“Of course!” As I bound down the stairs, both their faces go from fake smiles to real ones. I almost hug Winn, but then decide against it. “Please tell me you guys aren’t playing out the awkward father-meets-daughter’s-boyfriend scenario, because I expected so much more out of you.”
“You’re about to be sorely disappointed,” my dad says. “There’s no way around it, because I planned to be cool and totally failed.”
Winn looks down, as if staring at me might get him in trouble. “Not doing so hot on this side either.”
“Sad.” I take Winn’s hand, at which point they both turn back into cardboard. “Oh, for the love. I’ll be back before midnight, okay?”
My dad manages a nod, and then we head for Winn’s truck. He revs the engine, and we’re off to the diner, which is really the only place in town for a nice meal. He lets out a low whistle. “Now that I’m sure we’re out of your dad’s hearing range, you look so hot.”
I bite my lip. “Thanks.”
When we get to the diner, it feels like everyone is staring at us. I try to distract myself with the never-ending array of stuff on the wall. The place is fairly popular with travelers, since this is the last stop before about a hundred miles of corn to our west. Travelers like stuff on the wall. It’s eclectic, authentic, whimsical. At least that’s why I think they keep adding old gas-station signs and mini rocking chairs and old tennis rackets.
Mrs. Holman, whose husband owns the place, shows us to our seats. She hands us menus with the most obnoxious “Well, aren’t you adorable?” smile. “Can I get you two something to drink?”
We both order our whole meal, since everyone in town knows the menu by heart. That way she doesn’t have to keep coming back to check on us.
“So.” Winn taps my foot with his. “You think we’ll actually get through an entire date with nothing bad happening?”
I laugh. “We probably shouldn’t take bets on that. Our odds haven’t been good so far.”
“We’ll still have fun, even if we do get hit by lightning.” His smile still takes me off guard with its perfection. I can’t wait to kiss those lips. It better be tonight. . . .
Focus, Jo, focus. “Don’t go straight to lightning. Let’s at least hope for something as trivial as breaking limbs, or maybe . . .” His face darkens, and I turn around to see what he’s looking at. My eyes go wide. Even dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, it’s easy to spot Levi and all his dark energy.
Levi. In Willow’s End. Despite all our magical alarms and barriers. When he spots me, his mouth curls into a wicked smile.
“I’m sorry, but if he comes over here,” Winn says, “I might have to beat the shit out of him.”
My head whips back to Winn—I have never heard him swear, and it changes something. I didn’t see him as the fighting type. When I put my hand on his, his expression softens slightly. “Winn, I appreciate the chivalry, but I can handle him. Without throwing punches.”
He puts his other hand over mine. “I don’t like how he looks at you. I know guys think you’re hot—even Adam and Billy say it all the time—but that guy is different. He’s . . . I don’t know, but there’s something off about him.”
I purse my lips and study the sincerity in Winn’s stormy eyes. It’s as if he knows, on some deep level, that Levi is a threat far past “trying to steal my girlfriend.” Only when Winn squeezes my hand too hard do I realize that Levi is standing right next to us. “That’s a pretty big booth for two people.”
“Go away,” I say.
Levi puts his palm on the table, and my free hand automatically goes to my necklaces. “But all the other tables are full.”
“Sit at the bar,” Winn says.
“I’d really prefer company, and you two are such an electric couple. You light up the whole room, which is pretty difficult considering the loud decor.”
I sigh. “What do we have to do to get you to leave right now?”
“Hmm.” Levi rubs his chin, though I get the feeling he already knows exactly what it’ll take. “If I could have five minutes of the lovely Josephine’s time, I suppose I could eat pizza instead.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Winn says.
Levi’s eyes narrow. “Do you really not know?”
As they glare at each other, it feels like a fight is about to break out. Something about this does feel weird, but I can’t put my finger on why. “Five minutes is fair,” I say, trying to diffuse the situation.
Besides, Levi has information I need. If I can get rid of him and learn something? That’s worth it right there.
I start to stand, but Winn pulls at my arm. “Jo, I don’t think—”
“How else are we going to get rid of him peacefully? You hit him, and we’ll be spending the rest of this date at the police station. Not romantic.” I try to smile, though thousands of questions run through my mind. “Trust me. I’ll be right back.”
“Safe and sound,” Levi says.
Winn doesn’t look happy, but he backs down. “I’m coming outside in exactly five minutes.”
“Fair enough.” Levi holds out his arm for me. I glare at it, wanting so badly to set it on fire. Stalking past him, I head into the cool night. A nearby willow provides enough cover to keep people from noticing us or overhearing. “How did you get in here?”
He shrugs. “The spells keep out those who plan to harm your family. I don’t have any intentions like that.”
That can’t be right. He had to have used a loophole or broken through the spells. “Perhaps you’re so evil you don’t see your goals as harming us.”
He scoffs. “If that were true, he would have found you years ago.”
“He? You mean the man who killed my mother?”
“That would be the one.”
I ball my fists. If Levi really had good intentions, he’d tell me what he knows and solve all my problems. “You’re sick, you know that? How can you stand here telling me you don’t have bad motives when you already threatened to Curse me?”
