Page 59 of Seas the Reckoning

She drops her arms. Her eyes are flashing blue, and her hands crackle.

I take a step back, then another, hand to my forehead.

“He knows. I mean, clearly he knows. He would have had to be the one to tell you. But⁠—”

“He was planning to manipulate you with it. It’s not something he just found out from Grammy, or through some digging he had done into us for this event. He has the whole history. That my great-great-great-grandmother lost her betrothed at sea. That she went after him only to find him with a siren. That she cursed the siren’s family using my family’s key, which apparently used to be a trait we were very proud of, before it died out. There’s a theory that the curse she placed on your ancestor somehow sucked up so much magic there simply wasn’t enough to pass on.”

“That’s not how magic works!” I blurt, clinging to the one thing I can handle facing.

“Maybe, maybe not. Magic is weird. But either way, the generation's ability to curse decreased until they stopped having children with that key at all. My dad was a welcome addition to the lineage. Lightning wasn’t cursing, but my father was so powerful. Is so powerful. They were just thrilled to have magical prestige back.”

“What about breaking the curse? He said you could do it?”

Starla looks me square in the eyes.

“Not only that. I’m the only one who can.”

“How do you mean?”

“My three-times great-granny worded her curse so that when your family produced another siren, only a witch from that same generation in my family would be able to release that siren from the curse. We have to go together to where the curse was placed. Then, there needs to be some sort of ritual. That was the only bit my father didn’t have all the details on, but the location should hold the key to that bit. He knew exactly where to go. So, I do have coordinates. Well, kind of.”

My brows scrunch.

“Kind of? What does that mean?”

“They’re in his office. He pulled out what he told me was a map, but it was rolled up at the time so I couldn’t see where we need to go.”

“Why tell you any of this? Did he honestly think you’d threaten your best friend?”

“He did it to convince me to stay, and to pressure me into becoming someone like him. He suggested I dangle the cure over you. Tell you that I would go with you after I was settled into my married life, but only if you stayed.”

“He can’t honestly think you’d do that.”

“My father thinks everyone is capable of stooping to that level. It’s how he manages to tolerate himself; he convinces himself that he’s only doing what everyone else would. At least that’s my theory.”

A smile tugs at her lips, even as tears continue to fall.

“Starla, you look happy. Why do you look happy? This is awful!”

“All we need is the map from his office, and we can leave.”

“He told you everything else—why not give you the coordinates? This could be a trap. He might have told you all of this just to see what you’d do. It could be a test.”

She huffs.

“That’s the other thing. Remember I said he told me because he thinks everyone acts that way? Well, he’s not above such actions himself. He said I could have them after my nuptials have taken place. Nuptials that will come complete with a magically binding marriage certificate.”

I gasp.

“You can’t do that! He wins either way. You could use the curse against me, and he’d prove to himself that you are the heir he wants. Or you could sympathize with me, but you’d still go through with the marriage to help me.”

The night air is freezing, but the flames in my throat have me plenty hot.

Starla dips her chin.

“Incentivizing me to follow through on my commitment to my beloved Piers. Who, by the way, has yet to hear about our engagement. I guess Councilman Taylor will inform the lucky groom.”

“Starla. We need an exit plan.”