I couldn’t keep watching the water under the weight of that question. My head snapped up to watch her. “What? Why?”
“Just answer the question,” she said, finally looking at me with a serious frown.
“I’ve only known him for a few weeks,” I said.
“That’s longer than you’ve known your past loves.”
I frowned at the rushing blue water as I considered it. I did have strong feelings for him, but it felt too soon to say I loved him. There was a part of me I was holding back, and I sensed the same in him. I suspected the investigation kept our guards up. “I don’t want to be. He’s leaving soon,” I said.
“But are you?” she asked.
“Why do you ask?”
Willo peered into the cold water again. “I’ve known you for almost your entire life, Cassian. I know the type of person you usually go after, and Sterling is not it.”
“So what?” I asked.
“So, you finally got it right.”
My eyebrows jumped up. “What? But I thought?—”
“He’s not a typical Force officer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he quits the Force before he turns thirty. He’s too kind and too smart, and he hasn’t discovered what he wants yet, even though he thinks he has. Just like you. I suspect you’ll make that discovery together.”
I never thought I’d see the day Willorunia praised a Force officer, but I was glad to know she liked Sterling. “I know what I want.”
She arched an eyebrow. “What do you want, then?”
I peered into the water as if I would find my answer there, and I realized I knew more about what I didn’t want than about what I did want. I didn’t want to be an innkeeper. I didn’t want constant change. I didn’t want people I cared about to leave.
“I want to be happy.”
“What makes you happy?” she asked.
“My friends and family. Meeting new people. Helping others. A warm fire on a snowy day. Spotting animals in the woods. A well-brewed cup of tea.” She probably didn’t mean everyday things, but it was the only answer I had.
“Interesting. Fibbersnap Inn has all of those things,” she said.
I rapped my fingers along the bridge’s wooden railing. “I know what I want,” I said again.
“Sounds like it.”
I crossed the center of the bridge to watch the water from the other side, irritated at the conversation for reasons I didn’t understand. The water flowed beneath me, rushing over blue patches of cateyes.
My eyes caught on something, and I gasped.
“Willo! It’s the rune stone!” I said.
She was at my side in an instant. “Where?” she asked. I pointed at it, but she shook her head. “The stones won’t appear when one is looking, but if they appear, it means they want to be found. I believe this curse wantsyouto break it. This is no coincidence. Go get it.”
After casting the warming spell on myself, I waded into the cold river and plunged my hand into the water, snagging the stone off the riverbed. I returned to Willo on the bridge.
Willo took the stone, turning it around in her hands. “This is definitely a cursed stone, darling.” She handed it back to me, pressing my other hand over it. “Don’t let anyone know you have it.”
“Why not? Shouldn’t I show Sterling?”
“Don’t tellanyone.Tonight, I want you to place this near the front gate. The five stones cursing your inn create a perimeter, and everything within is affected. If you move this stone from the back to the front, part of your inn will no longer be affected, because the perimeter has changed. You may receive customers again.”
“You’re saying all I need to do isfindthe stones and I can move the curse away from my inn?” I asked. Knowing the fix was so simple took a huge weight off me.