His cocky smile twitches. “Like I said, I only take what’s offered.”
My eyes narrow. I feel like I’m missing something. “Why would any witch offer to die? That makes no sense.”
“I’m not killing anyone.”
I let out a wry laugh. “Don’t you dare say that. I’ve seen it. I watched my mother hack up black blood. I watched her grow weaker and weaker until she couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone cast a spell.”
“Control can be difficult.” Levi looks down as if he’s ashamed, but I don’t buy the act. “But the Curse isn’t supposed to kill.”
“Control? What the hell are you talking about?” I’m breathing way too hard. I try to stop myself, try to calm down. It doesn’t work. “So you control the Curse to torture us for as long as possible?”
He rolls his eyes. “Damn, you’re slow. You know what the Curse does, right?”
“Of course. It drains your magic, makes you weak, slowly kills you.”
He sighs, and for some reason it seems sad. “And where do you think all that magic goes?”
My jaw slacks as this information clicks into place. No. It can’t be. That is the most disgusting thing I’ve heard in my entire life. “You . . . your kind . . . you take it? That’s how you can use magic—you steal it from us.”
“I told you I do not steal,” he growls.
I cover my mouth, horrified. Some man was leeching my mother’s magic for himself? “How dare you claim to be anything but evil? Magic belongs to witches, not to people who murder for it!”
He glares at me. “So you’re going to judge me based on what others of my kind did? You think witches never do anything wrong with their power?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You basically did, which is incredibly ironic, seeing as you’re looking at one of the biggest mistakes your people ever made.”
It feels like the wind got knocked out of my lungs. “Excuse me?”
He holds up his ha
nds. “You know what? Screw it. You can find out the hard way. I wanted to help you—I came to apologize for showing up like that on Wednesday—but you’re a stuck-up little brat. Find me when you realize you’re not any better than I am, oh holy one.”
I squeak, but that’s the extent of my comeback. Levi walks away as I stand there trying to find the right insult. It never comes.
When I get back the to diner, my food is at our table and probably cold. I sit next to Winn on his side of the booth. Why do they always put couples on opposite sides? It’s stupid. I pull my plate over and dig in to the mashed potatoes. “I don’t think I’ve ever hated someone so much in my entire life.”
“Good. Then we’re in agreement.” He slips his hand around my waist. “He didn’t try to make a move on you or anything, did he?”
“No. I would have killed him if he did.”
“Then what did he want?”
I pause, searching for a cover. “He thinks I have something that belongs to him, but I don’t. He’s totally insane.”
Winn doesn’t look completely satisfied. “I don’t want to sound like a possessive boyfriend, but you shouldn’t be alone with him like that. It’d be nice if you never saw him again, even. He seems really unstable.”
He has no idea. Just the thought of Levi—of what he can do—makes me sick. I didn’t think the Curse could be worse than it already was. I squeeze Winn’s hand, looking him directly in the eye. “I know, and I’m not ever doing that again.”
“Okay.” He breathes a sigh of relief. “Let’s get back to our date, then.”
“Yes, please.”
After dinner, we drive to Winn’s house, which is so much more beautiful in the dark. The white glows a silvery blue in the moonlight, and the stained glass shines bright from each lit window. Winn parks in the gravel up front, since their garage is closer to the barn.
When we get out, my stomach twists at the thought of meeting his parents. Maybe I shouldn’t have made fun of him, because it’s kind of scary. I want them to like me, but at the same time I’d rather avoid them completely. Winn takes my hand and, to my surprise, doesn’t head for the house.
“We’re not going in?” I ask.
“Not yet. I wanted to show you my favorite place out here.” He steps into the long grass, and a few fireflies flee at his steps. “You know, before my parents scare you away forever.”
I laugh. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
The evening gives up its last shreds of light as we walk hand in hand. It’s quiet, which is when I realize Winn and I aren’t usually quiet. It’s nice, being together like this. Sometimes I worry the second I stop coming up with clever comments he’ll get bored, but maybe not. He doesn’t look bored, at least.
I like the trees here, mostly because they aren’t willows, which get tiring in large quantities. Winn’s trees are oak, and I imagine the person who planted them planned to be here a long time, since they aren’t the fastest-growing tree. These are massive, their new leaves not big enough to hide the starry sky.
When I see the swing, I smile. It’s wide enough for two and carved with flowers. Old things were always done with such care, and I immediately get why Winn likes it so much. “I haven’t seen one of these in forever.”
“My grandpa put it here.” He grabs the old rope, and the tree branch creaks like my house. “I guess my grandmother loved to swing, but she died before I was born.”
“It’s beautiful. May I?”
He smiles. “Of course.”
The tree protests when we both sit, but it holds our weight. I lean my head on his shoulder and watch the fireflies dance around us. The air is quieter since it’s spring. There are crickets, but they are timid about their newfound voices. The bullfrogs sound young, the deepness of their croaks not quite there.
“I never brought Chelsea here,” Winn says.
I look up at him, his profile strong in the remaining light. “What?”
