He sighs. “I wish I had more information. A letter was sent to my office—that’s it. There was no return address, and the handwriting looked like it was done with an old ink pen. Inside, there was a picture of Carmina. On the back there was just ‘Willow’s End, Iowa.’ No exact address. But it was enough for me.”
“They knew we were here?” I say, shocked. How did they find our town?
“Do you still have the letter?” Nana and I ask at the same time.
“It’s with my stuff at the bed-and-breakfast.”
Nana looks at me. “Fetch his things after school tomorrow, but don’t touch the letter.”
“You mean . . . he’s staying with us?”
“Can’t have him going out there and getting cursed again.” She pulls herself up with her cane. “I’m beginning to think some traditions would be better left forgotten, and it seems he wants to stay anyway.”
He smiles. “I do.”
“Good night, then.” Click goes the cane, then a long creak, over and over, as she ascends the stairs.
“I better get home, too. My mom has texted me twice. Let me know if you need anything.” Kat gives me a hug and leaves, her footsteps echoing down the hall.
“At least you can always hear people coming in this place,” my dad says.
I let out a little laugh. “But . . . can you stay? I mean, you have a job and a life and, well, don’t you have a family or friends? You don’t have to stay out of obligation, really. We protected you for almost two decades, and we can again.”
He shrugs. “I can work things out. It might not be easy, but the answers I’ve always wanted are here. As long as I have an internet connection, I’m sure I can talk my company into letting me telecommute for a while. I do half my job on conference calls anyway.”
I’m not sure if that means he’s in a relationship or not, but I decide I’d rather not know for now. “We don’t have internet.”
“I can fix that.”
I smile. “If you can get Nana to install internet and a TV, I will love you forever.”
He snorts. “Your love comes cheap.”
“You think convincing her will be easy? How little you know.” I’m surprised it feels this natural to talk to him, like there’s a connection between us already.
He sips at his water. “I don’t know. I think she likes me.”
I shake my head, refusing to admit it’s true. Nana is so easily charmed by men. It’s a wonder she didn’t have more daughters from the way she talks sometimes.
My phone beeps again.
I was really hoping you’d call me today.
“I’d better do homework,” I say to my dad as I type.
Will in like 10 min.
“Do you need anything?”
“I’m figuring out how to get around.” He smiles. “The house will probably cave in if I fall, so you’ll be tipped off.”
“True.”
As I head upstairs, I can hardly wait to talk to Winn. But as I pass Nana’s door, she calls for me. I open it as softly as I can. She’s at her writing desk, a quill in hand. The quill isn’t her sticking to some anti-technology thing. Though she’s admittedly old school, that’s how we speak with other witches. “Are you writing the Crafts?”
She nods.
“Why?”
“A few inquiries about the strange shadow we saw. I can’t get it off my mind.”
Here we go. Out comes the serious stuff. I shut the door. “Me either. Have you ever seen something like that?”
“No. It was very dark magic. Perverted. Insane. Whoever created it has to be entirely lost to the blackness, far more than we can comprehend.” She keeps scribbling as she talks, and I picture the Craft sisters watching as her scrawl appears on their enchanted paper. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, Josephine, but I think you sensed what it might be.”
I suck in a deep breath, the reality of what she’s saying hitting harder than ever. If she felt it, too, then I can’t pretend it away anymore. “The Curse?”
She nods. “We barely escaped the trap, my dear. It almost had you.”
“I know.” It comes out in a whisper, the image of that shadow and its desire to consume me all too real even now. This is why witches run. But it’s too late for that option. They already know where we live, might even have us surrounded.
“I will never let it take you. I will die protecting you if I have to.”
The reality of our situation hits again, and I have to force myself not to shake. “Is that why you let Kat and my father in? You think their comfort can replace you?”
Her pen stops for the slightest moment, and then she keeps going. “We need to read the histories for any clues. We’ve been attacked many times, and our bloodline will survive this as well.”
My throat tightens when I realize what she’s not saying. Her entire purpose is making sure I live, and that’s how it has to be. “Of course we’ll survive.”
She looks up at me, her smile sad yet confident. “That’s my girl.”
TWELVE
There are just over two weeks of school left, and they feel utterly useless. At lunch, everyone flees campus as if they can’t stand looking at the cafeteria one more second. Winn and I sit under a tree with our friends, opening our recently bought fast food. The chains here in Denison are a treasure to those of us who live in towns too small to have them.
“Let’s skip the rest of school,” Gwen says as she stretches out next to Adam. “It’s so nice today.”
She has a point. The weather is perfect: warm and not too humid. Give it a month, and Iowa will turn into a steamer. The corn seems to love it. My hair? Not so much.
“We do have finals,” Kat says.
“I kind of want to pass my classes, what with that whole college thing in a year.” Billy runs his fingers through his dark hair, and it sticks up all over. He totally pulls off the cool-guy indifference thing. He’s always seemed like such a poseur, but at a closer look he’s more like a well-dressed intellectual.
“Psh.” Adam spits French fry as he talks. “It’s review all week until Friday. Not like we’re missing anything. Study later.”
“Or we could let our teachers tell us all the crap on the test, and have the rest of the day to chill without studying,” Winn says.
I bump his shoulder. “I like your thinking.”
“Good.” He grabs me around the waist, which surprises me, but I don’t mind at all. “Because we’re hanging out today, even if I have to go bug catching with you and your grandma.”
I laugh, at least until we get pummeled with greasy food wrappers. “Hey!”
“I warned you about the PDA,” Kat says. “A few days and you’ve already forgotten.”
I point at her. “You specifically said making out. We’re nowhere near that.”
“If only,” Winn says, and I shake my head.
“Still.” Gwen sips her Coke. “It’s a slippery slope.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine, but we’re so allowed this. It’s not even a full-on hug.”
“I agree.” Winn squeezes my waist, and it makes me laugh.
Kat sighs. “Just don’t push it.”
My eyes meet hers, and that intuition thing kicks in. She only said that because she knows how happy I am; otherwise she would have thrown more stuff at us. “I swear we won’t.”
Gwen eyes us, then zones in on Kat. “You’re getting soft, girl.”
Kat ignores her. “Billy, would you mind reading through my English paper? I really need a good grade, and you’re always getting the highest score.”
He nods. “Sure, on the bus?”