thick glass case along with the silver box the necklaces were in. I grabbed Calvin’s hand and pulled him downward to kiss me. “This is it!” I squealed. “Are you ready?”
He hesitated while his fingers traced the curve of my neck. “Nothing’s going to change, right?”
“Not with us. You’re still going to be stuck with me.”
“Good,” he said sternly. “Let’s get on with it then.”
I slowly read the hieroglyphics on the tablet, my hand tightening on Calvin’s as I neared the end. When I finished, I closed my eyes and waited. Nothing.
“Maybe read it backwards.”
I read it forwards and backwards in English and Egyptian Arabic, I even tried holding my hand over the top of it as I read it. Nothing worked. We weren’t sure what was supposed to happen, but we couldn’t drop our necklaces afterward. Calvin called Clastrik back while I racked my brain for an answer. We’d come back to the source, all three items were present, and still the curse remained. Norman didn’t have any other ideas but he insisted the tablet had to be the key.
The security guards threw us out at closing time even though I begged them to let me borrow the piece. When they threatened to call the police, I accepted defeat. I drove home so Calvin could get some rest, but he seemed more intent on thinking of other ways to break the curse. He didn’t give up easily, I noted.
“Maybe we could go back tomorrow,” he suggested. “Try again. We didn’t try actually touching the piece when you read it. Maybe we both have to be touching it, maybe we both have to read it. You’ve read it enough times that I practically know it by heart.”
“You know they won’t let us touch it and I have to get back. I wasn’t supposed to leave town, remember?”
He looked at me seriously. “Well…at least I can break yours.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no ? That’s what you wanted me to do in the first place.”
“Yeah, but that was before I realized you were right. I was being selfish. We’re in this together. If you can’t be cured, I don’t want to be either.”
He rolled his eyes upward. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say! You go through actual pain and what is it, weekly now? I can’t stand to see you like that. I can’t stand to hear you scream like your soul is being ripped apart. I won’t let you go through that again.”
I shook my head. “We’re not even sure if that’ll work, remember?”
“We’re not sure that it won’t. And besides, it’s like you said, maybe it will break both the curses. We’ll stay together and if it doesn’t work, I’ll just keep right on killing that snake for the rest of my life if I have to.”
A tear formed in my eyes as I smiled over at him. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“Oh yeah? What about this…I love you, Cleo Patrix.”
My heart heaved with happiness and I saw the possibility of us living happily ever after ever if we had to go through hell one night a week. “I love you too, Calvin Konrad and I hate to admit it but…I sort of like having you stuck with me.”
“I know and you’re gonna show me how much when we get home.”
I nodded, my face as bright as an apple.
“We have one beautiful night left before your next attack.”
My heart fell and I sighed at the reminder, again feeling the pressure of not knowing how to break the curse. I’d been so hopeful on the way to New York, and now we were right back where we’d started. I knew where that left me, but I wasn’t quite sure where it left Calvin.
“What’s it like for you? What’s it like to turn into a cat?”
He sat back in his seat and looked out the window. “It’s not bad. It’s not anything like what you go through, and the transformation isn’t painful. One minute I’m me and the next I’m a cat. I’m very aware of everything, sight, sound, smells, and I crave meat. ”
“What kind of cat do you turn into?”
“Up until I
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