Flo finished and then sat back. “I really enjoyed that. I’m not sure what nutritional value it will offer me, but it was nice to do something and remember flavors.”
“I’m glad.” He finished his breakfast and then cleared the plates. “I do have work to do today, just a little bit, and then I can spend time with you.”
“I understand. I might go to the library here and read. Maybe I can find something else about my curse. Maybe I’ve read something and forgotten.”
“That sounds like a good plan.” He set the dishes in the dishwasher. “I’ll come find you later.”
Flo nodded and then floated out of the chair and disappeared through the wall.
Sven was soglad that Flo enjoyed her breakfast. After he made sure she was fed and safe in the library, he helped Magnus clean up.
Magnus was still frustrated that he couldn’t see the spirits or ghosts who were in the house. Especially Erickson, and he was grumbling about that fact.
Sven knew that Flo was still processing all the things she thought she couldn’t do for a century, but it turned out she could. The fact that she was interested in learning more about her condition gave him hope that things were turning a corner. Maybe she’d start to remember more things.
She remembered the taste of strawberries.
After loading the last dish into the dishwasher, he headed out to the reception desk and logged on to the business site to go over a few things, like he did daily. The Sullivans were checking out and he wanted to go over some reports. Even though he was absolutely thrilled that Flo was back in his life, there was still a business to run.
As he was scanning reports, he could hear his brother cursing in Nordic while cleaning up the mess in the dining room. Still grumbling about the unfairness of the situation, but really it wasn’t unfair. Magnus was no longer cursed and had love.
You have love too. She just doesn’t remember.
Sven just rolled his eyes at his brother grumbling. In the past, he would’ve corrected Magnus for doing that out loud, especially now that they were open, but honestly, he just couldn’t be bothered right now. It was just an idiosyncrasy that Magnusseem to have, and after a thousand years of trying to change his brother, he honestly should just give up.
The only one who held sway over Magnus was Mercedes.
As he thought of her, Mercedes walked by, and she paused and looked at him with a scrunched face of consternation.
“What’s wrong?” Sven asked.
“Have you seen in Vlad? He’s missing. I thought he would be done vacuuming by now, but he’s nowhere in sight. I don’t know where he’s gone.”
Sven crossed his arms. “Vlad is in my apartment. I thought the enchanted appliances weren’t supposed to go up there, but he made a surprise entrance this morning.”
Mercedes gasped, covering her mouth. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Is he okay?”
Sven shook his head. “Nope. He swallowed one of Flo’s gloves and exploded.”
Mercedes eyes widened. “What do you mean he exploded? Did he explode into pieces or just start spitting out dust?”
“No, not into pieces. He’s very much intact but a black puff of smoke came out of him and he powered down. He has a glove stuck in his beater bar.”
“How did he get a glove stuck in his beater bar?” Mercedes asked. “I didn’t think Flo could remove her clothes. The other ghosts don’t seem to change. Except, Mario as he always takes those soggy clothes off. I never encounter ghostly clothes lying around though. I’m not really sure of the rules.”
Sven shrugged. “She’s not a ghost and we’re still trying to figure this whole thing out. Needless to say, when she takes off a piece of the clothing she’s wearing, it seems to disintegrate or age very quickly.”
Mercedes pressed her lips together and frowned. “I hope that doesn’t mean if her curse breaks she would disintegrate or age really quickly.”
If Sven had a beating heart, it would’ve stopped right there as the reality of what Mercedes said hit him. He never even thought about that. He didn’t know how her curse worked.
Nobody did.
Everything had been speculation. Even Flo couldn’t remember how her curse happened. What if they did fall in love and the curse was broken and she died? Sure, his curse would be broken, but he would be left without the love of his life after he just found her again. He sat down on the stool that was behind the check-in desk and ran a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t think of that,” he said quietly.
Mercedes quickly came around the other side of the desk and put her arm around him. “It might not be like that. She said she was a revenant.”
