The Book of Love (6 page)

“You’d think that I would have been the one to leave him,” she said. “I mean, look at us.” She sounded so, so tired. “Look at me and look at him. He was just . . . he was just this guy.” Her voice cracked on “guy.” “I begged him to stay, though.” She looked up then. “I don’t know why he didn’t.”

“All right, Mom,” Liza said. She walked over to the bed and started straightening out the blankets and putting the fitted sheet back on the mattress with the manner of an impatient but efficient nurse. She picked up a prescription bottle off the floor, opened it, and held it over her palm. A single orange pill bounced out. “These were supposed to last you until the end of the month.”

Liza’s mom didn’t say anything—she looked down like an ashamed child.

Liza put the bottle on the nightstand and then started collecting up the bits of crumpled tissues, the half-crushed cans.

“I just don’t understand why he left, Lizzie. I thought he was
it
for me. I was so good this time.”

“You were with him for a
week
. How could you have thought it was going to be forever?” Liza faced her mother. They looked so much alike it was as though Liza was talking to herself in the future. Except, of course, Liza’s future self would never be like this.

“I . . . ,” her mother started. “Well, I guess it sounds silly now.”

Liza’s voice softened. “You were supposed to go to work today. Your boss called. You missed your shift.”

“Oh, shit,” and then Liza’s mom froze. She stopped crying and raised her hand to her lips. “Can you call them and tell them I’m sick, sweetie?”

“No,” Liza said. “They don’t care. They said, ‘If she’s not dead, tell her she’s fired.’”

“But what about our bills? Our rent is due next week. How are we going to pay it?”

Olivia reached out and squeezed Liza’s shoulder. She whispered something in her ear. Liza shook her head. “Not again,” she whispered back.

“It’s nothing to me,” Olivia whispered. “You know that.”

And then they all stood there in silence for a moment.

“Hi, Kate,” Gil said. Lucy turned. Gil was smiling sweetly. “Sorry you’re having such a rough time of it.”

“Gillian, honey,” Liza’s mom said. She blinked and looked around, then reached up and touched her hair as though she’d only just noticed there were other people in the room. “Oh, it’s so nice to see you, doll!”

“Well, okay then.” Liza clapped her hands together. “This has been buckets of fun. But I just came here to make sure you weren’t lying here dead.”

Liza’s mom tried to laugh, but it came out wrong. “I’m okay, honey, really, I am. You are very sweet to come and check on me. I’m sorry about all of this. Can I make you girls a snack? I think we have some English muffins—I could make you some of those little pizzas you used to like. . . .”

Liza sighed. “No,” she said. “We’re on our way somewhere.” She turned toward the door, and the rest of them walked out behind her. But at the last second Liza pushed past them, came back, and gave her mom a quick kiss on the top of the head. For a moment, there was a crack in Liza’s gorgeous shiny exterior, and the heart inside, impenetrable or not, was suddenly visible in the expression on her face. But it only lasted a second.

“Let’s go, girls,” she said.

And just like that, it was gone.

Eight

B
y the time they got to Olivia’s house, everything was back to normal, or normal-ish anyway. The four girls got out of the car and made their way up the walkway. There was an envelope leaning against the front door, thick and midnight blue, sealed with crimson wax.

“Olivia, you got a very fancy-looking—” Lucy started to say.

“Holy shit!” Liza shouted. Liza dove for the envelope and held it to her chest. “It’s here!!”

She ran inside. Olivia followed. Gil grabbed Lucy’s arm and whispered in her ear. “This was what I was talking about. This is what could save him.” And before Lucy had time to respond, Gil went in after them.

A moment later they were all in Olivia’s living room, curled up on the evergreen velvet couches, the dangling
Moroccan lanterns all aglow, the large photograph of Olivia’s grandmother Eleanor, who’d been a Heartbreaker before she died, staring down at them from above the fireplace.

“Ladies,” Olivia said. “Behold.” She held up the envelope and broke the wax seal. A puff of smoke escaped and swirled into the faces of four beautiful women, each with a finger raised to her lips. Then a gust of wind blew out of the envelope and whispered, “SSH,” and the faces were gone.

