I’m speechless, my mind whirling in circles around me. “Why? Why would she do that?”
“I was lonely, Wilhelmina. I’ve never fit in this family. I’ve always been the odd one out. Fiona believed in the power of balance and equilibrium, and she was convinced it meant I needed you.” His lips quirk to the side as if there is more he wants to add but stops himself short.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”
“For the same reason I tried to get you to leave that first night. Happiness, a place in the world, isn’t worth risking your life to achieve. My own, I’d sacrifice, but not yours.”
I pour the emotion back inside myself, a gut-wrenching sensation that threatens to double me over before it bursts out like a glowing orb circling around me. My eyes clamp shut, a small whimper escaping my lips.
I want to flinch when Reid’s hand touches my elbow, but any movement could break me. I think it might never end, the endless amount of energy running so freely out of me that I feel myself draining like an empty tub. It isn’t until I hear her voice, her gentle, delicate gasp, that I finally come back to myself.
“Well, I’ll be,” the voice echoes behind me. “It sure has been a while since I felt a stirring that strong.”
My eyes shoot open to find Reid almost stuttering in disbelief. I spin around just in time to see the faint outline of the old woman, her gaudy dress and seamless hose that lead down to perfect black-buttoned boots. She adjusts the extravagant purple hat on her head, tilting it to the side so the three giant feathers sway in the breeze. She smiles simply at me, the worn edges of her mouth curving into a twist. “You called me, did you not?”
“P-Priscilla?”
“The one and only, my child.”
I shoot a glance at Reid, his eyes still wide with shock. I want to hit him, to knock him out of his stupor, but I know it is only leftover animosity rather than my need for his help. “I’m looking for someone,” I tell her quickly, “a boy you used to know. Julien Cote.”
She looks pleasantly at me. “Na, chérie. I do not know who you mean.”
“It wasn’t in your lifetime,” I try to explain, “but rather your afterlife. He would have been young, much younger than myself.”
She continues to look puzzled until Reid speaks up behind me. “He would have been cursed,” he added. “Haunted—if you know what I mean.”
The ghost’s eyes light up with understanding. “The sweet talker. Ah, yes, I remember him.”
“Good. Good,” I say, relieved. “He’s missing. He was kidnapped tonight, and we believe he is somewhere here in Charlotte.”
“And you plan to do what when you find him? Kill these men?”
“Yes,” Reid answers for me. “We plan to hunt down every last one of them.”
Priscilla nods thoughtfully. “That family is ruining my city, turning its heart black and cold as their own. They killed my Ameria, they did, but not before she saved me so her memory and purpose would live on.”
My eyes knot together. “What do you mean?”
“Ameria, my great-great-granddaughter was a child of the moon, like yourself.” I notice Priscilla eyes my necklace, and I quickly hide it beneath my shirt. “She knew his secret, and that bastard killed her to keep it.”
“What kind of secret?” Reid asks, moving closer. “Who killed her?”
“The Bessette family has been trying to keep their name out of the curse since I was a child. They’re still trying. The truth will always live on.”
“Our curse? How is the Bessette family tied to our curse?” I look to Reid, hoping he’s heard about this, but when his face flashes white, I don’t bother to ask.
“There have always been rumors,” he says, barely breathing. “Rumors that a third family was cursed that night along with Julien’s and Zeke’s.”
“It is more than just rumors,” Priscilla says.
“So Ameria died because she knew their secret?” Reid asks. “But not before she brought you back so you could pass the truth on to someone else.”
“Yes.” Priscilla smiles weakly. “And it worked. Every generation, there has been a girl show up here. A keeper of the truth. Their secret will never die, because I can’t.”
Reid bites his lip. “Fiona showed up here, didn’t she? And Carolina—her mother?”
“Yes.” Priscilla nods empathetically. “Each keeper is chosen by the spirit, each led blindly into their duty. Fiona hadn’t a clue what puzzle she’d solved until I told it to her.”
“Did someone else show up after her? Who else knows their secret?” I ask.
