Chapter 35
Sabrina had a feeling those words weren’t going to sit well, but he deserved to know the truth.
He made a face. “What are you talking about?”
“You told me you’re cursed, right?”
His frown deepened. “Yes.”
She looked at the clock again, still feeling the dark, broken energy of it calling to her. Trying to worm its way into her being. “It’s not you. Not exactly. It’s the clock. The curse is within it. I’m guessing it always has been. Have you always lived with this thing in your house?”
Somewhere upstairs, something crashed to the floor, the sound of shattering glass impossible to ignore. She glanced up, but Gideon acted as though nothing had happened.
“Always, except for …” He shook his head. “No, always. Even when I was in college, I lived at home to help out since my father died when I was young.”
She pointed up. “Do you want to check on whatever that was?”
“It can wait.”
She let it be. “So the curse inside this thing has always had access to you.”
His skeptical gaze turned toward the clock. “I cannot believe the curse is attached to the clock and not to me.”
“Gideon, this is what I do. I find broken, damaged things. It’s my curse. I get attracted to them and I can’t—”
“Like you were attracted to me?” His eyes narrowed. “Was I just another broken thing to you?”
She bit her bottom lip, quickly shaking her head.
“No, not like that. The curse doesn’t create that kind of attraction.
It’s a magnetic pull. A need to fix the broken thing.
I can’t ignore it. What I feel for you is different.
It’s … friendship.” That was a bit of a lie, but he was in no state to hear any sort of declaration from her.
“Why can’t you ignore it? What happens if you do?”
“I don’t know because I’ve never been able to.
I’ve tried. It ends up …” She exhaled. She didn’t want to tell him the truth.
About how resisting her curse brought her to the edge of madness.
To a place where the curse overruled common sense and sanity.
She hung her head. “It doesn’t go well. I get to a point where the curse takes over and I’m powerless to resist. It’s not pretty. ”
“I’m sorry that happens to you, but this clock is not causing my problems. Your curse is wrong this time.”
She looked up. “Gideon, my curse is never wrong. That clock is definitely your problem. Trust me on this. You get rid of that clock and—”
“Just like you expected Korrin to trust you?”
She hadn’t expected that. Not from him. He’d never cared about the sprite; now suddenly he knew what had happened? “What do you know about that?”
“It’s why you came here tonight, isn’t it? Because the music box spell went wrong? Korrin wasn’t supposed to be affected, and yet he was.”
“Yes, but I barely got two words out about the spell when I got here, and yet you seem to already know what happened.”
“You told me yourself Julia’s magic was useless. And I told you it wasn’t a good idea, but you insisted.”
Now he was making her angry. “I asked you for help, and you gave me nothing. Just said it wasn’t your problem. What was I supposed to do? I did my best to save him, and now he’s just … gone.”
She felt a sob coming on. Except, how did Gideon know so much about what had gone on? “How do you know something happened to Korrin?”
Gideon blinked and said nothing.
She advanced on him. “What do you know?” She looked past him. “Korrie? Korrie, are you here?” She poked Gideon in the chest. “Where is he? I need to talk to him, explain what happened.”
Gideon took a deep breath. “You’re obviously upset. I think you should go.”
“You’re really mad at me for telling you the truth about that clock? I can help you, you know. It’s what I do. I fix things. It’s my—”
“No.” He glared at her. “Do you not understand? My curse will hurt you.” He raised his hands as if pleading. “You shouldn’t even be in this house. I’m only leaving town to protect you because I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Because he loves you.”
They both turned to see Korrie hovering in the hall behind Gideon.
She gasped. “You’re okay. I’m so sorry about what happened. It was a glitch in Julia’s magic. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. Please, Korrie. Come home.”
“I can’t.” He lifted his chin. “Besides, I’m moving away from here with Gideon.”
“No, you are not,” Gideon snapped. “Go with Sabrina.”
