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“You were gone when I woke up. And you fed a few days ago.”
“Technically, you don’t sleep, you just get so lost in memories you’re barely conscious,” I point out.
She ignores me. “You can go weeks without eating, but now you’re hungry twice in one week?”
Trying to extricate myself from this conversation, I walk to my room. Mei doesn’t let up, close on my heels.
“It’s Esme, isn’t it?”
Obviously, but I’m not about to admit that to Meilin. “What would Esme have to do with this? Also, I didn’t realize you two were friendly enough for nicknames.”
I try to shut the door behind me, but Mei slithers in like she’s made of fluid. “I see the way you look at her.”
You’d have to be a blind man not to see the way I look at her, and even then, I’m sure you could feel the chemistry. The girl is temptation on legs, everything I want but can’t afford to fall for. A witch. Deception is in her blood. I slip my hands in my pockets and sit on my bed. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Mei scoffs. “Sure, you don’t. You went dumb all of a sudden.” She joins me, hovering a few inches above the mattress. “You’re still whipped, except now you’re whipped by a witch.”
If I could incinerate her with my gaze, I would. “Don’t say that ever again.”
“Why? It’s true. You want her. Her essence, her body, all of it. If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you have a big old crush.”
I roll my eyes. “Crushes are stupid human feelings.”
So is love. Affection. They’re all things a creature like me cannot afford. The last time anyone tried to convince me otherwise, I almost gave up my birthright, my throne, for it. And then I was cursed to spend centuries in this unremarkable realm.
That is the price of falling for a witch. They are my kind’s enemies, and I best remember that.
Mei looks all smug as she sits with legs and arms crossed. “And yet you purr in her ear like a big feline in heat.”
I move to rebut, but she lifts a finger to quiet me. “I may be dead, but I’ve been alive and in love. I know what it’s like to desire someone.” Her eyes get that faraway look they do when she’s there but not quite, ‘sleeping,’ as she calls it, and I’m certain I’ve lost her to a memory. I snap my fingers in her face, and with a shake of her head, she returns. “And you desire her.”
“Even if I did.” Which I most certainly do, but I wouldn’t admit to Mei. “She’s a witch. Can’t you see what her kind has done to us?”
Mei shakes her head. “I’m in this position because you offered me something I craved more than my own life, and I was dumb enough to believe you. Witches had nothing to do with my downfall, just my own hubris. And as far as your curse goes… it takes two to tango, and you’re a marvelous dancer.”
Mei isn’t necessarily wrong. I did betray the witch. But she used me, first. Planned to take everything from me. I’d say at best, I got even. What she did afterward was plain cruel.
“I’ve now met a witch, and Esme? She’s not evil, Tei. Maybe a little lost, a little lonely. But evil? Yeah, I don’t buy that.”
No, I don’t either. But what happens when the little witch comes into her power, when she realizes everything she could have, if she takes enough advantage of me? “I can’t run any risks.”
“Is that why you lied to her?”
My eyebrows rise. “I did no such thing.”
“Right, sorry. You omitted the truth. Why didn’t you tell her she’s a witch? It’s obvious as day she has no idea.”
“And that’s how it’ll stay, if I have anything to do with it.” I lean on the bed, lacing my fingers behind my head, and stare at the copper tiles on the ceiling, tracking the pattern with my eyes.
“That’s not fair to her.”
“Frankly, I couldn’t care less what’s fair to her. She’s a liability to me if she understands her powers. If she wins the game and gets her mother back, the woman can teach her about witchcraft. If she doesn’t win, she won’t need that knowledge in the Beyond, anyway.”
Meilin huffs, standing from the bed and throwing her arms in the air. “You’re impossible! What if her knowing meant the difference between winning and not winning? What if magic could free you?” She leans over me, blocking my view of the ceiling with her translucent face, her short hair a curtain around us. “Think about it, Tei. The curse chose another witch, for the first time in centuries. You think that’s a coincidence?”
More of a sick joke, I’d say. But what if Mei is right? No witch has ever played the game. If all along, the answer was magic, Esme may be the first person capable of solving the puzzle. She could be different. She certainly feels different.
I shake my head. No, the risk is too great. Breaking the curse is no good to me, if I end up victim to another witch in the process. Esme can’t know. I jump off the bed and point to Mei. “You’ll drop this subject. I won’t tell Esme a thing, and neither will you, unless you want to spend the next two months locked in a room. Are we clear?”
