The Rules of the Red - 2nd Edition |✓|

Chapter Nineteen, Part Two - Betrayals Of The Heart

"I can't believe I'm helping you," said Claudia upon opening her front door.

Since I was saddled under the weight of her ingredients, she held the screen door open for me, looking irritated. I responded by shooting her a dirty look. "Hey, I didn't ask to babysit the ring." I dropped the bags onto the couch. "And if anyone should be pissed off, it's me. What the hell Claudia? Did you forget the part about owing money to the triplets? They practically demanded an arm and a leg for repayment--but who knows, maybe they would've settled for your first-born instead."

"For your information, I'm not the one who really owes money to the triplets," Claudia returned, sifting through the bags. "A few months back I took on a job for my grandmother as a supply runner. Occasionally there were ingredients that couldn't be found within our Coven, so from time to time I went through the triplets for product. After a while, they trusted me enough to pick up first and pay later. But a couple of weeks ago something happened. The triples had a dispute with my grandmother and then she decided not to pay them for the last haul."

"So you got the shaft and ended up with the tab?"

"Pretty much," Claudia replied, her expression distant, regretful.

"Yeah, well, the tab is taken care of—along with the cost of the ingredients--so you still owe me." I sank into the comfortable, pink armchair as Claudia considered my reminder, but I could see that some of the residual fight within her had lessened.

"You know what, Naomi? You're absolutely right," said Claudia.

"I am?"

She nodded. "I do need that ring. But, truth is, I haven't been able to come up with a solution to your problem. This girl that you told Tidus about--the one that stole the ring? She's screwed. Plain and simple."

"Alright, just... keep thinking. We still have time."

Claudia stopped messing with the bags long enough to give me an exasperated look. "That girl is in love, which means the ring will feed off of that. So the only way to stop the curse is to stop her from being in love--and I can't do that. Not even with Magic. It's against the rules."

"Let me guess," I said. "Because it goes against the laws of nature? Just like it's against the rules to bring back the dead?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well last time I checked--Vampires are Humans brought back from the dead and nature seems to be pretty ok with them."

"All I'm saying is if you're looking for a quick fix, you might as well forget it."

"Right." Aggravated, I chewed the inside of my lip. Why did all problems have to be so damn difficult? Why couldn't solutions just be obvious for once– "Wait a minute. Claudia, what'd did you just say?"

"What? All I meant that it's impossible to find easy results when it comes to--"

"No-no-no. Back up to the part where you mentioned forgetting--as in memory loss. Claudia, you're a fracking genius!"

"What're you talking about?"

"What if Eve couldn't remember her feelings for Ethan? If we can't use Magic to get rid of her love for him, then why not use it to make her forget instead? The ring can't act on feelings that Eve doesn't know exists, right?"

"That sounds reasonable--provided Eve Arling actually agrees to it," said a familiar voice.

Claudia and I were so immersed in the conversation that we hadn't noticed Tidus' arrival. He closed the door behind him then took his place beside Claudia.