“A witch told us. His wife, actually. The power that we have is not a simple power. It’s sadly one that comes with a price. We are the protectors who keep you safe from the dead. My great-great-grandfather was killed on Halloween when he turned thirty, torn apart by the souls that had escaped from a dark place. My grandfather was told by his mother that it was our purpose to keep the gates between realms sealed, and his father had paid the price in blood. He brought about the curse on my family. The gene now demands that every man who hosts it, must pay the same price on their thirtieth birthday or the gates will open.”
I didn’t know what to say. It all sounded nuts, but I did speak with the dead. I knew of the other side and that people couldn’t return once they crossed over. Maybe that’s because of Jude’s family?
Jude. If this was real, then Jude was destined for the same fate as his forefathers.
“Is there a way to break the curse?”
“Yeah. The witch spoke of a way to end the curse.”
“And that is?” I swear I was going to have to drag the information out of this man. He was so different than any man I’d met before. He was a walking contradiction. He seemed shy and boyish one minute like he didn’t know how to talk to people, then he is this confident Mr. Sexy Pants.
“The gates sealed with thirty years blood paid, a deathly promise be made, until death do you bind shall the curse fade.” He recited those words like he’d been saying them over and over since he was born. Maybe he had been.
“That makes no sense.”
He sighed and nodded.
“Yeah. No one knew what it meant, and that witch still talks about it like we understand the meaning.”
Still talks about it?
“She’s alive?”
“She lives in the mansion in her magic room. A ghost, as is everyone else in my family that has passed away. The curse also prevents anyone from moving on until it’s broken. So it’s kind of high tension at my place around the holidays.” He smiled, and I reached out my hand to touch his. To let him know . . . well . . . I didn’t know what I wanted him to know. Maybe that I understood . . . sort of.
Instead, I kept my hands to myself and asked a burning question I couldn’t stop thinking about.
“So how does the whole circus act fit in?”
Chapter Eleven
Jude
“It’s not a circus.”
I corrected her, even though my show was mostly a circus. Ruffling her feathers and contradicting her words was becoming something I did often. When she rolled her eyes, I smiled despite the tough topic of my life.
“OK then, ghostly performers that you sort of bring back to life so they can do circus-like acts on a stage. Oh, and with you dressed up in an all-black ringleader suit.”
Smart-ass.
“They had been invited to the house to perform for my great-great-grandfather’s birthday. When the curse took his life, they got stuck in our family’s mess along with everyone else who was there. My family has always let whoever was in the cemetery hang out if they choose to. Some liked the socialization, but now there have been generations of people who can’t leave Mallory Mansion.”
Her pink lips frowned. She was sad for those who couldn’t move on. It was her job to help them move to the other side to peace or silence. The very taste of heaven was in her blood, mingled with a melody of death calling her to those dying or dead.
“I promised them that if they gave me a last year to remember, I would take them with me when I go. We think ghosts and the keeper working together can break the curse. Madam Tully said this year is the year it happens, so it’s the only thing we have to go on.”
I don’t think I’d said my fate out loud to anyone before. It was oddly comforting to know someone else knew the real part of me . . . that I was going to die.
“But what about your family? Don’t you have any lovers or children who would want a say in this?” She leaned in closer, her voice more tense than before. I shrugged.
“My family is dead. Each descendent had only one boy and no more. So no cousins that I know of. My mother decided to join my father after he killed himself for the debt to be paid. They raised me as ghost parents but I saw what this curse has done to people. I don’t want to put that heavy burden on anyone. No family, no full-time lovers, and definitely no children. When I go, the only thing people will mourn is my show, which is something easy to move on from.”
Our waitress came over and refilled my coffee, then asked if we needed anything else. We both shook our heads silently.
“So you only have twenty-eight days to live?” She stared at her tea.
“Yeah. Halloween is my thirtieth birthday.” I was thinking about maybe having a party at the mansion, but then decided dying quietly and alone was best. Didn’t need anyone else traumatized about finding my body hanging from the tower like I found my father.
