Cursed to the Bone

41. Dancing with Devils

The air was too cold for an outdoor mope. My numb cheeks were proof of that and I'd only been there for twenty minutes. A wave of fog drifted above me as I sighed. This new problem couldn't have come at a worse time. On top of worrying about my decaying friendship with Blake and my, unfortunately, cemented relationship with Lucien, I had to question whether or not Rhett wanted to be friends. It he hadn't been cursed, would he have given me a second thought?

Probably not.

"You could come inside, you know."

A shriek nearly slipped past my chapped lip as I snapped my head up in search of the owner of the voice.

The masked man, Valdis, stood in the window. His gloved hands gripped the edges of a window without glass and his clothes were just so that I couldn't see a single shred of skin or strand of hair that might help in identifying him. Danger aside, I was curious about anyone that could unnerve Lucien Lacroix.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Valdis. But you knew that, didn't you? Give me your name."

Fear kept me from answering. Lucien had been adamant that I not give this weirdo my name. Adamant in a way that almost made it seem that he feared Valdis.

My pause prompted him to laughter. "Come, now. I already know your name. I just wanted to hear you say it. Won't you say it, for me?"

"Why?"

"Because it makes you nervous." He leaned forward so he was hanging out the window. "Having a bad day?"

Despite myself, I nodded.

"From what I've gathered, you don't have good days, do you?"

I glared.

Valdis spiraled into another bout of laughter. "Apologies. I can't help myself."

I tugged my ponytail over my shoulder, twisting it. "You know Lacroix."

"I do," Valdis said. The window creaked as he leaped forward and landed before me, arms sweeping in an elegant arch before falling to his sides. "But you don't. You'd like to ask me some questions? Turn-about is fair play. I have questions, too."

Every ounce of logic at my disposal begged me not to engage. If Lucien found out, I'd be reading books on curiosity for the rest of my life.

"Don't worry. It will be our secret." Valdis drew his finger across his beak as if to zip it. "He'll never know we spoke."

"Fine."

Just as I opened my mouth to begin, Valdis held his pinky aloft. "Let's make our deal binding, first."

A pinky-promise was more than superstition. It was an oath between witches that had dire consequences in the event that an oath was broken. Even then, he hadn't given me any conditionals. The only condition was that Lucien Lacroix wouldn't know we'd spoken.

Eyeing him with suspicion, I hooked my pinky around the cool leather of his gloved one and together, we said, "The bargain is struck." A twist of magic wound our fingers and settled against my skin with a tingly warmth. Then it was gone.

"You may start us off," Valdis said, freeing his hand and stepping some feet away.

"What do you know about him? Lacroix, I mean."

"A broad question for a complicated man. What do you really want to know?"

"Can I trust him?" I asked, wondering, at the same time, if I could trust Valdis—even with the oath.