Page 78 of Mortal Desires

“So we might break the curse.”

I frowned and Marnie kept talking. “Soulmates are the real deal, Pilar. Not what we thought before. They are part of our souls so they can’t do us any harm. Which means…”

“The curse is broken.” I nodded, and I perked up in my seat. “Abuela was the first ghost I ever saw.”

“What?”

“Shh, listen. She came to me when I was little and brought me up to the attic to get this ring.” I showed Marnie. “And then she disappeared. Poof. Just gone. When I told Vicious he thought it was odd because Abuela died years before she came to me. It just didn’t make any sense.”

Marnie’s mouth was open like she couldn’t believe what I was saying. I kept going anyway. “So we visited the fates and asked about it.”

“The fates…”

I didn’t stop to explain. “And they made it sound like Abuela was working toward the soulmate thing. Like she came to me and gave me the ring… and the ring—”

“Was in my visions about your soulmate,” Marnie added.

“So I kept thinking, this is all insane. But if this breaks the curse Marnie… of course the fates let her play around like that. I think Abuela started this whole thing years ago. I think she’s the one who planned to break the curse with us all along.”

“I—I…” Marnie shook her head. “This is crazy.”

“Vicious thinks our sisters might be in the other territories." When she looked confused I added, “Every god has a territory. They are everywhere and nowhere.”

“That would explain the crystal not working.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “But wherever they are, they are with their soulmates, Marnie. They are protected. And most importantly, all this is part of Abuela’s plan.”

Marnie nodded but she still looked confused. “This is a lot.”

“I know.” I drank my coffee while the information stewed in our heads.

I needed to find out Abuela's plan. All of it. Was mom part of it? I didn’t know, but I liked to imagine she was. That she might have suffered at Dad’s hand but in the end, she made sure that all seven of us had soulmates. Partners who would protect us…love us…for eternity. Something she didn’t get to have.

Something magical danced in the air, nothing abnormal for our house, there was always something in the air. But this time it made me feel warm. It made me feel part of something bigger than myself.

Whatever was happening, it started long ago. The soulmates weren’t just important to us but to our lineage. It broke a curse. My heart raced with the possibilities, my eyes watered with the thought that we all might be okay.

Meeting Vic wasn’t just meeting the love of my life. It was cosmic and meant to be. It meant no Morales was ever going to be betrayed again. None of us ever would suffer at the hands of a partner. We would be happy.

But I had to be sure nothing and no one could interfere with fate. I needed to bring our father to hell.

The human brought a van to the manor first thing in the morning and—against all my instincts—we piled inside. Pilar sat with me in the back, where the dark, tinted windows made it so no one could see that a monster lurked on their streets.

She twisted in her seat and came closer to me, dropping between my parted knees and capturing my chin between her delicate fingers.

“Tell me,” she asked in a small voice.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

She nodded. “I would never voluntarily go near my father, Vic. Unless you were going, too.”

I scoffed. “I can handle him myself, witch.”

She smirked, shaking her head. “No, I think you need me.”

I did. I desperately needed her, but I said nothing. She went back to the other side, watching me with those big brown eyes of hers. This was bigger than just what we were doing today, my intuition was never wrong.

Pilar and her sister might think bringing their father back was all this would take, but this plot had too many moving pieces.

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