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She can have it, if she wishes to sit upon it. Then my kingdom would have a worthy Queen, one not only powerful but just and kind.
I’ve considered what giving Esmeralda my mark means, realized all the implications of what I’m giving up by doing this. None of them seem to matter against the possibility of losing the little gem.
She’s destined for more. I can deliver it to her. Even if it means sacrificing something of my own.
“Esme is not Isabel. I don’t fear the same consequences. This could save her life.”
Mei is quiet for a long minute. “Why?”
“Are you asking for the logistics of how my mark could help us? Because it seems pretty obvious to me.”
“No, of course not. I’m asking you why you’d be willing to do this.”
I could come up with an excuse, one that maybe could be even half-decent enough for her to believe. Something about spiting Isabel, maybe. But Mei has been with me through a lot of the trials of this curse, and in order for this plan to work, I will need her on board, to do her part. The least I owe her is my share of honesty.
“Because I love her. And I am willing to destroy anything in my path to make sure she’s safe, and she gets what she deserves, which is most definitely not dying so Isabel can get one last laugh at my expense. If that means letting Esme have one more piece of me, so be it. She owns the rest already. I trust her with it.”
“Âmes sœurs,” she says, looking at me like she’s seeing me for the first time, all the hard edged from before gone. Then her arms are around me, and for the first time since we’ve known each other, the ghost is hugging me. “I’ll help you, Tei. Because I don’t want Esme to die, but also because I think you deserve more than just an end to your curse. You deserve a happy ending, as well.”
For an interminable minute, we stand there, old challengers, new friends, hugging in an awkward stance.
Finally, she pulls away, looking up at me from her tiny height. “What do you need me to do?”
chapter 52
see you on the other side
teizel
“I don’t understand,” Esme says, her eyes glassy as she looks at Mei. We’re all standing in the kitchen, myself and Esme leaning against the same counter, nursing cups of warm coffee that waft their bitter aroma through the space, and Mei hovering above the center island cross-legged. “I thought you wanted to hang around until the end.”
The end. Not ‘until we won,’ not ‘until we beat the curse.’ Just ‘until the end.’ Because in my little witch’s mind, the only way this cursed game ends is with her death. And I am in no part uncertain that she struck a bargain with our friendly ghost to usher her into the Beyond, so that they could walk into the next chapter of their lives together.
Not on my watch.
Esmeralda will survive this, I will make sure of it.
“Plans have changed,” Mei only says, picking imaginary lint from her leg, and keeping her promise to me not to reveal the extent of our schemes. If Esme knew what I am attempting to give her, she’d surely reject it, and that’s not her choice to make. It’s mine. This is my gift to bestow.
Plus, we have no guarantee Mei will succeed in her part of the quest. Even if Esme was on board with the plan, I’d rather not offer her false hope before we were certain we could execute on it.
“I’m going to need more than that from you.” Esme takes a long sip from her mug. “As far as I could tell, we were on the same page literally yesterday, so if something happened that made you change your mind, I want to know what it was.”
Mei huffs, shrugging her shoulders in that mechanical way of hers. “I’ve watched this all go down thrice before, Es. If you think it’s easy to witness someone dying at the hand of the curse…” a shiver runs through the ghost’s pale, shimmering body. “Let me tell you, it’s not a pleasant experience. And you’re my friend. I don’t think I can stand there and watch it happen to you.”
Esme’s knuckles around her coffee mug turn white. “So you’d rather let me go through it alone?”
I want to tell her she won’t have to go through it at all, because I won’t let her die. Instead, I reach over and brush my fingers over her arm, stroking down, leaving goosebumps in my wake. “You’re not alone. I’m with you.”
She turns to me, and her expression softens. “I know,” she says, reaching her free hand for mine and joining our fingers together. “I just wanted both of you there, however selfish that might be.”
Mei chews on her lips hard, guilt obviously gnawing at her; if she messes this up because of it, I will banish her soul for eternity. That is a sigil I remember by heart.
“I really am sorry,” she finally says. “But this is for the best. And I will be on the other side, waiting. I promise.” Esme gives her friend one long, endless look, but finally nods, and I feel like I can breathe again. “When are you leaving, then?”
Mei pauses. “Today.”
Esme nearly chokes on her coffee. “What? Why? So soon?”
