“She hooked up with somebody? Who?” I demanded.
“She won’t say. She’s teasing you about it.” Marcus scowled. “Okay, soyouwon’t tell us anything aboutyourlove life, but mine is on the table for group discussion?!”
The alchemy circle flared, losing its glow for a few seconds before lighting up again. Around me, the amethyst color began to dim.
“The connection’s getting faulty. We only have a minute or so left before I can’t hold the connection any longer,” Marcus said sourly. “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“Just that I love her,” I noted softly. “And that I miss her. So, so much.”
“She knows, Ava. She really does.”
Marcus held a breath. “She’s saying something else. Hold on, it’s unclear…”
“What is it?” I leaned forward, needing to hear every word she had to say.
The alchemy circle abruptly died, losing all of its light. A hollow feeling opened up again in my chest, and I knew that Monica was no longer with us.
Marcus dropped his arms. “She’s gone now. But… before she left, she wanted me to tell you tomake that bastard pay.”
An icy feeling wrapped around my insides and began freezing me outward. Monica had known exactly what had been suffocating me, and the advice couldn’t have been any clearer.
Marcus stood, brushing off his clothes as Rishi wrapped around his legs. Kallie stepped into the alchemy circle. She approached me slowly, as if recognizing me in a whole new light. “Seeing what you and Monica shared, even in a context like that, was just… beautiful. I never had a friend who loved me like she loves you.”
“Now you do, because I love you.” I reached out and took her hand. “Losing Monica will always hurt, but you’ve made that pain bearable, because I have you. I don’t think I could get along without you.”
Kallie gave me a watery grimace, and I could tell she was struggling to find the words. She wasn’t someone who showed emotion often, so when she teared up, I knew whatever she was feeling, she felt deeply.
“I hoped it gave you some sort of peace,” Marcus said as he went around the room, erasing the edges of the chalk alchemy circle with his shoe.
“It was great, but I still don’t feel like I have closure about all of this.” I dropped my gaze. “Talking to Monica helped, but everything still feels unfinished.”
Kallie bit her lip. “If you’re looking to tie a bow on the stuff that happened in your past… I might have an idea.”
“What is it?” I squeezed her fingers, telling her I would be open to anything.
“It’s a fae ceremony. I can perform it for you, but it’s a little… dark,” she confessed.
“Isn’t everything that involves the fae morbid?” Marcus complained.
“It depends on how you view it culturally,” Kallie said. “To my people, death and the cycles life takes are beautiful. If you’re interested, we could do it tomorrow night.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “So what does it entail?”
Kallie explained the ceremony to me. Once I had the details, I was certain it was something I wanted to do. We planned to go forward with it the following evening.
“I’ll invite the others,” Kallie said before we left. “And Marcus— we’re going to need some music.”
“Ooh, I get to use my harp again!” Marcus squeaked. He seemed positively thrilled.
“How are you going to break the idea to your husband?” Kallie asked as she used her telepathy magic to levitate my wheelchair down the stairs of the tower.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure how he’ll take this,” I said slowly.
Agreed, Oberi replied, and her hooves clip-clopped on the stone stairs.But I think it is something that must be done.
When we got to the ground floor, I parted from Kallie and Marcus, and went with Oberi to the phone room. We still had some time before curfew, and I’d finally made up my mind about what to do about John.
The second I arrived, I dialed the number. My father picked up immediately.
