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Henry slithered out of his father’s arms and walked on Bambi legs toward the circle. He studied the items inside the pentacle curiously, each one drawing a different facial expression from him. Eventually, he simply looked tired.
“These work,” he told Lorena. “Do you have any candy?”
I snickered. “Really trying for tripling your spoils. Eh, kid?”
Henry beamed at me. “And it won’t cost any of my memories.”
“No,” Lorena agreed. “Just those of your father.”
I blinked in shock at Adam. “What’s she talking about?”
He slid his hand into his pocket. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Come forward, child,” Lorena instructed. “The hour is high. Your mother approaches.”
Anxiety flooded my body. A dark-haired woman wandered from the dirt road with a few wolves trailing after her. With the way things had gone lately, I didn’t blame Lucius for amplifying security around visitors. Especially since this one hadn’t been around in about nine years.
Adam looked utterly terrified. Sweat dotted his brow as he clasped his hands together, scrubbing them so hard that I could feel the heat burning his palms on my own.
I wiggled my fingers.That’s weird. How can I feel it?
With a shake of my head, I passed the sensation off as mere empathy. We had been through a lot together. We were bound to share a few feelings.
Except for love.
The wind picked up, carrying the scent of dry hay and honey. It grew stronger when Marina stepped toward the circle. Her face was a wasteland void of emotion, strong lines marking the sides of her mouth and the corners of her eyes. Experience echoed from her features—but what that experience entailed was unclear.
Her eyes darted between Henry and Adam like a ping pong ball. “You look so much alike.”
“He has your eye shape.”
“Yeah, he does.”
Adam made a strained sound that might have been a whimper. “Let’s get this over with.”
Lorena looked up from her nails, appearing like she was bored with the whole process. She had Adam and Marina stand at two points outside the circle and then placed Henry in the center. She looked at me and said, “We need a fourth.”
“Oh, I don’t think…”
“Come on, Lottie,” Henry called. “Please?”
That innocent voice was enough encouragement for me. I joined the circle, standing several feet away from Adam. While Lorena led the ritual, she walked around the circle, handing each of us a candle. She drew blood from Marina and then headed back to her place, dripping the blood into a chalice.
More ingredients were added to the mix. Smoke swirled above us, black clouds that threatened to pour acid rain upon our heads. For all I knew, they could have been carrying gummy worms. At this point, nothing would surprise me.
Once Lorena was done chanting over the chalice, the black clouds above ceased swirling. She approached Henry with the cup extended.
“Drink of life,” she instructed. “To reverse the curse.”
Henry sipped from the cup with a twisted expression. After a second, his eyes darkened and he consumed the rest, not a drop of it left for us to inspect. Lorena nodded and stepped back, raising her hands to the sky. Latin phrases poured from her lips that dispelled the clouds.
The whole thing was rather dramatic considering the results. Henry looked as normal as ever, standing steadily on his feet as if he had just hopped out of bed. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes, the black rivers marking his skin disappearing without a trace.
His freckles returned at full force. He stared at his hands and then looked at his dad, a question seated between them.
Is it over?
Lorena clapped her hands once. “And so it’s done.”
