Page 148 of Fallacies

I’m not the only one who’s skeptical. Easton and Hunter both exchange confused glances. Even Nix cocks his head to the side. Devon is too focused on his dinner, and Pax is too focused on her.

Kimber nods. “My great-grandfather wrote down the lyrics, but Etis had sung the words wrong. She scrambled them all up. It was only recently that Pa found his father’s notes and realized that there might have been some sense in the song she sang. He and I have been working with the lyrics for a few months now, and I think we’ve figured it out.” She pauses. “And I think us figuring it out… is why he had his vision.”

Easton leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Let’s hear it then.”

Nix and Hunter nod, and Devon lifts his head from his dinner.

Kimber’s eyes widen, a twinge of color kissing her cheeks. When she opens her mouth to speak, I think surely she’ll protest it—singing to the group of us.

But she doesn’t.

Her voice is soft, hardly more than a whisper when she opens her mouth to sing:

Pull me into waves and chase me through trees

Mother, won’t you sing to me?

I’m there in the moonlight, beneath the brightest star

Dancing with sunrays, born in the dark

Here he is, here I am, willing and ready to follow

He knows the way to the things I’ve lost

He knows the way to the hollow

I whispered it into his ear one night

The key to curing the madness

He smiled as the words fell out

He must have a bit of the madness

When she finishes, the last word settles around us, ringing out in a phantom echo. The crack of the fire fills the silence, and Devon seems to have lost his appetite too as we both set our bowls aside, just as puzzled by the song as the rest of our coven is.

“I don’t get it,” Pax tells her, auburn brows furrowed. “What does it mean? That the Hound is⁠—”

A star above us flickers. It’s bright enough that everyone snaps their attention skyward.

Lucina flashes one short word, and I’m flooded with instant relief.

Safe.

Exhaling, I quickly signal back: Safe.

“Is that…” Kimber’s voice trails off, and I see her break her gaze from the sky to look at Pax for confirmation.

He nods, grinning at the stars as they flicker back at us. Another short word. And this one stops my heart.

Father.

The shock in my expression must be evident. “What is it?” Easton asks.

I hold up a hand. Waiting. Not wanting to get my hopes up.

Lucina spells out the next words, letter by letter, and my heart pounds at each one. My palms grow slick with sweat. Until…