Olivia took out a sheet of heavy midnight blue paper and unfolded it twice. It was a list of about fifty names, each next to an age and a job.

Without speaking, Olivia reached out and tapped the first one, EVAN AARONOVICH, 22, ENTREPRENEUR, and a puff of smoke swirled out and formed itself into the face of a guy with sleek feline features and a self-satisfied smirk.

Gil touched the next name, KYLE ANGEL, 19, COLLEGE STUDENT, and there appeared the face of an overgrown man-child with a devilish glint in his eye.

Olivia touched MAX ASHKIN, 20, FILMMAKER, who had a face like a hairy shark.

“What is this?” Lucy stared down at the list. Olivia tapped another name, and a face swirled up, an actor from a movie Lucy had seen over the summer. JACOB JADE, 23, ACTOR.

“These are the year’s Hard-Hearted Bastards,” said Olivia. “Otherwise known as the HHBs.”

“They’ve all done some really crappy things this year,” said Gil. “In the realm of the heart.”

“And now,” Liza said with a grin, “it’s payback time.”

“What do you mean?” said Lucy.

“Every year the North American Sisterhood of Heartbreakers compiles a list,” Gil said. “And gives it out to all complete Heartbreaker families. Then they host a contest called the Breakies. The first Heartbreaker family to break the heart of someone on this list wins.”

“Wins what?”

Gil turned to Lucy and smiled meaningfully. “Wins
everything.
”

“I’ve heard they’re giving out a bottle of Diamonding Powder this year,” Liza said. She rolled her eyes.

“What’s Diamonding Powder?”

“It’s basically the Holy Grail for Heartbreakers,” said Olivia. “It’s as versatile as a diamond, and as long-lasting. All of our spells and potions and things wear off eventually, but apparently anything you do with Diamonding Powder lasts forever.”

“Nothing lasts forever,” Liza snorted, then faced Lucy. “Some people say it was made by Queen Cleopatra and others say the Hope Diamond used to be bigger, and this was crafted from the extra missing carats. And there are a dozen other rumors about it, but they’re all just that. Rumors. The powder isn’t even real.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Gil said. She shook her head. “I mean, I’ve even heard that it can be used to give a regular person a heart as strong as a diamond.” Gil turned to Lucy again. Their eyes met. “But I highly doubt a Heartbreaker would ever make a potion like that. What would be the point, right?” A tiny smile bloomed on Gil’s lips. And Lucy felt a crazy rush of energy run right through her.

“
The Book of Love
,” said Olivia. “That’s the main prize, and that absolutely exists. And it’s the most valuable thing
of all. It contains everything the Heartbreakers know, all in one place. It’s thousands of pages long and who knows how old. It’s been secretly passed around for years. And in the last few it has been one of the prizes for the Breakies. The winning family gets to keep it for a year, before they have to pass it on.”

“Didn’t you say your granny had it once?” Gil said.

“She had this very big, very old book when I first moved in with her,” Olivia said. “I asked what it was once and she wouldn’t tell me. She just said not to touch it and then not long after it was gone.”

“Well, you’ll get to see it this year,” Liza said. “When we win it.” Liza fixed her eyes on Lucy. “The council has this rule that only full families of four are able to enter for the grand prize.” She smirked. “So I guess it’s good that you’re one of us now.”

“Why only full families?” Lucy asked.

“Every sister needs three others to keep her in check, and only complete families of four are considered strong enough to handle magic that powerful,” Olivia said.

Lucy snuck a glance at Gil, who gave an almost imperceptible nod before turning away.

Olivia looked back down at the list and touched JACK CORNWALL, 26, FILTHY RICH. He had a face like a cabbage.

“Who’s the lucky one . . . ?” Liza said, and she tapped her bottom lip with the tip of her finger. “Hmmm. Maybe?” She poked DEVON SHIRLY, 22, TECH BILLIONAIRE. Lucy remembered seeing an article about him online, about how he’d broken up with his longtime girlfriend as soon as his company went public, and used a bunch of his
newfound cash to hire high-class call girls by the dozen. A face rose up—it looked awfully pleased with itself. “He’d be fun to break,” Liza said.

