Page 36 of The Neighborhood Ghost

“I know,” Hugo said, showing his fangs.

“We never had a vampire here before. Always a first.”

“Everyone wants this stupid spell. I wish I could destroy it.” Hugo paused. “It’s brought nothing but pain and suffering. Where is the love?”

“The Lovers’ Kiss has been fought over because there is such a misconception of what it can do.”

“And you’re the expert?” Hugo asked.

“There are those like the vampires who sought it for immortality,” Madeline said.

“Funny,” Hugo said as he pressed his tongue into his left fang. “I knew a pair of vampires who wanted it for immortality.”

“You knew the Savinos?” Madeline asked as a slight smile broke her stoic gaze. “A lovely bunch, aren’t they?”

Hugo opened his mouth and elongated his vampiric fangs. “They definitely left a mark.”

“They certainly do. I wanted it for other purposes. Noble purposes.” She leaned closer. “Let me ask you. What did it do? Please indulge me. Give me its secrets.”

Hugo shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “It brought my fiancée back to life. She’s a witch who was burned by an amulet. She was lifeless. Together, we drank from the spell, and it brought her back to life.”

Madeline grinned. “Thank you for confirming my . . . hope. I wanted to use it for similar purposes. Not immortality. When we lost track of the spell, I—I turned to other means. I didn’t set out for this. This wasn’t a grandiose plan of mine. I’m a victim of circumstance.”

“This.” Hugo pointed outside. “You’re in control of this and call yourself a victim.”

The smile faded, and her face turned solemn. She leaned closer, almost nose to nose with Hugo. “The Sinclairs are cursed. I am the victim of a sin I never committed, and yet . . . I faced the full punishment. Many generations ago, my ancestors wanted wealth and power and a strong bloodline. They consulted with many powerful people. None would grant their wish.”

Madeline leaned back, never taking her eyes off Hugo.

She said, “They found one who would. He granted everything they wanted. Wealth. Power. A strong bloodline to carry on the family legacy. But it came at a price. My ancestors were so consumed with their desires, they didn’t care about the cost. Everything was given to them, but when the male heir was born, their spouse would die. A life for a life.”

Madeline focused on the object beside her. A book sat on the seat next to her. Her fingers, one by one, rapped against the black, leather binding.

“My father sought to break the curse. He found a powerful witch who agreed to help him. They ultimately fell in love, as was promised generations ago. They tried . . . Oh, they tried. She even used her magick, so she had a daughter instead of a male heir.”

Madeline’s voice grew quiet and filled with a tempered rage. She muttered, “They thought by not having a son, thus breaking the strong bloodline of male heirs, it would also break the curse.”

Madeline turned back to Hugo, her fingers flat against the book. “I was born, and my mother still died.”

Hugo said, “I’m sorry for your loss. I truly am. I know your pain. Your sorrow. But why should everyone else suffer?”

Madeline’s face remained stoic and unchanged. “It came my turn to inherit the family sin. I fell in love with a powerful wizard. His name was Callum. My sweet, sweet Callum.”

She paused for a moment; her lips curled inward.

Madeline said, “We knew what fate laid out before us. So, we decided to change the narrative. We sought the spell, hoping it would bring him back to life if . . .whenhe died. Once the spell slipped away, we became desperate. And then, as the curse dictated, I became pregnant.”

She patted the book next to her. “I used a spell to lock him away. I banished him to another realm to save him. We hoped if he was gone, even momentarily, he wouldn’t suffer the same fate and thus, we would break the curse.”

Madeline paused. Her eyes focused off into the distance through the carriage windows. They glazed over as if holding back tears. Her lips quivered.

She said, “However, the curse of the Sinclairs was wrong. It demanded a death. It didn’t matter who. Since my lover was not there, I lost the child. I lost my son and my lover. I couldn’t call to Callum. I couldn’t find him. Wherever he was banished to, he was gone. I lost both of them.”

Madeline paused for a moment, clearing her throat, before turning toward Hugo.

She continued, “I sought a way to the underworld in hopes of finding him, but he wasn’t here. I was tricked by the king of the fairies. And now I’m trapped for eternity. The only way out is to pay the ferryman. He only accepts gold to return souls to the land of the living, and the dead cannot pay him.”

Hugo leaned back, crossing his arms. “I’m sorry for your losses. I truly am, but what does this have to do with me?”

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