Heather raised her eyebrows. “Kinky.”
Scarlet shook her head, matching another set of socks. “Not hardly. He’s a jerk and he hates when I’m around.”
“Ha!” Heather said. “That boy doesn’t hate when you’re around at all. He doesn’t hate anything about you.”
“Well, he treats me like I’m the plague.”
Heather scoffed. “The super hot plague that’s dating his brother, maybe.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious, Scarlet. Tristan has a thing for you. And if I had to guess, it’s a big thing. Did you see the way he looked at you when we were outside the coffee shop last week?”
“Uh, no. I try not to make eye contact with him.”
Heather shook her head. “Well, he looks at you the way I look at designer jeans—with drool running down my chin.”
“Whatever.”
“No, seriously. And when Gabriel started kissing you, Tristan, like, freaked out. I saw it all over his face. I mean, it was only for, like, a second, but I totally caught it. He can’t handle looking at the two of you. That’s not the behavior of a guy who doesn’t like you, Scarlet. That’s the behavior of a guy who’s totally crushing.”
Heather looked at Scarlet, then froze. “Whoa.”
Scarlet looked at Heather in alarm. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Your eyes….” Heather dropped the socks in her hand and leaned forward. “Your eyes look…crazy. Are you okay?”
Scarlet scrambled up from the floor and rushed to her bedroom mirror. Looking at her reflection, her hands began to shake.
Her eyes were glowing.
Neon blue and bright, they stared back at her without mercy.
Oh, no. No, no, no.
Heather came up beside Scarlet and stared into the mirror with her. “Scarlet…is that normal? Are you…sick?”
Yes, I’m very sick. I’m dying.
Scarlet started shaking her head, on the verge of panic when, suddenly, her eyes melted back into their normal shade of blue.
Scarlet blinked.
Heather blinked.
And silence fell between them as they continued staring into the mirror.
“O-M-G.” Heather took a deep breath. “That was creepy.”
Desperate for a way to explain her eyes, Scarlet lied. “I guess that’s what I get for using those new eye drops.”
I’m a terrible friend.
“Eye drops?” Heather said, looking at Scarlet closely.
“Yeah, I tried new ones and I guess they have some weird…side effects.”
Wow, I’m just a lying machine.
Heather narrowed her eyes. Scarlet was sure her friend could sense the untruth on her lips, but if she did, she let it go.
“Well, maybe stay away from those eye drops in the future. That was freaky.” Heather shook her head and went back to the floor.
Scarlet tucked her lips in, hating herself. “Yeah.”
She sat down and continued sock-matching, hoping Heather didn’t notice her shaking hands.
62
Heather had just left to pick up coffee from The Millhouse when Scarlet heard a knock at her front door. Looking out the peephole, she saw Nate.
She opened the door. “Hey.”
“Morning,” he said.
She invited him in and shut the door behind him, politely asking, “Can I get you anything? Water? Milk?”
“Do you have Lucky Charms?”
Scarlet parted her lips. “Uh…maybe. Do you want Lucky Charms?”
“If you’ve got them.”
Scarlet smiled and led him into the kitchen to make him a bowl of cereal. Like he was a four-year-old or something.
“So, what’s up?” Scarlet poured Lucky Charms into a bowl.
“I’m here on Tristan’s behalf. Because that’s what I do. I run around town doing things for the Archer brothers. I’m like an underpaid personal assistant. Except they don’t pay me at all, so yeah. I’m more like a servant.” He smiled and held up a small box. “Tristan wanted me to bring you this.”
Scarlet grabbed the milk from the fridge, poured some into the bowl, handed Nate a spoon, and took the box from his hands.
She opened it to find a brand new cell phone.
“He wanted me to tell you that he’s ‘not sorry he threw your phone away’ but he is ‘sorry it took so long for him to get you a new one’.” Nate made air quotes with his hands, then took a big bite of cereal.
Scarlet was surprised Tristan remembered to replace her phone at all. “Well, thanks for bringing it by.”
He nodded. “So, how are ya doing with all the curse stuff?”
“Oh, you mean my death destiny? I’m doing splendid.”
He nodded. “No, I mean the actual curse. Gabriel’s curse.”
“What do you mean?”
Nate stopped chewing. “He didn’t tell you about his curse?”
“He told me the arrow was cursed. Not him. I thought I was cursed.” Alarm bells went off in Scarlet’s head.
“So, you don’t know about his love curse?”
Scarlet’s mouth dropped open. “Love curse? Uh, no.”
Nate slowly finished chewing his bite, like he was thinking something over, and swallowed. “You not remembering the past is strange for all of us. I mean, we’ve been through this several times and you always remember. Like always. I bet Gabriel didn’t tell you because he didn’t know how.”
She was getting impatient. “What’s the love curse?”
Nate pressed his lips together. “The curse on the arrow that killed you was directed at Gabriel, not you. Your ‘curse’ is just a side effect. Gabriel was cursed but you and Tristan sorta got roped into the whole mess when Tristan went all ‘bodyguard’ on you.
“Okay, fine. So I’m not really cursed, I’m just screwed. Great. What’s Gabriel’s love curse?”
Nate took a deep breath. Gabriel is cursed to never know love…without you.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Raven cursed Gabriel to never know love without you, and then she killed you—in an attempt to make him live without love for the rest of his life.” Nate took another bite. “Of, course, Tristan sorta messed up that plan when he jumped in front of the arrow because, surprise, Scarlet comes back to life!” He waved his hands in the air with a cheesy smile.
Scarlet blinked several times. “Gabriel can only ever love…me?”
Nate wiggled his spoon in the air. “Well, he can date and flirt and all that but real love, or I guess you could say true love, is impossible for him—unless he’s with you.”
Scarlet shook her head and took a step back. She was Gabriel’s only shot at true love?
“But that’s….that’s so unfair for Gabriel.”
Nate took another bite and fished around in his bowl. “Well, that’s the thing about curses. Rarely ever are they fair.” He gestured to the marshmallows in his bowl. “My favorites are the green ones.”
Scarlet blinked before shaking her head. “But what if he doesn’t want to love me? What if he wants to be with someone else?”
“He only wants you. You make him happy, you know?”
Scarlet’s mouth dropped open. “But happy isn’t enough. He deserves love.”
“Oh, I definitely think he loves you.”
“But does he have a choice?” Scarlet couldn’t wrap her mind around Gabriel’s curse. He couldn’t know love without her? All the years Scarlet wasn’t alive were years of hopelessness for him. It was cruel. More cruel than any curse should be.