Her smile fades, the edges turning down. “A child so young shouldn’t be burdened with a task so difficult.”
“No!” Reid screams, suddenly full of panic as he stares at the determined look on Priscilla’s glowing face. “You’re wrong. Fiona didn’t bring her back for this. This is not her destiny.”
“What?” I turn, confused.
“You can’t tell her,” Reid pleads. “You sentence her to death if you do. They’re already chasing her. They already believe she knows.”
Priscilla closes her eyes, a regretful sigh escaping her lips. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she whispers.
My vision blacks out, and I collapse to the ground as scenes flood my conscious thoughts.
Two young girls, Contessa and Elizabeth. Sisters in heart, but not by birth, play alongside the lake in Frog Hollow, laughing as they chase a ball across the grassy plain at the water’s edge. Three sets of eyes watch them from afar. Luther Prescott, Estelle Cote, and George Bessette. Their hearts are all black. It can’t be seen, but I feel it. The evil is rooted deep inside them, down to their very core.
The girls are scared when they see them, and a familiar voice rings out. “Tessie, what do we do?”
“Stay with me, Lizzie,” the other one assures her.
As their hands touch, grasping for life and sanctuary in each other’s arms, the curse rains down on their enemies. Three families to be forever haunted from that day forth.
I gasp as my eyes snap open, reality slowly finding light in my head. I know it all now, the beginning, the end, and the secret of the Haunted they never wanted to be found. Reid clings desperately to my arm, his eyes shooting daggers at Priscilla. “You’ve ruined her. You’ve taken her life away,” he chokes out.
Priscilla dismisses him, looking straight past him to me. “Do you still seek the Haunted child?”
Reid roars beside me. “Of course, because now we have to kill them. We have to make sure they don’t find Willa first. So, yes, we still seek him!”
She nods, straightening her hat back to its original position. “Wait for me.”
Reid’s arms wrap around me as I cry against his chest. “I’m so sorry,” I yelp. “I had no idea.”
“No one did, Wilhelmina. There is no way you could have known.”
“I know now.” I sob between words. “I know why Roux Bessette wants to kill me.”
My skin crawls at the thought of it, fear engulfing me to the point I think it might tear me in two.
“Don’t worry about it right now, okay? We’ll figure this out. At least now we know their motive. I’ll take care of it. I won’t let them take you, I promise.”
I weep openly in his arms, overwhelmed by it all. “You were wrong,” I tell him, gulping in air. “You don’t need me. I need you.”
His tears are in my hair as he begins to sob. “And I needed to hear you say that.”
Chapter 19
MASQUERADE
I wake up in a fog, unsure if the last twenty-four hours have been a bad dream or maybe my unruly imagination getting the best of me. When I roll over and spot Reid sitting in the armchair next to the bed, I realize it has all been real. I am now, thanks to the ghost of Priscilla DeMarci, the official keeper of the truth, like every woman in my family before me. I clearly recall it all in my head, the little girls, the same ones Julien and I discovered in the graveyard, my ancestors. If that is true, i
t also means Priscilla indeed returned after having found Julien in the downtown home of his father François. She hadn’t gotten to speak to him, because he was surrounded by guards, but she promised he looked unharmed.
I sit up in the small bed, rubbing my eyes as they focus. Reid is already awake, dressed and lacking all hints of the grief we experienced last night. “Good morning.” I groan and try to stretch. “Did you even go to sleep?”
He scoots up to the edge of his seat. “A couple hours. This chair isn’t that comfortable.”
“I would have shared.” I point to the bed, though I realize too late it is much smaller than I originally thought.
Reid laughs while coming over to squeeze in next to me. “I managed,” he says. “I was more concerned about you. Last night was insane.”
“I’m okay.” It’s a lie. I still feel my heart beat rapidly in my chest. “Have you told the others yet?”
He shakes his head. “I figure the less they know, the better. Fiona obviously thought the same, or she would have taken my mom or Jade with her. It’s best the others believe they have no real reason to be coming after you.”
