Great. It was bad enough his twin brother hired Mercedes, but now his own brain, his logic, was against him.
Sure, the so-called revenge date was a couple of months ago, and he was still kicking himself for not vetting her before he drove into Tallowfield to meet her. Her profile pic was a cartoon avatar. A cutesy kind and he liked a good mystery. He was not picky about looks. It was the person inside that mattered, and they’d had so many good talks over messaging.
It was a mistake.
All of it.
It was risky driving into Tallowfield anyways because a lot of the residents were anti-monster, but that’s where she lived. He’d actually been looking forward to dinner. When they’d chatted online, he found out they had so much in common. TV shows, music, she liked similar food to him, and loved a good screwballcomedy movie. Sven would never watch theVacationmovies or others like it with him, but he found out Mercedes adored them. Not many women he encountered did.
Then she walked in, and he was transported back to that moment a thousand years ago when he was cursed by that witch.
“How dare you come here? How dare your kind show your face after binding me here,” the woman shrieked.
Magnus took a step back. He’d thought this woman a völva, a seeress, like the ones who would come to his village. He was actually surprised she was here, but relieved nonetheless. He was hoping she could guide him and what remained of his landing party to calmer waters. The fog in these woods had been dense for days since they’d taken that river inland.
Now, they were definitely lost and had been for a while. He realized that now. A lot of the men from the long ship were dead, having fallen victim to animals, illness, and weather. All Magnus wanted to do was get home, or at the very least back to the sea and out of this never-ending forest. He owed it to Sven. Yet this witch was accusatory and angry with him.
“Völva, I do not mean you any harm.”
She scoffed. “I know your kind. You cursed me here, alone and bound to this forest for decades when you know the sea is my home. I’m so far from the sea,” she screeched.
Magnus was confused. “I did not bind you here.”
“The blood in your veins says otherwise,” she hissed, pointing a long finger at him.
“My blood?” he asked in confusion.
“Now, I will bind you here. Curse you here and I will be free.” Her eyes flashed with red flames as she tossed her wine-colored hair over her shoulders. “I curse you now, binding you here for all eternity, walking as if dead, but never achieving release until love sets you free.”
The words hit him like a stabbing wound to the gut. Pain coursed through him as he dropped to the ground. His skin turned pale, his heartbeat racing like thunder in his ears before it went silent, stopping.
Then he heard Sven screaming, calling his name. Through the haze, the fog of the strange veil that descended on him, she’d struck his brother down too.
The world went dark, and when Magnus woke, the völva was gone and he was bound to the woods in her place, as was Sven.
It was completely his fault, that cursing. It had been his idea to head inward from the sea. He’d been in charge of the landing party. If he hadn’t gotten them lost, the others would’ve survived and the witch wouldn’t have cursed them.
Sven was just trying to avenge him when he rushed into the fray after he was cursed.
Magnus sighed. He had really calmed down since being rattled by the perfect reincarnation of that witch. Then she showed up at the party. She was Pearl’s friend? Pearl, who was like a little sister to him. It didn’t make sense. And why did she have to be friends with Pearl Clague? Sweet, innocent Pearl.
He’d known the Clague family for years. Both the glashtyn side and the witchy/human side. Finbar was one of his best friends, and so by extension, he saw Pearl as a little sister and someone he needed to protect.
How could Pearl be friends with a völva? Especially that one.
“I’m in charge of hiring,” Sven responded, breaking through Magnus’ endless cycle of thoughts as he carried a bag of trash to the bin by their shed. “And she is young and willing to work. Plus, Pearl asked me, and you know I can never say no to her.”
Magnus knew that Sven saw Pearl as a little sister too, which should soften the blow, but it didn’t.
Magnus grunted. “Still, I should’ve been consulted.”
“You’re in the kitchens. She’s going to be in charge of the bedrooms. You shouldn’t really have to interact with her. Besides, she’s not the witch who cursed us. Or rather, cursed you.”
It was a pointed barb, aimed right at him, blaming him for that awful curse that befell them. He felt bad for a moment, but he knew Sven was just manipulating him to get what he wanted. Sven knew the curse was just bad luck, and that Magnus hadn’t done anything. He knew Sven didn’t blame him.
Magnus rolled his eyes and snatched up a linen table cloth, tossing it into a laundry bag. “You can’t deny the resemblance, and you know about reincarnation within families.Endrborinn,but without thehamingja.”
Hamingjahad to do with luck and reincarnation within families, but there was nothing lucky about Yrsa coming back.
