“Zofia!” called Enrique.
But Zofia did not move. Even with Hypnos’s song hopefully drowning out the siren’s song, it was as if Zofia were choosing the siren. She shook her head. The illusion of the girl grew stronger, the bones of the skeleton were hardly visible. She looked at Enrique, smiling widely.
Her grin was clear:I win.
“NO!” screamed Enrique. “Zofia, come on!”
He reached out to grab her hand when the skeleton-illusion swiped out a bony claw. It snagged on his bandages, loosening them. For the first time, sound rushed in. Hypnos’s song broke off, and he gasped for air.
In those few seconds, an unearthly music filled Enrique’s senses. It was unlike anything he had ever heard—like the sound of honeyed light and the throaty laugh of daydreams. The song diffused through him like sugar in hot milk, and he might have stayed in that moment for eternity if Hypnos hadn’t jabbed him sharply and, once more, began to sing.
Enrique shook himself.
Water sloshed around her ankles as Zofia walked, hand in hand with the skeleton, into the lake.
“No!” he cried out. “Wait!”
For the first time, Zofia paused. She looked over her shoulder. Enrique lunged forward to snatch her arm and drag her away when the skeleton snapped her teeth. Enrique heard its voice in his head: bitter and sly.
Play fair, trespasser… your temptation versus mine… grab her, and I will show her an illusion so sweet, you will watch her drown before your eyes. The temple will gain another guardian.
Enrique’s throat tightened. “Zofia… please. Come back with us. Look. The bridge isn’t far…”
It was true. The bridge was hardly three meters away. Already, Laila and Séverin were halfway to the other side. The moment they were on it, they would be safe.
“Why should I listen to you?” asked Zofia.
The waves rose higher, teetering, threatening to crash.
“Because we can’t do this without you, Zofia! Laila needs you!”
Don’t listen to him, Zosia.Iam the one who needs you.Iam your sister. He is no one.
The illusion’s voice changed to dulcet tones. Dimly, Enrique realized he was staring at an illusion of Hela, Zofia’s older sister.
This is the boy who couldn’t be bothered to kiss you unless it was tied to a mission. He does not want you. And Laila is safe and well! She is waiting for us inside the guest rooms. You shall see if you follow—
Enrique tried to touch her hand, but Zofia yanked it back as if stung.
“She’s lying, Zofia—”
“She is right,” said Zofia dully. “We are friends.”
“Yes. But”—Enrique felt as though he were lifting up a veil to reveal some secret corner of himself—“but I like you far more than a friend probably should. I… Ilikedour kiss. If things were different, I’d probably be trying to figure out how to do it again—”
Zofia turned her head a little. “Is that true?”
He lies, sister! Come away, come away—
“How do you know you like me as more than a friend would?” she asked.
Around them, the waves slowly curled over. The skeletons loomed six meters away. Now five. Hypnos’s voice turned scratchy and thin. Even with the amplifier, his song would give out soon.
Enrique wished he could show Zofia the strange equation that rebalanced the room whenever she entered it. He wanted to show her the sum frequency with which her candle-blue eyes and candy-red lips cropped up in his thoughts. But she knew him well enough to know that he did not process the world as such, and so he could only give her the answer that was honest.
“How do I know I like you?” repeated Enrique. He forced a grin to his face. “I don’t know. It comes from some other place inside me. The place that believes in superstitions… stories. It feels like… like belonging.”
Zofia whirled to face him. Her eyes adjusted, widened. With a sharp gasp, she let go of the skeleton’s hand. She staggered toward Enrique, and he caught her shivering, sobbing body in his arms.
