Page 28 of The Book of Heartbreak

‘Oh, she knows, because she works for the eyes and ears that are always listening, don’t you, Munu?’ Leon steps around me. ‘Tell me where the book is, and I swear on the craft I’ll save you from him.’

Save her from who? Before I can ask, Munu lunges forward and yanks at my collar.

‘If you have one drop of love for me,’ she says, ‘one drop – please, go to your room, and do not speak with this devil again.’ She shivers like a twig in the wind, shrinking with each word.

‘He will flay my soul into ribbons, he will ship me to the depths of Hell, but worse, he will never speak to me again.’

‘Munu.’ I step away, freeing myself from her frenzy, my heart leaping inside my ribs. ‘Calm down. Who do you mean?’

‘I am done this time!’ Munu shrieks. ‘They will think it’s all my fault, they always do.

They’re angry already, canim. What will happen to you, then?

Can you hear how they’re calling me . . .

’ She pauses and snarls, like a wounded animal, at Leon.

‘All because of you . Because you filled her head with your nonsense about curses and how they could be broken.’

‘Any curse can be dispelled under the right conditions. It’s not only the Hidden who possess the power to shift things.’ Leon towers behind me, unperturbed by Munu’s despair. ‘Sare has the right to know.’

‘And you think you know it all, boy seer.’ Munu watches him, her eyes deepening into a darker shade of hatred.

‘Perhaps it’s natural for someone like you, a young protege in the craft, a beautiful creature, adored by everyone.

You live in a world that belongs to you, not one you have to keep up with.

You convince yourself you can mend other people.

Fix mistakes. Break curses. But heed my advice,’ Munu says as she flies towards Leon.

‘Some things are better left alone. Refrain from engaging with her for the next few months and then she’ll be free of the curse. This is for her own good.’

‘At what cost?’ Leon seems to grow taller as he commands her.

My gaze locks with Munu’s. I shake my head, mouthing a silent ‘no’.

Please, don’t say anything. She takes the hint and nods with understanding before speaking again.

‘Don’t you get it, you silly boy?’ Munu growls.

‘Even the greatest seers make terrible mistakes. You’re not the one risking everything here.

Sare can’t afford to trust you, or challenge this curse; it’s too dangerous.

She’s the only soul I care about in this damned world, and I won’t let your ambitions destroy her.

Just because that madman Sufi broke the curse once doesn’t mean it can be done again. ’

An awkward pause follows her outburst, sending me staggering as the weight of her words sinks in.

‘What did you just say?’ I whimper, suddenly dizzy, my hands reaching out for support.

In my haste, I clumsily knock over the lemonade glass, sending it splashing to the ground.

‘How do you know what Sufi wrote?’ I’m quivering.

Lessening. Broken. I’m the one who’s been betrayed.

‘Why are you making it sound as if the maiden’s curse and mine are the same thing? ’

‘I—’ Munu mumbles. Her eyes scan the room in panic. But no lie reaches out to help her as she begins to shrink.

‘Because it really is the same curse, and she’s the one who stole the book . . .’ Leon glances at her. Understanding dawns on his face. ‘You used the gull to get the book, didn’t you?’

‘It wasn’t yours, anyway!’ Munu hisses at him.

‘Did you do it?’ My hands are shaking. Could Munu really have lied to me, my friend, my confidant, the only soul I’ve ever truly trusted? ‘A trick, you called that book. A ploy. Why steal it, then? How many more lies have you told me?’

‘Canim.’ Munu buries her head in her hands. ‘No – stop now. I only wish to protect you. Please don’t be upset. Remember the second rule.’

‘Shut it.’ I hate myself for being so brainwashed by her into obeying the second rule.

It’s instinctual: my anger sweeps away the pain of her betrayal, bold and nightmarish.

It wants to rip my heart apart. To end my suffering once and for all.

But it’s the only protection I have against further shattering.

I search for Leon’s arm for support and he pulls me away from Munu, encircling me in a tight embrace as if I might crumble.

A sense of calm washes over me at this closeness.

If the curse is my poison, Leon must be the antidote because the fluttering that had taken flight within my ribs now subdues with his nearness.

‘Are you okay, Silverbirch?’ He is a distraction. The best kind.

I shake my head. I’m not okay. I’m really, really not.

‘The boy is a mistake,’ Munu whimpers.

And then she disappears, leaving me alone with Leon in the sulking heat of the dying afternoon.

Communication is classified as Top Secret.

Circulation strictly limited to correspondents.

Subject: Re: Urgent Retrieval of the Mortal Artifact

Date: 2 August 2025

From: Grey the Compassionate, Associate Cherub, Curse and Malediction Archives, Worldly Index, Sacred Data Systems, Halotech Data and Integration Hub

To: Five the Fifth, Angel of Death, Field Operations, Mortal Termination and Transition, Mortal Affairs Commission

My dear and most esteemed comrade, Five the Fifth of Death,

I know what you are and what you did with that curse, as clear as a halo in the Heavens’ light, and I’m coming for you.

Cherub