Chapter 20 #2
With an eye roll, Adder stood, stopping by me on his way out.
“I’ll give you two days to sort your shit out.
Then I’ll come to collect you, and we’ll get this process over with.
” He tapped the letter with his knuckles.
“The rapture took your parents; it and the monsters took your sister. Asunder is out of control. Together, you and I can do something about that. Listen to mommy-dearest if nothing else.”
Adder stomped out, slamming the door behind him. The wood over the hole in the wall creaked and small bursts of cold wind blew inside. Thrumming my fingers over my mother’s horrible and perplexing letter, I wished for some of Riot’s alcohol to burn these confusing thoughts from my mind.
Adder wanted to use me to produce magical offspring to protect Willowspire.
My witchcraft mixed with his… whatever he possessed.
Adder and his brothers were opportunistic assholes.
I found it hard to believe they were demanding this union with us out of the goodness of their hearts and love for the town.
Something was amiss. And then, why would my mother request such a thing?
Out of all the letters she could have written—why that?
I folded the letter and stuck it in my pocket.
My gaze drifted to the black grimoire by the fruit bowl. “Is it time?” I asked it. “Yes, I’m talking to a book.” Pulling it to rest in front of me, I lightly caressed its cover. “Here we go.”
I flipped open the book.
Nothing on the first page. I flipped more pages, waiting for something to appear. Looking down at Twenty who sat at my feet, I grumbled. “Cat got your tongue? Cat got everyone’s tongues around here? What the hell am I supposed to do?”
Suddenly, the pages flipped on their own, whooshing by in quick succession. Jolting in surprise, I held my breath, waiting. When they stopped, words appeared on the page.
“Hello, Rumor the dark witch. How is your descent into evil going?”
I shook my head and found a pen. “Everyone’s got an attitude around here, it seems. Even a useless book.”
“I’ve been of great use to you. You got everything you asked for. It’s not my fault if you don’t know what you truly want, now is it?”
Grabbing a pen, I scribbled out a reply. “Or perhaps you’re not as useful, wise, and powerful as you think you are. Whoever you are, you’re hiding behind a book instead of just telling me who you are and what you want.”
Long moments passed. So long that I almost got up, abandoning the mystery grimoire altogether. Finally, words appeared again. “How about we make one more deal before I collect on our bargain?”
“What now?”
“I’ll offer you one more spell. A spell to lead you in the direction you should go, because clearly, you are aimless in your endeavors. In return, you will report back to me here of your findings. Deal?”
“I get a spell, tell you what happens, and then you collect on our past bargain?”
Whatever that meant. Another thing I was ignoring. In fact, the list of things I was ignoring instead of dealing with was growing so tall, it was sure to topple over at any moment and crush me beneath the weight of it all.
Deep breath, I told myself. This is fine.
“Give me the spell, book-jerk.”
“Until next time, Rumor”
-X
The page flipped, revealing a simple spell.
Road Opening Spell
Light a candle.
Burn a strand of your hair in its flame.
Close your eyes and imagine an empty road.
Repeat nightly until your path becomes clear.
“Oh, I sold my soul for a nursery rhyme spell? Perfect, just great.” I slammed the book shut.
Twenty pranced to the fireplace as if asking me to start another fire. “And you—” I pointed at my familiar. “Hiding in your cat form. I could use some help, you know. I want a familiar who actually familiars. What are you doing other than hiding from your brothers and me, huh?”
Twenty narrowed his slitted eyes.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I snapped, marching over to the wood pile.
I tossed in a few logs and struck a match.
The hearth took the offering easily, still bewitched from the use of probably a hundred Malefic witches.
I hadn’t had to fight, jostle logs, or blow on flames in a long time.
Something small to be thankful for as I was saddled with a bargain with a book, a lazy familiar, a betrothal arranged by my dead mother, and two other no good Blackthorne boys messing with my head.
I warmed my cold hands over the open flame—when something banged in my room. Glancing at Twenty, he looked from me to my room. He’d heard it too. Somehow it only made it creepier that I couldn’t write the noise off as the house creaking from the winter wind outside.
Something banged again. “Great, what could this even be?” I complained. This time, picking up Riot and Spade’s charms off the floor and stuffing them in my pocket, I tiptoed to my room, where I was sure I heard the noise. I carefully plucked my dagger from my nightstand, and waited.
A loud banging vibrated the floorboards.
The floorboards?
Suddenly, the hidden hatch door on the ground flung open.
I fell backward in surprise, landing on my bed.
Fiery red hair appeared as someone climbed out.
Trinket appeared, dusting off her shirt.
“Hi, I guess I found your hiding spot. It’s really spooky down there, by the way.
And what’s with all the diaries? You Malefic girls have a lot of strange thoughts you like writing down, huh? ”
My heart pattered in my chest as I fought to calm myself from the surprise. “Why the hell were you down there?”
“Some scary looking man was trying to break in. Luckily, I’d snooped around and scoped the place out after you left and found your hidey-hole, so, I hid down there. Sorry if it’s off-limits or something. I didn’t mess with anything, only knocked over one small tower of journals.”
“It’s fine.” I leaned back, tired and defeated, onto my bed. “Everything’s fine. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Who was the guy? Your boyfriend?”
I snorted. “No, that was Adder Viper. You know, the Viper brothers? They supply the town’s meat? Haven’t you met them?”
“Oh, yeah… Yes, I know of the Vipers. Mean guys, those Vipers.”
I opened one eye to assess the curly-haired, leather-gloved witch as she leaned on the doorframe. She only smiled before shoving her hands in her pockets. “Well, I’m hungry. Want some soup? There were somehow, like, twenty fresh pumpkins in the garden. It’s cold. Soup would be good?”
“Sure.” I closed my eyes again. “Any word from Empath?”
“No, not a thing.”
“We should go into town tomorrow and find her then. I’m sick of waiting around, and I need answers. My sister’s out there somewhere, and she needs me.”
“What’s your sister like?”
“Quiet, reserved, sweet, good, and kind… the opposite of me.”
Trinket hummed, still lingering in my bedroom doorway. “You seem pretty good and kind to me.”
“How do you figure? Have you seen what I’ve brought on the town? It’s in ruins because of me. My sister is lost again. I’m just a giant fuck-up at everything I do.”
“You took me in. You haven’t kicked me out or been mean to me for snooping through your stuff or eating your food.
My brother would have sent me to sleep in the mud with the pigs if I’d done any of that.
Plus, he’d never come looking for me. One time, I got lost in the woods for three days, and he didn’t even notice until it was laundry day and I wasn’t there to spot clean his trousers.
You at least care. You’re a good big sister. I can tell.”
“Thanks, kid,” I murmured, feeling a nap pulling me under. “Wake me up when there’s soup.”
The young witch assured me she would and pattered off into the kitchen.
Two days. I had two days to figure out a plan before Adder Viper came knocking and enacted his own plan for me.
Not even only his plan, but my mother’s?
How could she do this to me? Why would she want such a life for me and for Prism?
My mother wanted this fate for me so much, she gave a letter to Adder’s mom with her wishes?
In all my years living alone in my magical, ancestral cottage, I’d never so much as found a note from either of my moms, much less a letter of instruction.
None of this made sense.
And time was ticking and Prism was waiting for me to figure it out.