Ezekiel knew he’d gone too far, because he sighed. “I know it’s not your fault. I just wish he’dtalkto me, instead of laying on the guilt trip. It’s not like Iwantto be here.”
“Maybe you should tell Daddy the truth,” I said. “He wouldn’t be mad at you for what you did if he knew you were defending me.”
“No, Ava. I’m not going to sell you out. What pisses me off is that Dad should know me better than that. He acts like I just popped off for no reason. You should’ve seen him when I was arrested. He was so angry he didn’t even bother to askwhy.”
“You could explain how you feel.”
“I’ve tried!” Ez burst. “But it’s near impossible, because he doesn’t want to listen.”
“I don’t know how to fix what’s between you and Daddy,” I began. “But Ez, youdoneed to talk to him about one thing. And it needs to be soon.”
“Not this again,” he spat.
My tone softened. “Ez, you’ve been sick all semester.”
“So? It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yes it does. You need to get tested—”
“Ancestors, I don’t want to, okay?” Ezekiel jumped up and shoved the table back. “Just leave me alone.”
He strode off with hunched shoulders. I got up to head after him, but before I could, Opal stepped in the doorway. She put up a hand, to block me from going further.
Opal had been hiding behind the wall, and she’d overheard the whole thing. She was so quiet I hadn’t even noticed her when we were coming in.
“Don’t be upset about Ez. He’s just not ready,” Opal said.
Worry knotted inside of me. “He needs to face the facts. I’m terrified he’ll keep refusing the care he needs, and then something horrible will happen, because he’s not doing what he needs to in order to stay alive.”
Opal’s eyes dropped to the floor. “I know. I’ve been pushing pain pills into him all semester, just to keep him going.”
I gaped. “You’ve been stealing from the prison pharmacy?”
Opal shrugged. “Not really. One of the nurses likes me, so she’ll give me extra pills when it’s time to take my dose, if no one’s looking. I usually pass them on to Ez. He hasn’t told anyone, because, well… he can’t really get by without them.”
I wondered what Opal needed pain pills for, but that wasn’t what we were talking about, so I didn’t ask. “He needs a prescription. Along with a treatment plan, and a host of other things.”
“I know, but you can’t force him to acknowledge what he already knows is the truth,” Opal replied. “One day, he won’t have a choice but to accept what’s real. Then he’s going to need all of us. Let him have his ignorance if it makes him feel better, for a little bit longer.”
“Combined Magical Suppression Syndrome can be a fatal illness. He’s playing with fire by ignoring it for this long. My dad has almost diedsomany times from it.”
“Ez knows,” Opal said softly. “But regardless of the facts, his body is his, just like your body is yours, and mine is mine. It’s his choice of what he wants to do with it— even if he wants to destroy it. You can’t force him to get tested and treated without his consent. It’s not right.”
My shoulders dropped, because that got to me. “I know, Opal. It’s just so hard watching someone you love waste away.”
“He’ll come around,” Opal said. “Let me talk to him.”
Opal bustled off in the way Ezekiel had gone, and I sighed in aggravation. With Charlie acting distant and my brother being frustrated, I really wasn’t in the mood to be social right now. I went back to my dorm and started digging through the journal my aunt Maddie had left me, looking for more clues on the prophecy.
I wasn’t as obsessive about reading it anymore as I had been last semester. The information inside still ceased to make any sense, so I felt like the journal was a dead-end on finding answers. Our goal right now was finding Forevermore, and getting through the portal that led to it. The journal didn’t have any information on either, so I’d hardly been reading it lately, but was messing around with it now on the off-chance there was something I’d missed.
I was shuffling through pages when my fingertips skimmed something odd. I flipped to the inside of the back cover, and noticed for the first time there was a bump in the backing of the journal— as well as an oddly stitched line near the spine, as if the cover was a sleeve for a secret page.
Heart pounding, I began to pull apart the stitching that kept the inside cover of the journal attached to the spine. When I had gotten the entire thread undone, the leather popped open. A singular journal page slipped out, falling onto my lap.
My mouth ran dry. My aunt would’ve told me about this if she remembered. She must’ve sewn it in during a prophetic trance. That’s the only way she wouldn’t recall she did this.
I wanted to call and confirm, but held back, just in case Marcus was right and the phone lines were being tapped. With shaking fingers, I unfolded the hidden journal page. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I saw drawings of seven keys on the page. Each of them were different, all various sizes and shapes, with different designs etched into the metal— but I got the feeling they were all very important.
