He's still alive, Alice. And he's fighting.
My twin. My other half. The boy who used to sneak into my room during thunderstorms, even though I was the one who should've been scared. The man who carried the same curse I did. Djinn blood tainting the blood in our veins like poison. A reality I'd been feeling more and more recently.
I threw back the covers and padded barefoot to the window. The weather was really starting to warm up, and the Garden District slept beneath a blanket of humidity and Spanish moss. Streetlights glowed softly through the live oaks, painting everything in watercolor hues. And a few blocks over, beyond the protective wards our coven maintained, the vampire territory began.
Dae-Jung was out there somewhere.
The thought came unbidden, and I pressed my palm against the cool glass. It'd been three days since I'd broken down in his arms at The Purple Fang, and he'd held me while I sobbed about the darkness I was hiding from everyone who was supposed to love me.
I rubbed my eyes. I needed air. Some space. Anything other than these four walls.
My dress slipped easily over my head. It was loose cotton in deep purple, flowing and comfortable. Then I slipped on some sandals. The nights were getting warmer, and the Garden District's cobblestones were familiar beneath the thin soles.
The streets were empty this late. Or early. I wasn't sure which anymore. Time felt slippery lately, both too short and never ending, like I was caught between moments.
Was this how Talin experienced the world now? Fractured and overwhelming?
I walked without direction, letting my feet carry me through the quiet neighborhood. Past the Lafayette Cemetery, with its white tombs gleaming in the darkness. Past the Commander's Palace, dark and shuttered. Past houses with wrought-iron galleries and gardens bursting with jasmine and Confederate roses.
The air grew heavier as I approached the edge of our territory. The wards pulsed here, invisible but tangible. Witch magic woven into the very fabric of the Garden District. Protection. Safety.
Prison.
I stopped at the boundary line, feeling the magic press against my skin. Beyond it, the French Quarter beckoned. Vampire territory. Dangerous for a witch alone. Or maybe not so much anymore.
Besides, I wasn't alone.
Dae-Jung leaned against a live oak just outside the ward line, hands shoved in the front pockets of his black jeans. His straight dark hair gleamed in the streetlight, and when he turned his head, his eyes found mine immediately.
Like he'd been waiting for me.
"I couldn't sleep." His voice carried easily across the ward boundary.
I should've turned around. Gone home. Maintained the distance between covens, between species, between us.
But why should I? Was it even possible anymore?
I stepped through the wards.
They parted around me like water, recognizing me. On the other side, the air tasted different. Sharper. My skin prickled with the feeling.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
Dae pushed off the tree, closing the distance between us. "Could ask you the same thing, yeobo."
The Korean endearment slid over me like silk.
"I can't stop thinking about what Talin said. About the binding points." I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the humid air. "About Alex."
We started walking side by side as though we'd done this every night for years. "Your brother is strong," he told me. "And kinda scary. If anyone can hold out against Marcus, it's him."
"I hope so."
Dae studied me with those dark, perceptive eyes. "What's really bothering you?"
My breath caught. "What do you mean?"
He stopped walking, so I stopped too.
