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All the more reason to get the damn horseman out of Brom, to start working on our magic so in the event we are being kept from leaving town, we can learn to break through it. I’ll admit my defenses, as I demonstrated in class earlier this morning, aren’t the strongest, but I also know I have the ability to change that.
“We’ll do the ritual tomorrow night,” I shout as we’re cantering down the road to Kat’s house, loud enough that Brom hears me. “It’s the dark moon. The energy will be perfect for shadow magic too. If it doesn’t work, then we only have two weeks until the full moon ritual. And if that fails, it’s just a couple of days until Samhain.”
And if that doesn’t work, on the day of the year where the veil is at its thinnest, well…
Both Kat and Brom nod. I’m still a little worried about them during the ritual. Brom because I don’t want him to get funny when it comes to Kat. I take control when it comes to the both of them, but he’s used to being the dominant with her. He’s going to struggle with having to obey me in this case, but luckily, I like it when he struggles.
Kat, I worry about more. She seems a little looser around Brom now, she doesn’t freeze up when he’s close, which is good for their relationship, bad for my possessiveness and need to keep them apart. Still, I need to make sure she feels safe and protected throughout the whole ritual. She’s our most important piece, the one both of us love dearly, the key to bonding the three of us together.
The ritual will get intense, as well. I’ll need her complete trust in order to have the whole thing go off without a hitch, because the last thing we need is the ritual being broken. There will be pain, there will be blood drawn (all superficial wounds that I will quickly heal), and Kat might be terrified in the process, especially when dealing with shadow work, but she will need to be commit to the ceremony one hundred percent or it won’t work.
Then, after, if we are successful in driving the horseman’s spirit from Brom’s body and back into the spirit world, we can think about leaving Sleepy Hollow. All I know is that when the time comes, a fallen tree isn’t going to stop me.
And the students? the voice in the back of my head nags. What will you do to protect them?
To that I don’t have an answer yet. I don’t even know what the truth is, what the true purpose of the school is. I’m starting to think it’s not about education at all, that’s just a ruse. If I could find out exactly what the Sisters are up to, then I can at least warn the students and help them leave if they need to. I could tell the outside world the truth.
But Kat and Brom come first. Everything else is second. And my conscience will have to live with that.
It’s not long before we’re approaching Kat’s house. In the sunshine it looks like a perfectly bucolic scene—the stately farmhouse, the fallow fields, the river in the distance—but I know inside that house there is one very wicked witch, and I’m doubtful that we’ll be able to get Snowdrop without calling attention to ourselves.
Still, we all fall silent, taking the horses straight to the stable where Kat slips off Gunpowder and runs in to get her tack for Snowdrop. I have to admit, I’ll miss having her pressed up against me.
It isn’t until she’s mounted on her horse and we’re riding past the house, about to take off at a gallop back to the school, that the front door swings open and Sarah comes striding out, her shawl floating behind her. She’s more gaunt than usual, her eyes sunken.
“What the heavens is going on here?” Sarah says to us. Though she looks frail, her voice and temperament remain sharp. Behind her, the housemaid Famke peeks her head through the door, then disappears back into the shadows of the house.
“I wanted to get Snowdrop,” Kat says, squaring her shoulders. I can feel her energy, how intimidated she is by her mother, and yet her voice doesn’t quaver. “She’s my horse, she should be with me at the school.”
“Of course,” Sarah says, her gaze going to Brom, where it softens. She doesn’t even look my way. She doesn’t need to. She knows I’m right there, staring at her from atop her dead husband’s horse.
“Brom,” she says as she approaches him. “Did Kat tell you I invited you both over for supper on Saturday?”
“Uhhh,” Brom says. “Yes. She did.” Clearly lying.
“And? Will you be able to make it? I can’t imagine having any big plans up at the school. You know, now that you’ll be marrying into the family, we’re going to be spending a lot more time together.”
