But…
"My curse will kill anyone I fall in love with," I confess quietly.
They all absorb that for a moment. Then Baelfire opens his big, fat mouth.
"Damn. That sucks ass. Especially for your past girlfriends."
I just sigh. Fucking idiot.
He blinks. "Wait.Haveyou had any past girlfriends? Or boyfriends? Casual flings or one-night stands?Anything?"
"If he knows he'll be the death of anyone he accidentally catches feelings for, even from a one-night stand, then willingly putting someone in that position would be akin to secondhand murder," Silas muses.
My thoughts exactly.
Baelfire props himself up slightly, his mouth hanging open like he just unearthed treasure. "Hold the fucking phone. Don't tell me no one has ever hopped on your popsicle before. You're a virgin?"
Even though I'm sure my bright red face gives away the answer, I decide now's the perfect time to move this conversation along.
"Anyway, I've tried keeping my distance from Maven. I worried that if I was too obvious about pushing her away, it would make her pursue me out of curiosity, or you guys would pick another fight. But honestly, I never should've gone to theinn with the rest of you because no matter how much I try to ignore it, Maven makes it so...it's impossible to not…"
I'm struggling so much with my words that Silas finishes for me. "To not care for her."
My shoulders slump. I expect another wise-ass comment from Baelfire, but to my utter shock, he looks almost...sympathetic.
"I'm guessing that's why you decided to be an even bigger asshole than usual and tell her about the bet,” the dragon sighs.
I start fidgeting with both cufflinks before stopping myself. My parents always hated that I had compulsive, nervous ticks growing up. These days, they only reappear when I'm anxious or when I'm stressed as hell.
Like right now.
"When we found her in the headmaster's office, I thought…I thought I'd killed her." My voice is dangerously close to breaking, so I clear my throat. "And when she passed out tonight, it's because I got close to her at the Matched Ball. It's my fault—my curse. I can't let anything like this happen again. Maybe you three can help me stay away from her as much as possible. At least until we can break our curses."
Silas says nothing as he considers everything I just said. Crypt's face is unreadable. Baelfire doesn't look at me, instead reaching out to adjust Maven's pillow slightly.
"Are yousurethat's your curse, Snowflake?" he prods. "If you had a long track record of dead ex-lovers, I'd get it, but how do you know for certain if you've never…you know?Fallenfor someone and all that gooey shit."
I rub my neck. "When they couldn't figure out what my curse was by the time I turned four, my parents took me to Arati's temple."
Arati is the goddess of passion, fire, wrath, war, and love. She's also the queen of the gods and the sister of Galene, the goddess of prophecies.
"The high prophet there divined a personal prophecy for me and revealed my curse. That's how I know for sure."
Once again, they're all quiet for a while before Silas sighs.
"I'll help you maintain distance from Maven."
Baelfire nods. "Never thought I'd feel bad for a fucking Frost, but yep. I'll help cockblock your heart or whatever."
I really hate him.
Crypt is oddly quiet, staring at one of the stained-glass windows. Before I can ask if he's going to bother joining us on Earth anytime soon, Silas sighs again and scrubs his face.
“Before she collapsed, Maven was trying to tell us that she can’t break our curses because…because she has no heart for us to bind ours to. That’s why she was trying so hard to reject us.”
Dear gods.
I swallow hard as my stomach sinks. Here I was, holding out hope that my curse could be broken at graduation so I could finally let myself adore Maven. But if there’s no chance of that…
