I nearly choke. “She . . . what?”
“Is that weird?”
“Uh, yeah. Telling an outsider about magic is not done. Everything about this is strange. Not even my father knew Mom was a witch.” I rub my temples, since it feels like a hundred alarms are going off in my head. Nana is planning something so far outside normal witchcraft that I can’t guess.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be. I should be happy about this. No, I am! I’m just worried about the why.”
Because there’s always a payment, and something as good as having one of my best friends know about me must come at a heavy price. I don’t like that Kat’s life will hang on a flimsy thing like keeping our secret.
The ceiling lets out a ghastly moan, and my heart leaps so high it feels like it might burst out of my rib cage. “He’s awake.”
“I’m assuming you want to go alone,” Kat says.
I wince. “I probably should, though I’m kind of freaking out here.”
She smiles as she walks to the living room. “You’ll be fine. I’ll read a book or something.”
I head for the stairs, but I can’t take a breath big enough to calm down. My dad’s in there, and this time I’ll get to say everything I’ve wanted to since I realized who he was. The door creaks in warning of my presence, and he shoots up.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
“I can’t see.” His eyes dart back and forth, straining hard against the blindness.
I take a few steps forward, and he tenses like he’s preparing for an attack. “It’ll go away, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take. That’s . . . the payment for removing the curse.”
His brow furrows. “Curse?”
“Yeah. Someone put a spying curse on you, because Carmina? She was a witch, and I’m a witch, too, being her daughter and all. You probably already guessed that. The daughter part. Not the witch thing; you had no idea about that. I mean, we’re really not that—”
He holds his hand up. “Whoa, slow down. So you’re Carmina’s daughter? How old are you . . . ?”
He stalls, clearly waiting for me to say my name. A lump forms in my throat, because the moment I say it he’ll know, and maybe he’ll freak out and run away. I want so badly for him to want me, even if I shouldn’t. “It’s Jo, Josephine, and I’m seventeen. Just barely, like a week ago.”
His face goes slack. “You’re my . . . my . . . ?”
“Daughter? Yeah. If it makes you feel better, I didn’t know who you were until you showed up either.”
He shakes his head. “Is that why she left? Did she think I’d be upset?”
“No, not at all. She didn’t want to leave you. Our kind . . . we don’t stay with our, uh, partners. It’s not safe for them, which you can see. Okay, you can’t see, but that’s kind of the point, right? The only reason any of this horrible stuff happened to you is because you knew her.”
“Loved her.” He puts his hand on his chest. “I was going to ask her to marry me, and then she just . . . disappeared. The police couldn’t find anything. All her records and pictures and possessions vanished. It was as if she never existed. My whole life I’ve wondered what happened to her, hoped to God that she was happy and safe, and she’s . . .”
His tears make my eyes water. “I miss her, too. Every day.”
He motions for me to come over, and I tentatively sit on the bed. Slowly, he holds his hand out. “May I . . . ?” I take it, surprised at how easy it is. For a second, it feels like we’re family. If Mom weren’t a witch, we would have been. He puts his other hand over mine. “I wish I’d known about you sooner.”
“Really? Even though I blinded you?”
It’s the first time I see his smile, and it’s mine. It’s strange to see it on him. I’d never really noticed the non-Hemlock aspects of myself, or at least I never thought about the fact that they belonged to someone else. “Sounds like it was necessary. I had a curse?”
“Yeah, about that . . .”
The door creaks open before I find the words, and Nana comes in like nothing is wrong. “Ah, Joseph, you’re up. Nice to meet you.”
His eyebrow arches. “Who are you?”
“Dorothea Hemlock, your dear Carmina’s mother.”
“Oh, I see. So Josephine lives with you, then.”
“Yes, indeed.” She claps her hands together. “Speaking of, I have to steal Jo from you for a little, and I wanted to ask if you needed anything. Some water? Pudding?”
I put my face in my hand, restraining a groan.
“Water would be great,”
She shakes her head. “Get him some chocolate pudding, too, dear. Chocolate fixes everything.”
“Even blindness?” he asks.
Nana lets out a cackle. “I see why Carmina loved you so much. Make sure to get plenty of rest. Your eyes will need it.”
After getting some food and water for my dad, I head to the apothecary, where Kat sits in front of a small, round table. On the table rests a pair of pliers, neatly placed in the center of a white doily.
TEN
I’ve seen a man give up his ear for enough luck to save his family from foreclosure. I’ve seen a child sacrifice his sense of taste for three months to keep his dog from going to the pound. And I’ve seen a woman literally give up her right arm so her baby would live. But it’s not the same when I know the person. I’m not sure I can watch Kat go through pain. My stomach turns, and all Nana has done is hand her a bag of ice to get her finger as numb as possible before . . .
I’m so going to lose it.
“Why do we have to do this again?” I ask. “I trust Kat. I don’t need a binding spell to know she won’t tell.”
“It’s as much for her protection as it is for ours. Once she is bound, you will know if she’s in danger, and she’ll know if you are.” Nana drapes three necklaces over Kat’s head. “These are protection charms to dull the pain, speed healing, and prevent infection. Do not take them off until your nail has grown back.”
“Okay.” Kat puts a shaky hand to them. “Thank you.”
Nana goes back to her desk, reading from the book. “Now, Josephine, you sit across from Katherine. We will use your skin for our part of the deal.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
She lets out a frustrated sigh. “This is a contract. We promise to protect her, and in return she promises to protect us as well. A nail to symbolize shielding, and a piece of flesh to represent the bond of protection. A fair trade.”
“Of course, should have known,” I say. “Where am I cutting and how much?”
Kat gulps. “This is so morbid.”
“This is magic. It’s not pretty.” Nana turns to me, setting down a small pair of gold scissors. “A dime-size piece should do, from wherever you’d like.”
“From wherever I’d like? You say it as if I’m excited to mutilate myself.” I look over my skin, trying to decide where to cut. Avoiding joints would be smart. It should probably be a place easily covered by clothes, so as not to draw attention. But then again, a good scar is always a conversation starter.
Nana rolls her eyes. “It’s hardly a scratch.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get this over with.”
She scoots the pliers toward Kat and puts a copper bowl between us. “The offerings go in when I say. Katherine, you will be expected to remove the nail yourself.”
She nods, grabbing the pliers.
My mouth goes dry. As lovely as my part is in the spell, I want to trade. I don’t want her to do this. I want to knock her out and erase her memory and let her go along her merry way.
“Jo.”
I look up at Kat, who’s trying to smile. “Remember that time Colby Turner was ragging on me?”