Chapter 34
Gideon sat on his back porch, looking out over the yard he never ventured into. It was a shame, really. Would have been a great place for a dog.
That would never happen. In three days, he’d be in another town, starting over. Doing his best to once again go unnoticed.
It was what needed to happen, and yet, he felt like he was grieving. Like he was losing his only chance—
A sudden flash of light momentarily blinded him.
He jerked back in his chair, spots dancing before his eyes. As the spots cleared, a familiar winged creature appeared.
The sprite. He flitted from one side to the other, clearly agitated.
Gideon frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Sabrina tried to put me in the box! She promised she’d help me, and then she got Julia to do magic to spell me back into the box!” His wings were going so fast, they were humming like an angry bee.
Gideon’s eyes narrowed. Sabrina must have finished the box and was preparing to return it to Amelia tomorrow. His eyes narrowed further. “How are you here? I thought you had to be within a certain proximity to the box?”
“I do. But right before the magic did its thing, I realized I had two options. The music box or a piece of it.” The sprite shrugged. “You must have a piece of it here.”
Gideon shook his head. “I can promise you, I don’t.”
The sprite gave him a cutting look. “You do. Or I wouldn’t be here. Look, I’m not accusing you of anything shady. I’m glad you have a piece of it, or Sabrina’d be carting me off to that witch so she can take my magic for herself.”
Gideon thought for a moment. “You’re right. I do have a piece.” He dug into his pocket and took out the little glassine bag containing the corroded gear. “You’re telling me this was enough to get you here?”
The sprite nodded, crossing his arms, and looked pleased with himself. “Told you.”
Gideon’s curse was truly relentless. He stuffed the gear back into his pocket. “You need to go back to Sabrina.”
“Not a chance, bucko. I thought she was my friend. Now I see she was just telling me what I wanted to hear.” He sniffed.
“She’s still your friend. I’m sure she’s got a plan.” He hadn’t thought the plan was returning the sprite to the box, but maybe the plan had changed. “If she needs you back in the box, you should go.”
“Not going to happen.” The sprite did a quick fly around the porch. “So this is where I live now? It’s not bad. Nice yard. What kinds of flowers do you grow? I like flowers. Do you have a cat? I’m really going to miss Trip.”
“I don’t grow flowers, and I don’t have a pet of any kind.”
“That’s cool. You can get one. I’m sure there’s a place in town to adopt one. And flowers aren’t hard either. You can probably buy those in town, too. I’ll go with you. We can get a pet and some flowers.”
“I’m not doing either of those things. In fact, I’m leaving in a few days.”
“Leaving?” The sprite zipped over to hover in front of Gideon again. “Where are we going?”
“We are not going anywhere. I’m moving.” Gideon sighed. Speaking the words out loud did not make it better. “To a new town.”
The sprite’s hands went to his hips, and he flew closer. “I don’t think you understand how this works. I go where that gear goes.”
“Then I guess I’m leaving it behind.”
“You can’t do that! You have to take care of me. Or at least give the gear to someone you trust. Someone who’ll be nice to me and look after me.”
Gideon almost laughed. “That would be Sabrina.”
The sprite was unamused. “She’s a low-down, dirty double-crosser.”
“No, she isn’t. Whatever happened, you either didn’t understand it, or she didn’t get to explain it properly.”
“Yeah, well, maybe, but I doubt it.” He flew to the porch railing and sat, facing Gideon. “Why are you leaving?”
“Because it’s time.”
“What does that mean? Time for what? Did something happen?”
Gideon exhaled, but the idea of actually talking to someone, even if it was the sprite, was not unwelcome. “Sabrina likes me too much, and that puts her in danger. I have to go. To protect her.”
“That sounds dumb.”
“It’s not dumb,” he snarled, tired of hearing that word. “You don’t have any idea what’s going on.”
The sprite shrugged. “Then tell me.”
Gideon hesitated and looked away. He’d tried to explain it to Sabrina, and that hadn’t gone well. He had no desire to give the sprite more material to mock him with. “It’s not your business.”
“No, it’s not,” the sprite said, his expression softening. “But maybe I can help. I know what it’s like to be held prisoner by a curse.”
“I suppose you do.”
The sprite nodded. “I know you don’t like me.
It’s okay. You’re allowed not to like me.
But I like you. I tease you because it makes Sabrina laugh.
