The fire in his eyes flickers to life once more. “The spindle might be enough to buy us an end-all blade. If we find it.”
He looks radiant with purpose.
I’m worried and distracted.
An artifact is sealed somewhere in this very house. An artifact that could bring the dead back to life.
My heart pounds so violently I nearly miss whatever Nick says next. He’s dreaming of kingdoms and revolutions, his hands animated, his ambitions bigger than the room we stand in, but I’m only catching half of it. The other half of me is spiraling.
Fear sizzles through me—hot and impossible to hide. I don’t want my brother to fight to the death for a Fae crown. And I don’t want to get rid of a tool that might bring E back to life.
Nick notices my silence. He always does.
“You’re not listening,” he says.
“I am,” I lie.
“Barely.”
I exhale, rubbing my hands over my face. “It’s just…a lot. We shouldn’t decide anything until we get up in that attic and find the spindle. It might not even be up there.”
I’m lying to myself because I would become just as ruthless, just as power-hungry as Nick if it meant going home. I know exactly what I’d trade to stop running, to stop hiding, to walk back into Faerie and justbe.
The whisper that maybe I belong somewhere, that maybe this fire in my soul isn’t meant to burn me to ashes—that I don’t have to snuff it out with special tea, a normal career, and mortal beliefs—worms its way into my brain.
Maybe, just maybe, this new power inside me could be beautiful.
The possibility steals the air from my lungs.
Is it so wicked of me to enjoy the company of death? If Nick is allowed to dream of tunnels and blades and Fae crowns, why couldn’t I lust for a chance to love someone who shouldn’t exist? Someone I should have never met?
Ambitions and longings have always lived side by side in this house. Nick hungers for power, for justice, for a world remade. My own desires are smaller, but no less dangerous. Somewhere in all this chaos, there might be a version of reality where I’m allowed to exist exactly as I am, without apology, and that’s intoxicating.
Nick waves a hand in front of my face. “Earth to Max?”
I blink one too many times. “What?”
He pushes to his feet in one sudden motion. “I feel restless. We should find out if your ghost is as useful as you think he is and get him to burn those runes.”
My mouth goes dry. “Now?”
“That’s all I could think about on my way here. If your ghost can get us up there, I’ll tolerate his presence for the time being.We can do another séance to juice him up and be upstairs within the hour.”
Another séance in front of Nick… My cheeks flush. So far, all of them have been really intimate and confusing. I’m not sure I’m ready for my brother to see that.
“I figured you’d want to rest after traveling all day—there’s no rush.”
He shoots me a rogue smile. “Come on, Maxie. What are you afraid of?”
My jaw clenches, the childish instinct to stick my tongue out at him for his teasing rising in my chest. I’m not afraid. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Chapter 20
My Attic
MAX
“Is it working?” Nick calls to E.
