Page 47 of Ever Dark

When the nightmare roams

Stick close to the well

Of broken Bones

Your ever-loving grandmother,

Emma Harker

Her fingers tremble as she sets the letter on the table. “You were born here… Fuck.”

I shrug. “Yeah, so? Weren’t you?”

“No, Mia. Pregnant women are sent away because of the curse. I was born in Raven’s Gate.” She pushes her pad Thai noodles around on her plate.

My pulse thrums. I’m pretty fucking sure I know exactly what she’s talking about. But I want to hear someone else say it out loud. I need to know I haven’t been hallucinating Nox my whole life.

“What curse, Lettie?”

She tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. The overhead lamp shines on her diamond earring, sending a ray of sparkles around her head like a halo. “I didn’t believe it for a long time. It was just an old superstition that our families passed down to each generation. But it’s true.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Whatis the curse?” I plead again.

She rubs her fingers together, a nervous tick I never noticedbefore. “The devil came to Ever Graves and fell in love. When his love wasn’t requited, he put a curse on the whole town. Every girl born here would have a nightmare man attached to her soul. A depraved tormenter who would do everything in his power to seduce and manipulate.”

A gasp slips past my lips. “How do you know for sure?”

“Because my best friend is a child of one of these unions. Her grandmother sent her mother away before she was born. To Wickford Hollow. Maureen Blackwell is half-nightmare. The only one of her kind that we know of. She’s also Draven’s cousin. And she is romantically involved with my brother Felix. Penny Blackwell was convinced that her presence would summon the devil back….” Lettie arches an eyebrow at me. “Maybe she was right.”

Fuck.

It’s a lot more fucked up than I thought. “What do you mean by that?”

She places her hand on my grandmother’s letter. “You were born here. And now you’re back. I’m guessing your nightmare man came with you.”

A flush of relief mixed with fear washes over me.I’m not crazy. I knock back my sake and pour another one without skipping a beat. “Yes,” I murmur.

We sit in silence and stare at our food for what feels like forever.

Lettie finally lets out a deep breath. “Emma must’ve thought she could spare you by sending you away. I can’t imagine why your mother didn’t leave before she had you. That’s what all the women of Ever Graves do.”

I shrug, more confused than ever. “All I know is that my mother spent some time in Absentia Asylum. Like me. I found some old invoices in the study. Maybe that’s why.”

She folds her hands in her lap to conceal her shakes. Panic disorder. I know the signs well. “What’s it like?” she asks.

I’ve wanted someone to talk to about Nox my whole life, butnow, I don’t know how to explain him. “It’s like he’s a part of me but also his own separate being. He’s a monster, Lettie. And I have let him defile me since I was eighteen years old. The things I let him do… Anyway, it’s a dream world, but it’s as real and vivid as you and I sitting here in this restaurant. I don’t know why or how. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Lettie white-knuckles the table, her eyes wide. “Fuck.”

I snicker. “No pun intended, right?”

She blushes. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business. But it might be my brother’s if the rest of this letter means what I think it does.”

I shake my head. “No need to apologize. You’re the first person I’ve ever told who actually believes me. But… your brother? Please elaborate.”

She holds up the letter and reads a section aloud. “Roses bring Thorns. Night is ever Black. When the shadow comes. The Crane will attack. Heads will roll. When the nightmare roams. Stick close to the well. Of broken Bones.”

“So, Emma Harker was a poet.” I furrow my brow at her. I still don’t get it.

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