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“He has feelings for you, you know.”
I stop in my tracks. “He told you that?”
Mei shakes her head in that robotic way of hers. “He didn’t have to. I’ve known him longer than you’ve been alive — I can just tell.”
I steal a furtive glance behind me. Tei has incredible hearing, and I don’t want to have this conversation anywhere near where he could listen to it. I don’t want to have this conversation at all, really, because Mei is imagining things, and if I let her get into my head, I’m just going to get my heart broken.
Tei may have said he cared, but he’s been extremely clear on what his kind thinks of silly little feelings like the ones gripping my chest. He cares because he needs me, and I best not forget that.
“What are we looking for, exactly?” I ask him over my shoulder.
“Family matriarchs are sometimes buried with copies of their grimoires. Witches believe that if they gift an object to the dead, they’ll be able to bring it to the afterlife.”
“Will they?”
With a few long steps, Tei is in line with Mei and me. “There are ways to transport objects between dimensions, but it’s not as simple as leaving them with a dead body.” Then, more quietly, he adds, “thankfully.”
His distrust of witches drips from every word, and I can’t help a scowl at it. Even though I understand how a witch cursing you would cause friction, it feels like there’s far more deeply rooted hatred here, and I suspect I’m still missing a large chunk of the puzzle. Alas, we’re breaking into a cemetery in a foreign country, so my suspicions will have to take a backseat for now.
“Ok, then, we just need to find my great-grandmother’s grave.” I look around, studying the imposing mausoleums, the ornate graves decorated with stone statues. There’s a poetry to this cemetery, like an undying love letter to the departed, a warmth that’s completely lacking from the one back home. If I survive this, I’m going to put a statue on Àvia’s grave. A small one — I definitely can’t afford these monolithic angels — but something nevertheless.
Mama’s grave won’t need any decorations. She won’t need a grave at all.
“Esme,” Mei calls out. I turn around to find her and spot her far enough away that her shimmering figure starts to blur. In making my way over, I lengthen my steps.
“Your last name is Parella, correct?”
I nod. She points to the mausoleum in front of her. “Then I think we found your family grave.”
I choke on a breath at the sight of the tomb. The door alone is two-stories tall, wrought in dark metal intricately inlaid with a rose-like pattern; a long needle emerges from the bud of the rose, pointing straight at the observer. The building itself is carved of yellowing limestone, with a pointed dome covering the imposing structure and a statue of the same dark metal standing proudly atop it; at first, it looks like an angel, but upon closer inspection, I realize it has no wings and no halo. It’s a woman with hair wildly flapping in the wind, clad in a flowing greco-roman dress that hugs her body.
Climbing the stone steps to the entrance of the mausoleum, I inspect it, looking for a way in. The ornate door has neither a lock nor a handle. Or, for that matter, any visible seam that would suggest it can open at all.
“Now, that’s a witch’s tomb if I’ve ever seen one,” Tei says as he joins Mei and me.
“How do we get in? The door isn’t exactly… well, a door.”
Tei steps up behind me, and his warm breath tickles my neck. “It’s spelled to keep out intruders.”
His fingers roam down my arm with a feathery-light touch, leaving goosebumps in their wake, until they wrap around my hand, holding my pointer finger to attention. He lifts my arm up and brings it to the needle. I jerk instinctively, but Tei whispers in my ear, “trust me.”
And despite myself, I do.
The needle’s prick on my finger is a sharp sting, and a rivulet of blood springs from my skin, coating the metal. Tei brings my injured finger to his lips, licking the blood off with a wild look in his eyes, a promise of something wicked I intend on making sure he fulfills.
A loud, metal-on-metal grinding sound brings my attention back to the mausoleum, and I take a long step back. The rose on the door is twisting, petals unfurling to reveal an opening wide enough for a person to sneak through.
“That’s…”
“Magic,” Tei finishes. I was going to say insanity, but the two do feel pretty close.
“Is it letting us in because I’m a witch?”
“A witch of this family. The magic can taste it in your blood.” He leans closer again, pulling my hair back to expose my ear and gently pressing his lips to it. “Which is delicious, by the way.”
“Shouldn’t we check out inside?” Mei groans.
Heat flares from my cheeks down my neck, but Tei simply steps back with a smug grin and swipes his arm wide, motioning for me to go in. I hold my breath as I cross the threshold, as if expecting the enchanted mausoleum to recognize me as an intruder and spit me out, but nothing happens. Mei follows me through, but Tei hangs back.
