"I already read it."
Crap.
"You should have told Everett that they experimented on you in the Nether," he adds, chiding in almost a brotherly way.
"Thank you!" Jess throws her hands in the air. "That's what I've been saying for months."
I continue to pretend I can't see her as I get up and start wrapping cookies for the Amato quintet.
"Everett has been through too much. He blames himself for a lot of things he shouldn't, and he's always felt responsible for me, but he's not. If I tell him that they did something to my empathic abilities to make them worse, he'll freak out. That's the last thing he needs," I explain.
Silas scoffs, rubbing his temple like his brain has been heavily taxed—which makes sense, since he's probably been losing sleep after learning he's inheriting everything from the very famously rich Garnet Wizard. When he speaks, it's pure exasperation.
"You and your brother are two of a kind. Obnoxiously self-sacrificing yet silent about it. Fucking altruist."
I pause, adjusting the bag of cookies in my hand. "Um. Did I do something to offend you, or…?"
"Apologies. My mood has nothing to do with you." Silas glances at Jessica again since she's now trying to use sign language to speak to him, even though I'm one hundred percent sure she doesn't know sign language. "My mentor had a propensity for hoarding rare spell ingredients, and he was extremely thorough about recording every experimental spell he ever cast. I'm certain I can recreate your lost charm, given a few days."
Wait. He's going to remake the charm for me?
Oh, my gods.
"Woo hoo!" Jessica cheers.
I'm barely keeping myself from squealing, clapping, dancing, and climbing to the top of my roof to sing praises to Silas Crane to everyone who can hear me. Tears of relief and gratitude start welling in my eyes, but I try to be mindful of the mourning fae, hurrying to sit across from him again.
If he can make that charm, I can be normal again.
"Thank you! Gods, thank youso, somuch. I'll owe you big time for this," I gush, beaming at him again. Then I pause as a thought crosses my mind. "Um. If this is rude of me to ask, feel free to hex me or something, but…willI owe you? It's just—I heard all these stories about fae deals gone wrong growing up, and I'm not really sure why else this would be a priority when I know you have a lot going on…"
I trail off stupidly, feeling insensitive. I mean, this is one of Everett's quintet members. We're not particularly close, but Silas has never given me the slightest reason to be uncomfortable around him.
The fae shakes his head. "You're wise to be wary of fae. We're taught as children that we must be crafty to survive, since lying is outside our wheelhouse, and bargains with fae are never something to take lightly. But this isn't a deal or bargain, it's a…repayment."
"Repayment for what?"
He glowers at nothing in particular, rubbing his temple again. "While sorting my old mentor's lengthy personal records, I've discovered that I owe your aggravatingly tight-lipped brother a great deal more than I ever realized. Helping you is one way I can think to begin repaying him, whether he knows the details or not."
"Great, now I'm dying to know what Face Card did to make Thirst Trap owe him," Jessica grumbles.
I crack a smile. Another thing I've learned from spending time with the Amato quintet is that my brother and his quintet members just can't play nice, even when they care so much.
"You could also just thank him upfront for whatever he did," I point out.
Silas pulls a priceless face of distaste and redirects our conversation back to the subject at hand. "When I recreate the charm the Garnet Wizard made for you, I will do my best to make it even stronger to combat your heightened abilities. However, it may take more time and experimentation to figure out how to protect others from what your touch now brings, according to your letter."
"Oh." I pause for a millisecond, thinking about how badly I've craved touch for the last eight months, but I shrug it off. "Hey, so long as I can go to the local grocery store soon without hyperventilating in the canned goods aisle, I'm good! Thank you again. Seriously, this means so much to me, so please tell me how I can make it up to?—"
"There's nothing to make up," the fae says firmly, standing to indicate this conversation is over and it's time to go. "I'm the one repaying here, and that's the last I'll hear of it. Shall we?"
"Yes, we shall," I grin, practically skipping out the door with cookies in my hand.
5
HEIDI
The great news is,we must finally be really close to where the sleepers are buried.
