Page 41 of Wicked Endeavors

That night, Soltura Harbor was crowded with witches for the Sky Lantern Showcase, which marked the end of midsummer.

Marisol was restless as they retrieved their lanterns and made their way toward the coast. Regardless of which House hosted the festival, boats were taken out onto the water each year and the lanterns released into the air. Most times, there had been so many, and they had traveled so far, that she’d been able to see the bobbing lights if she snuck onto the Kindred rooftop.

The wind was cool, and even the scent of brine couldn’t stop her from tumbling into her memories of sitting there with her knees drawn to her chest, her eyes on the glowing horizon. Yoselin would have found the lanterns so beautiful.

The rowboats were large enough for only two people. Teo helped her into one, while Bas took another in the company of a morpher witch. Noelia had bid them goodbye to arrive at the event with the rest of the House Muerte reapers, and Marisol had yet to see her among the thick crowd. She settled on one of the two bench seats, gripping her lantern tight enough to wrinkle it as Teo pushed them off from the shore and took his place across from her.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at something over her shoulder.

Marisol glanced behind her and then shrugged. “It’s uninhabited. The former royal family of Coventry had the island created in case they needed to build more homes for incoming residents, but the project was obviously abandoned after their death.”

“Does it have a name?”

Marisol glanced back at it again. The shape of the island was usually visible from the coast of Rojanea, but this was the first event to bring them here since their arrival. Marisol was used to the gray-white curve of its distant beach, but it had been years since she’d thought of it.

“Santesa.” The word felt ancient on her tongue, a memory covered in cobwebs. “That was the plan, anyway.”

Teo made a thoughtful sound before visibly deciding to move on. He reached for one of the oars, only to snatch his hand back when it began to vibrate. Seconds later, the oars were rowing by themselves, sending their boat into deep water. Crafters, no doubt, working in tandem with morphers to create self-rowing boats that would spare them the burden of exercise.

Teo squinted at the oars for a moment and then placed his hands on his thighs. “Well… that’s certainly convenient.”

“That’s what magic is,” Marisol said, dipping her fingers into the moon-painted water and letting the midnight waves wash over her skin. “A convenience for people who already live easy lives.”

“My brother,” Teo began, and then stopped. His mouth curled as if he’d smelled something unpleasant. “Itzal used to believe that magic was a divine curse. That when we turned away from the old gods, they sent it as a plague of inequality where things like bloodlines and aptitude no longer mattered.”

Marisol blinked. “Used to?”

“Well, I don’t know much about what he thinks anymore.”

“You keep talking around it, so forgive me if this is too forward. But what’s going on between you and your family?”

The moon silvered Teo’s dark hair, outlining him in pale light. He ran a hand through his curls, not meeting her eyes. “My father began to train Itzal to take over for him, and Itzal… changed. Or maybe I did. He never goes out among the people. He refuses to see what I see. What use is a monarchy that doesn’t care for its people? My father and brother would rather make monsters out of the neighboring witches than acknowledge the monsters they’ve become to our citizens.”

“You think the monarchy is useless?” Marisol asked, trying to keep the surprise off her face.

“I…” He sighed. “I do. Magic and monarchy, they’re both ways of saying that some people can be born more powerful than others. I want magic gone, but I think the witches have the right idea running Coventry by elected council. My father… Itzal… they only care about crown and conquest. That’s no way to rule a country.”

“How would you rule it? If you were next in line.”

“I wouldn’t. I’d never follow my own advice, so why would I expect anyone else to?”

Marisol smiled faintly. “You’re not as bad as you think, you know. You’re certainly not as bad as I thought.”

“A glowing review,” Teo said with a smile of his own. “You’re nothing like I thought you’d be, either.”

The boat eased to a stop, the oars still as they gently floated atop the calm waters. Stars flecked the sky, most of them hidden by the lights of Rojanea, and the half-moon watched sleepily from on high. Though the harbor was filled with boats like theirs, Marisol felt as if she and Teo were in a world apart. Whispers and waves were all she could hear.

“I think you’re braver and kinder than you give yourself credit for,” she said. “You’re sarcastic and spontaneous, but you’re not irresponsible. You’re introverted and charismatic, but you’re not cruel. I think you’ve had to create different masks to survive how you’ve been raised, but beneath them is a prince. In character, not just by birth.”

Teo’s lips parted in surprise. He looked, in that moment, younger and more vulnerable than Marisol had ever seen him. It felt like something she shouldn’t be allowed to witness, so she turned her head toward the water.

One by one, the lanterns in the boats came alive. Lavenders and blush pinks, mint greens and ceruleans, straw yellows and pepper oranges, all glowed across the water’s surface, rising as the witches began to push the lanterns into the air. Marisol had been given a lantern that was licorice red, and it sparked in her hand, warming from the fire. She almost didn’t want to let it go, because the heat was a soothing balm against the crisp summer night.

But Teo was pushing a buttercup-yellow sky lantern upward until it lifted under its own power. So Marisol did the same.

The lights hovered above their heads, bathing them both in a brightness that only made the darkness around them more complete. She blinked to allow her eyes time to adjust, but when she found Teo’s gaze again, it was already on her. His stare had taken on a molten quality, as if he couldn’t believe that she was real.

Marisol bit her lower lip. Teo’s hand came up to cup her cheek.