Midnight Dolls

by Kiki Sullivan

  Trembling, I rip open the sachet and dump the contents onto the crimson earth. The moment the dried petals fall into Aunt Bea’s blood, my mother’s form crystallizes, a real human shape instead of a ghostly cloud. “Eveny,” she says.

  I stare in disbelief. “Mom,” I say. “You’re here.”

  27

  At the edge of my vision, I see my father coming toward us. He’s crying out for my mother, but she holds up a hand. “Stay back, Matthias,” she says. He stops and stares at her, and I can see her eyes fill with tears. “I love you,” she says. “But you need to let us do this. There’s nothing you can do to help now.”

  My mother’s gaze shifts toward the ground, where her sister lies motionless. “Oh, Bea,” she says. “I’m so sorry it had to come to this.”

  “Mom?” I ask, wiping away the tears that are streaming down my cheeks. “Is it really you?”

  “Yes, Eveny,” she says, her eyes full of love. “And I’m so proud of you. You’ve become such a good, kind, strong young woman.” She suddenly looks behind me, and I turn to see the Sauvage twins rushing toward us, matching expressions of shock on their faces. “We have to act now, honey,” my mother says.

  She takes my hand, her warmth and solidity startling me so much that I pull back for a second. “Trust me,” she says, reaching for me again. We hurry over to Chloe, who’s slumped against Liv.

  “I knew that if I could get the Rose of Life to work, I’d need to make sure I could return in physical form,” my mother says quickly. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to cast with you.”

  “But you’re from our mothers’ sosyete, not ours,” Chloe says weakly. “And they’re dead. How can you cast with us? Sosyetes can’t overlap generations.”

  “Because I no longer inhabit a body on earth, my magic isn’t constrained by the rules of the sosyete,” my mother says.

  I’m still reeling, but I know I have to focus now. The smoke is getting thicker, and all of us except my mother have begun to cough. My mother grabs Chloe’s hand too and begins to chant, and because I know she’s much more powerful and knowledgeable than I am, I let her take the lead. I focus on holding Chloe up and on letting my mother’s words fill my already overflowing heart. As her sweet, familiar voice washes over me, my Stone of Carrefour burns against my chest.

  “It’s all about love,” my mother says, glancing at me. “It always has been. Draw as much love to you as you can.”

  “But I’ve always had love in my heart,” I say, confused.

  “You’ve always loved others,” she says. “But you have to love yourself—trust yourself—too. You’re a queen, Eveny. Believe in the power of your own heart.”

  And so I block out the fire, the flames, the fear, and instead, I think about Aunt Bea, who gave her life for me. Caleb, who has come to my defense again and again. Chloe and Peregrine, who for all their faults are my sisters. Liv, who has gotten involved in this despite the danger, simply because I asked her to. My father, who came back because I was in peril. I even think about Bram, who may very well be dead right now. But most of all, I let my heart fill with love for my mother and for the town she called home. And I let myself believe, for the first time, that I’m the great queen my mother believes I am.

  My mother calls out for Eloi Oke, and then she invokes fern, heather, and pansy. “Spirits, please help to douse these flames right away, so that they do no more harm. Mesi, zanset. Mesi, zanset. Mesi, zanset.”

  I look up expectantly, but nothing happens. The Sauvage twins are laughing now, and the flames are beginning to lick at Peregrine’s bare feet. I see her stir, and as her face contorts in pain, I pull free of my mother. I can’t let Peregrine die. I run toward her without thinking of the risks, and although my father is calling out, his voice heavy with panic, I don’t slow down.

  The moment I touch Peregrine, the air goes still and the fire suddenly shrinks a bit. I look back at my mother in confusion to see her smiling knowingly.

  “Mom? What happened?” I call to her.

  “The willingness to sacrifice oneself for another is the greatest act of love,” she replies. “You tried to save Peregrine, even though you knew it could cost you your life.”

  I’m about to ask more, because I still don’t understand, but that’s when the floodwaters come pouring in. They arch over the flames from all sides, like a dam has been breached all around us. Within thirty seconds, the flames have been swallowed by the huge waves of water that are already receding.