I groggily agree. We can tell them when it’s safer, and there is no one left to kill them for it.
“What about Julien?” I ask timidly. “Did you tell them Priscilla found him?”
He nods. “Zeke talked to Anders this morning. It seems François is throwing a giant party tonight, a masquerade ball in honor of the return of his son.”
I grumble at the thought, and Reid touches my shoulder. “I know,” he says. “Anders knows nothing about Roux Bessette, though, so crashing this party seems like our best bet at finding him.”
I crawl out of bed, a little clumsy on my feet. “What is it with southerners and masquerade balls?”
“’Tis the season.” He smiles, helping me right my balance. “Sera and Abby are out finding us all proper formal wear, so it’s probably best you go ahead and take your shower. I’ll go down and find you some breakfast.”
I look at his kind smile and sigh.
I really don’t deserve either of them.
“Thank you,” I say. “For everything.”
He hugs me gently, my cheek resting against his chest. “You are always welcome.”
He disappears out the door, leaving me alone with nothing but my thoughts. It’s worse than torture. It’s what I deserve.
I take a long, hot shower as I try to forget about the curse. When I emerge twenty minutes later, I find a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal, a glass of milk, and a variety of fruits waiting on my bedside table. He left a note explaining Abby has dragged him off to get dressed and fair warning that I am her next target. I eat my breakfast in a rush as I dry my hair and throw on some clothes. Just as Reid predicted, Abby bangs on my door before I can manage to clean up my mess.
As soon as I open the door, she grabs my hand and begins dragging me down the hallway. “There is so much to do! It’s going to take all day. I can’t believe they expect us to attend a ball on such short notice.”
I look at the weird wildness flashing in her eyes. “You’re going to put makeup on me, aren’t you?”
She laughs, a hysterical kind of sound. “If only that was all I was planning on doing to you. Now hurry, we don’t have much time!”
We enter a room where Sera and Sadie wait, sorting through a variety of colored shopping bags. “Jade didn’t come?” I ask, as Abby whirls me around and sits me in a chair.
“Mom is helping Cari keep an eye on the house and your store,” Sadie explains with her head stuck down a bag. “Plus, someone had to break the news to Julien’s grandmother.”
I bite my lip, because I can imagine how well that conversation will go. Rebekah probably hates me now, blames me for Julien’s misfortune, and she would be right. Abby jerks my face around to her. “No time for sulking,” she says. “Stay still.”
Almost an hour later, my makeup is done and my hair curled and sprayed so it hangs loosely, yet precisely down my shoulders. When I turn around, I almost gasp. Sera, already in her midnight blue gown and black feathered mask, twirls around the room like some sort of forgotten angel. “You look amazing!”
She smiles, coming over to pat my cheek. “Don’t look so bad yourself, sweetheart,” she says, smiling ruefully. “I’m going to go check on the boys and make sure they have everything they need.”
As she whisks out of the room, I spot Abby emerging from the bathroom in a canary yellow gown with matching mask that sets off her beautiful bronze skin perfectly. Her hair is pulled into a messy side braid that looks too complicated to be a mistake. “You really went all out for this, didn’t you?”
She smiles brilliantly. “We need to fit in,” she says, “but a girl should always stand out as well.”
“I don’t think anyone will miss you.” I run my fingers down the feathers that create a butterfly design around her face.
She sticks her tongue out at me and holds the bathroom door open. “Your dress is waiting. I’ll meet you and Sadie downstairs as soon as you get dressed.”
I take in a deep breath at the thought of my dress, and Sadie giggles at my fretting. “It’s perfect for you,” she says as I shut the door behind me.
She’s right too.
I pull the garment bag open to reveal a deep magenta ball gown that sparkles from head to toe. I take a calming gulp and begin trying to figure out how to put it on. Once I zip the back, I turn to inspect myself in the mirror, amazed by what I see. The dress is perfect. The top half is a form fitting sweetheart bodice, and the bottom is full, swishing in a way that reminds me of Cinderella. I spin a few times just to watch it swirl around me. I start to run out into the room to show Sadie, but my hand stops at the door as I inch it open.
