Stacia takes in a deep breath, the kind that comes before one shares a secret, but then someone bangs on my door and the lavender images are gone. I shake the pendant frantically, as if that’ll reactivate the spell. Nothing happens.
Another knock.
“Go away!” Rubbing the pendant, I push back angry tears. I lost the only connection I’ve had to my mother in years. I want it back.
“Jo, please.” Though Kat’s voice is muffled through the heavy wood, I can tell she’s upset. “I know you’re hurting right now. I’ve tried to give you the space you need, but something happened. And I don’t think it was an accident.”
She’s not lying. When I let myself feel more than my own grief, there’s something in her that is nearly frantic. I force myself up and break the spell on the door. Kat’s face is tear streaked and tired. “What happened?”
Her lips quiver as she tries to keep it together. “Gwen’s house caught fire in the middle of the night, and she didn’t wake up.”
I should say something, but the words won’t come. All I can see is the picture Levi sent, his cruel words on the back.
I spy with my little eye . . .
I can’t ask if one of my best friends is dead.
THIRTY-ONE
My knees give out, but Kat keeps me standing. “She’s alive, Jo. I should have realized you thought she might be . . . she’s not dead.”
Hearing that gives me enough strength to pull it together. I take a deep breath, shoving the grief over Nana and my mom into a little box for later. Gwen comes first. “How bad is it? What happened? Is her family safe?”
“I don’t know exactly.” Kat goes to my armoire and riffles through my clothes. “Mrs. Lee called me from the hospital. I guess her parents and siblings escaped once they smelled the smoke, but then they realized Gwen wasn’t there. Her dad grabbed a fire extinguisher and went back in for her. She wouldn’t wake up even when he shook her, so he carried her out.”
I grab my phone, feeling like the most selfish person in the world for turning it off. Sure enough, when I listen to the messages, half of them are from Mrs. Lee, telling me they’re at the hospital in Denison. “She’s in a coma?”
Kat tosses me a pair of jeans and a shirt. “Yeah, but I have a feeling she would have been dead if it weren’t for . . .” She touches her charms.
“The spell must have been really bad if it still put her in a coma.”
She heads for the door. “Get ready. I’ll ask Dorothea what we should bring to fix it.”
Once I’m dressed, I rush down the stairs. My dad and Kat stand in the entryway. Their hushed tones obviously mean they’re talking about me, and the accompanying guilty looks don’t help their case.
Kat holds up a bag. “She said you’d know what to do with this.”
I take it and peer in. This stuff should definitely help fix whatever has happened. Too bad I don’t know the exact curse—it would make it easier to decide on the antidote. “So we have transportation?”
She gnaws on her lip. “I called Winn. He should be here soon.”
“Oh.” My stomach does all kinds of flips. I’m not sure if they’re good or bad ones. I haven’t talked to him in a few days—not since I found out he’s living in my great-great-great-aunt’s house.
“Be safe,” my dad says when Winn’s lights shine outside.
I don’t answer, but instead give him a long, pained look. What am I supposed to say? Sure, we’ll be safe trying to save Gwen from a botched murder attempt. Nothing will go wrong. I’m never assuming I’m safe again. Not even among my own kind.
Winn is headed down the path as we leave the house, and an unexpected wave of relief crashes over me when I once again see no magic in him. I hold on to that fact like my life depends on it. When we meet, he scoops me off the ground; I’m too exhausted to resist. He whispers into my ear, “Where have you been? I missed you.”
How can he still make me want to smile? “It’s been kind of hectic around here, getting my dad settled and all.”
“I guess I can accept that.” He puts me on the ground, and his beautiful mouth turns down. “So, how are you doing with all this?”
I know he means Gwen, but it feels like it applies to everything. Searching his eyes, all I can see is concern. No blackness or cunning like Levi. It can’t be fake—he can’t be trying to trick me. Or have I already been tricked? I lean on his chest, the comfort of his arms too strong to ignore. If it is a lie, I fell for it a long time ago. “I’m so tired.”
“You can sleep on the way there,” Kat says. “We should get going.”
“Right.” Winn guides me to the car, and we head for Denison. As I doze off on his shoulder, I decide I’ll deal with his part in this whenever it comes. For now, I need him too much to let go. He’s the one thing in my life that hasn’t gone totally wrong yet.
Gwen’s family looks ragged, half of them passed out in the hospital’s waiting room. My heart aches for them even more when I realize they don’t have a home to stay in. Mrs. Lee, who Gwen takes after almost completely, hugs us. “Thank goodness you came. We’re hoping that having friends here might . . .”
She chokes on a sob, and I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I didn’t hear sooner. I feel horrible.”
“No. It’s only been two days. . . .” She puts a hand to her chest. “My, it feels like so much longer than that.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
It’s silent for a moment, as if we’re all too tired to make polite conversation.
“Do you need anything?” Winn shuffles back and forth, seeming antsy. “You guys must be hungry, and hospital food is awful. I could run out and get you supplies. Maybe some blankets and pillows?”
“Oh . . .” She shakes her head. “That is so sweet, but I don’t have any cash and—”
“It’s on me.” Winn looks my way, his eyes full of understanding. “I’m sure Jo and Kat want to see her on their own, and I like to be useful. What do you want?”
Mrs. Lee seems hesitant to accept his offer, but she relents. “Anything would be great.”
“Say no more. I’ll make sure you’re fed.” He kisses me quick on the cheek. “I’ll be back in a few.”
I grab his arm, realizing how far we are from the safety of Nana’s spells. If anyone in the group is next on the list, it’s Winn, my last shred of happiness. I take my strongest protective charm and drape it over his neck. “Be quick. And careful.”
He smiles, and with one more kiss he’s gone.
“So how is she?” Kat asks.
Mrs. Lee’s eyes water. “She has some serious burns on her arms, and her hair . . . they had to cut so much of it off. The paramedics thought her passing out was smoke inhalation at first, that maybe the fire started in her room so she was the most exposed. But she won’t wake up. They’ve run a bunch of tests, and nothing.”
“Can we see her now? Or is it too late for visitors?” I ask.
“We’ll tell them you’re family,” Mrs. Lee says. “I’m sure they’ll let you in.”
They do, though the nurse explains that we can’t take too long. The moment I see Gwen, it’s exactly what I feared. Her aura is black—she’s under some kind of spell, but I don’t recognize it. If Levi did this, I don’t care what he knows anymore. He will pay.
I walk over, and the spell reacts to my presence with a hiss. It doesn’t come for me this time; it only works harder on its goal, which must be to murder Gwen. This spell isn’t for killing me—its sole purpose is to cause me pain, to break me, to terrify me.
To my own surprise, it only makes me want to fight back.
“Is it bad?” Kat asks.
“Really bad. This spell was supposed to kill her—it’s still trying to. It’s a good thing she didn’t take off the charms. The one place there isn’t darkness is around them, but it won’t last long.”