“But,” Violet held up a finger as she interrupted her sister and shook her head, “if we should fail at this, if we canna save the chi’lt, then we shall give Bás the curse that will protect us all from his darkness.”
Camilla clenched her jaw. “I can concede to ye on that, sister. But only if we fail.”
Hyacinth growled. “If we build this township as ye see, then there could be dozens possibly even a hundred living here, how in the bluidy blazes are we to do this without discovery, hm? How could we possibly—”
“We swipe their minds,” Primrose said gravely. “We steal their memories, give them new ones.”
The other sisters, save for Camillia gasped.
“That is, that is the very darkest of dark magics,” Hyacinth whispered. “We canna...this, this should never be.”
Violet who’d been silent, looked at the king with barely leashed hatred burning in her eyes. “Ye have asked this of us, and so now I hope ye finally understand the price you’ve forced upon our heads. Do not ever visit me again, king.” Her small nostrils flared before she turned her back on him and looked at her sisters’ faces. The flickering glow of camp light added shadows to the hollows of throat and cheekbones, making them appear sinister. “I will be the one to weave the curse.”
Hyacinth shook her head. “Nay, Vi, ye musn’t do this thing.”
Violet’s face was hard and stern. “I am the strongest of us at potion crafting. It must be me and none other.”
The silence was deafening.
Bile reached a hand out toward Violet, as though he wished to hold her. But she walked away from him then, and the infants continued to cry into the darkness.
The vortex that carried me from one part of history to another swooped in again, snatching me up. Tumbling head over foot, I threw out my arms, trying to brace myself on something, anything. But there was nothing to grab hold of, nothing to right myself with.
Then I remember Zinnia, and I reached with frantic fingers for my pockets, comforted the moment I felt her slight weight rest against my palm.
My head was beginning to brew with the start of a wicked headache, so I closed my eyes and thought of all I’d seen so far. I couldn’t even begin to fathom the implications of all I’d seen.
Not only did Zinny’s aunts appear to know the truth, they’d even played a very active role in cursing Blue Moon Bay to begin with.
“Oh god,” I groaned.
And Zinnia didn’t know that. But now I did. I did and that meant I would have to tell her that, but how was I supposed to crush her world view this way? I was still very much an outsider to this world, why would she even believe me?
But deep down I knew she would because Zinnia and I had a bond, an unexplainable one, but it went deep. I closed my eyes and sighed wearily, I didn’t want to do this to her. Didn’t want to be the one to shatter her illusion of all she thought she’d known.
I wasn’t stuck in the tunnel of wind for long. This time, I was shot out like a stone from a sling, banging my head so hard against the unyielding surface I’d been spat out on that stars exploded behind my eyes.
Groaning, I lay stunned, trying to make sure I still had all my faculties and bearings. I didn’t want to move, not even an inch. Everything ached. Even my eyeballs hurt.
“GD it,” I muttered. Slowly and painfully, I moved one limb at a time just to make sure everything still worked. “Freaking Time.”
I was hurtling through time, learning all that I could, but I was terrified that I wouldn’t remember what really mattered.
All I could think about was the fact that the Aunts, Zinnia’s aunts had betrayed to the trust of every person in Blue Moon Bay. Every story in those books now appeared to be a lie. I hadn’t lived there long, but even I felt the sting of that betrayal.
If I’d been paying more attention instead of having my head in the clouds I might have noticed that unlike every other time I’d been dumped out of the tunnel I wasn’t standing outside in the woods, but rather, I was inside of a room. And I wasn’t alone. But, of course, I hadn’t been paying attention.
“What have ye done, boy? Dear goddess above, what have ye done?” The voice was Camillia’s, and it was close, way too bloody close.
My heart leapt into my throat with panic. I was so shocked, almost as if someone had taken an electric prod to me. I crawled on my hands and knees to hide behind the only thing available to me—a lumpy-looking mattress laid out on the floor. My hood was off, and I was completely exposed. I yanked the hood over my head as fast as I could, practically choking myself in the process. With wide eyes and my breath coming in heavy pants, I was sure I’d been made and that the witches were going to get medieval on my hiney.
