“Okay, wow,” she finally wheezes. “That’s… a lot. Like,a lota lot. But seriously, do you think there’s more to this witchy stuff than you’re willing to admit? Because it’s starting to sound less like amaybeand more like ayeah.”
I sigh, dragging a hand through my hair. “I don't know,” I admit. I can feel the frustration simmering, but I ignore it. “I can’t shake the feeling that I need to figure it out. One way or another. I need answers, no matter how ridiculous they sound.”
Rachel hums thoughtfully, and I can practically see her smug little smile through the phone. “I’ve literally been telling you that this whole time, babe, but I’m glad you’ve finally come to the party.”
I roll my eyes, steering the conversation to safer ground. Rachel fills me in on her trip home. As much as I want to laugh at her Bobby complaints, I bite my tongue and let her talk. It’s nice to talk about normal things, even if it's only for a few minutes. We toss around a few dates for her to come back, and I’m already mentally circling them on an imaginary calendar, counting down the days. Then she tells me she’s going out of town for work and she’ll likely be in a dead zone, but she’ll check in when she can.
“Oh! Wait,” I say, as a thought strikes me. “Before you go, can you check the office at the house? Like, really check it. Look for anything that might help. Books, journals, dusty old heirlooms, anything that might screamusefulorwitchy.I don’t know.”
She yawns, and I can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “You got it, Nancy Drew. I’m going to crash. I’m tired. Anything else, just text me.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I completely forgot about the time difference.”
Her laugh is heavy with exhaustion. “Of course you did. Go figure out your witchy shit, get some dick, and call me later.”
“And hey, I love you. Be careful, okay?” she adds before hanging up.
I toss my phone onto the nightstand with a heavy sigh. The room is quiet, but my mind is anything but. It’s tangled in a never-ending spiral of questions, theories, and possibilities that feel just out of reach. We’re not even going to touch on Kane. Stupid, frustrating, infuriatingly hot, Kane. The man is a walking, talking, trap, and I walked right into it with open arms.
After what feels like hours of tossing and turning, I finally give up. Letting out a frustrated huff, I slide out of bed and grab the blanket draped over the bottom of the bed. I wrap it around my shoulders, and pad quietly to the door, making sure my steps are muffled against the plush rug.
I’m sure Kane’s high-tech security system is all rigged up, but I step outside anyway. If there’s an alarm, I’ll deal with the fallout later.
The cool air hits me, and I just stand there, letting it wash over me. Stars scatter across the sky like shards of glass, glittering against all that black. The garden is too still—like it should calm me down, but instead it winds me tighter.
Right now, I need the space and a second to breathe.I wander through the garden, letting the chill brush against my skin, the blanket still wrapped tightly around my shoulders. I tilt my head back and just look up at the sky. The faint rustle of leaves adds a steady rhythm to the night, and somewhere in the distance, I can hear an owl.
For once, my brain isn’t on the never-ending hamster wheel. My thoughts are still messy, sure, but at least they’re not drowning me anymore. The moon peeks out from behind the clouds, and I take a deep breath, letting the air fill my lungs. It's working to soothe more of the chaos swirling inside me.
My mind wanders back to my childhood, and I smile thinking about what it would be like to grow up in a place like this. A castle, with endless gardens, a magical forest right in my backyard? My imagination would’ve ran wild. I would've had secret kingdoms by the lake, forbidden adventures in the trees, and I would’ve claimed every inch of this place as my own.
I can almost see my grandmother in the garden, the two of us planting flowers, her stories weaving magic into every corner of the grounds. And thewoods? God, that would’ve been my favorite place. She used to tell me stories about fairies hiding in the woods, and I swear her eyes would sparkle like she’d seen them herself.The boundaries are thinner in the trees, she’d say.Anything is possible there.
Standing here now, with the trees crowding around me, her words settle deep in my chest. I believed her then. But now? There's no denying this place is magical.
I look around and realize I’m close to the spot where I left the offering the night of the ball. I can still hear his low, velvety voice in my ear, telling me to pick something special.
I see a glimmer out of the corner of my eye at the base of a tree and it looks like something shiny is nestled in the roots. “No way.” The words slip out with disbelief, and I pick up my pace. My heart pounds harder with every step closer.
I wasn’t expecting to find anything here. Hell, I was expecting the flowers I left to still be there. Maybe I imagined it and it’s just the moonlight flickering through the branches.
But as I get closer, my breath stops.
At the base of the tree, there's a dagger.My dagger. The very one I left in my bag back at the house. The one I definitely didn’t leave under this tree.
My voice is barely above a whisper. “Is this a joke?”
I crouch down, reaching for it as my fingers trace the familiar details and there's no question that it's mine.
But as I hold it, something strange happens. Heat spreads through my palms, like it always does, but the dagger feels warm too.
My mind scrambles for any logical explanation. Maybe I’m losing it. Or just maybe, there’s something seriously messed up going on. Like,Kane’s messing with memessed up? Yeah, no. That doesn’t track. He’d gloat about it.
The faint rustling of leaves snaps me from my thoughts. My breath catches as a shiver races down my spine, and the air suddenly feels different. It's charged with tension that makes my skin crawl.
I’m not alone.
I let out a sigh of relief as soon as I see a big black dog step into view. It circles the base of the tree nearby before stopping to watch me. Its head tilts, and I can see its eyes glinting in the moonlight.
