“Good,” he says. He lowers my hand, guiding my pointed finger down the mountain.
There’s no reason he needs to be using my hand. There’s no reason he should be touching me at all.
I haven’t taken a breath since the moment he did.
“Right there,” he says, stopping abruptly. “Look.”
I follow my own finger, still wrapped in his hand. My thoughts are mush, completely incapable of thinking beyond Elliot and his voice. It takes all my concentration to do as he commands.
I don’t see anything, not until he whispers an unfamiliar spell against my ear.
I blink, and then, it’s there. A blurred rectangular rock, about one quarter from the bottom of the mountain. Amidst the lightsoil and the sparse trees, the black rock is like a blot of spilled ink.
“What is that?” I ask. My question lingers in the air, as unsteady as I feel.
Because though I’ve asked, I don’t need Elliot to tell me. I knowexactlywhat I’m looking at. I just didn’t believe it existed. The realization twines between my ribs, a pulsing beat that warns me of dangerous, incomprehensible magic.
“Do you know?” he asks.
He still hasn’t released my hand.
“It can’t…” I trail off. I’m foolish to even think the wordsthe Cursed Grounds, and I can’t bring myself to say it out loud. As much as I want to make Elliot laugh again, I certainly don’t want him to laughatme.
“It can,” he says. He drops my hand, fingers trailing reluctantly over my wrist, as if he’s debating holding on.
I let my hand drop at my side. I’m still staring at the mountain as Elliot surges forward again, back onto our mission. I keep my attention locked on the black rock and press a hand to my chest, counting my heartbeats as they spin out of control.
Everyone in the Day Realm—and likely beyond—has heard of the Cursed Grounds. It’s named in our history books and whispered in scary stories, but I’ve doubted its existence for years. I’d once gone looking for these grounds with Milas, and after weeks of searching, I decided it was nothing more than another clever myth, thought up by the witches to seem more powerful than they are.
“Are you coming?” Elliot calls, looking back at me. He’s not smiling, but there’s an unexpected tone of amusement in his voice.
“I didn’t think it was real,” I say finally. I walk quickly to catch up to him, my hand still pressed to my sternum. “I—I’ve looked for it before.”
“It’s veiled,” he says. “Mama showed me a few years back. You can’t see it unless you’re shown.”
“And you showed me?” I ask. I don’t bother trying to mask my shock. “Why would you do that?”
Elliot slows, and I do too. I stare at him, fighting the strange flutter in my stomach. I hate the way he seems to see me. It’s like he’s tracking every detail, noticing things no one else ever has or will.
I hate it almost as much as I love it.
“I met with Margot,” he says. He’s watching me, face carefully blank, and I have to work hard to do the same. “She spoke highly of you.”
I swallow. My tongue suddenly feels two sizes too big.
I haven’t seen Margot since the night I was imprisoned. Even now, I can picture her tear-streaked face. Black lines of makeup on her cheeks. Her hair messy from having woken in the middle of the night. Mama Blake holding her against her chest, telling both of us that it would be all right.
She was wrong, of course, and I think she knew it.
“That’s it?” I ask. My voice is brittle, sharp. “She spoke highly of me? And that was enough for you to change your mind?”
I don’t know why I sound angry—or even surprised. I knew Margot would speak highly of me, even after everything. She probably assumed I was innocent all along. Perhaps she assumed Elliot knew the truth. Perhaps she knew he and I were more than the acquaintances we pretended to be. She knew we kissed at her birthday party…but maybe she knew about other times, too.
Maybe she simply knew I was in love with this man, and that once upon a time, he was in love with me too.
“She didn’t change my mind,” he says. He steps closer, tilting his head as he looks at me. His lips part, but for a long moment, he says nothing at all. He just studies me like theremustbesomething he’s missing. “She simply reminded me I don’t know the whole story. She made me realize how much I need it.”
I don’t know how to respond, so I don’t. Eventually, Elliot turns to face the mountain. We’re hours from the base still, a thought that makes my stomach tighten. Soon enough, we’ll have to stop for the night. There are too many dangers to be unprotected, even in the Flight Realm. We’re not nearly far enough from the vampires to feel safe, and since we’ll be out in the open…