“I hardly ever brought her to my house. It’s weird, but everything wrong with her seemed to stand out when she was here. I guess I was in denial about it.” He pushes the swing back, and we rock softly. “But you fit here so well it’s scary.”
Hearing him say that makes up for everything that happened at the diner. “Great. I’m scary.”
Gently, he kisses my cheek. “Terrifying.”
It sends a wave of warmth through me, and I hold my breath as I wait for what must be coming next. I study the lines of his face. The creases from his smile. The place by his eyes where laugh lines will someday show his age. We have so much life ahead of us, so many more experiences that will change our faces from young to old. And then something in my heart snaps. This won’t last forever.
I look down, trying to recover the water pooling in my eyes. Now. Think about now. Enjoy it now.
“Jo?” Winn puts his hand on my face. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing.” I look back up, smiling as best I can. “I just wish this moment could last forever.”
He leans in. “But there are so many better ones to come.”
“True.” When our lips meet, it’s unlike anything I expected. It’s not “meh” as Gwen once described her first kiss. The power inside me tingles, growing stronger the more we kiss. It begs me not to stop, as if my magic has been waiting a lifetime for this moment.
Winn pulls away first, breathless. “Where . . . how . . . was that as amazing as I thought it was?”
I gulp as I search his eyes, confused not only by how strong our connection seems to be, but by his ability to recognize it. “I think so.”
He kisses me again, and my magic sizzles at our lips, so addicting I can barely control myself. The only thing that stops me from unleashing it is my confusion over what it wants, why it would react to Winn. Maybe this is totally normal for a witch. If it is, I plan to be with Winn as long as I can, even if I can’t have forever.
After a long time swinging and kissing, we head for his house. I’m not as nervous as before. I do feel like I belong here, as if the place is familiar in some way. But it’s not until we enter the house that I know why. I have to catch myself from falling because the magic is so strong and deep and warm, like a well straight down to the Earth’s core. I know, with everything in me, where I am.
I’m in Great-Great-Aunt Fanny’s house.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
..................................................................
TWENTY-SIX
I force myself not to panic, but I can’t stop wondering about how on earth the Carters ended up in Fanny’s house. Agatha did write that Fanny’s house was bound to a family. Maybe it was Winn’s.
But as I take in the spells, it seems impossible that any witch—let alone a normal human—could find this house and bind to it with such powerful barriers surrounding it. They are overwhelmingly strong, more so than any on our house. My head spins as it tries to decipher all the magic in the air.
“Jo?” Winn says.
I jump. “Huh?”
He seems really worried, like he thinks I might run and never come back. “Are you okay? You kind of spaced out a little.”
“Oh, I’m fine. I just . . . didn’t realize your house would be so beautiful inside.” It’s the truth. The simple beauty of the outside follows you in. White walls with striking, colorful art mirror the stained-glass windows. The soft navy blue area rugs mimic the shutters. The lush greens and browns bring the trees inside.
It’s magical.
“I’ve always liked it.” He tugs my hand, and I take a few steps forward only to stop again. A stunning array of old ceramic tiles covers the hall wall, carefully arranged so that it looks like a night sky with hundreds of colorful stars.
“That’s amazing.” I step closer. The pieces certainly don’t belong to one another, but are chips from something else. “Who made this?”
H
e shrugs. “It’s always been there. A lot of things have always been here. They’re so beautiful that there’s no reason to change them.”
I touch the tiles, imagining Fanny herself putting them up. My fingers turn hot and then numb, and my wonderings are proved right. This is one massive spell—a spell of hiding, like a star among many. This is why Nana and I haven’t found this place right under our noses. I can’t make out all the complexities, but it seems like only those bound to the house can bring people in. So there’s no way someone could have murdered Fanny unless . . .
Did Winn’s ancestors do it? Maybe she let them in to give them a spell, and they attacked her. But surely she would have defended herself.
“Winn?” His mother’s voice echoes down the hall. “Is that you?”
“Yeah.” He squeezes my hand once. “Don’t be nervous. She’ll love you.”
I am nervous, but not for the reasons he thinks. “I hate your confidence—makes it so much easier to disappoint.”
He shakes his head. “C’mon.”
We pass by the spiral staircase and through a swinging door, which opens to a rustic kitchen, the old wood stove still in place. To our right is the living room, where a TV gives off the only light to see his parents by.
They look normal and non-magical, hanging out on the couch after a long week. Mr. Carter is a total farmer, hard work written in every line on his face. Winn’s mother’s grin is warm, and her hair matches Winn’s sandy color exactly. I try and try to see if I’m missing something, but there’s not a speck of magic in them that I can find. It doesn’t make sense, but I’ll take it. That is much better than discovering a witch or whatever Levi is in the house.
“Well, aren’t you pretty as ever, Josephine,” Winn’s mother says with her soft southern accent. I’m not sure which part of the South she’s from, but she and Mr. Carter went to school in South Carolina and that’s how Mrs. Carter ended up all the way out here in Willow’s End.
“Thank you,” I say. “Your house is gorgeous. I’m still trying to take it all in.”
She smiles wider. “It wasn’t until I saw the house that I said I’d marry Jim.”
House of Ivy & Sorrow Page 13
