Free Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

that.”
    â€œI don’t speak German,” she said.
    â€œNeither do I. Except for a few choice words. Like märchen. ”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMärchen,” Blue drawled. “The flavor of the city, Fräulein.”
    Mira resisted the urge to dump his drink on him. Being obnoxious right back wasn’t going to get her the answers she wanted.
    â€œWhat kind of curse is it?” she pressed.
    â€œAn old one. Is there any other kind?”
    â€œWell … there’s the curse that has me constantly running into you. That’s new.”
    â€œHa.” Blue smiled. His eyes were beginning to droop—either sullenly or sleepily, she couldn’t tell. She was about to take another shot at him when she heard the buzz of an electronic lock opening. In another moment, the suite’s front door clicked open.
    â€œHey, Mira.” Felix slipped his jacket off as he came in, brows furrowing when he saw Blue. “I forgot to tell you to call security when he shows up.”
    â€œJust a warning: he’s trashed,” she said.
    Felix went behind the couch, took the highball glass from Blue’s hand, and leaned over his brother. “What are you doing here? I told you to stay away from her.”
    â€œI told you to kiss my ass,” Blue said.
    â€œYou’re not actually dumb enough to say that to me when you’re sober. Get up.” Felix gripped the back of the couch and rocked it forward to knock Blue off. Blue tumbled down, unfazed, and rearranged himself so he was facing the TV, on the floor this time.
    â€œLater,” Blue said. “I’m watching Apocalypse Now .”
    Felix stood there for a moment, his fingers digging into the back of the couch. Then he shook his head. “Whatever. I’m not in the mood to get into this with you right now. Mira—can I talk to you about something?”
    â€œSure,” she murmured. She followed Felix into his bedroom.
    It was weird seeing the two brothers interact—the obvious strain between them. She wondered if they’d ever liked each other. She could hear Marlon Brando’s famous “the horror” speech coming from the TV behind her—“I’ve seen the horrors. … Horrors that you’ve seen”—and the creak of the leather as Blue climbed back onto the couch … before Felix shut the door.
    Felix had brought the smell of the casino with him—the miasma of cigarette smoke from the pit had sunk into his clothes. His eyes were faintly red from it. He brushed a hand across them, looking irritated, looking like he was trying hard not to be.
    â€œI hope he wasn’t bothering you too much. He knows he’s supposed to stay away from you … but Blue doesn’t like following orders. And I don’t want to fight with him when he’s drunk.”
    â€œI’m fine. Really,” she assured him. “He’s annoying but he didn’t do anything.”
    She sat down on the bed, and after a moment he sat down, too. The book of fairy tales lay open between them.
    â€œYou wanted to talk to me,” Mira ventured. “Did you find something?”
    Felix shook his head. “Not yet. But I was thinking about you tonight, and I wondered: why didn’t your godmothers tell you where your parents were buried? What didn’t they want you to find?”
    Mira was quiet, unsure how to respond. The possibility that Bliss and Elsa had hidden something from her—some secret about her parents—had never crossed her mind. “I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t think it mattered.”
    â€œYou didn’t ask before you left?”
    â€œI didn’t want them to know where I was going. They would have stopped me. They were pretty violently opposed to my ever coming here.”
    â€œWhy? What’s in Beau Rivage that’s so dangerous?”
    â€œ ‘Memories’ I don’t have,” she said with a