I hear Zeke’s uneasy voice as I catch a glimpse of Sadie standing in the middle of the room in her perfectly white gown. She looks stunning, and I listen as Zeke nervously agrees. “Wow,” he says, breathless. “You definitely know how to make this difficult on a guy.”
“What do you mean?”
He sweeps into my line of vision, absolutely dashing in his tux and emerald green mask that resembles something from Phantom of the Opera. He looks almost normal, the sunken lines of his face hidden from view. “I just have a few things I need to say before we go through with this tonight.”
Sadie blinks nervously at him.
“I love you, Sadie.” Zeke’s hands shake as much as his voice. “And if I could, I’d make sure this isn’t the last white dress you wear.”
“Zeke.” She trembles, but he holds up his hand.
“The past couple months, you’ve pushed me to experience every aspect of life that I’m going to miss out on, and recently I decided there is still one thing I’m not willing to give up.”
Sadie’s breath matches my own as I wedge my face into the small opening at the door. We both gasp as Zeke drops to his knee, a tiny diamond ring sparkling between his fingers. “I know it’s selfish of me, but—will you marry me?” he asks. “Tonight? Right now?”
“Yes!” Tears well up in her eyes as she flings herself at him. “Why would you even have to ask such a question?”
Zeke laughs, his smile full and vibrant. “Well, I thought that’s how it worked?”
Sadie can’t stop smiling as she kisses him. I wait until they run out of the room, their laughter ringing down the hallway, before I gather the nerve to come out. I sit on the bed to put on my shoes as I try to take in what just happened. Sadie and Zeke are getting married, confirming their love and commitment to each other for the remainder of his life. I want to be happy, though my heart pains me as I’m reminded of the reason for their rush. They will be risking their lives today to save mine, to save Julien’s because I care about him. It feels wrong.
The door squeaks open, and Reid silently steps into the room. If it weren’t for the shaggy hair hanging over the scarlet, black, and silver design of his mask, I would have never recognized him. The guy is definitely roc
king that tuxedo, and I can’t help but admire it. “Hey.” I jump to my feet. “Did you hear the news?”
He nods, stepping closer to me. “I think half the world heard the news. We’re stopping by the courthouse on our way to the ball.”
The guilt is instant. “They shouldn’t go with us.”
“Shhh.” He comes over to pull me into a hug. “I already tried to convince them not to, but they refuse to hear of it.”
“I feel horrible about it, though.”
“Don’t.” He takes in an uneven breath. “You should feel nothing but absolutely gorgeous right now.”
I blush as his eyes drop down to my dress. “Thanks.”
He smiles as he strokes my hair. “There’s just one thing missing.” He goes over to the bed to sift through the bags. “Ahh, here it is.” He pulls out a white mask with magenta feathers encircling it. “Come here.”
I lean forward as he gently places the mask over my face and then pulls my long curls back over my shoulder. “Now you look perfect.”
I try to bite back the smile, but there is no use. He holds his arm out to me, matching the stupid grin on my face. “May I escort you to the wedding of Mr. Prescott and Miss Lawson?”
I wrap my arm around his and nod. “You may.”
He leads me out of the room as we both try to ignore the spark of electricity that sends a shock up our arms at the site of contact.
An hour later, we stand on the steps of the Charlotte courthouse, cheering and throwing flowers in the air as Zeke and Sadie enjoy their first kiss as husband and wife. It’s a magical moment tainted by the reality that their reception will be thrown by people who want me dead.
Everyone still laughs and revels in the enjoyment of the new couple’s happiness, while I fret by myself in the back of the crowd. Reid weaves his way back to me, his hand catching mine. “Smile.” He touches his lips softly to my temple. “We have all night to be serious.”
“How are we even going to get into this ball? I’m sure we aren’t on the guest list.”
Frog Hollow (Witches of Sanctuary Book 1) Page 20
