I tucked my feet underneath myself as I dug my phone free from my pocket. My family hadn’t tried to reach out to me, and as much as it stung, I knew it was probably best this way.
I scrubbed my hands down my face, but what if I needed them? What if I couldn’t do this on my own like everyone assumed I could? Didn’t the marriage contract say that my family would be in alliance with them? We weren’t married yet, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t ask for help, right?
I couldn’t call them in case someone overheard, so instead, I sent out a quick text.
Do you know anything about curses?
With trembling hands,I hit send and closed my eyes. It was the only thing that made sense. It’s what my mind kept coming back to. I knew absolutely nothing about divination magic and death magic, but something wasn’t right about these mist wolves. It was like they were stuck between the living and the dead. That explained how they made it through the barriers. Was that the reason they were hunting witches? Were they looking for a remedy, or were they angry?
Maybe a bit of both?
My phone vibrated with an incoming message from my mom.
Mom
I thought you would never reach out and that you loved your life in New Orleans more than here. I’m so happy to hear from you! I don’t know anything about curses, but I’ll ask your papa. He might know a thing or two. He dabbled in more death magic than I did growing up, thanks to his parents.
Death magic?So it was related. I sank back into my chair and guilt swirled in my gut. She’d missed me, but was waiting on me, and I’d been waiting on them.
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were waiting on me.
Mom
Yes, the marriage contract said no communication unless you wanted it.
What? I thought our coven would be allies with this one.
Mom
No, all they wanted was you. They didn’t want the rest of us or we would have sent one of your sisters to help you get settled.
I blinked downat my phone. What did this mean?
I don’t understand.
Mom
Hold on, I might need to dig, but I’ll send you a picture of the contract when I find it. At first, they’d said they wanted to be allies, but then the contract came through, and it mentioned only you. But if we were to ever need them, they would be here immediately.
I staredat the last message until the screen went dark.
Only you.
I wasn’t part of a grand treaty. I wasn’t a peace offering. I was the point.
But why? I ran my fingers through my hair and then yanked on the ends.
I closed my eyes, pressing the heels of my hands into them until stars sparked behind my lids. The library felt too quiet now, the silence ringing in my ears.
Whatever this was… whatever it meant…
I had to find out. Because this was so much bigger than I’d ever imagined. They’d said I was the missing piece, they’d said I was the savior. They’d mentioned that I was going to fix this, but in all honesty, I thought that meant me and my coven. I thought that meant they just needed back-up and reinforcement. But now I knew the truth, and all it did was leave me with more questions.
I slammed the book closed on the table in front of me and marched to the shelves again. Curses were related to death magic. That meant I would probably find it here. The candlelight flickered as I dragged my hand along the worn spines, each title older than the last—grimoire after grimoire of rituals I couldn’t perform and languages I couldn’t read. I pressed my forehead to one of the cold shelves and let out a breath.
I pulled my phone back out of my pocket and opened the text thread to my mom.
Me
