I read the label. “Desiderium.” I turned the amber bottle over, seeing crimson liquid inside. “What is this?”
“It’s nothing,” she said, and I lowered my eyes with a glare. She sighed. “It’s an experiment, really. Kind of like love venom, a love potion, but I doubt it even works.”
“Love venom.Hmm.” I narrowed my eyes. “Were you planning to use this on my fiancé?”
Jolie’s jaw dropped, and a surprised laugh tumbled out. “No, of course not.”
“How does it work?” I opened the cork and sniffed it.
It had no scent, so I dabbed a drop onto my fingertip.
Jolie studied me, her black fingernails nervously drumming on the counter, ready to pounce and swipe it back from me. “They’d have to drink the whole bottle. And then you’d have to ... kiss them for them to fall in love with you. But like I said, I’m sure it doesn’t work.”
I licked my finger and let the thick drop dissolve on my tongue.
“It tastes a lot like love,” I said.
“And what do you suppose love tastes like?”
“Arsenic.”
Jolie tilted her head with a smirk. “Arsenic has no taste or smell.”
“Precisely.” I pushed the cork back on and trapped the vial in my fist. “I’m taking this with me unless you plan to use it on someone special?”
Disappointment settled on her teenage face. “No, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Good, because if your brother discovered his fifteen-year-old sister was walking around withlove potionin her purse, I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy, considering how everyone in Weeping Hollow knows how you feel about a certain Sacred Sea boy. If only you had given it to him before the wedding. Could you imagine?Oh,the wicked scandal of Weeping Hollow.” I collected my things into my bag and offered a smile. “Have a good day, Jolie.”
CHAPTER 45
ADORA
Come what may,the lighthouse’s beam circled Weeping Hollow again that night.
I stood at the window, waiting for the witching hour with the clock’stick-tocka daunting echo in the room. The lantern spread a lemon glow on the window, and I could see the reflection of my face in the glass.
Stone is a Heathen, I thought.
And my stomach twisted into knots each time it crossed my mind.
Stone was a Heathen, and this was why he could manipulate the earth.
As much as it hurt, it answered everything.
I wondered if he’d ever hurt anyone before. If he’d killed as the Heathens had killed. Had he taken loved ones from the world as well? Was this the reason his mother poisoned him and trapped him in a coffin?
“You should sleep,” Alice said with a yawn. She was sitting in her chair, coming down from the yawn, eyes watering, and I could tell tonight would be a struggle for her.
“There’s a new moon coming.” The bottle screamed at me from the desk’s shelf, my message floating inside and patiently waiting for the tide. “Like all other new and full moons, I will be off to the shore tonight. You should retire to one of the boys’ bedrooms. Let another maid watch over you so you can get some rest.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.
I nodded, and it didn’t take long before she scurried out.
I followed her to the door and closed it just as there was a tapping sound.
I glanced around the bedroom.
