Chapter Twenty-Two
After Blair wiped Luke’s face with a cool washcloth, he regained consciousness enough for the sisters to guide him upstairs, first to the washroom to get most of the curry off of him and to clean the small cut on his forehead from falling onto his butter knife, and then to Blair’s bed.
He was shivering, smelled like an Indian restaurant, and was muttering something about how no one could trust spinach.
‘Should we take him to the hospital?’ Belinda asked.
‘It’s just a fever,’ Bianca said. ‘His body increased in temperature to push the invading spirit out, like it does with viruses. I’d try normal fever reducers first. Blair, is Luke allergic to any painkillers?’
‘I don’t know,’ Blair said. ‘Ask him.’ He was conscious, just a little spacey. Blair pressed a damp washcloth to Luke’s forehead.
‘Blair,’ Luke said, a dreamy smile on his face.
‘Luke, are you allergic to painkillers?’ Belinda asked loudly.
Luke’s eyes closed. ‘Not allergic to anything except being away from Blair.’
Great. Now he was having fever delusions.
‘Luke,’ Bianca said forcefully. ‘Wax poetic about my sister later; this is important. Do you have any drug allergies at all?’
Luke shook his head, then winced in pain. ‘Everything hurts. Blair, kiss it better.’
‘We’re going to have to trust him and give him fever reducers,’ Bianca said. ‘I’ll get something.’
A few moments later they had encouraged Luke to sit up and take two pills with a glass of water.
Bianca had also brought an infrared thermometer that she kept in her greenhouse and took Luke’s temperature.
‘If it doesn’t start coming down in twenty minutes, we’ll take him to the hospital.
’ She looked at Blair. ‘I need to speak to my friend who gave me the spinach seeds. Are you okay with him, Blair?’
Blair nodded. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, still holding Luke’s hand. She wasn’t going to leave his side. ‘Yeah, go. I’ll stay with him.’
Bianca looked at Luke, and then Blair. ‘I’m sorry. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.’ Bianca’s voice cracked; she was clearly upset about what she’d done. Blair had to stop herself from telling her sister that it was okay, that she knew Bianca didn’t mean it.
Because it wasn’t okay. Bianca had acted incredibly irresponsibly by giving Luke that untested magical spinach without telling anyone.
Bianca wanted Blair to treat her like an adult, but it was hard when Bianca acted like a child.
Blair looked away from her sister, not saying anything, so Bianca left the room.
‘I’ll talk to her,’ Belinda said. ‘And I guess, clean the dining room. Yell if you need us, okay, Blair?’
Blair nodded. She couldn’t keep her eyes off Luke’s face, which was scrunched up with discomfort.
This was why witches couldn’t have relationships with normal people.
The very first time she had her boyfriend over to dine with her family, and he was potentially poisoned by his least favourite food, then possessed by the spirit of a one-hundred-year-old witch hell-bent on getting revenge on his hometown.
He’d never forgive Blair for this. Blair wasn’t sure she’d forgive herself.
Not for the first time in Blair’s life, she wished the Briarwoods’ existence in the world was simple.
‘Blair?’ Luke said softly. He opened his eyes, but they were cloudy and unfocused.
‘I’m here, Luke.’ She rubbed his hand. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘My head hurts, and I’m cold.’
‘Yeah, you’re feverish.’ She pulled up her duvet under his chin. ‘You took some medicine – it should bring your fever down.’
He nodded, looking around Blair’s bedroom. ‘I lost my virginity in this room.’
Blair couldn’t help it – she smiled. ‘I know, babe. You need to get some rest, okay? Let the pills kick in.’
He was quiet for a few minutes, eyes closed. Maybe he’d fallen asleep. ‘I need to tell you something,’ he suddenly said.
‘What is it?’
He didn’t say anything for several long moments. Finally, he sighed. ‘I don’t like spinach.’
Blair ran her hand over his cheek. ‘That’s okay. You won’t have to eat it again. I promise.’
He opened his eyes. ‘Forever?’
‘Forever.’ She leaned down and kissed his forehead. It didn’t feel as warm to her now.
‘I’m sweaty,’ he said.
The fever was breaking. ‘Let’s get you out of these dirty clothes.’ Blair sat him up, helping him take off his sweater and dress shirt, and then his jeans. He smiled, looking at Blair with those warm, brown eyes. ‘You’re always undressing me.’
Blair took his temperature. It was almost back to normal. He was only in his boxer briefs now, so Blair covered him with her duvet again. ‘Get some rest, Luke.’
