Tristan’s green eyes examined his most recent acquisition in the soft light of the den. He turned the ancient blade over in his hand, the ornate handle weighing heavy in his palm. The long blade glinted in the lamp light of the room as he continued to turn it over.
He’d spent years searching for this dagger. A dagger believed to have magical energy.
Or mystic powers.
Or voodoo or something.
Tristan wasn’t sure. But he didn’t care what kind of powers the blade possessed as long as it would take the life he was trying to end. A life that was proving far more obstinate in its existence than he’d anticipated.
He polished the blade carefully, running an execution plan through his head.
There were so many details involved when committing murder, so many loose ends. Killing took careful planning, patience and, most of all, resilience.
He could not give up. No matter how terrible or unforgivable his mission was, he could not stop.
The curse needed to end.
He finished polishing and made a place for the blade on the west wall of the den among the other weapons.
Measuring thirty feet in length and fifteen feet high, the wall was covered from floor to ceiling with an arsenal from the last five hundred years. The weapons ranged from the most primitive of clubs to the most modern of knives.
But no guns. That was a personal preference the brothers shared.
One of the few.
Tristan hung the dagger and stepped back to view the collection of weapons. He’d been trying to end the curse for nearly two years. He’d used nearly every weapon he owned on his brutal quest and all had failed him.
Hopefully, the dagger would not.
Tristan sighed as he retreated from the den to the large office next door. He made is way to the back of the room and sat behind the large mahogany desk. He clicked on the computer.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Tristan started his Internet search. A few months ago, he’d discovered the best way to kill his target was to hire a hit man.
Not because he enjoyed including others in his grisly task, but because he simply could not do it alone.
He’d tried—and failed—too many times to count.
And time was of the essence.
His computer came to life and alerted him of a new message waiting in his inbox—a fervent response from one of the assassins he’d tracked down.
It was amazing what you could find on craigslist.
The message contained a time and location to meet so they could exchange payment.
Tristan’s gut churned. It was easier than he’d ever imagined to find someone willing to kill for money. And, although he was sickened by the scoundrels who’d responded so eagerly to his online request, he was grateful for it.
Because he couldn’t do this without help.
Maybe this time it would work. Maybe this time there would be a dead body, an empty soul; a chance for Scarlet to truly exist and for Tristan to be permanently free of the curse.
Tristan responded to the assassin’s email.
I’ll be there.
He closed his computer screen and stared across the office, hoping it would all be over soon.
The next morning Scarlet awoke to the shrill sound of Heather’s far-too-cheery voice—which was better than waking up alone in a forest, but not by much.
“Rise and shiiiiiine, sleepyhead!”
Even before opening her eyes, Scarlet could tell Heather was smiling.
“Go away,” she mumbled.
“No can do, Sleeping Beauty. We’ve got things to do today. Get up, up, up!”
Scarlet cracked an eye open. “Are you seriously waking me up on a Sunday morning? In the
summer?
”
“It’s for your own good.”
Scarlet rolled over and closed her eyes again. “I no longer acknowledge our friendship. You’re dead to me.”
Heather scooted to the other side of Scarlet’s queen-sized bed and sat on the edge. “Dead in a good way? Like a hot girl zombie?”
Ignoring Heather’s joke, Scarlet turned into her pillow. “Who even let you in my house?”
“Laura.”
Traitor.
“You’re still dead to me.”
Heather wiggled closer to Scarlet. “But I brought coffee from The Millhouse.”
Best coffee in Georgia.
Heather’s bright voice carried on, “Would a zombie bring you coffee? Probably not. Because zombies aren’t very thoughtful. They’re always trying to eat your brains out and everything.”
Scarlet opened an eye, looked at the Millhouse to-go cup in Heather’s hand, and inhaled. “You’re pure evil.” She slowly pulled herself up and took the coffee into her own hands.
“That’s what I’ve been saying. Hot Evil Girl Zombie. I think I just figured out my Halloween costume.” Heather wagged her eyebrows.
