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?"

toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many

heartbeat kicked up and I perked up. She said 'remove them'! That should be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove

Veronica looked anything but happy

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

power level needed to remove it. It's easier, of course, if the person who made

happen," I said. Jane was the 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

Veronica said. Cóntent

that good?" I was beginning

I supposed I appreciated her bluntness. She was never one for false hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple was the

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

of power? Veronica was the only one I knew who could

remove her curse?" I

far." She sighed. "What I do is

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

no," I said quickly. "This isn't on you

"If I were stronger-*

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

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

said. "She's the

to help Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The oracle was a stranger.

keep reading." Veronica said. "I've only just

it from the bottom of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her. I wasn't sure she

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

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

Nicholas said to

a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be able to help. The

we stood side by side. We both turned to

cool down," Nicholas said.