But with each second that ticked past, no one screamed about there being a strange man in her bedroom. I finally found nerve enough to open my eyes and look around.
There was a black-haired boy staring down at something before him, the same black-haired child Zinnia and I had seen at our first stop. Beside him was a kneeling Camillia. Both their backs were to me.
Wanting to see what they were looking at, I crawled forward as much as I dared, craning my neck to try to make out what was in front of them. There was a lump on the ground. I frowned, scooting up on my toes, inch by painful inch.
“She’s goin’ ta be a’right, won’t she, Mother?” a young male voice asked, sounding fearful, his voice quivering with barely checked tears.
“Oh, sweet pea,” Camillia crooned, reaching down. But she wasn’t speaking to the boy standing with his head hanging and thick black hair spilling over his eyes, but rather to the tiny figure lying on the ground. “Och, sweet child,” she whispered brokenly as she stroked the tiny heap before her.
Watching her caress the small heap suddenly reminded me of Zinny, and that was when it dawned on me. I was belly crawling, and there was no lump beneath me. My blood suddenly turned to ice water in my veins.
My pocket was empty.
I blinked several times as I rolled onto my hip and continued to pat at my pocket. My brain was slow to register what the panic button inside of me already knew. Her pouch was gone.
I’d lost her.
“Oh my god,” I hissed, wincing when I realized I’d said it out loud. But I was covered now, and neither of the figures turned to look in my direction.
I scrabbled to my feet, trying to keep an eye on what was happening while praying to all the gods in the universe that I hadn’t lost Zinnia in the time tunnel but somewhere here.
I prayed she was somewhere close.
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God,” I hissed, twirling in circles, scanning the floor, looking anywhere and everywhere a tiny pouch could be. That was when I saw the empty fabric that had once held her. It was draped partially over the mattress and completely empty.
“Holy crap,” I hissed, more panicked than ever. So she was here. But where on God’s green earth was she?
As I searched, I tried to pay attention to the unfolding scene before me, knowing that this was important and that I would only get one opportunity to see it all.
“Zinny. Newt,” I hissed, keeping one eye on the scene and one eye on everything else. Panic was beating like a bongo drum in my chest. “Sweetheart, please. Please come back,” I pleaded.
Camillia was brushing hair back from the pale, blond girl still lying lifeless on the ground. Her eyes were open, staring eerily at the ceiling above, but she was not blinking and not breathing. For just a second, I noted that she looked exactly like the others had at Zinnia’s diner after they’d been cursed.
I frowned.
“What did ye do, chi’lt?” Camillia hissed, twirling on the boy and grabbing him by the shoulders. She gave him a good shake. “Xavier, what did ye do?”
“I... I...”
I scooted along the wall, trying not to bump into anything, keeping my eyes peeled for my red-bellied newt while still trying to hear everything. I tried in vain to miss nothing, but I was missing too much of it all
the same.
“I-I... don’t know, Mother,” the boy stammered. Large tears were streaming down both his cheeks, and his nose had turned a bright shade of red. In fact, all his skin looked discolored, darker than normal, patchy and black in some places. He sniffed, and his nose twitched, but the movements weren’t human. They were... other.
The sound of pottery crashing to the ground from outside the room rang out like a gunshot, startling us all. Camillia and the boy looked but saw nothing other than fallen crockery from the kitchen.
Then a woman I hadn’t noticed earlier came running in, brandishing a wooden stick in the one hand like a sword. She glanced quickly toward where Camillia and Xavier stood and instantly noted the spelled Talulah. Her lips thinned, but then her gaze focused like a hawk’s on the kitchen. Violet stood in the kitchen. Her hair was pinned up, and she was dressed in the rags of a maid. Her eyes scanned the kitchen, and my heart sank like a rock to my knees.
She couldn’t find Zinnia first.
“Zinny,” I hissed. “Where are you?”
