my boyfriend any more. He’s dating someone else.”

“What?” Will stopped walking. He looked thunderstruck. “Is he crazy?”

I waved a hand. I was totally over the whole being-dumped-without-knowing-it thing. “Believe me, I’m no catch. By the way, do you have any money left in this old mansion?”

“My father’s inheritance should still be waiting for me,” Will said, still frowning. His eyes searched mine like he was deciding whether or not to say something else.

“Good, because you probably need to get your GED and then go to college. You’re probably going to have to get a job, you know. And Rose—”

“Beauty,” he said.

“And you’ll have to get your driver’s license—”

“Beauty,” he repeated.

I paused. “Yes, Will?”

“I told you before, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. You’re also the bravest, smartest, and kindest.” His blue eyes shimmered as he looked at me. “And before we do any of these other things you have planned, there’s something else I need to take care of first.”

He stopped and took my hand in both of his.

“Bee, will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my girlfriend?”

My smile almost split my face.

“Absolutely.”

And then he kissed me.

Read an excerpt from “Once Upon a Heist,” a short story included in Kate Avery Ellison’s new book
Once Upon a Beanstalk
.

Penelope scanned her official orders again before stuffing the papers into her bag with a sigh.

Her best friend, Tom Thumb, studied her face from his place beside her on the seat.

“You don’t look happy. Bad news?”

She was already out of sorts for having to use a carriage to get to the palace—apparently it was a wedding tradition for the guests to arrive drawn by horses. This piece of news only made her mood worse.

“Work, as usual,” Penelope said. “Apparently I can’t ever get away, not even for my best friend’s wedding. We’ve just received a tip that the Grimm Brothers will be in town for Rapunzel’s wedding, so I’m going to have to keep a lookout for them at the reception instead of enjoying myself. The boss is sending some manpower, and I’m in charge.”

The carriage bumped over a pothole in the road, jostling her against the cushions, and Tom grabbed hold of her pinky finger to steady himself. “The Grimm Brothers? That band of criminals?” He let go of her finger and sank into the pillow beside her, which was as large as a bed for him. “You’re still looking for those guys? I thought they were apprehended for their crimes a month ago.”

“Nope, that was just a copycat team hoping to impress their buddies. Apparently the real McCoy will be in town for Rapunzel’s wedding, probably hoping to stuff their pockets with expensive wedding presents. The boss thinks it’s incredibly lucky that I’m going to be present anyway, so I can use the opportunity to try to catch the devils.” She pinched the place between her eyebrows and sighed. The stress was already beginning to settle over her shoulders like a blanket of iron. “Oh well, it’s not like I had anybody I was looking forward to dancing with anyway.”