His eyes drifted closed. ‘Okay. Stay with me, though.’
‘Always.’ She took off her dress and put on some flannel pants and an old sweatshirt, then climbed into bed with Luke, letting him spoon her. He was back to his normal body temperature. Blair was so relieved. He was going to be okay. And she was so, so sorry for putting him through this.
‘Luke, I’m sorry. Your night was ruined.’
He hugged her tightly. ‘It’s ending well, though.’ When his breathing slowed behind her, she knew he was asleep.
* * *
Blair lay with Luke in her bed for a while, listening to him breathe softly, her mind replaying everything that had happened tonight.
How had it all gone so monumentally wrong?
She was mad at Bianca, yes, but she was also mad at herself.
Blair let this happen to Luke. True, she didn’t know that her sister was going to feed him some strange, enchanted spinach, but she did know that they had invited him for dinner because they wanted to use magic to get information from him.
And that wasn’t right. Luke wasn’t a witch.
He hadn’t chosen any of this. And tonight the Briarwoods had put him at real risk.
Blair believed in her sister’s prophecy, because Belinda’s prophecies had never been wrong before.
Somehow, Luke was the key to stopping Hecate from destroying the festival.
But it felt wrong that Luke didn’t know about his involvement.
Blair cared for this man, more than she was willing to admit to others.
To herself, even. And he deserved to know his role in Hecate’s revenge.
But how could Blair tell him without admitting that she and her sisters were witches?
This was a secret that the Briarwoods had to keep.
They couldn’t let anyone know they were descended from a long and powerful line of South Asian witches.
They couldn’t let anyone know that Belinda could read the future, that Blair could manipulate liquids for magical effects, that Bianca understood and could control plants to do powerful things, and that all three of them used spells that were passed down from their parents.
Many witches that came before the three of them were dead because of their powers.
Their own father was killed because he was a witch.
The Stormvale witches were killed in their own factory.
If regular people knew what the Briarwoods could do, then eventually witch hunters would find them.
And it could put everyone they loved in danger, too.
Kass. Their friends here in Moonbeam Hollow like Gladys, Agatha, Melody, Aarushi and Raj.
And Luke. Ten people died in the Stormvale fire, and two of them were children. They may not have all been witches.
‘Blair,’ a voice whispered from Blair’s doorway. It was Bianca. Her sister was in her pyjamas, and she looked sad. She may have even been crying. ‘I spoke to my friend who gave me the spinach,’ Bianca said. ‘If he’s asleep, can we talk?’
Blair turned to Luke. He was fast asleep. She put her hand on his forehead. His temperature was normal, and his breathing was slow and steady. He was fine. Blair exhaled. ‘Okay.’
‘We’re in Belinda’s room.’ Bianca left Blair’s doorway.
Blair wrangled herself free from Luke’s arms and got out of bed. He barely stirred, his body exhausted after what he’d gone through. She squeezed his hand, then quietly went to the room next door.
Belinda’s bedroom was a lot like Belinda herself – ethereal, feminine and delicate.
Belinda still slept under the wispy canopy bed their father had bought her as a girl, and her walls were still painted a pale pink.
Belinda was curled up on her reading chair, a pale floral armchair that Belinda had found in the flea market.
Bianca was sitting cross-legged in the middle of Belinda’s bed.
Seeing her again, it was clear that Bianca had been crying.
Blair sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Bianca.
‘Okay, talk,’ Blair said.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know that would happen.’
‘Yes, you said that. Tell me about the spinach. Where did you get it?’
Bianca exhaled. ‘A friend of mine in Sweden sent the seeds to me. Her family bred the strain. Eating it causes one to be more susceptible to . . . invasions.’
Blair’s eyes widened. ‘What do you mean, invasions?’
‘Some witches call what you two do, reaching into someone’s mind to see their past or future, an invasion.’
Belinda’s nose wrinkled. ‘But why spinach?’
Bianca shrugged. ‘I dunno. Swedish witches are weird. Super health nuts.’
Blair frowned. ‘So what was the point? Belinda and I do these . . . invasions or whatever, all the time without enchanted vegetables.’
‘The festival starts in a few days – I needed to make sure this worked. We’re no closer to finding out how to stop Hecate from destroying everything.’
‘Actually,’ Belinda said, ‘we’re a lot closer. We didn’t know for sure it was Hecate – until tonight. We thought it was all three of the Stormvale sisters.’