Page 12 of The Cursed Fae

“Yes, I noticed your friend Morgan was rather distraught,” my great-grandmother agreed. “From what I understand, she and Melissa were close.”

Since I knew little about their relationship, my answer was a noncommittal shrug. Nana pursed her lips before continuing. “I have spoken with Morgan Riley at length. She is reluctant to accept that Melissa's death was an accident.”

“Was it?” I retorted. My boldness surprised both of us.

The fact my great-grandmother answered shocked me even more. “Yes, dear. As was Raymond's death. Both were unfortunate accidents, but not the first ones.” Her mouth drew into a thin line. “They won't be the last either, unless the fae and casters deal with the depletion issue.”

She shook her head back and forth and muttered something beneath her breath. I smiled. My great-grandmother rarely swore, but she had a repertoire of choice harsh words reserved for moments of anger.

Nana sipped her tea and then cleared her throat before continuing.

“The fae like to pretend depletion is a caster problem and nothing more. That simply isn't true. Especially among the Gemini.” She leveled me with a pointed stare. “All the old families in Arcane Landing have the disease in their line, though few will admit the truth.”

An icy chill ran down my spine just as hot tea sloshed over the side of my cup and onto my hand when I lifted it. Was she saying depletion ran in our family line?

“Many have died young from the disease,” Nana continued. “Including your mother's sister, Carol.”

My eyes went wide as the saucer I was holding, and I set the teacup down with shaky hands. My mother had a sister? She'd never mentioned a sibling. Ever.

“I see by your face that your mother has never told you about Carol. She was Colleen's twin.”

My mom had a twin sister?

“She died when the girls were fourteen. It was very hard on your mother. The official story is that Carol died in a car accident. The truth is, your grandmother crashed the car when Carol started seizing in the backseat. She tried to help Carol, as did your mother, and my daughter lost control of the car. Carol passed by the time emergency workers arrived. Your grandmother thought it best at the time to let everyone believe Carol died in the crash.”

It felt like a sizeable chunk of my past that I hadn't even known was missing fell into place. Mom had a twin. Was Carol the reason Mom had such mixed feelings about Arcane Landing? Were the memories too painful?

“Is my magic... finite?” I glanced down at my arms like I might witness tendrils of magic escaping through my pores.

Nana smiled. “No, dear. Your magic is not finite. Neither is mine, nor your mother's.”

Relief flooded my gut. Vampires were enough to give me insomnia. I didn't need to worry about succumbing to depletion, too. I looked down at my hands and chose my next words with care. “How many kids die from this every year?”

My great-grandmother sipped her tea and studied me over the rim of her cup. “Any loss of young life is too much. Both deaths were preventable, had the families been honest and more vigilant. Raymond Cantrell was a caster. Someone should have been monitoring his magic infusions more carefully. Melissa Derringer suffered from depletion problems. Both her parents and the university, they should have monitored her more closely.”

I blinked. Depletion? Raymond died from depletion?

“Belle said Raymond drowned. Are you saying that's not true?” I met her gaze head on, but she didn't flinch.

“The Cantrell boy drowned, that is true. He was swimming from the cove to Siren Island. According to witnesses, they saw Raymond flail and heard him cry out, but no one could reach him in time.”

My mouth felt like a desert wasteland. “That's awful.”

“It is,” Nana agreed. “The boy had almost no trace of magic left in him when divers recovered his body. He lost much of his magical life force just before death. My theory is that something happened while swimming that caused him to think he might not make it to the island. He used a powerful spell to save his own life and ended up depleting his magic instead.”

I mulled over everything she'd just said, trying to decipher the hidden meaning between the words. The story was consistent with Belle's version. And yet, two otherwise healthy teenagers, both dead of depletion, and Nana had dodged my question about the average number of caster deaths per year.

“You don't think there's a connection between Missy and Raymond's deaths, do you?” I asked, studying Nana as she debated her answer.

“The only actual connection I see is that they both succumbed to depletion.” Nana reached over and patted my hand. “You have nothing to worry about, dear.”

She meant to reassure me, but the more people told me there was nothing to worry about, the more I worried. And the more people kept saying the two deaths had nothing to do with each other, the more I became convinced that was a lie.

Turned out, it was. It sucks to be right.

Chapter four

There's a Thin Line Between Love Notes and Hate Mail

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