Page 6 of Cursed
Vince barked out a sharp laugh, shattering the heavy silence, but Edeena didn’t object to his response. He didn’t understand—couldn’t understand. Not only was he American, he appeared to be someone from a normal family, who lived and made friendships on his own terms. He could have no idea what life was like for her and her sisters.
Even that sounded ridiculous, she knew. Curse or no curse, Edeena and her sisters were rich, pampered, fêted members of the Garronois aristocracy. She was not about to complain about her lot in life. She was blessed beyond all conceivable measure. It wasn’t lost on her, of course, that all of those blessings had come in large part from the sacrifices and compromises made by generations before her. Life hadn’t always been easy for the Saleri family, but they’d done what was necessary to ensure a better life for their children, and for their children’s children. Surely, she could do no less.
Still, what Prudence was saying now was inconceivable—and in the pursuit of it, her father would most assuredly marry her and her sisters off in rapid succession, chasing after a goal they could never reach. “Where are you getting this information, anyway?” she demanded. “Is there some sort of record of the curse? Because going from prince to princely is a bit of a jump, and nowhere close to the jump of someone who can pull us all together again.”
“It’s been officially recorded, yes, including what qualifies as a special generation—such as one with all girls,” Prudence said. “It’s in the Saleri family illuminated bible, from the tenth century.”
Edeena frowned at her. “I’ve never seen that bible.”
“Few people have.” Prudence’s gaze shifted to Vince again as Edeena’s phone pinged. Edeena could sense a long-winded explanation coming on, so she grabbed the device, flipping it over, and smiled as Prudence wound through the family history. Though the phone hadn’t rung for some reason, she’d received a voicemail. Probably from Caro, letting her know they were having a good time. Caro was thorough that way.
Vince’s voice jerked her from her thoughts. “Enough is enough, though,” he said, addressing her. “You can’t really be planning to live your life according to the rules of some old book, right?”
Prudence gave a little bleat of distress and Edeena blinked at him. His American shock was becoming a touch less charming now. “It’s a little more complicated than that,” she said.
“No, it’s not,” Vince cut her off. Definitely less charming. “You’re simply making it more complicated.”
“I—” Edeena’s sharp reply was cut short by another trill of her phone. That was a new sound. They’d gotten the devices right before arriving in the US, and she hadn’t had time to learn every feature. She picked up the phone again, frowning at it. Truth was, Vince was probably right, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of saying so.
“What does that sound mean?” she asked instead. “There doesn’t seem to be another missed call.”
“Text, most likely,” Vince said gruffly. His own phone buzzed in his pocket, but he reached over to Edeena’s first and swiped a couple of screens over. “There.” He pointed to an icon, and sure enough, another ping sounded and the number surmounting the little green square turned from 1 to 2. She tapped the icon as he pulled out his own phone.
There were two messages, from numbers she recognized as belonging to her plan. They didn’t have names attached to them, but undoubtedly they were Caro and Marguerite.
You have to come!was all that was visible on Caro’s text, while Marguerite’s had a series of smiley faces with hearts for eyes.
“What in the world?” she murmured.
Vince’s sudden sharp curse brought her head up, simultaneous with Prudence’s gasp of alarm.
“What?” Edeena demanded, but he was already standing.
“We didn’t provide clear enough instructions,” he said. “Your sisters have free rein to go anywhere they want on the island. That was a mistake.”
“A mistake?” Edeena asked, also standing. “How can that possibly be a problem? The island isn’t dangerous.”
Vince looked at her sharply. “You don’t have a problem with them visiting the Cypress Resort? On a Tuesday?”
“What are you talking about? We were planning on going later today anyway.”
She glanced back at her phone and clicked on Caro’s message, scrolling quickly. “What in the world is ‘Bachelorette Party at the Cypress?’” she asked, dumbfounded.
Vince groaned. “I’ll explain in the car.”
Vince grimaced as Edeena slammed the door behind her a few minutes later, sliding into the passenger seat. Apparently, he no longer was to be playing the chauffeur’s role.
Worked for him. At this point he was beginning to wonder if he should simply drive off the island as fast as he could. The Saleri sisters were setting up to be a colossal nuisance.
“What is going on?” the eldest sister asked now. Her tone was no longer alarmed, merely curious. “What can possibly be wrong with the Cypress Resort? Marguerite confirmed that’s where she’d gotten an in to do her internship, at least once the paperwork clears. She said it was a nice place!”
“It is a nice place,” Vince said, putting the car into gear. “But it is a multi-functional place.” He winced, not knowing how else to describe it. “I told you it was a resort for adults. Well, in some sections, it’s more like a resort for consenting adults.”
“Consenting…” Edeena turned to him sharply as she made the connection. “It’s some sort of sex club?” she asked. Once again, she didn’t sound aghast, more simply startled. “In South Carolina?”
“We do more than drink sweet tea here, you know.” Then he jabbed a finger at her phone, which she still clutched in her hand. “What’d they say, specifically?”
Edeena fumbled with the device, eventually calling up the text screen again. “Caroline says they met some sort of social ambassador for the club wherever they were shopping, and the woman encouraged her to attend a bachelorette party of some kind. Which, apparently, is going on now. And apparently, your people are taking them there.” She tapped another message, but shook her head. “This one’s all smiley faces. Marguerite appears to be on board with the program.”