Scarlet took a sip of the café mocha, made a
Mmmm
noise and looked at Heather. “So, why are you here at this ungodly hour?”
Heather looked at the clock beside Scarlet’s bed. “It’s 11:00 a.m., Scarlet.”
“It’s ungodly a.m., that’s what it is. And it’s summer. You’d better have a good reason for disturbing my slumber.”
“I do. Today, you and I are going shopping.”
“Why? It’s not payday.”
“
Why?
” Heather looked incredulous. “Because we need something fabulous for you to wear on your date with Gabriel tonight.”
Scarlet took another drink. “It’s not a date.”
“It’s
so
a date.”
Scarlet shook her head. “We’re just, you know, hanging out.”
“Yeah, you’re just hanging out. The two of you. Alone. Going to the movies. Having dinner. Hanging at The Kissing Festival. Yeah, nothing about that sounds romantic or date-like at
all
.”
Scarlet raised her eyebrows but didn’t respond.
It was a date. Scarlet knew it.
Two days ago, she didn’t want to date anybody. But something about Gabriel had completely changed her mind.
Maybe it was the way he looked at her.
Maybe it was his familiar voice….
Why did his voice seem so familiar, but nothing else about him triggered any memories?
Heather continued, “And even though I think Gabriel’s full of secrets, I still support you dating him. Mostly because you need to get kissed. Like, bad.”
“Gabriel’s not full of secrets.” Even as she said it, a warning bell went off in Scarlet’s head. A bell Scarlet smothered with memories of Gabriel’s adorable dimples and deep brown eyes.
“Uh, y
eah
he is. He was all hesitant and careful last night, giving vague answers about his life. He’s definitely hiding something.”
“Just because he doesn’t want to share his life story with us doesn’t mean he’s hiding something.” Scarlet took a sip of coffee.
Heather thought about it for a moment and shook her head. “No. No, it’s more than that. I can feel it. Something’s…hidden. I just don’t know what.”
The bell blared in Scarlet’s head again.
Shut up, bell.
Scarlet purposely rolled her eyes. “Can’t you be supportive like a normal best friend and just be like ‘
oh, Gabriel’s so hunky and you should totally marry him and have little Greek god babies with him’?
”
“Oh, you totally should. You two would for
sure
have Greek god babies together,” Heather said. “And I
am
being supportive. I’m taking you shopping.”
“At the crack of dawn.”
“You mean the crack of noon? Yep, that’s me. Waking you up before the sun sets. What can I say? I’m an evil zombie.”
Scarlet yawned. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“Yes. I am. Now,” Heather stood from the bed and straightened her sundress, “we are going shopping in ten minutes. Get dressed. And when I say ‘get dressed’, I mean, ‘let
me
pick out your clothes’.”
Heather disappeared into Scarlet’s closet as Scarlet set her coffee cup down and crawled back under the sheets.
Ready for his night with Scarlet, Gabriel whistled as he made his way downstairs. As silly as it seemed, his palms were sweaty.
Not with nervousness, but with excitement.
The thought of being back in Scarlet’s life made his heart incredibly happy.
Tristan, dressed in all black with a long dagger in his hand, exited the den as Gabriel reached the main floor.
Gabriel stopped whistling and paused. “Please tell me you’re going to a ninja convention.”
“Nope.” Tristan didn’t make eye contact as he walked past his brother and entered the kitchen.
Gabriel followed after him. “Then why are you dressed like a ninja?”
In the kitchen, Tristan started making coffee. “I’m not dressed like a ninja.”
“Black pants, black shirt…
weapon
…? Total ninja outfit.”
Tristan shrugged.
“And why are you making nighttime coffee?” Gabriel looked his brother over a moment before it dawned on him. “Dude. Are you going to kill someone tonight?”
“Hopefully,” Tristan said, setting down the dagger and grabbing a coffee mug.
Gabriel groaned.
His brother, a murderer. It just seemed wrong.
