Sebastian chokes on a sound I’ve never heard from him.
“You Harwoods just can’t listen,” my father sighs, shaking his head like he’s disappointed, not murderous.
“You killed them…” Sebastian’s voice is small, shaking. Anne covers her mouth, sobbing silently.
I step in front of them before I can think, shoulder brushing Liam’s. My hands tremble, but I plant my feet. If we run, they die. If we stay, we might die too.
“Run and I kill them,” my father says flatly, flicking his wand.
Agony detonates through my body. Liam hits the floor beside me, both of us screaming as the magic rips through our nerves until we can’t breathe. The world goes white.
My mother slips behind Sebastian and Anne, placing a hand atop each of their heads. They freeze instantly, breaths stilling.
“What to do… what to do…” my father hums, tapping his wand against his cheek as though considering dinner options, not murder.
“I could kill you both,” he muses, turning toward Liam and me. Another jolt of pain spikes down my spine. I collapse fully, chest heaving.
“Leave her alone!” Sebastian cries out, struggling, but my mother shoves him hard, sending him sprawling.
I try to scream. Try to crawl. Try to reach him.
But my father raises the wand.
Gold light blooms.
Anne goes still.
Sebastian’s eyes glaze, their warm brown fading into hollow glass.
Their bodies soften, all fight leaving like a candle snuffed by wind.
My father’s voice becomes the only sound in the room.
“Love is a dangerous thing… something vile. Something my daughter was poisoned by, by you.” He crouches in front of Sebastian, gripping his chin. “So you will forget her. And her brother. And everything that happened to your parents. They died from a toxin in your cellar. That is all. And if you ever find her again, you will resent her. Hate her. Be utterly incapable of loving her.”
I scream until my throat tears. He ignores me.
“As for you, Anne…” He turns his wand on her limp form. “You will live your life never remembering these children at all. And hopefully die because of your poor decisions in that little shack you call home.”
They stare through us, empty, as the command seals. And then they walk. Step over their parents' corpses. Step past our shaking bodies. Step toward the door without a single glance back.
The sound of Sebastian’s footsteps fading is the sound of my heart breaking.
“For you two…” my father says, seizing Liam by the collar. “Clean up this damn house.”
He leaves without another look. My mother glides after him.
Silence crushes everything.
I can’t move. My hands tremble violently as I clutch the floor. My insides feel scraped hollow.
Liam stands slowly, jaw clenched so tightly he trembles. He looks at me, not with pity, but with a fury born from helplessness.
When he raises his wand toward me, I don’t understand.
“Liam…” My voice cracks.
“I can’t let you die trying to make him remember.” His eyes glisten, the spell gathering in his palm. “There is nothing more painful in this world than loving something you will never be able to have. His love is the only way you’re getting these memories back.”
