The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0550

Elva glanced up at Veronica and her laughter stifled. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Veronica startled a little, then tried to smile again. It wasn't as big as before. It barely twitched her lip, and certainly did not meet her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," Veronica said. "I'm glad you liked the trick."

*How long does it last?" I asked, though as soon as the words left my mouth Elva's purple glow began to fade.

"Aww," Elva said, looking at her hands. "Do it again!"

"Elva, honey," I scolded lightly. "We don't demand things from people."

"I'm tired now," Veronica said. "Maybe another time."

Elva tucked her chin down, disappointed. But she said, "Okay."

*Thank Veronica for the magic trick," I reminded Elva.

Elva kicked her feet on the ground. "Thank you..." she mumbled.

"You're welcome," Veronica said.

Elva lifted her folded bird again. She glanced at me, as if for permission.

"Go on," I said. "Have fun."

Nearby I saw the nanny coming up onto the deck. Elva saw her too, and ran toward her, holding up the folded bird. With Elva thoroughly distracted, I turned to Veronica, looking for an explanation. "What just happened?"

actually an incantation I read about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many sections on curses and how to properly evaluate and remove

If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then maybe we

anything

asked, because looking at Veronica, I

nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to

I'd come to accept that Jane would

said. Cóntent belong to

I was beginning to

hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple was the best color, that it indicated a curse easiest to

Veronica said. "It will

the only one

her curse?" I

by far." She sighed. "What I do is mere

crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault.

quickly.

"If I were stronger-*

her line of vision so she could see my face and know that

head, clearly dissatisfied with herself. I couldn't talk. I knew exactly how it felt to not believe

Veronica said. "She's the only one with enough power to have a

Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The oracle was a stranger. This magic was foreign, even to Veronica. How could I

"I've only just started. Maybe there's more I

meant it from the bottom of my heart. I hoped she

her some space. I looked out over the water. The view was pretty good from the

folded bird to Nicholas, who had just stepped out onto the deck from the house. She explained in her roundabout child way that Veronica had made it

Nicholas said

waned fairly quickly after that and she rushed over to a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be able to

stood

down,"