Page 69 of Held
He was watching her, careful and earnest as ever.
Briar sorely wanted to laugh at him. To tell him that wasn’t how the world worked. To insist he was naive, that everyone left in the end, that she would be doing him a favor by leaving him high and dry after they found some way to undo their curses if Marigold fell through like they suspected.
But there was another part of her, slowly growing larger throughout their journey, that wanted to give him all the kindness he’d given her and more.
Maybe she had protected him like no one else. Trusted him, taken care of him, and everything else he had said.
But he’d done the same for her, too.
Briar had guarded her heart so completely, and he had broken down all her walls like they were nothing. Then he had cupped her heart so softly she almost forgot he had claws.
She opened her mouth, unsure what she would say.
Then something cracked, the noise loud enough to make them both jump.
They both looked down. The amulet hung between them, flickering with spasmodic white light. It was even joltier than before, barely lasting a blink before it faded.
“Shit.” Briar clutched it desperately, holding it so they could both look at it.
The crack along the amulet was growing. Soon, it would reach the other side and shatter into two.
Another flicker of white flashed and then died. It was different from past flashes; those were bright and clear. This looked… strange. Patchy. Almost like there were flickers of snow inside.
A window opened on the other side of the cottage. Briar recognized its specific creak: it was the kitchen. Another room she had snuck through, that time when Marigold had locked the door and Briar was drunk and too tired to keep knocking.
“Um,” Marigold called into the forest. “If you’re finished, dinner is almost ready!”
The window closed.
Briar sighed, slumping against Wick’s chest.
“She says she’ll undo our curses tomorrow,” she announced.
Wick stroked her back. “Do you think she will?”
Briar considered. She didn’thaveto say it would happen tomorrow. That meant that either Marigold was making good on her promise, or something very different was going to happen.
“I think we need a plan,” Briar said.
Twenty
Marigold started the counter-curse as the dawn bled over the mountains.
“Perfect time to undo a curse,” Marigold said as they set everything up. She spun her staff so rapidly that both Wick and Briar had to step out of the way multiple times, and she stunk so strongly of fear-sweat that Wick thought even Briar could smell it.
Marigold jumped from foot to foot, still spinning her staff. “Briar! Would you step into the circle?”
Briar looked up from the circle Marigold had made her carve into the grass. She looked over at Wick and then slotted her knife back into its holster and stepped into the circle.
“In the circle,” Briar reported. “What next, magic lady?”
“One second.” Marigold twirled her staff thoughtfully, examining the circle. “What am I missing…. Oh!”
She bent down to the golden bowl sitting at the top of the circle and conjured a spark to drop into the bowl. The bowl burst into flame, glowing in the dawn light.
Wick watched the bowl of flames warily. Briar caught him looking and frowned.
“You won’t get burned this time,” she assured him.