But I recognize the anger I see in you. The soul-sucking dread of being trapped and not having anyone turn to.
That helplessness is enough to make anyone rage. ”
Gideon had no words for a moment. The sprite had summarized his feelings in one sentence. He was angry. More than he’d ever been in his life. He’d been given a glimpse of what his life could have been like, only to be realize that other life was just a dream.
It belonged to a man who didn’t live with a malevolent black cloud over his head.
Gideon took a deep breath, that same sense of hopelessness coming over him. “That’s pretty accurate. I’m sorry for not liking you. I’m not proud that I was so blatant about it. You’re obviously a more advanced being than I am to still be kind toward me.”
“Nah,” Korrin said. “I’m not more advanced. I just understand the kind of madness being cursed creates.”
Gideon stared past Korrin out toward the yard, thinking about his life and his curse.
“I’m a jinx, basically. It’s because of a family curse.
Passed down through the men in my family.
Bad things happen to us and around us and sometimes to the people we care about. I refuse to subject Sabrina to that.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“Small things like paper cuts to big things like the house catching on fire.”
Korrin grimaced. “Yeah, that’s not good. That actually happen to you?”
“Yes.”
“Your parents still alive?”
“My mother is. My father died of cancer when I was seventeen. Thankfully, because she was only a Locke by marriage, the curse generally ignored her when he passed. It focused on me.”
“So it would go after any woman in your life?”
He nodded. “I have to assume so. That’s how it was with my mother when my father was alive. Even my sister was affected by it when she lived at home. Once she married, she moved away. To the best of my knowledge, she lives a pretty peaceful existence.”
Korrin nodded. “I can understand you wanting to protect Sabrina.”
“Thank you.”
“Any man would want to protect the woman he loves.”
Gideon let a few moments of silence go by so Korrin wouldn’t think he was overreacting. “I don’t love her. I like her, but that’s all.”
“You love her. It’s obvious. You fell for her the night we got ice cream.
You saw then what an uncursed life was like, what it would be like with her, and ever since that little taste, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about her or life with her or what it could be like without your curse.
Wanting it has made you sick. So sick you’ve decided leaving is the only way to deal with it. ”
Anger burned in Gideon’s stomach. He felt like he’d been laid bare. Like his secrets had just been exposed. How did Korrin know all of that? “Leaving is the only way to deal with it. And the only way to keep her safe.”
Korrin tipped his head to the side. “Is it?”
Before Gideon could answer, three sharp knocks rang out from the front door. He got up and went to see who it was, leaving Korrin behind.
He opened the door to find Sabrina standing in front of him.
She pressed a hand to her chest, her eyes bracketed by worry lines. “I know you’re probably busy with the whole moving business, but I need help, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
“What happened?” He sent a silent plea into the universe that her cat was all right. He could only imagine what else would have made her this upset. “Is Trip okay?”
Her brows bent. “Trip is fine.” She looked toward the street, like she needed to be sure no one could overhear, then lowered her voice. “It’s the music box. Julia’s spell didn’t go right.”
That tracked with what Korrin had told him. “I see.”
“Can I come in?”
That wasn’t a good idea, but a plausible explanation as to why she couldn’t escaped him. He stepped back, opening the door wider.
She came into his foyer and was about to say something when she arrowed in on his grandfather clock. All of her attention went to it. Her hand went to her throat. “That’s very … old, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s a family heirloom.” He took a quick look down the hall. Korrin was nowhere to be seen. Had he sensed Sabrina was here and hidden? He really was mad at her.
Sabrina’s expression shifted into something that looked like pain. She put her hands out, her fingertips reaching for the clock.
He stepped closer to it but didn’t stop her. “It’s priceless.”
Still, she stared at the clock as if mesmerized. “It’s broken.”
“No, it’s not. I keep it in perfect working condition.” He prided himself on it. In fact, he took better care of it than anyone else ever had, his father included.
She flattened her hands on the case and closed her eyes. Her nose wrinkled, and her lips curled like a terrible odor had filled the air. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and put one hand on his jaw.
She stared at him, took two breaths, and stepped back, ending the contact. “Oh, Gideon.”
“What?” He had no idea what was going on.
She looked at the clock before meeting his gaze. Her eyes held an emotion that seemed to be a mixture of sadness, shock, and pain. She swallowed and shook her head. “You’re not cursed. This clock is.”