Fitting, for Tristan’s dark and bitter personality, but wrong.
But what was Gabriel going to do, stop him? No.
If Tristan broke the curse, Scarlet would live, and that’s what Gabriel truly wanted.
What he
didn’t
want was his crazy brother slashing up the townsfolk while he was out trying to enjoy his time with Scarlet.
“Come on, Tristan. How about you wait a day or two? How am I supposed to relax on my date with Scarlet tonight if I know you’re off playing Ninja Assassin around town?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’d hate to ruin your
date
with my inconvenient trying-to-save-Scarlet’s-life plan.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if you kill this poor guy and nothing changes?”
“It’ll work.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Nate said so.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Nate is crazy.”
Nathaniel Fletcher was their oldest friend and a bit of a curse expert. He’d been trying to help resolve the hex for years.
Without results.
“Nate doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Tristan. He’s
speculating
.”
“No, he’s not. If I’m successful tonight, the curse will be broken and Scarlet will live.”
Tristan sounded casual. Like ending a life was no big deal.
Gabriel shook his head. “What you’re doing is wrong.”
Tristan poured himself coffee and took a sip. “Maybe. But it’s worth it.” He put his mug down. “I won’t stop until it’s over, Gabe. This needs to end—for all of us.”
Gabriel jutted his jaw. He didn’t like Tristan’s dedication to the whole “murder” thing.
But still.
The three of them had suffered the curse for a long time, and a cure—
any
cure—sounded appealing.
Tristan finished his coffee and moved to leave the kitchen. But first he grabbed the knife off the counter and strapped it to his back.
Awesome.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously going out with a dagger strapped to your back? You might as well just wear a sign that says
Look at me, I’m a killer!
”
“Actually, yes. I have to take the dagger.”
Gabriel smirked. “Well, I’m not bailing you out of jail when you get pulled over for speeding and have to explain why you’ve got a medieval knife on your back like a psycho.”
Tristan shrugged. “Hopefully, you won’t have to.”
“You’re crazy,” Gabriel said.
“One of us has to be,” Tristan said as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.
“I hate you,” Gabriel called out half-heartedly as Tristan exited.
Before the door closed, Gabriel heard Tristan holler back, “You too!”
Gabriel flexed his hands as he stood in the kitchen.
All he wanted was a relaxing night out with Scarlet. A chance to get to know her again and have her know
him
again. How was he supposed to relax when his brother was out cutting someone into pieces with a barbaric weapon?
Scarlet’s date with Gabriel was going well. Partly because dinner had been delicious and the movie they’d seen had been funny.
But mostly because Gabriel, in some indescribable way, put Scarlet at ease with his presence. And his voice.
He asked her questions and listened to her answers. He nodded when she spoke about the things she loved, as if he understood just how she felt. He made jokes and pulled laughter from her.
And he looked at her—
really
looked at her. Like she was something he cherished.
Scarlet had never felt so valuable.
She wasn’t nervous, or anxious, or insecure around him. She wasn’t giddy or gushing at his every word.
She was simply…normal.
And she savored every minute if it.
When she was around Gabriel, Scarlet forgot about her mysterious past and the questions that consumed her.
He was like magic, and she needed magic.
After the movie, they walked together down Main Street to watch the finale of the Kissing Festival—which was pretty much just a parade followed by fireworks.
“So, tell me about your family,” Gabriel said as he paid for two ice cream cones from the KissPop lady.
Scarlet took a bite of ice cream while she thought about her answer. She had two choices. She could lie and act like her family life was completely normal:
I have two wonderful parents who bathe me in love. We sit at the piano every night and sing songs together before making cookies from scratch. And I have a dog named Mr. Poodles.
Or she could tell the truth:
If I have a family, they ditched me in the woods a few years ago.
The lie was always safer. But because Gabriel made her feel so comfortable, Scarlet went with the truth.
“I don’t really have a family, but I have an awesome guardian.”
It seemed appropriate, confiding in Gabriel.
