I wanted to say yes. I wanted to pull him up and tell him I’d already forgiven him, that what happened in the swamp had washed everything clean. But it hadn’t. Not entirely. There were still splinters under my skin.
Gently, I brushed back his locs from his forehead. “You’re going to have to do more than make speeches, Voodoo King.”
That finally pulled his gaze up to mine, a slow, crooked smile ghosting across his lips. “Good. I like a challenge.”
It tookme a full week to feel like myself again, and all through that time, I watched as my phone lit up from across the room. I didn’t answer it, even though I knew my parents wanted to speak to me. There were so many things I wanted to say, ask, and accuse, but I wasn’t ready. Physically, I was doing much better. Small golden tendrils of magic sometimes appeared between my fingers just as Rune’s shadows slinked around him. It was strange but exhilarating. Emotionally, I wasn’t doing well. My heart was being pulled in different directions each time Rune came to see me, and then there was Adelle, who begged to seeme, but I wasn’t ready. It was bad enough I had to do all of this with Rune, but her too?
It was too much. I needed space to think and to improve my relationship with her brother. Once I did that, I would have more room in my heart, but at the moment, I felt so overwhelmed by myself and life.
Rune didn’t push, but he was here every day to check in on me and ask about my magic. Some days, I wondered if all he cared about was how powerful I was. Other times, I wondered if it didn’t even matter. Most of the times he visited, he would bring gifts or he would send Louis with them. The first gift was a book of swamp folktales. The next was a jar of local honey and then a bouquet of flowers. One day, there were even long beeswax candlesticks left by the door. I didn’t know what to do with it all or with myself. I felt bad that I hadn’t left Rune’s room, but I also couldn’t bring myself to even if I wanted to.
The cold front the coven had been excited for was finally here, though most days it was still too humid to even call it cold. The only reason I knew any different was because I would open the windows to get fresh air or wander out to the private patio area and sit at the wrought iron table and chairs there.
Most mornings, I stayed wrapped in the quilt, listening to the distant hum of voices from the main hall. The coven kept moving, training, whispering about the curse breaker in their midst. I pretended I couldn’t hear them, but their words curled in under the door like smoke.
When I sat outside, the air was heavy with the scent of wet leaves and something sweet I couldn’t place. Rune’s shadows sometimes lingered just beyond the patio railing, watching but not intruding, a reminder that no matter how far I pushed him away, he was still there.
The beeswax candles sat untouched on the table, taunting me. I told myself I’d light them when I was ready—when I couldlook him in the eye without wanting to both kiss him and throw something.
But every day, the line between those two urges blurred a little more.
I groaned into my open palms. That probably meant it was time for me to visit Adelle, but how could I? What did I say? I guessed it didn’t really matter as long as I tried to bridge the gap in some way. There was still an ache in my chest that I didn’t think I would ever be able to get rid of, but at least it wasn’t a romantic involvement complicating matters like with Rune.
Carefully, I unwrapped myself from the quilt and watched as my phone lit up for a third time this morning. I turned my back on it and opened Rune’s bedroom door. I could leave. I needed to get out. I couldn’t stay in Rune’s space forever. Everything would change when the rest of the coven knew we were married… Then I could never leave. I needed my freedom and space until then.
My feet moved of their own accord with their own destination in mind. I thought I would have found myself in front of the library, but instead, I had brought myself straight to Adelle’s room. Which was silly because I didn’t even know if she was home.
I stood there for a long moment, staring at the dark wood of her door like it might lunge at me first. My knuckles hovered midair, unwilling to knock. My arm dropped down to my side, and I let out a sigh.
Maybe it was best for me to come back another time. Another time when I’d announced that I was coming to visit, or another time when I’d sent Louis or even Rune to go before me. I went to turn away from the door when it was yanked open behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find Adelle’s relieved face waiting on the other side of the threshold.
“Maple,” she breathed, like my name was the answer to a question she’d been holding for days.
I swallowed hard. “Hey.”
She launched herself at me, and my shoulders relaxed under her grip. “I missed you. I’m so glad you’re here. There’s so much I want—no, need—to say,” she said into my shoulder, her voice trembling with a mix of urgency and relief.
I pulled back enough to see her face. Her eyes were glassy but determined, like she’d been rehearsing this moment and was terrified I’d vanish before she could get the words out.
“Okay,” I said quietly, my throat tight. “Then let’s… talk.”
She stepped aside, holding the door open in silent invitation. I hesitated on the threshold—because walking into her space felt like more than just crossing into a room—but then I forced myself forward.
I hated that I felt like such an outsider. I wanted to be comfortable in this place and in her space again. I missed being able to just exist here with her. I didn’t want this tense silence between us any longer, and the more I looked at her, I realized I’d forgiven her a long time ago. She was much easier to forgive than her brother, anyway.
“Rune led me on a wild goose chase the night of the full moon,” she scoffed as if no time had passed and we were okay. It gave me hope. She rolled her eyes as she threw a couple of dresses from the bed and into the open closet. She sank down on the mattress as her eyes tracked me in her space. They were full of so much love and acceptance, I didn’t know what to say.
Her words broke the ice in the way only Adelle could.
“Sounds like him,” I said, my lips twitching despite myself.
She rolled her eyes as she planted her closed fists on her hips. “He had me go check on a swamp spirit that hadn’t caused problems in ten years. It wasn’t until I was waist-deep in the nastiest water in existence that I realized he was looking fora way to get me out of the way.” She shook her head as her shoulders rolled forward in defeat. “I mean, I get it. He can’t lose anyone else, but I really wish people would stop treating me like I’ll break. I’m so tired of the rules here.”
“Your sisters left, didn’t they?”
Her eyes swiveled to me. “Yes. And?”
“Why wouldn’t you go too?” I quickly corrected myself. “If you aren’t happy here.”