As though she understood me, another piece of crockery fell to the ground, and I was finally able to spot a flash of red slink off over the cabinet.
“Skink!” Violet cried, racing for the cabinet at the same time I did.
“Zinnia!” I cried, clamping hold of my hood with both hands as I raced for the kitchen, desperate to get my hands on her before Violet did.
“A lizard! A wee dragon in me kitchen!” Violet cried as she finally reached the shelf a second before I did and began tossing bowls and utensils over her shoulder to try to work Zinnia out from her hiding place.
But Zinnia was having none of it and managed to wiggle her way into a tight little spot I couldn’t reach. Clamping down on my back teeth, I prayed to God that somehow, someway I would gain the upper hand. I thought about trying to tempt Zinnia to me with some bait. A nice fly or cricket would do. But as I scanned the meticulously scrubbed and cleaned floors, I knew that wouldn’t work.
Vaguely, I realized that Camillia was still speaking in hushed, hurried tones to the boy, and I deeply regretted that I wasn’t able to hear everything she was saying, but I had to get Zinnia back.
If I couldn’t bait her out, I could at least throw Violet off her scent. I picked up one of the spoons that had fallen by my feet and chucked it hard to the left of us, making it appear as if there were more vermin skulking around.
She gasped. “Bluidy beasties, I’ll show ye,” she snapped, and in a furious swirl of silks, she turned and snatched up a straw broom that had been resting in the corner.
Sensing her escape, Zinnia finally wiggled free of the little wedge of space she’d made for herself and ran as fast as her chubby little reptile legs allowed. But rather than run away from danger, she ran straight toward it, her tail swishing back and forth on the ground as she waddled as only a newt could toward a standing butter churn.
I caught a flash of Zinny’s bright red belly wiggle in behind it. But Violet was looking in the wrong place. She was over by the hearth, poking at the fires with a stick.
“We’ll have stew of lizard tonight, ye nasty beastie,” she hissed as she continued to poke.
I ran toward Zinnia and scooped her up quickly. She trembled in my hand, quivering so hard and even lightly foaming at the mouth. I shoved her deep into my pocket, hanging on tight to her. My head spun with a mixture of fright and pain from the mother of all headaches.
“Och,” Violet groused with some heat before dropping the stick to the ground. “Vile creature has gone, I think. And ye’d best to stay gone. Nothing I hate more than lizards.” She gave a small shudder before turning to look back where Camillia and the boy had been.
With my pulse still beating far too fast, I finally turned back to the mission at hand. But it was too late. I’d missed almost everything. The boy was gone, and no trace of him at all remained.
The towheaded little girl was still there, looking peaceful in sleep with her head resting on Camillia’s lap.
Violet rushed over toward Camillia and gathered the girl up in her arms, a worried frown tugging on her full mouth. “Ye did the right thing, sister. Ye did the right thing. It was time to let him go. We did all we could, but the devil burned bright in him. It is time to talk we talk to Bás, we must gather the others in the square. It is time, we knew this day would come.”
Camillia moaned deeply, and then the tears spilled heavy down her cheeks. “Hyacinth will be sore grieved. She loved the child. She will feel as though we failed. I failed.”
“Shh. Shh, now. We’ll just tell Tinker that we tried, but now he must keep to his end of the bargain an—”
Camillia shook her head. The look on her face was full of pain and grief and a secret.
Violet, who must have noticed that too, instantly stiffened. “What did ye do, Cami?” she whispered low.
Her sister hiccupped. “I-I loved the boy, Vi, almost as though I were his real mother. And it broke me heart in two. An’ if it hurt me, then I could no ask Tinker to do this thing, no after losing Bláth as he did. He should’nay have been forced to witness the loss of that which he loved most, twice. So I did it, Vi. I did it.”
Violet blinked, looking blank with shock. She just stared at her sister, who she’d been hugging a second ago with such warmth.
“Nay. Dinna say that. Dinna. Ye ken I cannot know this. Ye would nae—”
Meow.
I looked down at the black cat standing beside the hay-filled mattress. It had socked feet, a long, swinging black tail, and brilliant green eyes.
