Excerpt

My uncle Lester leans forward, eyes so wide I think they might pop out of his head. “Have you heard it? Man. Woman. Whichever. It.” The emphasis on the last word sends chills cascading down my spine.

I understand precisely who he means. Her.

“You mean my Kismet?”

“First, you hear it. Then you see it. After that, your clock goes tick-tock. Tick-tock. Never stop ‘til you pop!”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” I kick around my foot, searching for the correct answer.

“That’s a shame,” Lester says. “Better find your Kismet. Later they bloom, quicker they boom. Tick-tock goes the clock. Twice the speed. If you can’t find your Kismet, you’ll never be free.” He tilts his head to the side, both sides of his mouth rise together. “I thought trying to kill people would be fun, but it’s a pain in the ass. The screaming. The crying. The begging. The blood. I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t necessary. But there’s one I need. No choice. No choice. Only chance to be free.”

Free. There is a way to be free? I swallow the question in the presence of his manic break and words tumble out of my mouth on their own. “It doesn’t have to be a curse.” My protest falls on deaf ears. “It doesn’t have to be a curse.” Am I trying to convince him or me?

“Tsk, tsk, naughty leprechaun. I see you.” Lester freezes and stares at the back corner of the room. “The silly boy thinks he’s cursed, like you think everyone’s after your gold. You’re both paranoid. Someone should put you both out of your misery. Someone should.” Lester says and then turns in my direction. His eyes click like a television changing channels, then open wide. He refuses to blink again. “Someone like me.”