“Possibly,” said Olivia. “But think about how much magic we’d need to waste just to get access?”

“I read he’s super paranoid and travels with three different bodyguards all the time,” said Gil. “Although I guess considering this, maybe he’s not so paranoid after all.”

Lucy stared down at the list. She recognized some of the names—the newly famous star of a recent blockbuster movie, rumored to have simultaneously dated three of his costars without any of them knowing; the heir to a billion-dollar cosmetics fortune; the son of a prominent celebrity lawyer.

“I don’t know,” said Olivia. “Maybe?”

“Eh,” said Liza. “Not sure this would be any fun. He’s not even cute.”

“Wait,” Gil said. “Wait, this is perfect.” And she touched BEACON DREW, 18, ROCK STAR. And his face swirled up. Lucy instantly recognized it from the cover of his album, which was currently being advertised everywhere. He’d started out playing at underground blues and jazz clubs when he was only thirteen, but had only gained serious mainstream stardom when he started singing and playing other people’s pop songs. He was known for being a huge “partier,” and he was always popping up on gossip blogs with a never-ending stream of adoring hot women. Everything about him oozed complete utter jerk.

“Ah yes,” Olivia said. “He’ll do just fine.”

Liza ran her fingers through her hair. “Well, hello there, stranger,” she said to the remains of his face. Her breath
blew the rest of him away. “He’ll be a blast to break. I assume I’ll be on offense?”

Olivia nodded. “Now we just need to figure out where to find him,” she said. “Actually, wait, isn’t he playing at a festival in a couple of days? Sound something?”

“SoundWave,” Lucy said. “I think it starts this weekend. But tickets are impossible to get.” Lucy only knew about it because Tristan was obsessed with going to it. He tried and failed every year because tickets always sold out within seconds.

“Impossible for
whom
?” Olivia said with a grin. “Well, so now that we have our target, it’s time for a little research.”

Olivia took a sleek laptop off the table and handed it to Liza, who started typing quickly.

A couple of minutes later Liza’s mouth twisted into a smirk and flipped the computer around. On the screen it said,
WELCOME BEACON,
and there was what appeared to be his email inbox.

“What magic did you use to do that?” said Lucy.

“None.” Liza shrugged. “I broke the heart of a hacker once, and he taught me a few things first.”

Lucy read over Liza’s shoulder.
TOUR DATES
was the first email subject.
I’M MAILING YOU MY PANTIES
was the second. They spent the next half hour combing his inbox for all emails to or from or about girls, but there were so many they eventually just searched for all emails containing the phrase “I love you.” There were twenty-two from six different people. Three included naked pictures. “Too bad he’s a dude and an idiot,” Liza said. “He’d make a great Heartbreaker.” She clicked through a few of the emails. “Hey, listen to this one he sent his manager. It’s
from two weeks after his last album came out. ‘I don’t want to be associated with this shit forever, it’s barely even music.’ Doesn’t seem to think too highly of his own songs, apparently. Which shows he’s not quite as stupid as he looks.”

“Um . . . you guys?” Gil’s voice was quiet. “There was something else in the envelope.” She held up a sheet of what looked like shimmering cellophane. There was a broken heart printed on each of the four corners, and in the center was a golden thread twirling itself around and around. Gil put her thumb and forefinger over one of the hearts, Olivia pinched another, and Liza grabbed a third.

“Come on, apple pie,” said Olivia, and Lucy reached out for the last one. As soon as she was holding the final heart, the thread started swirling itself into words.

Due to recent allegations that some families have been recruiting new sisters solely for the purpose of entering the Breakies, this year there will be an additional requirement for entry—not only must all families be complete with four members, but also each member must have broken at least one heart post–tattoo ceremony. The prizes in this year’s pack are too powerful to be entrusted to new baby Heartbreakers. Good luck.