I gasped at the same time Violet did.
“Dear merciful heavens,” she breathed. “Ye didn’t.” Violet covered her mouth with long fingers and mutely shook her head.
Camillia squeezed her eyes shut. “I know what you’ve foreseen, Violet, but I loved him too.”
My heart sank like a rock. Staring back at Violet with jeweled green eyes was a creature I’d seen before.
Malachite’s tail swished back and forth lazily.
I would know that demon cat anywhere. It had been a source of vexation and consternation for Zinnia as long as I’d known her, just how wicked her familiar sometimes was and how he’d abandoned her.
And why.
Why had he abandoned her for a secret woman no one knew, a woman we’d both seen turn into a ball of silver?
My brain felt as if it were about to explode. What did that mean?
I blinked and blinked again because what I was thinking couldn’t possibly be true. It hadn’t been Sage who’d cursed the four, but her cat, Malachite. Malachite was the dark witch.
My jaw dropped. Malachite was a boy, the boy Xander. So was he a shifter or something else? Which meant Bás was his father, but Camillia had just called him Tinker.
I swallowed hard, blinking so many times I saw black spots dance in my vision. Did that mean that just as Xander was now Malachite, Tinker had really once been Bás?
Dear god, I mouthed the words silently.
With one hand still firmly gripping Zinnia, I rubbed at my now pounding skull with my other hand. This couldn’t possibly be real.
“What did ye do?” Violet asked, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “What did ye do, sister? We could have ended it here. Tinker knew the penalty for daring to fall in love with her. He knew and he was prepared for this. The price was his to pay alone. No yers. Ye damn, wee fool.” Her breath caught on a sob and she shoved her knuckles into her mouth. “I have to tell our sisters. They should ken this too.”
“Please.” Camillia latched on to Violet’s sleeve as she turned to go, tugging so hard I heard the fabric tear, “Please, nay, sister. Please. There is a way to break their curse. Bás’. Bláth’s. Even Xander’s. I ken it. I ken it. It is love. Love, Violet.”
“Ye loved that rotten chi’lt more than anyone else, and the devil still woke up in him. Look what he just did to Telulah.” She pointed to the sleeping child. “He will do it to others too. I saw it, Cami. I saw
what he will do. He will awaken to his powers again, cat or no, and he will hurt more.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I saw it too. But I saw more. I am stronger, Vi. ’Tis not simply love that blinds me. A sacrifice will be made, but if the choice is made correctly, this can all be undone. All the pain, the heartache, everything, it can be fixed. But ye must trust me.”
Violet shook her head. Her dark curls framed her anxiety-filled face prettily. “I cannot lie to them, Cami. I cannot. Ye are asking me to no tell them the truth, that the only sacrifice being made here is yers. And for what? A child that is nay even yer own flesh and blood? Ye canna do this. I won’t allow it.”
“I know,” she whispered softly. “I ken that ye think I’m off my nutter here, but ye must trust me, sister. And that is why I am asking ye to trust me now and let me hold yer face. I will show ye what I’ve seen, but only ye can see this, Vi. Only ye can know it. And once ye do, ye must forget it until such a time as this memory is needed again.”
A tear slid down Violet’s cheek. She said nothing, but her long lashes fluttered with her consent. Then Camillia planted her hands on her sister’s cheeks, and instantly, Violet sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes moved as if she were looking around the room, but I knew it was not this world she saw but rather what her sister showed her.
They stayed locked like that in silence for several minutes until finally they broke away and Violet collapsed to her knees in front of Camillia.
“Now ye ken it all,” Camillia whispered huskily.
Violet looked at Camillia, her eyes broken and tears spilling unchecked. “So much pain, so verra much pain.”
Camillia swallowed hard and nodded weakly. “I ken it, sister.”
“Ye will have a daughter.”
Camillia took Violet’s hand and smiled through her tears. “Aye, and she will be the key. Though she won’t know it right away. But she will be the strongest of us. And now ye see it too.”