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“Thanks for wanting to help out.” Kevin unlocked the door to the vault and punched in the security code Howie had given him.

Callie followed him into the vault. “No problem. It’s the least I could do, considering I’m the one who’s causing all this urgency.”

“Mind telling me why you feel such a hurry to figure all this out?” He moved over to the desk to take out the old wooden box again.

Callie pulled on the latex gloves and helped untie the parchment. “It feels like there’s something inside me that’s stretching, growing. I feel like my skin’s going to burst if we don’t figure it out soon. The legend is all I can think about, waking or sleeping. I haven’t dreamt about the lovers since Monday night, but I keep seeing the falls in dreams. Kevin, I feel like something big is about to happen, and we need to break the spell soon.”

“Well, in that case, let’s find the answers.”

Twenty minutes later, there was a frantic knocking on the vault door, and Kevin tugged off his gloves and opened the door. Brian grinned from the other side before stepping in.

“Sorry, I’m late. I scheduled a practice for the boys this morning.” He pulled up a chair at the desk. “What are we doing?”

Callie gave him a smile. “Thanks for wanting to help.”

“Hey, no problem. I’m happy to help.” Brian peered at the parchment. “This is ancient. What are we looking for?”

Kevin handed him a pair of gloves. “Clues. We’re looking for the missing link in the legend.”

“Oh.”

Callie arched a brow. “Thanks for having faith in our venture.”

“What?” He caught her expression. “Oh. No, no. I do believe in the legend. Come on, Cal, you know I’ve always believed it.”

“But not my feelings or senses in the, let’s call it, the supernatural.” Callie arched a brow. “Or do you?”

Brian sighed. “Callie, I love you. And, even if I’ve never truly believed it, it doesn’t mean I discredit whatever instincts you have in this.” He laid a hand over hers. “I want to help, and I’m helping. I don’t want to argue.”

“Okay.” She nodded and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Are we ready?”

“Yeah.” Brian grinned and rubbed his gloved hands together. “Where do we start and how do we know when we’ve found what it is we’re looking for even if we don’t know exactly what it is that we’re looking for?”

“Somehow, I followed that,” Kevin muttered but explained the procedure that they’d used the day before.

Brian nodded. “Good plan. Do we have a copy of the actual spell here somewhere? I just want to brush up on it, since I haven’t heard it in a while.”

“Sure.” Callie sifted through a few pieces of parchment before holding one up. “The journals I have from Laurent’s older sister don’t really have much in them. The only thing she says is something about the most potent of all powers will break the spell. Whatever that is,” she added with a shrug.

“Interesting.” Kevin mulled it over for a moment. “Well, keep looking. I was told to look in the past, so this has to be it. There’s nothing else.”

For several minutes the only sound that could be heard in the room was the rustling of paper and the scratch of pen on paper as both Kevin and Callie took notes. Brian kept staring at the sheet that held the actual spell. Finally, he pushed away from the table and paced with it.

“Brian?”

He looked over at Kevin and Callie, who were both watching him concernedly. “Yeah?”

“Is something bothering you?”

Brian held up the paper he held. “This spell is so simple, don’t you think? I mean, this whole bit about no respite and all—it’s incredibly harsh. She held back no punches when she made this incantation, so whatever it is has got to be in here, right? And if it were meant to be broken, she had to have stated it when she made the spell. At least, that’s how I always figured stuff like this works.” The other two frowned but nodded, following his logic. “Then there’s that part Callie said about the most potent power, but what is that if not for magic?” He sat in his chair again. “Sorry. All I’ve given you guys so far are more questions. I don’t think I’m much help in this whole legend business. I mean, I haven’t had dreams or anything. The only thing that ties me to it is this connection I feel to the Falls. So, my last question is, if I’m not really important to the legend, why do I feel so drawn to it?”

Kevin sighed. “Bri, living in this town is reason enough to have a connection to it. Besides, you were born behind the Falls. That’s something not many people can claim.”

“Maybe.” He lifted a shoulder. “I just don’t think I’m the best person to help you out.” He glanced down at his watch. “And I have to get going. I’m meeting Reena at, ha-ha, the falls. So, I’ll see you later?” Kevin nodded. “Good luck with all this.”

“Brian.” Callie’s quiet voice stopped him at the door. “Thank you. Really.”

He shrugged. “No problem.” He paused. “Is there more to the spell, Callie? Maybe there’s a part that got lost in translation from French to English or even in passing it down. I may not believe in the sixth sense that you have, but I do believe in instincts. Mine are saying there’s something we’re not seeing, and it’s in that spell.” He pointed to the parchment in her hands. “Anyway, I gotta go.”

