I didn’t answer because the thought that came to mind would not win me any more favor amongst my family.
It can break through the wards because it’s a part of you.
I thought of falling into the strid with two dozen other people and emerging as the sole survivor. I thought, too, of Kessian’s connection to the spring, the way his freckles lit up the moment Amelia was taken by the wraith.
Marlowe caught the look in my eye. “You know how to finish it, don’t you?”
“Maybe.”
Understanding dawned on Kessian, too. He worried his lip between his teeth, puzzling it out.
Mum grasped Lettie’s hand and bounced impatiently. “Well? There’s no time to waste. How?”
Marlowe said, “Before we figure out the ‘how’ we should figure out ‘where.’ So no one gets hurt this time.”
We discussed options and eventually settled on one.
The grounds around the spa and spring hid a number of utility sheds, but one in particular was on the perimeter of the woods, too far to be of use, so it had been abandoned.
The padlock, rusted shut, we broke open with steel cutters. An old spade leaned against the wall, but otherwise the shed’s only occupants were spiders, wood lice, and mouse droppings.
I’d driven Lunaris onto the grass as close as I could get her. A rocky ledge was too steep for her to cross, but she’d be near enough in case anything went wrong and we needed to make a quick escape. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
By the glow of a witch light, I transcribed the runes from my grandfather’s notes onto the concrete floor. When I got to the focus, I wrote out two names in runes. Mine and Kessian’s.
It made the most sense to me. The wraith was somehow a part of me—that was how it breached Coill Darragh’s wards and my own. Kessian was a part of the strid. Its magic flowed through him. If the wraith was a part of me, and a part of the strid, perhaps this would be enough for the trap to work.
What terrified me was we wouldn’t know until we tried. If it successfully summoned the wraith but failed to trap it, we’d be in danger with no talisman or recourse except to run.
We pooled our resources for the tithes. The last, the one to represent the wraith, had to come from both of us. I pulled out a strand of my hair. Kessian did the same, taking it from his fringe and handing it to me. We tied them in a knot and soaked them in the spring’s waters.
With everything prepared, I turned to face my family. They all looked to one another uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be this close to the wraith when it appeared.
“It already took Amelia tonight,” Marlowe said. “Perhaps we should wait until after the wedding?”
“I’m afraid of it crashing the wedding,” I countered. “I’d rather get this over with. None of you have to stay.” I cast Kessian a sidelong look. “You as well.”
“I don’t want to leave you to fight it alone,” Fae said.
Kessian said, “He won’t be. I’m not leaving.”
I was for once glad the depths of my feelings didn’t often show on my face, with the way that opened my heart right up.
“We’ll stake out a spot nearby. Come to the rescue if anything goes amiss.” Marlowe took my hand and shook it. “You’re a brave lad, you know that?”
“I don’t feel it.”
“Well, you are.” He pulled me into a hug, which prompted everyone else to join him. Even Mum, though she looked the least comfortable, still sore from Kessian’s rebuke earlier.
They left, Fae waving to us nervously as they backed into the night.
“Thank you for staying,” I said to Kessian without looking at him. “I’m used to dealing with things alone.”
“Me too.”
A few hours ago, I’d been kissing him, and now I could hardly look at him. I feared all of this going wrong and what might happen to him. All this time I’d held back from touching him because I didn’t want to nurture the feelings that had no chance of taking root in my nomadic life, but those feelings had grown anyway.
I hadn’t gotten to grips with what had happened to Amelia, either. Everything had felt very real in Kessian’s garden, but not here.
