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?"

took a breath. "That magic trick' was 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

be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then maybe we didn't need to wait for the oracle to appear

Veronica looked anything but happy

because looking at Veronica, I

curse and the magical power level needed

one to make the 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 belong

purple. Is that good?" I was

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

of the curses," Veronica said. "It

was the only one I knew

her curse?"

far." She sighed. "What I do

Any false hope I had 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

I said quickly. "This isn't on

"If I were stronger-*

inched closer to her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face and

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

the merfolk oracle," Veronica said. "She's the

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

just started. Maybe there's more I can

she knew

ways, wanting to give her some space. I looked out over the water. The view was pretty good from

Look at my birdie!" She showed her 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 and given it to her, and that she loved

Frank," Nicholas said

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 help. The nanny did the

to me. Together we stood side by side. We both turned to look out over

to cool down,"