As she holds the vial close to her chest, she feels it begin to heat, and she cannot contain her excitement. She holds the vial up by its leather string. She motions to put it on August.
“Oh cute, you made him a necklace. Very powerful mythcraft, indeed.”
August makes a disapproving sound. “Could you please let me enjoy this moment, without your remarks? I’m trying to find my soulmate, here.”
Lottie rolls her eyes, but she does keep her mouth shut as Marigold loops the necklace around August’s neck.
He places his palm over the necklace and presses it to his chest. “Oooooh, it’s warm. It’s very warm.”
“That means it’s working,” Marigold says.
“It’s working a little too well.” He carefully positions the necklace to hang over his shirt, rather than beneath his collar where it could burn his chest.
“It’s only because it was just activated. Give it a few days and you won’t even notice it.”
“A few days?” Lottie asks with a sharp tone. “How long is he supposed to wear that thing?”
“Until it leads him to his soulmate.”
“Right,” Lottie scoffs. “And how long will that take? A million years?”
Lottie’s attitude makes it clear that either she got no sleep last night after the nightmare, or she is violently hungover. Possibly both. At this point, Marigold and August seem to both silently agree that they will not be acknowledging her anymore during this conversation.
“How do you feel?” Marigold asks, keeping her eyes glued to August, which is always difficult for her when Lottie is around.
He examines his whole body—he rotates his hand to view both sides, touches his curly black hair, and then runs his hands over his smooth face and holds his hand over his heart, just to the left of the spell. “I don’t know. The same? How should I feel?”
“Of course,” Lottie murmurs.
“Do you feel compelled to go anywhere? Like you are being pulled in a certain direction?”
August thinks for a moment. He then opens the front door dramatically and stands in the doorway. He licks his pointer finger and holds it to the wind, searching for direction. “Maybe north?”
Lottie erupts in laughter. “Wow, so specific. What a perfect spell you’ve made, Witch.”
She clenches her jaw, because itisa perfect spell. Itisworking. Sometimes it needs a moment to acclimate to the wearer. But of course, Lottie will not hear that reasoning. She will not excuse anything. And Marigold has had enough, especially after last night. They had been open to each other, so vulnerable. What happened? Where did that warmth go?
“You know what, Lottie? I think you’re jealous.”
August turns around to face them both so quickly that he almost loses his balance. Lottie stares, open-mouthed, at her. “Jealous? Of what?”
“You’re jealous that August is about to find his soulmate, and then you will be alone. You don’t want it to work. Because the minute it leads August to the person he is meant to be with, you won’t have him all to yourself.”
Lottie wipes a bead of sweat from her forehead. “You are truly delusional.”
“Am I? Am I saying something that isn’t true, or are you simply too afraid to admit it? You are scared. You are scared of losing him and being left with no one else because you push everyone away. That’s why you hated Edmund.”
“I hated Edmund because he was a rake.”
“A rake who was keeping your best friend away from you.”
Lottie tenses her shoulders. Her face grows cold. Her chest heaves as she gathers her words, but Marigold has yet to relent. While August goes to Lottie’s side, Marigold turns back to her kitchen and quickly pours the remainder of the spell into another small vial on a leather string. She finds her intentions, says her incantation, and wraps the necklace around Lottie before anyone can protest.
“There. Now you can find your soulmate, too, and maybe we can find some peace away from your company.”
“Marigold…” August says, and the world stops. Time stretches itself so that she must sit with the echoes of her words. She watches her cruelty collide with Lottie’s skin, seeping into her blood, spearing her pounding heart. Only now does sheunderstand what she has said, and what she has done. She has never felt such sharp, sickening regret. She has equipped Lottie with a spell that will send her away.
Lottie still says nothing, her body is frozen in place, her balance maintained only by August’s form beside her. Marigold approaches slowly, afraid that she may get slapped. But still, Lottie does not move, even as she comes within arm’s reach. Then she wraps Lottie in an embrace.