Callie watched him leave before looking down at the paper in her hands. “Maybe he’s right.” She looked up at Kevin. “Is there anything in the box that’s in French?”

Kevin opened the weathered box and shuffled through it before holding up a small, leather-bound book. “There’s this. How good is your French?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked with a small smile.

“Hey, if it helps to solve this, then yeah.” He watched as she opened the book carefully and flipped through the first few pages.

“It’s a diary that belonged to a servant of the sorceress. Apparently, he was also the town’s scribe during those years.” She looked up at Kevin, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “Kevin, do you know what this means?”

“You know French better than I thought?”

Callie rolled her eyes. “No. It means that the servant may have known what happened and have written something down. I’m going to have to read this all the way through.”

“Take your time.” Kevin watched her mutter the translations under her breath before turning back to his own. Maybe they were finally onto something, he hoped.

***

“When are you going to tell Dad that you love him?” Kirby asked excitedly.

Gwen’s hands froze on the compass and pencil she held. “What?”

“You said you’re in love with Dad. So when are you going to tell him?”

Gwen was starting to think that spending the day with Kirby was finally having its disadvantages. They’d gone out for lunch and rented a comedy before Kirby had expressed an interest in seeing Gwen’s work. So Gwen had shown her work for her other clients that she was working on. They’d been having fun until Kirby had popped her new question. Out of the blue, Gwen thought.

“Well. Actually, I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Admitting big feelings like this to someone is scary, and I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet.” Kirby’s face fell. “Kirby, hon. I think your dad and I are happy where we are right now. It’s still early days yet, and it’s definitely not the norm to be in love so quickly. I don’t want to intimidate him, and guys get freaked out when girls start talking about big feelings too fast. Can you understand that?”

Kirby pondered it for a few moments before shrugging. “I guess guys are really bad at the whole feelings thing, huh? So, yeah, I get it. It’s okay, Gwen. I guess I just want Dad to be happy, and I know if he had someone to love and who loved him he’d be really happy.”

“You think so?”

Kirby smiled. “I know so.”

***

“No way.”

“Yeah way.”

Kevin blinked. “I can’t believe it was just that easy.”

“Brian definitely had a role to play in the whole legend. More than we all thought, huh?” Callie grinned. “This has to be it.”

“Uhh…Can you repeat that?” He still couldn’t believe that she’d found it.

Callie squinted at the French. “It basically says that the only way the spell will be broken is if another pair of lovers discovers the same love that Laurent and Liliane shared. Which certainly explains the most potent of magic—love.”

Kevin took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, so let’s say that all that has to happen is for a couple to fall in love at the Falls. How the hell do Reena, you, and I work into that equation? We’ve all had dreams telling us that we are involved, but none of the three of us is, uh, romantically involved with the other. How do you explain that?”

“I think I’m in it because I’m a descendant.” Callie frowned down at the diary again before looking up at Kevin with narrowed eyes. “You’re seeing Gwen Phillips. And you just started this week, right?”

“Right.”

Callie nodded, the idea forming in her head. “The dreams you and Kirby had. Mia never appeared before this week, right?”

“Right.” He was afraid he was seeing where she was headed.

“And Mia told Kirby and you that she wants you, Kevin, to move on.”

“So what you’re getting at is that Gwen and I are involved because it’s going to help break this spell?” He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be annoyed. “There’s gotta be another explanation.” The current one was pissing him off.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think you’re going to break the spell, Kevin, just by being you.” She looked up at the clock. “I think we’ve found the key, so it’s up to you to figure out the rest. It’s your heart that holds the answer.” Reaching out, she rubbed his shoulder. “I’d stay, but I have to pick Astra up from gymnastics. Call me if you need anything else.”

Kevin waited until she was gone before he packed everything up carefully. So his heart was the key to breaking the spell, was it? Two ghosts needed saving, and he had to fall in love to do it? He had no choice in the matter, it seemed, and it bothered him. What if he didn’t like that idea? What if he didn’t want Gwen?

At the thought, he had a flash of her laughing, the moonlight streaming over her smooth skin. It made him ache, but he shoved the thought aside.

“I’m not going to fall in love with anyone because it’s going to help break a spell,” he muttered. “I’m not just going to fall in line with all of this because some sorceress ordained it. Over my dead body. I do what I want, when I want. And no one’s going to make me feel something I’m not ready for or don’t want.”

And that was that.

When he’d locked up the vault again and was heading to Howie’s office to drop off the keys, his cell phone beeped. The ID listed the caller as Gwen like it was Fate, and he shoved the phone back in his pocket. He’d be damned, he thought, if he was going to be a pawn in some chess game Fate and magic were playing in Seven Falls.