The Curse Girl by Kate Avery Ellison Read Free Book Online

for him.
    “Where’s Rose?”
    “She is feeling poorly tonight. She’s having dinner in her room.”
    “Ah.” Well, then. I’d have to endure his company alone.
    The prospect did not please me.
    The servants brought our food, and we ate in silence.
    When we’d finished dinner, the servants cleared the plates away and the Beast Boy stood. “If you’ll excuse me—”
    The last thing in the world I wanted was to talk to him, but the thought of poor Liam in the labyrinth pressed on my mind. I needed to find a way out, for his sake as much as mine. I needed to do something.
    “Wait,” I protested. “We should talk more about the curse. Maybe I can—”
    “Why bother? You aren’t going to figure anything out. I told you, I’ve been looking for pearls for years with no luck. I really doubt you’ll be able to find anything I haven’t, especially since I’ve lived in this house my entire life and you’ve just gotten here.”
    “You’re really moody,” I shot back. “And you’re a jerk. And I’m sorry you have some horrible curse on you, but apparently you deserved it. And I didn’t deserve to be locked in here with you because I didn’t do anything to anyone. So why don’t you take a Xanax and help me figure out how we can break this thing so I can leave before my boyfriend dies of old age without me!”
    His expression changed slightly. “Boyfriend?”
    “I bet it’s impossible to imagine, huh? That there’s someone out there I care about? That I came here because I wanted to rescue my family from the curse my father stupidly unleashed on us? Because I wanted to rescue them from you and the mark you inflicted upon him?”
    His irritation faded into astonishment. “I didn’t put the mark on your father. The curse put it there.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Anyone can enter the house, but not everyone can leave. Your father made a promise so I’d let him go. He said I needed you, he said you were supposed to be here because of your name, because of the legends. He said he knew you’d come if he asked you—”
    “No,” I said, cutting him off. It couldn’t be true. I had volunteered as soon as I heard the conditions, as soon as I knew what was at stake. My father hadn’t—
    But my father had known I would. Of course he had. He’d done this on purpose? I couldn’t believe that. He would never do that. He would never . . .
    “The stories of the magic hourglass are well-known in your town,” Will said. “Aren’t they? They say the sand in the hourglass preserves life, which by the way is a worthless fable. Many have tried to come for it before. Most never even got through the front door. But your father … For some reason, the house let him in.”
    A memory slipped into my mind. My father’s face, twisted with guilt as he watched me walk towards the house. His eyes, avoiding mine. His hands, shaking.
    Shock had immobilized me. I couldn’t move.
    Deep down, like the ache of a stab wound, I knew he was telling the truth.
    “He begged me. He told me he had a daughter, Beauty, and that he would trade her life for his. That he needed a bit of the magic from the hourglass for his wife . . . that she was dying, and he knew I needed a Beauty.”
    “And you let him do that? You let him just bargain with my life? Like I was a sack of potatoes? A used book nobody wanted anymore?” I struggled to breathe. I could barely get the words out.
    Will scowled. “I thought it was disgusting and servile, but I was powerless. I stood there while he told me, and then I told him to get out. But the curse—it put the mark on him, and then I told him the truth. That it was a promise that he had only a few days to bring you or they would all fall under a curse themselves. But it was the curse’s deal, not mine.”
    “What do you mean, the curse made a deal? It isn’t a person.”
    “The curse took on a life of its own when it was pronounced on us, as all curses do. Do you think I have any