Since beginning his Orelia campaign, he had blocked her number. This, an unnecessary move, as she had never tried to call him, anyway. Her details remained in his contact list just in case he climbed back on his publishing feet; one day he might send a gloat text.

He punched the code to block his number in case she had still kept his number. As the ringtone sounded in his ear, he practiced his hello in various tones. He thought it sounded good. Convincing. Yes, this just might work.

The taunt of sticks and stones might break my bones, but names will never hurt me singsonged in his head.

Maybe, maybe not, but one small pebble might just break his bad luck and even give him his life back. A step at a time though, because right now he needed to focus on the task at hand.

When Orelia answered with a quiet “hello, who’s this?” his heart plummeted into his stomach. He’d been so unprepared to hear her voice again, he almost sucked the stone down his throat. What gave him strength and returned his calm was how absent she sounded. Her mind seemed somewhere else; this was not the voice of the woman he’d come to despise.

William inhaled through his nose and pushed the pebble into his cheek with his tongue, holding it firmly in place on the side of his mouth with his teeth.

“Hello? Hello? she said.

The person you thought you’d destroyed, he replied in his head.

If there was a way to reach through the phone, grab her by the throat and strangle her until her eyes bulged and her tongue hung limp, he would.

For now, he’d settle for one more step toward what he believed would be his freedom. Freedom to live his life however it turned out, to dream again, write, to exist without her curse. Succeed or fail, he’d take all fate’s twists on the chin because that was natural and real.

A funny clicking noise filled his head, the rotating of little wheels so loud that for a moment the sound drowned out his thoughts. This meant something, didn’t it? What, he couldn’t work out, his mind already filled with the challenge at hand. Did it mean this journey had neared its end and he just might make it home? He would put his heart into this.

He took a quick breath, pushed at the pebble and forced his lips to move. Let the charade begin.

63

Something felt out of balance.

The shock of such a personal invasion was bad enough but the feelings of vulnerability shook her to the core. Nem was appalled at how close the thief came to getting their hands on her diary. She only carried it with her when needed. Today, thank goodness, was one of those times when she hadn’t needed it.

When she’d arrived home, after collecting it from the bank, she’d paged through her book to look at the latest entry. Disappointment filtered through her body to discover there was nothing new. She’d hoped the luck thing offered her protection, that on the recent page a line might appear for the thief.