Logically, it made no sense to open up to a guy who was practically a stranger. But her instincts told her she could trust him.
And instincts were all she had.
“You have a guardian? That’s cool. Tell me about her.” Gabriel took a bite of his ice cream.
Why did Gabriel assume it was a woman?
Did he know about Laura?
An alarm went off again in Scarlet’s head.
She tilted her head to the side, looked at Gabriel’s gorgeous face, then pressed snooze.
“Her name is Laura and she’s really pretty and really young. She works for some huge international company doing some kind of procurement. She’s a terrible cook and she’s more like a sister to me than a mom.”
Gabriel smiled. “She sounds perfect.”
“She is.” Scarlet nodded and waited for Gabriel to ask the inevitable question. The notorious,
Why do you have a guardian and not parents?
Scarlet was prepared to answer truthfully.
Because her instincts told her to.
But Gabriel didn’t ask.
Odd.
Was he trying to be polite? Was he afraid of her answer?
Scarlet didn’t know but, either way, she was relieved. Talking about being abandoned in the woods was kind of a downer. And she didn’t want to screw up their perfectly nice date.
She looked up at him. “Tell me about
your
family.”
“There’s not much to tell….” He took another bite. “My family’s originally from England. And my parents died when I was young so I’ve been pretty much on my own for a while.”
Scarlet frowned in sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”
Scarlet’s heart hurt for him. In a way, it was probably better not ever knowing your family than knowing them well and losing them. “So, you’ve just been, like, alone?”
“Uh…I lived with other family members for a while.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “Anyway, tell me about school. Do you like Avalon High?”
“It’s all right,” Scarlet said. “It’s school, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. School’s a bummer.”
“Are you going to go to Avalon High this year?” Scarlet asked.
Gabriel smiled broadly, and his eyes lit up. “Yes,” he said. As if the thought hadn’t occurred to him until just that moment. “Yes, I am.”
Scarlet nodded and smiled. “Maybe we’ll have some classes together.”
Gabriel looked at Scarlet with a crooked smile. “I certainly hope so.”
As they finished their ice cream, a boom sounded in the distance.
They stopped walking and looked up to see fireworks. The high school band heading up the parade broke into a vaguely patriotic song as bright sparkles exploded in the sky.
They stood and watched without speaking until the song ended and the fireworks finale began.
Boom-boom-boom!
The sky lit up with brilliant colors and lights. People everywhere started kissing and hugging and cheering and laughing. From somewhere above confetti began falling around them, floating into Scarlet’s hair and landing on her eyelashes.
Her eyes still on the sky, she felt Gabriel’s hand slowly reach for hers. She slipped her small hand into his and smiled to herself.
What
was
it about Gabriel that made her feel so…complete?
Shifting her eyes, Scarlet saw a set of five stars hanging directly above them.
Suddenly, she no longer hated all the trees in Georgia.
Her eyes fell to Gabriel’s and for a moment she held her breath.
Ohmygoodness, he’s going to kiss me.
Scarlet didn’t know if she was nervous or excited or afraid.
Gabriel, the stranger who made her feel safe and normal, the stranger with the familiar voice, was going to kiss her.
And all of a sudden, Scarlet had no hesitations.
She
wanted
Gabriel to kiss her.
She wanted it more than anything.
He turned to face her with his cute dimples and Scarlet looked up at him, excitement bubbling inside her as she smiled.
He leaned down and slowly pressed his lips to hers.
Soft and full, they laid against her mouth, sending warmth and butterflies into her stomach as she kissed him back.
Everything about him…they way he smelled, the way he tasted…the way he placed his big hands on her hips and his fingers against her back….everything was wonderful.
Somewhere far away music was playing and confetti continued to fall, a piece landing gently on Scarlet’s nose.
She kept her hands on his strong shoulders and leaned up on her tiptoes to meet his mouth more fully. She wanted more.
Even with her eyes closed, Scarlet could see fireworks.
And they were magical.
The Kissing Festival: Best. Idea. Ever.