  “No!” Bruno says, looking around in disbelief. “How could you have done that? You can’t defeat us! We have a king on our side!”

  “Oh yeah? Then where is he?” I run back to my mother’s side, confused but hopeful. Before the twins can react, I touch the blood from my wound, move my hand to my cuff, and murmur the andaba charm my father taught me, praying it’ll work now that their defenses are down: “Con mi sangre, regreso a su intención.”

  The Sauvages burst into flames, even in the midst of the soaked earth. The fire licks at them hungrily, sparking as it climbs higher and higher.

  “No!” Bruno cries while his brother screams in anguish. “Desjardins, save us!”

  But there’s no reply; my grandfather has obviously fled.

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t have trusted a traitor!” I call over the raging flames.

  Bruno Sauvage is still crying “You can’t win!” as his voice fades into the hissing inferno.

  “We just did,” I say. I watch until he and his brother stop moving, until the flames subside, until they’re just two blackened heaps of smoldering ash on the wet earth.

  It’s over.

  “I don’t understand what changed,” I say, turning to my mother. “Wasn’t my grandfather’s magic stronger than mine? I tried to use the andaba charm against them before you got here, but nothing happened.”

  “Your heart was so full with love that you were actually able to use that emotion to strengthen your andaba charm,” my mother says with a smile. “You used zandara and andaba together to harness your greatest power, Eveny.”

  I shake my head in confusion. “I don’t know how I did that.”

  “And that’s the key, sweetheart. You didn’t think about it. It was instinct. At long last, you trusted yourself.” My mother puts a hand on my cheek. “You should be safe for a while. You’ve destroyed half of Main de Lumière’s leadership, and from the sound of it, one of the other leaders is dead too. It will take them years to regroup, and perhaps when they do, the remaining leader will be willing to work with you the way Gerdeaux was suggesting. You have a chance to change everything.”

  I nod. “What about Aunt Bea?” I choke back a sob as I look down at my aunt’s crumpled, lifeless body. From across the clearing, I can see my father approaching. Beside him, Caleb carries a limp, unconscious Peregrine.

  “Your aunt knew what she was doing, sweetheart,” my mother says gently. “She loved you so much that she willingly gave her life to save you. And now she’ll be with me, on the other side. Believe me, Eveny, it’s beautiful there, and you’ll see us again someday. But right now, you have a life to lead here. It’s your destiny.”

  The words fill me with both sadness and peace. I know that Aunt Bea spent every day missing her sister, and now, they’ll be reunited. But that doesn’t mean I won’t mourn my aunt or regret the troubles that passed between us these last few weeks. I know I’ll be moving through the guilt and grief of her death for a long time to come.

  “Sandrine,” my father whispers, coming forward to embrace my mother. “My Sandrine.”

  “Oh, Matthias,” she says, and they hold each other for a very long time. I can see the love between them, and it’s enough to make me start crying again. This is the family I was supposed to have, but it was never meant to be.

  After a moment, my parents reach for me and fold me into their embrace. But already, my mother is fading, her warm touch cooling.

  “I love you both so much,” she says, pulling away and looki
ng at my father and me. “More than anything in the world, I wish I could stay here with you. But the Rose of Life only works to bring a person back once. I designed it that way so that it could never be abused and so that spirits could ultimately rest in peace. Someday, you’ll understand that it’s better that way.”

  The floodwaters are ebbing, but they’re also seeping into the ground beneath us, diluting the blood Aunt Bea spilled. Some of the Rose of Life petals are drifting away in a small stream, and as the things that brought my mother here are washed away, she’s vanishing too.

  “Take care of each other,” my mother says, looking first at me and then at my father. “Promise me that.”

  “I promise, Sandrine,” my father says as I nod, too choked up to speak.

  “I’ll love you both forever,” she says as her body fades back into a shadow of itself. “Remember, Eveny,” she adds, her voice already very far away, “love will always save you.”

