Page 7 (1/2)

The next was a faded letter written tothis then I have been unsuccessful, like so row and reach womanhood, you will understand that you are different All of us have been this way No woman in our family as far back as I’ve uncovered has lived beyond her twenty-first birthday We have all left behind a daughter It seems fate has chosen our path for us, and it is always the same

You will be no different Unless you can find a way to stop this curse My , but I’ve learned that her mother, and her mother before her, also died in the sao too I feel it inI have tried, have seen so many cultists, quacks, and priests, but this curse is still with ive in to the e to end things Perhaps that alone will break the curse

Find the cure, Eleni Stop this ether …

I will always be with you,

Mother

Tears stung my eyes, and a lump swelled my throat I folded the letter carefully and slid it back into its envelope I didn’t want to believe it, but inside I knew The words were true Fate had had its ith all of them, and noas my turn A warm drop fell on my cheek, and I brushed it away

Screw this

I wasn’t about to die or get pregnant in the next three and a half years This thing, this curse or whatever it ould end withcaive in to theca lot of the hotel--a bit shy ofto end h infors I knew for sure was that I was different--I’d known that allhad tried to kill me, and the women in my family were cursed, all of the-one

I restedto find some calm and direction aht I had killed the thing that came for me Maybe that alone had broken the curse

Weak theory

ButI was here now In New 2 The only logical thing to do was to find out more about my mother, my father, and why the Noveive it one day

I woke to bruised elbows, an achy forehead, and a stiff back And, if the red behind h theI squeezed ht The floorboards creaked I opened ht into the blue eyes of a sator

"Pascal, this is Ari," a tiny fe over the sleeping bag, a burgundy, jewel-encrusted ator directly in front of my face All it had to do was snap and my nose would be history

I held my breath, afraid to breathe on its milky skin

Finally Violet sat back on her heels and turned the alligator to kiss its nose "Good, Pascal," she whispered, and set hi the half-mask down over her face The corners swept up into points adorned with two small feathers

Pascal waddled away and out the door

Releasing irl, who had returned to her staring Her tiny white hands were laid flat on her knees, and the black dress she wore looked like it had once been a wohts underneath, or they h socks meant for an adult, but whatever they were, they disappeared under the hem of the dress Her shoes were boy’s penny loafers and a size too big

"Was that your alligator?" I checked the door to make sure Pascal hadn’t decided to come back in

"He is no one’s" Violet cocked her head "He likes your hair It’s like his skin"

Without thinking, I reached up and shoved a loose strand behindthat I’d unwound it before bed What I wanted to do was gather it up and shove it behind my shoulders, but for some reason I didn’t want Violet to think the hairthe sides ofin my lap

"He likes e eyes blinking through the holes of the mask

I stayed still, almost frozen "Why are your teeth like his, Violet?" I bracedthe question wouldn’t set her off and s, of course" Her head cocked "You are different" Then she stood and walked out with silent steps despite the heavy black shoes

I watched her disappear from view, a little confused and thrown by how much she fascinated me But it was more than the masks, and her sharp teeth Violetsister/uessed it was the sa Casey and Bruce had when they first met me--just an unexplainable connection or need to care I shook ht