Chapter 33 #2
pushover who let herself be bested by Grace Montgomery again and again.
Grace had framed her—and gotten away with it.
She had taken Emmy’s place in the Society of the Charmed—and gotten away with it.
She had framed Jack for the death of two innocent girls—and gotten away with it.
She had posed as Mary, weaseling her way into Mistfield to use Emmy’s schemes for her own selfish purposes—and gotten away
with it.
And now she had stolen the one thing that made Emmy powerful enough to make a damn difference in this bleak world. And Emmy could not let her get away with it.
“Do you know the last thing Jack said to me?” Emmy’s traitorous voice warbled. “‘Finish this.’ He still wants Grace to pay.
That’s why he sacrificed himself.”
Caleb scoffed. “You and I both know that’s not it.”
“Then why?”
“Because he’d do anything for you!” He practically screamed it at her, and they both glanced through the trees. Lowering his
voice, he added, “He already went to jail for you once, and now he’s gone and done it again.”
“That’s not true.” She shook him off her arm, hating how he grimaced in pain. “I didn’t even know him the first time he was
arrested.”
“You didn’t know him, but he knew you.” Glaring at her, Caleb shook his head. “Jimmy filled his head with stories of this big-hearted girl who lived on the fifth
floor. Who swam in the East River in her knickers in the summer and read books so late, her father had to hide the spare candles
so she’d go to bed. Who looked after everyone, no matter their station.”
“Quiet.” She could not listen to this romanticized version of herself, not when she needed to be ruthless.
Clutching his abdomen, Caleb hobbled into her path yet again. “Every day for a year, Jimmy reminded us that this wonderful
girl—Jack’s precious woodland girl—was wrongfully imprisoned. And every day, Jack harassed his father to do something about
it. But Mr. Fontaine died, and Oliver and Grace set Mistfield on fire.”
His voice wavered, as it always did for Rose, and Emmy swallowed her bitter retort.
“Jack should have laid his sister to rest.” Disgust tinged Caleb’s bitter words. “He should have been there, but instead,
he got himself arrested on purpose. To free you.”
Emmy shook her head. “That had nothing to do with me.”
“The chancellor could not arrest Jack with only Oliver’s testimony. But Jack punched Oliver in the face, nearly knocking him
off the cliffs. Why do you think he did that?”
The woods began to spin, and Emmy gripped her knees.
Oliver has a face that just begs to be punched, Jack had said.
“He wouldn’t,” she rasped.
“As he proved last night, he most certainly would.”
Jack needed to be alive so she could scream at his beautiful face. How could he have gone to Grimsbane for her, a stranger?
Those haughty smirks had been hiding a shockingly tender soul, one that had suffered for her. Starved for her. “Of all the
reckless, stupid things he could do . . .”
“For once, we agree.” There was a protective edge to Caleb’s glare as he assessed her. “You have to make a choice. Either
you give up on getting back at Grace, or you give up on the person you love—Don’t you dare make that face, Emilia Vallillo.
You’re falling in love with him, whether you like him or not.”
“Jack said it himself,” she hissed. “Nothing matters more than revenge.”
“So you’ll let him die? Jack, who traded his freedom for yours, twice?”
She backed away, pinning him with a murderous look.
“You’ll let Jimmy die? Jimmy, who upended his life to find you, throwing himself into a cutthroat magical world so he could
watch over you—”
“Stop.” She almost shoved him as she stalked away.
But Caleb grabbed her arm. “Then Grace has already won. She wins when you become as heartless as she is. She wins when they
execute Jack—”
“Stop.”
“Just like they executed your father—”
“STOP!”
“Because that’s the worst betrayal of all, isn’t it?” Understanding glistened in Caleb’s eyes. “When we can’t imagine being
apart from someone, but they go and die.”
He had let go of her, but her feet remained rooted to the ground. Each inhale was a jagged stone, tearing the strength she
desperately needed.
And there was Mama, her skin tepid and blue as Emmy tried to heal her.
There was Papa, lying on that pristine marble tile as Emmy tried to reach him.
There was Emmy herself, curled against the warmest wall of the coldest cell. Cursed to live. Cursed to yearn for her oldest
friend in the world, who had deemed her expendable.
“I hate her,” Emmy rasped, her face suddenly wet. “She needs to pay for what she’s done.”
“She turned on you. She left you alone when you needed her more than ever.” His words were infuriatingly gentle. “But Jack
would never do that to you. Jimmy will never do that to you. Even I wouldn’t do that to you, and you’re my third favorite of all of them.”
She had promised herself she’d never let another soul within striking distance. But she’d failed, because it was tearing her
to pieces, knowing Jack was hurting, or in danger, or worse. That reckless boy had snuck behind her walls, close enough to
devastate her.
And they always devastated her. In the end, everyone she’d ever loved had either died or betrayed her.
But not Jimmy. No, he’d made it his mission to look after her.
And not Jack. Before they’d even met, he’d been loyal to the mere idea of her. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not cure herself of her infernal connection to him. It was as if a dark, broken shard of her heart had found its twin in the dark, broken shards of his.
But Jack was far too cavalier with his own mortality. He burned too brightly, daring fate to snuff him out. Too many times,
he’d risked his life for her. Because he loved her, damn him. And that made him foolish. Reckless.
Brave.
“I can’t do it again.” She didn’t have the courage to face Caleb as the words fell from her. “I mean it, Caleb. If they die . . .”
Because Emmy was the furthest thing from brave. She could not add Jack and Jimmy to the list of loved ones she mourned, could
not be cursed to live while everyone died.
“I know.” Caleb was on the ground now. Knee to knee. Forehead to forehead. “Believe me, Emmy, I know.”
He offered no solution. Not even a glimmer of hope. In fact, the devastation in his eyes was a mirror of her own.
But somehow, Emmy sucked in a breath. Her first in ages.
Grace deserved to die for everything she’d done. But Jack and Jimmy . . .
“They’re at headquarters?” she whispered. “You’re certain?”
Caleb nodded. “Unless we’re too late.”
Emmy wiped her face on her dress sleeve, then forced herself to stand.
Grace Montgomery could keep her perfect little life. She could even keep Rose’s relic, though the loss of it burned deep in
Emmy’s chest.
For a chance to save Jack and Jimmy, Emmy had to let Grace win.