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?"

merfolk book on the top of

be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then maybe we

looked anything

good news?" I asked, because looking at Veronica,

power level needed to remove

curse, on her own daughter no less. I'd come to accept that Jane would never come around, not to help herself or anyone else. If left to Jane, the

said. Cóntent

good?" I was beginning to

false hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple

the most intricate of the curses," Veronica said. "It will require the

was the only one I knew who could

remove her curse?"

deepened. "No. Not by far." She sighed. "What I

built up for myself crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault. I should have known from Veronica's expressions that the diagnosis was

I said quickly. "This isn't

"If I were stronger-*

Veronica." I inched closer to her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face and know that I'm earnest. "We wouldn't even know any of this if

head, clearly dissatisfied with herself. I couldn't talk. I knew exactly how

the merfolk oracle," Veronica said. "She's the only one with enough

removed doubt from my heart. I wanted to arrive, to help 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 be certain I could trust

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

bottom of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her. I wasn't sure she would until Elva was

a little ways, wanting to give her some space. I looked out over the water. The

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

Frank," Nicholas said

attention waned fairly quickly after that and she rushed over to a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica

way over to me. Together we stood side

down,"