Chapter 42

I’m walking on cloud nine.

It’s been three days since I told Maxwell I love him at The Lilith and he hasn’t pulled away. He even mentioned this morning that he has a surprise trip planned for us. I bite back a smile, wondering if this is all a dream.

Even Old Morris noticed my good mood this morning before I left the estate. The butler handed me an umbrella by the door and murmured, “Have a good day, Ms. Belle. The weather looks dreary.”

I grinned. “It can be thunderstorms for all I care.” I did a little twirl in the foyer.

He chuckled. “You’re a breath of fresh air, Ms. Belle. You remind me of my sister—she made everyone smile too.” His eyes took on a faraway look, like he was reminiscing about better days from long ago. “She was the sunshine of our family, always positive no matter how life treated her. My parents loved her. I loved her.”

My chest clenched at the pain in his voice and I remembered what Melody told me at the gala, how Old Morris had no one left in this world. Without another thought, I threw my arms around him.

Morris coughed, clearly surprised. “Ms. Belle!”

“She sounded wonderful, Morris. I’m so sorry your family is no longer with you.” Disentangling from him, I gave him a soft smile. “But if you want, I’ll be happy to be an honorary family member. My grandfather passed away when I was sixteen, and you, sir, you look like good honorary grandfather material. ”

Morris swallowed, his eyes reddening, clearly overcame with emotions. “T-Thank you, Ms. Belle. I’d be so honored,” he rasped.

I smile at the memory, glad I get to make the old man happy. He deserves more love and companionship.

“Geez, that smile on your face is making me lose my appetite. You’re turning into my sister,” Taylor mutters.

“It’s a compliment, Belle, because Tay loves us.” Grace snickers as she loops her arm around mine and we brave the chilly weather and leaden skies.

A fresh flurry of snow falls as we walk down the streets of SoHo toward Wraithmoor Antiquities, because I want to know what Eleanor didn’t tell me last time and if she knows anything about the curse. Millie is attending some event with Ryland and couldn’t come with us.

Maxwell had a meeting at the Fleur headquarters this morning, and I asked him to meet us at the shop afterward. Maybe if we learn the origins of the curse, the mystique and fear will disappear.

I know the curse is still bothering him. I see the flash of guilt in his eyes before he pulls me into a deep kiss, like he’s afraid I’ll slip away. I feel the tension in his arms as he tethers me to him when we sleep at night in his bedroom, since we’ve long abandoned sleeping separately.

There’s nothing in the library. I’ve searched high and low and while there are letters and diaries mentioning a curse, there’s nothing about how it came about. I have a feeling Maxwell’s great-great-great-grandfather, Silas’s missing journal may hold the answer, but to date, we still haven’t found anything.

The girls and I trudge along the slushy streets, the cement marred with icy clusters of gray sludge. The stench of wet asphalt and overfilled trash cans reeks in the air.

“I’ll never let a man be the cause of my happiness,” Tay grumbles, and I sneak a glance at her, finding her face pinched as if she’s thinking about something.

“I think the key is ensuring your happiness isn’t dependent on a man. But it’s perfectly fine for a man to make you happy,” I say. We make a turn at the street corner, merging with the crowd of gray and black puffer jackets as we cross the street.

Taylor huffs and scrunches her nose. One day, I’ll find out why she seems to have a disdain toward men in general.

“Belle!”

I hear my name being called above the ruckus of honking cabs and screeching car tires. Turning around, I grin when I see a familiar blond man waving.

“Cole! What are you doing here?”

He runs toward us and pulls me into a hug. “I thought that was you. Long time no see.”

Even though I’ve since returned to BSUA after their change in leadership, I’ve taken time off from the shelter when the gala preparation picked up, and I haven’t seen or spoken to Cole other than the texts we’ve periodically exchanged.

He’s holding on to me for a beat too long, long enough for the hairs on my forearms to rise and for me to feel uncomfortable. Clearing my throat, I pull away and step a few paces back.

Tay sneaks a glance at me, her brow cocked high, and she stands in front of me, as if sensing my discomfort.

“Hey, Cole. What are you doing out in SoHo on a Saturday? Don’t you need to be at BSUA?” Grace asks. “Bronx is a bit far from here.”

Cole chuckles, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m taking some time off from volunteering too. Life got too busy. I’m just here to pick up an art piece I ordered for my mom for her birthday. Where are you guys going?”

“To an antiquities shop a few blocks up.”

We start walking and he moves beside me, nudging Taylor out of the way, who is now openly scowling at him, but he doesn’t seem to care.

I shiver from this strange tension hanging in the air and sneak a glance at my friend. He seems slimmer, his face more gaunt, dark shadows rimming his eyes.

Something feels distinctly off .

“Are you okay, Cole? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

He flinches, as if my question jolted him out of a deep thought, and he curls his arm over my shoulder and squeezes. “Worried about me? I’m fine. Work has been hectic, that’s all.” He turns toward me. “How have you been doing?”

I shrug his arm off my shoulder. I’m not sure what changed, because he has always been affectionate toward me as a friend, but now, I feel a thread of possessiveness and I don’t like it one bit. But am I overthinking this?

“Things have been great. Maxwell is doing well too.” I feel the need to mention my husband, to remind him I’m taken.

Happily taken.

“Are you happy, Belle? Truly?” he asks, his eyes darkening at the mention of Maxwell.

“I told you I am. And I mean it.” Perhaps last time we met, before Maxwell and I got close the night of the gala, I gave Cole the impression I wasn’t happy—after all, Maxwell and I were in a shaky situation then.

But I have to nip this in the bud. Everything is different now, and I don’t like Cole that way, and he needs to accept that.

Before I can say anything, Cole stops in his tracks, his nostrils flaring, and a muscle twitches in his jaw. “Do you know your husband was married before, Belle? Do you know what happened to his first wife?”

The unease from earlier flares back up, and my pulse pounds in my ears. How does he know about Sydney?

Cole looks at me, his green eyes hardening. “You should look into that, Belle.”

Without another word, he stalks away, melding with the crowds, disappearing from view.

“What on earth was that?” Grace asks. “Something is off with him. He wasn’t like this before.”

“No shit. See? This is why I stay away from men. They’re more trouble than they’re worth,” Taylor says .

I shake my head in confusion. “I always thought he liked me before, and I tried keeping my distance…but I think something else is going on.”

An icy chill sweeps up my skin as the snow falls harder, suffocating the air in a fury of white. The world spins around me again and I bend down and clutch my knees, trying to heave in a few breaths as the girls walk ahead.

“Belle, you okay? You look green.” Tay stops from a few steps away. Grace furrows her brows, clearly worried, and starts walking back toward me.

Closing my eyes, I breathe slowly, waiting for the strange dizzy spell to pass.

I need to find another doctor. A specialist. This isn’t just stress.

Something doesn’t feel right.

“I don’t know what’s going—” I begin.

Suddenly, a loud screeching of tires bellow in my ears.

“Belle, look out!” Grace screams and I look up, finding a car barreling toward me.

Just then, a hard body plows into me, slamming me out of the way of the speeding car, which careens off the sidewalk before taking off, and I feel the heavy impact of a body on top of mine as we land on the wet, hard pavement.

Oxygen wrenches out of my lungs as pain spirals inside me, the dizziness from a moment ago returning with a vengeance. My ears ring from the sudden motion and impact.

The scent of amber and sandalwood hits my nostrils, and slowly, I open my eyes.

Maxwell is staring at me, his face leached of color, his hand cradling my head as his breaths fan over my face.

He looks terrified.