“For someone who holds the fate of an entire city in her hands, you’ve acted recklessly,” Vincent said, the crackling heat in his tone instantly smothering the apology that Anne was just about to offer.
“Why should I let you anchor me?” Anne asked, infuriated that the same person who’d kept her from falling to the ground only moments ago had now struck her to the core. “I don’t know anything about you.”
“You know enough to understand I’m capable of keeping you safe,” Vincent spat back. “Or are you questioning my power again?”
“It’s not your magic that I’m worried about,” Anne said, stepping forward so that their faces were only the barest breath apart. “It’s you.”
Was it a trick of the light, or did Anne see a glimmer of panic flash across Vincent’s face then?
Before she could be certain, the rich amber hue of his eyes became noticeably darker.
“I’m determined to uncover the history of the ring,” he said, his voice rough with frustration. “You know that.”
“What I know is that you’re keeping secrets,” Anne hissed back. “There is more to this story than you’re letting on. Or did you think I wouldn’t notice all the shadows creeping about the corners of this house?”
The candlelight that had been filtering into the room abruptly flickered out then, as if the hallways hadn’t liked being brought into the conversation.
Though she couldn’t see him any longer, Anne could feel the warmth of Vincent’s heavy breaths against her cheek. Now that they were standing in complete darkness, they seemed nearer to each other than they had been only a moment ago when the light of the candles had seeped into the room.
She expected him to step back, but Vincent surprised her by shifting even closer. Though he didn’t touch her, Anne could feel his magic pulsing to life beneath his skin, causing the hairs along her neck to vibrate as he drew his mouth nearer the groove beneath her ear.
Anne didn’t know what he was about to do, but just as she had when entangled in the memories of the spirits, she found herself wanting to slip into dangerous places where not knowing what would happen next made the tips of her fingers tingle.
She heard his lips part then and felt the words brush against the soft skin of her ear before they came together in her thoughts.
“Perhaps. But I’m not the only one keeping secrets, am I?”
CHAPTER 24
A Lamp
Suggests that hidden truths will come to light.
In the evening hours, when the fires had been flickering so long in the grate that the walls were warmed to their rafters, the Crescent Moon always nodded off to sleep. Though made from brick and mortar, the house was a place of magic, and so it needed time to dream. After it felt that restless breaths had grown steady, it slipped into an easy slumber, where it could thread together fantasies of its own design and imagine what could be crafted beyond the bounds of reality.
And as its thoughts drew inward, a stillness settled across the creaking floorboards. When the Quigleys were just girls, they’d sometimes wake in the night and tiptoe as quietly as they could out of their bedrooms. Like sleepwalkers, they’d shift in the darkness, awed by the strange sense of calm that seemed tangible enough to touch. And if the weight of the day kept them from being able to slip into their own dreams, they would sink to the floor of the hallway, lean against the wainscoting, and let the familiar silence lull them away from troubles left inthe daylight. When they listened carefully enough, the rumble of the house’s flights of fancy could be heard beneath the quiet, the barest echoes of its imagination causing the baseboards to vibrate beneath their touch.
Though it had been decades since Violet had last sunk to the floor to better sense the house’s fantasies, she found herself doing just that now.
As she’d slipped between the sheets of her bed, Violet had tried to think more about the name that was etched into the woodwork of the apartment. Her thoughts had drifted to different possibilities, but her magic depended on instinct to lead her in the proper direction. And just as it tried to tug her toward a potential insight, Violet would hesitate and lose her grip on the fragile thread of an idea.
The more she’d wondered who May could have been, the more tangible Violet’s sense of loss became, drawing her toward dreams that smelled of firecrackers and sawdust.
And just as the smoky fragrance had grown more potent and Violet feared she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from drifting back toward mistakes that couldn’t be forgotten, the sharp scent of rosemary had snapped her awake again. She’d only been aware of the strange aroma for a second, but it was enough to steer her away from the worst of her past and toward fantasies tinged with the texture of fresh choices.
But rather than close her eyes again and see what she’d find there, Violet had stayed awake wondering which was worse: the certainty of a mistake that she’d already made or the possibility of taking another wrong turn in the future.
Violet hadn’t wanted to fall back asleep then, and so she’d slipped from her room and snuck downstairs, trying her best to avoid the squeakiest boards so that she wouldn’t wake her sisters. And when she’d made her way to the kitchen, where the soft outline of cinnamon buns rising beneath sheets of whitelinen instantly eased the tension in her shoulders, Violet sank to the floorboards and listened to the even rhythm of the house as she did her best to avoid drifting into slumber.
Her eyes were just beginning to fall again when she heard a door creak open and saw a shadowy figure reach toward the lantern sitting atop the table.
“Anne?” Violet whispered as the light of the flame came to life and she saw the familiar outline of her sister’s face. “I thought you were already asleep upstairs.”
She’d heard Beatrix tiptoe by her open door hours ago and had assumed that Anne had slipped in shortly after.
But as Violet rose from the floor and stepped closer, she noticed that Anne’s cloak was still draped around her shoulders, the blue wool littered with fresh snowflakes that glimmered in the lantern light.
“Have you only just returned?” Violet asked in surprise.
