My stomach tightened. The curse. He was referring to the curse. “Let me guess. If I refuse, you’ll slit my throat.”
His dark chuckle sent a chill through my bones. “If you refuse, I’ll ask your sister.”
No . . . Not my sister.
I’d break a thousand curses—face a thousand blades—to save her. “What do I have to do?”
He gave my knee a cursory pat. “All in good time, my dear. All in good time. First, we must discuss the terms of our bargain.”
Bargaining with the creatures on this island was at the top of the things not to do, right next to kissing them.
“I break your curse, you leave my sisterandme alone for all of eternity.”
Rían crossed his legs at the ankles and went back to playing with the edge of the heavy drapes. The sky outside lightened as we exited the forest. Only a few more minutes and we’d be pulling into my father’s estate.
“I’ll do you one better. If you agree to help me, then in addition to your demands, I will grant you one wish. Perhaps you’d like a new dress. Or a new horse. How about some diamonds?” His lips pursed. “You women still love diamonds, don’t you?”
“I don’t want any of those things.” I had more dresses than any one person needed; my horse was healthy and strong; diamonds did nothing but collect dust in a box.
“What do you want?”
No one had ever asked me that question so seriously. WhatdidI want?
“I . . . I don’t know.”
His head tilted, sending dark hair falling toward his piercing eyes. “I suggest you figure it out by the time I return.”
“When will that be?”
Rían vanished, but I heard him chuckle. “Whenever I feel like it.”
The arrogance. The dismissiveness. Thefreedom.
If someone like him couldn’t break a curse, what hope did I have?
My knowledge of curses and magic came from storybooks and the tales we were told as children. Where did I even start?
Keelynn.
She’d been obsessed with such things since our mother had read us our first fairy tale.
The moment we pulled up to the house, I launched myself from the carriage, nearly colliding with Padraig.
“Is everything all right, milady?” His light blue eyes darted inside the open door, his expression unreadable. “Ye look as if ye’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine.”
“Yer sure? Ye came sprintin’ outta town like a host of sluagh were nippin’ at yer heels and, yer face is as pale as a banshee’s.”
“I’m certain. Thank you for driving me to town.”
He gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. “‘Twas my pleasure.”
When he let go, I raced past the potted boxwoods and up the front stairs. Lit wall sconces cast the foyer in an eerie orange glow. My slippers flew across the checkerboard tiles, past the parlor and dining room to the library.
Keelynn was exactly where she always was this time of evening: curled on the leather sofa with a fairy tale in her hands. The fire blazing in the hearth left her cheeks flushed.
When she saw me, she smiled and closed the book. “How was town?”