much anger in Riley’s weighted gaze. Too much resentment. The drumming of my heartbeat pounded in my ears, louder than anything else. At any moment, I was sure I would pass out from the lack of oxygen.
Several tense seconds ticked by. I didn’t move a muscle. I just stared at my sister, wondering if these were my last moments. If I was going to die at her hands, I wanted to look her in the eyes while she did it.
She lowered the gun. “Not like this,” she said through gritted teeth. “She won’t suffer enough.”
I let out a long breath. Thank God.
“Oh, we’re making excuses now?” Grandpa snorted derisively. “I have a full supply of weapons, both magical and nonmagical at your disposal. We can tie Sheridan down and you can spend the rest of the evening torturing her.”
I flicked my gaze toward Grandpa, scowling. He had better be calling her bluff.
Riley slammed the gun down on the desk beside him. “Physical torture is nothing,” she said, the frustration palpable in her voice. “I want her to experience total devastation.”
Grandpa got right up in her face. “Be more specific, girl. Exactly what are you after?”
“I don’t know.” Riley held up her hands.
“Your opportunity has been handed to you on a golden platter!” he said, refusing to let her back down. “What the hell do you want?”
Her eyes darted back and forth wildly, the frustration mounting. “I don’t know!” she insisted, shouting now. “I just…I want to hurt her as much as possible! Just as much as me.”
I pressed my lips together, those words absorbing into my soul. Just as much as me. Somewhere along the way, I’d hurt Riley, and not just by stabbing her with those scissors.
“Finally, something I can believe,” Grandpa whispered. He took a step forward, his gaze moving over both of us. “The two of you have done awful, horrible things to each other.” His voice was softer now, no longer egging Riley on. “But that doesn’t mean you’re without hope.”
“We’re cursed, old man. That’s pretty much what it means.” She flung herself back into her chair, letting out a defeated sigh. Her hazel eyes were calmer, her breath evening out.
“Curses can be undone.” Dad moved toward her. “We will figure this out, Riley.”
“Delusional idiot.” She sniffed. “The two of you have been trying to figure it out our entire lives. What makes you think we’re any closer?”
At that point, I’d had enough. “At least they tried. You’ve only known about the curse for a few weeks and you’re already giving up.”
“A few weeks?” Riley looked pointedly at Dad. “I take it you didn’t tell her.”
Oh, no.
No more secrets.
But Dad’s guilty expression confirmed he was hiding something. Great.
“Tell me what?” He didn’t answer right away, so I continued to stare him down. “Come on, Dad. It’s time to get every piece of dirty laundry out in the open.”
He cleared his throat. “She’s known for two years.”
“Two years?”
“Selena sent her a letter. I wasn’t aware of it until only recently.”
Selena—Riley’s mother.
“I did my best to stay away from you,” Riley said, her voice thick with bitterness. “I made other friends, kept myself involved with school activities, all while trying to research curses in my spare time. Then Dad kept me confined to the house and ruined all the progress I’d made.”
My jaw dropped a little.
I believed we had grown apart, that my sister wanted nothing to do with me. But she kept her distance on purpose—to protect us both.
“I grounded you because you were getting out of control,” Dad said, shaking his head. “You make it sound like there was no crime behind the punishment.”
Riley groaned. “Did you ever consider that keeping all of those secrets in the human world might take its toll?”
“Okay fine, all of that makes sense.” I paced across the office. “But why Connor?”
She stared at me for several long seconds, making me wonder if she would give me an answer. Her eyes tightened at the corners. “I was sick of all of it. The curse, being a mage being in a nonmagical world, knowing our time was getting closer, the pressure to stop it, and I just…I looked at you and you were so happy. There I was, in that dark place, and I hated you for your ability to walk in the sun, without a care in the world. So, jealousy, I guess. I was tired of running. As soon as I stopped to catch my breath, the curse caught up