  “Wait!” I call out, suddenly panicked. “Mom? Who killed you? Can you tell us?”

  But it’s too late. She’s already gone in a swirling cloud that vanishes into the pale light of the rising dawn.

  A few hours later, I sit huddled in the living room of my mansion, one of the only places in Carrefour that hasn’t been destroyed. I’m holding hands with Chloe and Peregrine, both of whom are conscious now. We cast a charm an hour ago, invoking cowslip, St. John’s wort, and bay leaf to help heal our wounds, and already, the knife gashes in my arms have closed up, and the smoke lingering in my lungs has cleared.

  “How are we going to come back from this?” Chloe says.

  “We’ll rebuild,” I say. “We’ll start over, and we’ll use zandara to heal the town.”

  “But that won’t bring back the people we love,” Peregrine says in a small voice. Audowido slithers up her leg and curls himself in her lap, and she begins to absentmindedly pet him.

  “No, but it will honor their memory,” I reply. “We’ll make Carrefour great again.”

  Arelia, Margaux, and Aunt Bea weren’t the only ones we lost. Oscar, Patrick, and their fathers were found slaughtered in the graveyard just behind Peregrine’s home. And almost everyone from the mothers’ sosyete—including Sharona, who died at the hospital an hour after the showdown in the clearing—is dead too, with the exception of Cristof, who was apparently only spared because he was in the Périphérie when the carnage began.

  The survivors are gathered here. Pascal, self-absorbed as usual, stayed alive by laying low in the house of the girl he was sleeping with at the time the fire broke out. Liv has returned after going home to make sure her father, brother, Justin, and Max were safe. Boniface—who can’t seem to believe that my mother succeeded in imbuing the Rose of Life with power after all—is talking in hushed tones with my father in the kitchen. And Caleb is here beside me, his arms wrapped around me like he never wants to let go. I’m numb with the loss of Aunt Bea, and I know that the hole she’s left in my life will be open for a long time. But right now, I’m worrying about Bram. No one has accounted for him or my grandfather yet, and I have a bad feeling about it.

  “You’re going to have to explain all of this to me tomorrow,” Liv says.

  “I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” I say.

  “I can’t believe the three of you are queens,” she says, shaking her head and glancing at Chloe and Peregrine, who are tear-soaked and soot-stained.

  “We need you now, Liv. As soon as we’re recovered from today, we’ll add you to the sosyete.” I pause. “That is, if you want to join us.”

  She looks at me for a long time. “How could I say no to a friend?”

  “Eveny?” My father speaks up from the corner.

  I turn to him, and for a long time, we hold each other’s gaze. Seeing for myself how much my mother still loved him and realizing how ready he was to lay down his life for me have made me view him in a new light. “Yes, Dad?”

  “I’m proud of you,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “So proud. I know your mom is too.”

  We’re interrupted by a knock on the front door. My father looks worried, and Caleb stands in front of me protectively.

  “Let me see who it is,” my dad says as he strides toward the front hall. “Everyone stay here.”

  A moment later, he returns with Bram following him. I gasp and leap up to embrace him.

  “Hey,” Bram says, hugging back. He’s battered and bloodied, but he’s alive. “It’s your grandfather, Eveny. He’s the one working with Main de Lumière. I got him to admit everything. He wanted to destroy zandara, to leave you with no choice but to return to Caouanne Island.”

  “I know,” I say.

  He looks surprised. “I held him off for as long as I could, but his magic is stronger than mine, and he got away. I can only assume he’s headed here.”

  I exchange worried glances with my dad and Caleb before turning back to Bram. “You bought us some time to regroup, Bram. A lot of people died today: Margaux, Arelia, all the protectors except for Caleb. And my aunt Bea.”

  “Oh no,” Bram says, looking horrified. “I’m so sorry. I should have been here to help.”

  “You did help. If my grandfather had actually been there, maybe we’d all be dead.”