Korrie flew closer and crossed his arms. “Nope. You need me. I realize that now. I heard what she said about your curse being connected to that clock, and you don’t even want to believe her, so you’re obviously suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something.
I understand now that I was freed from that box to look after you. ”
He shrugged in Sabrina’s direction. “Sorry, Sabrina. Tell Julia it’s okay. I don’t blame her for what happened. And really, you did save me from the box.” He gestured with his thumb at Gideon. “I just didn’t think I’d get stuck with this mess.”
Gideon went straight to the clock and opened the body of it, revealing two long chains with weights on the ends. “You think there’s a curse in this clock? Show me.”
Sabrina understood she was on tenuous ground.
“You can’t see a curse. You know that as well as I do.
But my curse makes it possible for me to sense it.
I know it’s in there. I can feel it, dark and festering.
And whoever put it there probably had a serious amount of power to install something that would last for generations.
But there has to be a way to get rid of it.
My curse has never led me to anything that couldn’t be fixed.
“Sometimes, it just takes a while to figure out how.”
“This clock has been in my family for years,” he said quietly. “Do you truly believe it’s the source of our curse?”
She understood how hard this must be for him.
It had to cut deeply to realize that he’d been taking care of the very thing that was making his life a living hell.
To know that this all could have come to a stop decades, maybe even centuries ago, had to be devastating.
Maybe even humiliating. “Yes. But this isn’t your fault.
It’s not your father’s fault or your grandfather’s fault.
It’s the fault of whoever created that curse. ”
He looked like he might snap. A vein pulsed in his neck, and his eyes were wild with more emotions than she could name. “All this time …”
“I know.” She ached for him, for what he had to be feeling. “But we can fix it. We can get rid of your curse. I will make it happen. I swear it on …” She looked around. “On Korrin’s life.”
“Hey,” Korrie said. “Don’t do that.”
She planted her hands on her hips and gave him a sharp look. “Why? You don’t think I can do it?”
“I …” The sprite shrank back and looked at Gideon. “It’s up to him. It’s his curse.”
She shifted her attention to Gideon. “Well?”
“If you really think you can do this … Will you have to destroy the clock? It’s a valuable antique.”
“Gideon.” She couldn’t imagine how hard this was for him. “Is it worth more than your happiness and peace of mind?”
He shook his head. “No. And you’re fully prepared to take this on, despite the fact that it will put you in danger?”
For him, she absolutely would. She hoped her curse might somehow protect her, but even if it didn’t, freeing him was a worthwhile endeavor. She also wouldn’t be able to rest until she’d at least tried to fix this. Not with the hum of her curse strengthening. “Yes.”
He sighed as if resigned. “Do whatever you need to do. Just know that if this doesn’t work, and the curse is truly within me, I will leave. If you get hurt …” He looked away. “I do care about you, Sabrina.”
She managed a slight smile, enough to reassure him, she hoped. She took his hand. “I care about you too, and I’m an adult capable of making my own decisions. Whatever happens to me, it’s nothing for you to feel guilty about.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” He didn’t look the least bit mollified. “What’s the next step?”
“The next step is … getting the music box back to Amelia in the morning. Then I can concentrate on this.”
Gideon nodded, then said, “I’ll go with you. In case she has any questions. That’s only fair.”
Her brows shot up. “Really?”
“Yes. What time?”
“First thing. I can come pick you up at eight-thirty.”
He nodded and looked at Korrie. “I’ll leave the gear here, so you won’t need to come.”
“Thanks,” Korrie said. “And thank you, Sabrina. I’m sorry I got mad. I just thought, well, you know.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I know. It’s okay.” She gave him a little smile. “See you in the morning, Gideon.”
He went ahead of her to open the door. As he did, the porch light popped. Sabrina jumped and bumped into the foyer table, sending the bowl on top of it crashing to the ground.
Gideon bent and picked it up. “No harm done. But probably the right time for you to leave.”