Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
On the edge of the rain-soaked rooftop, Charlotte gasped, steadying herself against the howling wind, bringing her closer to the precarious end of the parapet.
“What the—”
How did she get up there? She had no memory of climbing onto the roof.
Peering into the darkness, amidst the fog stretching out over manicured lawns and blooming roses gardens, she saw the swaying translucent figures of her family. For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming, but when she pinched her hand, nothing happened.
They were really there.
Her eyes brimmed with tears, rain soaking her hair as she looked at them, her stomach hollowing.
Alice wore the purple gown she’d been buried in, her soft, blonde waves tied back. Her mother’s smile softened, her father’s arm wrapping around the two of them with a gentle squeeze. They were together again, and all the anger that had consumed her father before the massacre was gone.
His familiar, deep voice sounded in her mind, cracking an ache in her expanding chest.
Come home with us, darling. We’re waiting for you.
Tears flooded her eyes, falling thick and fast down her cheeks, mixing with the icy raindrops pattering over her and saturating her nightdress.
She didn’t think she would ever hear his voice again.
For months, she’d spent every day recalling the intone to their words, replaying every conversation she could think of so she would never forget how they sounded.
Alice’s soft plea tinkered into her head next, the sound wrapping around her like a warm blanket.
I miss you. Come home, Lottie.
Her stomach knotted at the name only her sister called her.
Slowly, her mother extended her hand, giving her a long, reassuring nod.
With trembling lips, Charlotte glanced down at the gardens below, captured by a sudden urge to jump.
Everything looked tiny from up there—the fountain, the statues, and beautiful flowerbeds. She hadn’t even got to explore the grounds of Sallow Manor yet, but she could think of no more beautiful place to die.
The roses below were a bright crimson, encased in well-tended rock beds. Sprawling ivy covered the low, gray-bricked walls and in the distance, rain splashed against the dark surface of a pond surrounded by tall grass and a bench.
Death hounds, whose shadows moved against the sea of oak trees surrounding the property, growled when they noticed her silhouette poised against the dusky, indigo sky.
Obsidian fur covered their large, muscular bodies.
Their sharp claws carved into the wet earth as they readied themselves to run, saliva dripping from their canines.
Swallowing thickly, she looked down again, her head spinning.
Her mother’s honeyed tone swept into her mind like a summer breeze.
It will only hurt for a moment. Then you will be home with us.
Her father’s voice filtered in after.
You always were the one who held us all together. We can’t be a family without you.
Her bare toes curled over the edge, lips shivering under the icy drops sliding down her face.
“I’ve missed you,” Charlotte cried, a sob wrenching her chest.
As she moved one foot out, balancing herself hundreds of feet from the ground, Duke’s yowl echoed through the rooftop, causing her to topple slightly. Arms outstretched, she balanced herself, her breath catching in her throat.
What was she thinking?
The last thing she remembered was locking Charles's head in the bathroom and covering it with a blanket before crawling back into bed. Something had lured her out there, or she had finally lost her mind to the hex.
Her body suddenly jerked forward, as if someone had tugged an invisible string inside her chest. The image of her family twisted, revealing the spirits’ true faces—the witches that haunted Sallow Manor.
The demon must have gotten to them, or they hated Nathaniel so much for killing them, that or they were punishing him by trying to get her killed.
“No! Please!” The plea came out raspy, the wound on her side pricking with heat. Blinking rapidly, holding her arms out for balance, she let the scream soaring through her throat rattle into the night.
“No!” she yelled when a second tug pulled her body. Her vision hazed through the tears, the hallucination of her family and all the comfort it offered, gone. No matter how hard she tried to walk backward, something was stopping her.
Duke growled from behind her, his nose nudging at her cold, bare ankles, begging her to turn back.
“I can’t move, Duke!” she cried, panting. “I’m going to fall. Help. Help me. Please. I don’t want to die.”
A gust of wind propelled her forward. Her heart skipped a beat the moment she toppled over the edge, the rush of wind sucking all the air from her lungs.
Flailing her legs, Charlotte grasped around her for anything to hold on to, only clamping her eyes shut when the ground rushed up to meet her and her last second was consumed by a primal screech.
She didn’t feel the impact. The silence of the landing was met with darkness. A breath curled into her lungs, then another, and when she opened her eyes, she realized she hadn’t hit the ground at all.
Nathaniel’s face hovered over her, his arms tight around her. Nothing hurt. He had absorbed all the impact of her fall.
Thick raindrops ran down his horrified expression, his wild gray eyes scanning her face.
Heavy pants left her chest, her eyes trailing up to the rooftop. “You caught me.”
A sound crossed between a sigh and a groan whooshed past Nathaniel’s lips. “I heard your scream,” he husked. After a few deep breaths, he pulled her close to his chest. In a pained voice, he asked, “Why did you jump?”
“I didn’t. It’s the hex and the ghosts. I’m losing my mind, just like my father did. I thought I’d stopped it, but I just woke up out here, on the ledge. Oh God.” She looked up at the dizzying rooftop. “Where’s Duke?”
“I can hear him coming,” Nathaniel said, and she heard his meow from the back entrance of the manor. “He’s okay. You are okay. I’m going to find Katherine. We’re going to break this hex, tonight, before it damned well kills you.”