Then it’s silent. For several minutes, I stare at her. In fact, I stare at her for so long that I begin to feel as if this is a scam, and I’m tempted to rip the book from her palms and run.
Right as I’m getting up the nerve to do it, she clears her throat. “Are you focusing, Julian?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply.
Wait, when did I say my name? I didn’t say my name, did I? Holy shit,I didn’t say my name!
“She is dying, that I can see,” Madam Lu begins. “She is with child, and it is killing her.”
“Who?” I ask. “Is it Elizabeth?” I think of the name written in the book, and my mind begins to reel.
I’m honestly freaking out over the name thing and the fact that she’s bringing up a woman when there’s a woman’s name written on that page.
“I don’t know the name,” she murmurs. “But her lover is devastated. He… he tries to satisfy it, but it is not happy. It does not want a slaughtered lamb.”
“What?”
“It wants something to feed on; it wants the unborn child. In exchange for saving his loved one, he wants his unborn son.” Madam Lu has her eyes squeezed shut, and I notice her hands are trembling slightly.
“What does? A demon? Did he summon a demon?” I can hear the desperation in my own voice.
“Yes,” she whispers. “His sacrifice fails, and to save his loved one and his unborn son, he… makes a bargain. At the altar, the man promises the demon of desire a child of his bloodline, under one condition. He must pass before the child is claimed.”
I’m hearing every word Madam Lu is spewing, but only growing more confused by the second. So the man gave the incubus a child, but he couldn’t claim it until the man himself died?
“I feel guilt,” Madam Lu continues. “He didn’t wish to see it. Giving the demon this offspring meant he would not see the destruction caused. The demon accepts these conditions, and the man’s loved one and unborn son are saved—but the curse has been placed.”
Slowly, her eyes begin to open. They’re watery and wide, as if she saw the whole thing unfold and will never be the same again. Not a second later, she drops theBlack Bookonto the table and takes a gasping breath.
I wait for her to calm before I speak again.
“Are you alright?” I ask, and she nods.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just… stay away from that magic, do you understand? There is never… There is never any good that comes from dealing with demons.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her I’malreadydealing with a demon, so I just grab the book from the table and shove it back into my bag.
“Thank you for your time,” I say, and Madam Lu stands from where she was sitting.
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” she apologizes. “If I had a way of contacting Serenity, I would, but I unfortunately don’t. She left quite a while ago.”
“You’ve helped plenty.”
Though I didn’t get any answers when it comes to the cure, I got plenty when it comes to the origins of the curse.
Madam Lu walks me out, standing awkwardly on the porch as I climb into my dad’s truck. I find it odd that she stays there, staring at me with what feels like a sense of dread, but psychics are weird in nature, I guess.
I begin the drive home.
So, it appears that Atlas was the chosen child of that man’s bloodline. Which means one of his ancestorsdidplay with black magic, cursing his family.
Atlas willnotlike this.
I’m curious as to who it was and why Atticus wasn’t chosen when he was born first. Abigail was lucky to be born a woman.
I intended to tell Atlas as soon as I returned—to fill him in on what I learned. But now, having learnedthis, I’m reluctant to share. Maybe I should wait until I have more information, like who made that bargain, and whyhewas chosen.
Or, you know, literally anything about the cure.
