She nods. “We have to figure out what the curse wants. We have to solve the riddle. No more trying to work around it.”
Oliver nods as well. “Agreed.”
“Okay,” I whine again. “Does anyone remember it?”
“’Til truths unfold, and masks descend. Two wounded souls, their stories lend,” Lucy repeats, reciting the curse verbatim without hesitation.
I quirk a questioning brow at her.
She shrugs. “I’ve read it enough over the last few days I’ve got it memorized.”
I decide not to question her any further, grateful that she knows the curse at all, saving us the time of having to return to the store to find it.
“The only thing I can think is that the curse just wants honesty,” Oliver offers, wrapping his arms around his knees.
“But what about?” I plead, desperate to find a solution to this mess.
Oliver’s brows start twitching, his eyes narrowing with confusion as he sniffs the air. He looks like a dog walking by a barbecue, his nose bouncing up and down.
“Are you having a stroke?” Lucy sneers, leaning away from him like he’s about to snap and lose his mind.
“Do you guys smell . . .” He sniffs again. “Fake butter?”
“Like the popcorn?” I ask.
Oliver’s expression falls, a look of horror washing over his face. “Exactly like the popcorn.”
It takes a moment for his words to sink in, and then we all jump to our feet, sprinting headlong toward Main Square.
Chapter Nineteen
Stumbling into the town square to find it flooded with a mountain of popcorn was not on my Halloween bingo card, and yet . . . here we are. There’s enough popcorn in the middle of town to feed an army of moviegoersandtheir rivals. In fact, this could feed every dragon in the last fantasy world I read about, along with their riders. It’s a comical amount of fluffy white kernels that are still piling up as we arrive. The smell is honestly heavenly if you ask me, but the disgusted look on Oliver’s face suggests he thinks otherwise.
Stacy is impossible to miss, screeching like a banshee and waving that damn clipboard in the air.
“Where is she?!” Stacy yells at anyone who will listen; poor Don is standing nearby, taking the brunt of her wrath.
I groan because I know instantly whosheis, and I would give anything not to be her.
“Maybe she’s looking for me?” Lucy offers, her face screwed up with a mix of apprehension and sympathy.
Stacy’s blazing eyes land on me, and I feel like a red flag in a bull fight.
“I don’t think so,” I groan. “Why don’t you head back to the store? I’ll meet you there shortly.”
Lucy side-eyes Stacy, storming toward us with Don close on her heels. “You sure?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Oliver offers, stepping closer.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Lucy grumbles under her breath before giving me another sympathetic look and heading toward Moonlit Pages.
“I have been looking everywhere for you!” Stacy points at me with her clipboard, wielding it like a dagger she fully intends to plunge through my heart.
I stutter, looking for some reasonable excuse as to why I never returned. I glance at the movie screen, the climax building to a head as Marnie and her family start confronting Kalabar, and not for the first time in my life, I find myself envious of fictional characters. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to say a spell and make everything better. Because trust me, I’ve been trying.
“There was an issue at the store,” Oliver jumps in, nudging me with his elbow.
“Yeah, Marilyn called and needed help,” I finished, hoping that would be enough of an explanation.
