“Exactly,” Kioni said again. “Then maybe you would have avoided getting pregnant, or falling in love. Or on the flip side, you could have lived here and found a hatred toward Norse Woods for something and told Sacred Sea the secret. It could have worked either way, and there was no reason for the moon girl to know until she’s pregnant. That way, every decision you made was because you wanted to make it. Not because of the curse.”
“The books Julian stole … they were in Sacred Sea possession. You think they knew this whole time?”
A sigh fell from her lips. “No, even the books are cryptic. The Cantinis know, yes, but they are the Keepers of secrets. Sacred Sea should have never had the books to begin with, and Viola Cantini would have never revealed a secret to anyone, not even her coven. It’s just not who they are.”
“So, Julian’s in a cell because he stole books from a coven who should have never had them in the first place.”
“Julian’s in a cell because he betrayed his coven and broke into the Sacred Sea chamber. It’s a breach in the peace treaty between the two covens. Julian has lost all integrity. He’s a cursed Hollow Heathen, and in order for Norse Woods to keep credibility, Julian has to be sacrificed.”
“A human in exchange for breaking and entering is not fair.”
Her eyes sprang open. “In this town, it is.”
I shifted closer to Kioni, slid my eyes between hers. “I love him,” I whispered. “Tell me the truth. Tell me, how do I save him?”
For a moment, Kioni stayed silent as if to choose her words carefully. Then, “You can’t. The only way to save Julian is by some kind of miracle, and miracles don’t happen in Weeping Hollow.”
My gaze flickered over her round face. “A miracle, something that’s never been done,” I whispered, locking eyes on her with my hollow heart shaking inside my chest.
I knew what I had to do. It was risky, but I had nothing left to lose. Kioni’s eyes hardened as if to recognize my revelation.
But my heart made up its mind.
Chapter 49
Julian
“Did you bring it?”I asked, climbing to my feet and approaching the prison wall. My impatient gaze frisked Jonah for the Book of Blackwell as I gripped the bars. The magic coating them sizzled my flesh. I yanked them back, the bars eating another layer from my skin.
“Ah shit,” I hissed out, then dug my teeth into my lip. I glanced at my palms, blisters already forming.
“It’s only a poisonous herb. Man up,” Jonah said, fanning my family book in front of him. “It was right where you said it was.” He passed the book through the bars to me. “There was something else inside your cabin I wasn’t expecting.”
My body tensed in a hopeful grip. “Fallon? Did you see her? Is she okay?”
Jonah’s face turned somber, and he averted his eyes. “She’ll be fine.”
I fell back against the wall and collapsed to the floor. For hours, I’d depleted all magic inside me, waited for it to restore, and used it up again to get back to her. My legs couldn’t bend at the knee. My head couldn’t lift on its own. I was surprised I could stand at all once Jonah arrived, but now my body was being reminded.
“Don’t lie to me. I know her as I know myself. I’m afraid of what she might do if she finds out the truth. At least death will take me, but her? I know her, Jonah. She’ll do something stupid and desperate as I did.” I looked down at the book in my hands, wishing they were holding Fallon instead. “I thought I had one more day with her.My god, the things I would do for one more day.”
“She wanted me to tell you that you’re a bitch-bitch,” Jonah muttered.
My head fell back against the wall, a small laugh pushed through my misery. “A bitch-bitch?” I shook my head, knowing Fallon rarely ever cursed. If she was cursing, she was either angry, frustrated, or utterly helpless. “You have to be a keeper to her as you were to me. She’s a Blackwell, Jonah. She’s the one I committed myself to, so you have no choice but to protect her now.” I slid my gaze to Jonah, who was crouching down to level with my eyes, the hexed bars between us. “If you don’t … my death will take us both, I know it. Then all this will be for nothing.”
“Are you ready to die?”
I shook my head. “No.” And the word shook the thing in my chest. There was not another stable breath afterward as they were all broken now. Each one of them. All I could do was hang my head, no longer having the energy to try and lift it. I cut my eyes to Jonah with emotion bottling in my throat. I couldn’t look him in the eye, so my gaze rested on the ring on his finger that was hanging off his knee. “I thought I was, but I’m not ready to die. I want to live. But only if it means living with her.” I sucked in a shaky breath, used all my strength to keep my body upright. “When will she come see me?”
“She’s not.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “She’s not coming,” I repeated, but the words were not registering.
“No, she says if you want to see her, you’ll have to go to her.”
“Why is she so fucking stubborn?” My head bobbed, no will to yell. “And she knows I’m locked in here? I do all this for her, and she can’t say goodbye?” Jonah didn’t respond. It went silent. My fingers dug into the Book of Blackwell. All the things I should have said swirled in my mind. “I didn’t even tell her—” I stopped there, pinched my eyes shut.
“Then I guess your soul will have to live with—” he paused and sucked in a breath. “Look, Julian. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you the way I should have. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for your family.”
