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I frowned. “You mean you’ve turned against the Libiri? Against your family?”
“They’re not my family,” she said. “They were never my family. The blood of the coven is thicker than the water of the womb, and I am the last of my coven. Our goals are intertwined, Juniper; yours and mine.”
“What’s your goal then?”
“To end all this,” she said. “To kill the God.”
For a moment, I thought I must have heard her wrong. “How is that possible?” I said. “It’s aGod. It’s...I don’t even know if It’s a physical thing...and you think you’re going to kill It?”
“I’m going to,” she said firmly. “I have to. I’m the only one left who can. But if the Libiri complete their sacrifices, and the God is set free, then there will be nothing I can do. Earth, as we know it, will end. Humanity will end.”
She waved her hand and the vines holding me captive let go, retreating back to their planters. I rubbed my wrists, resisting the urge to lunge at her again.
“My mother realized her mistakes too late,” she said. “She trusted Kent’s preaching more than her own knowledge for too long. She hurt people. She hurtyou. I don’t blame you for hating her, or for hating me. She went back for you that night because she wanted to try to take it all back.” She turned away, leaving herself vulnerable, her back turned to me. Was it an extension of trust, or was it a trap? Was she trying to lure me into attacking her, so she could retaliate and hurt me?
But if she’d wanted to hurt me, she’d easily have already done so.
“My mother couldn’t bear the mistakes she made. She couldn’t face them.” Everly’s shoulders swelled and then sank with a heavy sigh. “I can’t erase her mistakes. But I can refuse to make the same ones she did.”
She seemed sincere. When she glanced back at me, the pain on her face was undeniable.
“I’m not trying to save the world, Everly,” I said. “I’m not a hero. I’m…angry. I’m only angry. What I’m trying to do isn’t deep, or selfless, or courageous. It’s bitter. It’sselfish. It won’t fix anything or bring anyone back.” I shook my head. “Look, what you’re trying to do is noble. And probably impossible. I can’t help you.”
“Yes, you can,” she said. “Because all you need to do is what you’ve wanted to do all along: kill them. Kill them all, before they can destroy anyone else’s life. They’re moving to take the next sacrifice, Juniper. You know they are. You’ve seen it.”
“Raelynn Lawson,” I muttered. “She’s not my problem.”
“But stopping the Hadleighs before they kill her is in your interest,” she said, a note of desperation in her voice. “If they make another sacrifice, the God’s power grows. It’ll be even harder for you to kill Kent, harder to kill any of them.”
She was right. But I’d set out to do this for myself; I couldn’t pretend it was for any other purpose. This wasn’t a mission to save humanity, this was no hero’s journey. This was for me. It was the only way forward, the only path I saw for myself. I couldn’t just move on from the pain. I couldn’t start over, I couldn’tlive, because the shadow of the Libiri was always over me.
The only thing I cared about in this fucked up world wasme. I’d survived because of how hardI’dfought.
Except…that wasn’t entirely true anymore, was it? Down in the mine, trying to get Marcus out, I should have died. Up on the mountain, fighting the Eld, I should have been torn apart.
I wasn’t fighting alone anymore. And as much as it frightened me...I no longer caredonlyfor myself.
I cared about Zane too.
He was the first thing I’d thought of as I woke up. He was the first thing I’d feared losing. Even now, my nails were digging into my palms with the force of the anxiety that he wasn’t with me. I still didn’t know if he was okay.
Even if it was only in the most minuscule way, my actions weren’t just about me anymore.
“I’m not trying to recruit you to a cause, Juniper,” Everly said. “I’m not asking you to forgive me, or forgive my mother. But you can’t kill me.” Her voice hardened, taking on an edge that caught me off guard. “If you try, Callum will destroy you. He’ll destroy your demon too. Don’t make me your enemy.”
I narrowed my eyes, regarding her carefully. I doubted I could trust her, but what would she gain by lying to me now? How did it benefit her to formulate this whole story instead of just killing me?
She’d had her chance, and her demon could have easily done it too. The only thing I could assume was that she was telling the truth.
“So I kill the Hadleighs,” I said. “Just like I planned. I destroy the Libiri, and you destroy the God. Is that the deal?”
She nodded. “Kill them. Make them all suffer. And we’ll see this end.” She picked up a bit of shattered porcelain from the ground, slicing her finger as she did. She watched the blood drip down and laughed softly. “Callum will smell me bleeding. He’ll worry. Let’s walk together.”
The witch’s house was massive. Walking through its long halls, I felt as if I’d stepped back in time. Some of the walls were richly papered with a dark filigree pattern, others were paneled with wood. But there were some walls that looked even older, made of carved stone. It was the kind of place that should have felt dilapidated, but there was no dust, no cobwebs. The floors shone, and the rugs and tapestries were rich in their colors, as if they were new.
“If you want to kill Kent, you’ll get your best opportunity on October 31st,” she said. She kept sucking the cut on her finger, and pressing it against her dress to stave off the bleeding.
“Halloween. How fitting.”
