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It was my secret shame. One of many pieces of myself I tucked deep into my mind. I’d only shared it once, with one person. Maybe that’s why my grandma didn’t understand my refusal to forgive Wes. Because she didn’t know how much of myself I’d given him, or how little he valued me in return.
I stepped out the back door and onto the bright mosaic stones that made up the path through her garden. Sweet-scented flowers and plants bloomed in the high summer sun. Ceramic gnomes with impish expressions poked out between leafy bushes. Ahead, there was nothing but hundreds of miles of deep blue water. Standing in my grandma’s garden felt like having a front row seat to the end of the world.
I found her crouched in front of a bed full of red and pink snapdragons, the ones she planted just for me because she knew they were my favorite. I liked their bite. Her floppy sun hat kept the light off her face and her enormous sunglasses gave her a bug-like appearance.
She leaned back on her heels and dusted the dirt off her garden gloves before removing them. “My flowers could use a little rain, if you’re in the mood to stir that up.”
If only I could tap into my magic. “Ella said dinner is just about ready.”
“I told her about your powers.” She took off her glasses and squinted against the sun, still hanging high over the island. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t.” My grandma didn’t keep anything from Ella, and I wouldn’t want her to. Not for the first time, I wondered what it would be like to have someone you could share everything with. I didn’t know how it felt to trust like that.
“Have you had any luck in that area?”
I took a seat beside her, the stone path warm under me. “No. I spent half the day staring at my hands for no reason. I must be doing something wrong.”
I wanted to tell her that I was afraid magic had touched me once and deemed me unworthy to wield it. I wanted to spill my worries about the curse and the fear that I wouldn’t be strong enough to bind it again. I wanted to share my confusion about Wes and the way it felt to be in his arms last night.
But I didn’t say any of those things.
Instead, I turned my gaze toward the ocean and locked away the bigger, more important things inside myself, just like I’d always done.
“You’ve got a little time to figure it out.” My grandma patted my knee. “Three hundred years in a cave will have weakened the curse considerably. It’ll take a bit of manipulation on its part to find its strength, but it has many tricks up its sleeve. You need to be on your guard.”
“I know.” I closed my eyes, feeling the full weight and pressure of what I was up against.
According to the legend, the curse started out messing with the minds of the descendants. It used their paranoia and mistrust to gain strength. After weakening them mentally, it took a corporeal form and began to attack them physically. Then it prevented anyone from leaving the island, and ultimately it ended up blocking out the sun. Trapping them in the dark, feeding on the fear it continued to create.
When the earth began to break apart, sending whole pieces of land into the sea, that’s when the descendants used their magic to bind the curse. Zodiac Cove once had a thirty-mile perimeter. It lost twelve miles and half the island’s homes to the curse last time, and I had no doubt it intended to finish the job. Unless we stopped it.
Which I couldn’t do if I couldn’t even tap into my powers.
My grandma stood, understanding that I had a lot I needed to work out on my own. “Why don’t you stay out here, get your fill of sunshine and snapdragons, and then come on in when you’re ready.”
I walked to the end of the cliff and peered down at the waves smashing against wind-worn black rocks, sending sea spray and foam dancing into the air. My stomach flipped as I took in the steep drop. A sense of unease flooded me. It thrummed through my blood and beat in my veins, a steady and sure pulse that edged nearer.
I took a step back. And another. I continued to walk backward until I had almost reached the house, when a translucent black fog rose over the cliff. It curled in the air like thin wisps of smoke. Less solid than the thinnest of clouds. One of its inky tendrils unfurled and reached for me. It circled my wrist, as if it wanted to grab hold of me, but didn’t have the strength.
A heavy wind coming off the water sent the dark vapors scattering. I rubbed my arms against the chill. Turning around, I headed inside the house without looking back.
