Nian smiled and closed her eyes, her breathing slowing until Milo could barely tell she was breathing at all.
Milo didn't dare move, didn't dare make a single sound, watching the candlelight flicker and shift slightly across her still face as the silence stretched on.
Finally, her eyes opened again, dark and steady, fixed directly on him.
"First of all," she said, "you need to know that this curse is a deadly agreement between one of your relatives and the devil. It targeted your whole family. At the same time, this opened your ability to protect yourself."
Milo stared at her, trying to piece the words into something that made sense. "I... don't understand. I don't have any relatives."
"Yes, you have," Nian said patiently. "This kind of agreement with the devil is supposed to harm blood relatives and everyone around them. It could be from your father's family or your mother's."
