“Charlie, just listen to me.”
“No, you listen to me. If kissing me was a mistake, why did you feel the need to come knock on my door tonight? You know I don’t just sit around waiting for you to summon me, right?”
“Of course you don’t. I came to apologize.”
“Yes, well, you already did that once. And you know how much I loved hearing your apology for kissing me the first time.”
Maddox groans. Normally, I would shuffle away quietly and hope that Maddox’s fae ears didn’t catch on to my presence, but there are more pressing matters at hand than Charlie and Maddox’s tumultuous relationship.
I knock. The voices go silent.
“One moment,” calls Charlie.
There’s shuffling inside, and more hushed whispers. Quieter than before, but just as irritated.
After a moment, Charlie comes to the door, opening it only slightly. At first, she looks annoyed, but when she sees it’s me, her countenance brightens. “Oh, hello, Wendy. Hello, Michael,” she says, slightly more loudly than necessary considering I’m standing right in front of her.
She lets us both in, making sure the door creaks loudly as she does. There’s no sign of Maddox in the room, but as I lived in this room for six months, I happen to know that the door I just walked through is the only way out.
“What’s going on?” asks Charlie, her face suddenly paling. “Is something wrong with the captain?”
I set Michael on the floor, and he runs over to where the rest of his toys are piled in a chest next to the bed where I used to sleep. Charlie has been letting Michael stay in her room for the past few nights to give Nolan and me some privacy. Tonight, Michael had decided he wasn’t going to stand for our separation any longer.
“No, he’s fine,” I say, a little annoyed that I can’t just be talking to Maddox as well, especially when I know he’s listening. “It’s just that I think I figured out a way we can help him.”
Charlie sits down on the edge of her bed and crosses her legs. “I’m listening.”
“Well, we considered going to the Eldest Sister for help. Obviously, she has no interest in helping us. And clearly there’s a thousand reasons we can’t go to the Middle Sister to cure Nolan.”
“Not that she could anyway, since she’s cursed not to be able to do that sort of magic on him,” says Charlie.
“Right, but that doesn’t leave out all our options.”
Charlie looks at me, confused.
“Charlie. There’s another Sister.”
Charlie’s jaw drops open, and she claps her hand against her mouth. “Oh, we are such idiots. How did we not think of that before? What does she do again?” Her eyes go wide and she jumps from the bed. “OH. She cleans up the messes that her two older Sisters make.”
“Yes, and I definitely think our situation qualifies as a mess made by the older two Sisters, don’t you think?”
Charlie grabs my hands, yanking me off the bed and spinning me around in the room before wrapping me in a hug. “Oh, Winds, this is genius.”
“Yes, well, we have Michael to thank. He’s the one who insisted I tell him the story tonight.”
Charlie whirls around. “Thank you, Mich—” She frowns. “Where did he go?”
I turn around, searching the room for my brother, but it doesn’t take long to locate him. His muffled voice comes from inside Charlie’s bathroom. “Let’s play hide and seek,” he’s saying, and it sounds as if someone is trying to shush him.
Charlie’s face falls in the way of someone who has been caught red-handed.
“If it makes you feel better, I already knew he was in there,” I say.
Charlie looks at me sheepishly, then calls out. “Just come out, Maddox. Winds already knows.”
A moment later, Michael leads Maddox out of the bathroom by the hand, Maddox’s other hand rubbing the back of his neck as he grins at me half-heartedly.
“Well, if it’s worth anything, I feel pretty good about this plan, too,” he says.
