“And why’s that?”
“Because there’s a lot you don’t know about that last ceremony.”
Doubtful. “There is?”
“Thereis—starting with, Addison was set up.”
Set up? I cross to the mirror and stare at Elmore for a long beat before saying, “Tell me everything.”
46
We get most of the bookshop cleaned up, but it’s still charred to a crisp by the time we leave for the day. I don’t sleep well that night, and the next morning, as soon as the light seeps into the sky, I pull on a sweater, tug on a pair of old boots and head outside into the backyard.
Two homemade swings dangle from the giant oak that eats up most of the grass. I sit in one and swing idly back and forth, trying not to think about…anything, really.
Which is impossible. The place is destroyed, and it’s all because of me.
“You look lonesome.”
Blair makes her way down the stairs, a long braid swept over one shoulder. She sits in the swing beside me and glides back and forth.
“I guess I am.”
We’re quiet for a minute before she says, “It’s all gone.”
Just hearing that makes my shoulders fall. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
“How?” She looks up from the ground, where she’s beenslowly digging a hole with the toe of her shoe. “How’s this your fault?”
“If I hadn’t given him that book?—”
“Addie, no. Just stop. You didn’t know what that book meant when you gave it to him. None of this is on your shoulders. We should’ve told you.”
“But I didn’t tell him how I got the book. That I was tricked into giving it to him.”
“He wouldn’t have listened. He was too in love with you and too shattered. Because it hurt him so much.”
Her words strike me. “What?”
My sister pushes off and swings back and forth slowly. “Just what I said. Feylin loved you too much to listen to you.” She sighs. “That’s why he burned down the bookstore.”
I scoff. “No. He did it to get back at me.”
“Yeah, because he loves you.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?” She shrugs. “It’s true. He’s hurting because of that love. And you love him, which obviously he doesn’t know or else he wouldn’t have done what he did.”
I rise from the swing. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on. It’s so obvious.” She scoffs. “Feylin destroyed the store, and even though it sucks—because it does—it’s because of his feelings.”
“I hope this isn’t supposed to make me feel better, because it doesn’t.”
She shrugs. “It’s just an observation.”
I plop back down on the swing. “Burning it down was his plan all along.”