  Bram reaches out and brushes a lock of hair out of my face. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving your life.” His eyes are so full of love and concern for me that it makes my heart swell and ache at the same time. It feels amazing to be loved like that, but I know it’s for all the wrong reasons.

  “I’ll never ask you to do anything like that again,” I say. “This is my battle to fight, not yours, Bram.”

  “It’s our battle, Eveny,” he tells me.

  “Bram?” My father comes up behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I turn and am startled to see how worried he looks. He glances out the front window. “Where exactly did you last see my father?”

  As if on cue, something thuds against the front door, and as we all turn to look, it splinters and explodes—not like it’s been kicked in, but like a bomb has gone off. We duck as shards of wood, metal, and stone fly everywhere, and a second later, my grandfather appears in the dust that still hangs in the air. “I believe you were asking about me, son?” He looks weak, bruised, sallow. A blue vein bulges from the middle of his forehead.

  “How could you do this?” my father cries, stepping forward, his fists clenched. “How could you destroy Carrefour and put Eveny in danger like this? She could have died, Father! What have you become?”

  My grandfather chuckles as he steps into the house over the splintered door. Caleb springs to my right side, and Bram stays protectively on my left as we watch him walk casually toward us. I resist the urge to back up; I won’t run from this man.

  “My son,” my grandfather says, his tone even and cold. “You have made so many wrong decisions in your life, but leaving Caouanne Island in order to ally yourself with this town was the worst one. I’m sorry that you got so attached to this place, but this was how it always had to be, from the moment you chose. You must realize that.”

  “No,” my father says, “I made the right decision, because I made it out of love. Andaba and zandara have no choice now but to coexist. You can’t wipe one out to save the other.”

  “Oh, but I can,” my grandfather says. “It’s already begun, Matthias. Look around you. You and Eveny have nothing to stay here for. The town is in ruins. All that’s left are these foolish girls who contributed to its destruction.” He nods toward Peregrine and Chloe, and Audowido hisses angrily.

  “You’re wrong,” I say, stepping forward. “We have everything to stay here for. We’ll rebuild Carrefour. I have no doubt about that. But know that for the rest of my life, I will always blame you for what happened here. How could you have allied with Les Jumeaux Noir?” I think of Aunt Bea, and anger surges within me. “The blood of the people we love will forever be on your hands.”

  “Maybe a little of that blood
is on your hands too, Eveny.” He shrugs. “You were so trusting and stupid. Just like your mother.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” my father asks.

  My grandfather looks back and forth between us, and for a moment, he seems to be considering something. “I’m an old man, my son. And this cancer is destroying me. I thought Les Jumeaux Noir would be my salvation, the salvation of andaba, but by defeating them, you’ve destroyed me too. So before I go, you might as well know the truth. You think I have no power over you? No power over Carrefour? You’re fools, both of you. I’ve held the power all along.”

  He pulls out his Mind’s Eye and beckons us closer. I take a step in his direction, but Caleb grabs my hand. “It’s not safe,” he says. “You can’t trust him.”

  “I know,” I say. “But he can’t hurt me now.”

  My father nods at me, and together, we flank my grandfather and peer down at the smooth crystal. He closes his eyes and chants something softly, and after a second, an image appears in the Mind’s Eye. I realize immediately what I’m seeing. It’s the inside of my parlor, on the night of my mother’s death. My mother and her sister queens are chanting, but I’m not seeing them from my perspective. I’m seeing them from the viewpoint of someone lurking in the shadows. It can only mean that my grandfather was there. I look at him in horror.

  “I had to do it,” he says, and his voice sounds far away, hollow. “I had to take away your reason to stay in Carrefour, Matthias. I had to make you and Eveny return to Caouanne Island.”

  My father stares at him. “What are you saying?”

  But I already know. As I watch the scene unfold in the Mind’s Eye, I see him snuff the lights out, creep through the shadows, and slit my mother’s throat in one swift, clean motion before slipping back into the hall and away into the dark veil of the night. My heart feels like it’s been split open as the image flickers out. My own grandfather murdered my mother. It’s almost too much to bear.