by Nicole Maggi
Jonah shook his head. “How did you know?”
“Nerina told me.”
“Actually . . .” Bree came over to the couch and handed me a glass of water. “Nerina told me, and I told Alessia.”
I propped myself up a little on my elbow so I could drink the water. It tasted delicious in my sandpapery mouth.
Jonah looked from me to his sister. “And how does Nerina know that?”
Bree planted herself in front of the couch and folded her arms. “If I had a nickel for every time I wondered the same thing, I’d be a freaking millionaire. And she knows way more even than she’s ever let on.”
“That’s not really what we should be worried about right now.” I set the glass on the floor. Holding tight to Jonah’s hand, I pulled myself up to a sitting position with a groan. Jonah kept his arm around me, his hand stroking up and down my side. Every inch of my body ached from the fight, but Jonah’s touch eased it away. “Even though you couldn’t attack the Dogs, you tried. And they saw you try.” His arm tightened behind me. I leaned my head on his shoulder. “They know, Jonah. They know you’re actively working against them.”
A thick silence descended over the three of us. Only the crackling of the fire stretched between us. Finally, Bree said, “I used the Pakistani magic on them. It’s possible they got displaced enough that they weren’t able to report it to the Concilio or Jonah’s Clan.”
“Do we really want to take that chance?”
“But what can we do? He’ll have to risk it and talk his way out of it if they confront him—”
“Hey, if you guys are done arguing over what I should do, can I say something?” Jonah glared at Bree, who had that petulant look on her face that I bet she’d perfected when she was three. “Bree, give me a few minutes alone with Alessia. Please.”
Her jaw tightened, but she nodded and left the room. I turned to Jonah, but before I could say anything, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. My soul blossomed beneath his touch and any pain left from the attack became a distant memory. He kissed me like it was the last moment on earth. I held him to me; I wanted it to go on forever.
“Alessia,” he murmured into my mouth, “come away with me.”
I pulled back. “What?”
His fingers pressed into my skin, his gaze fierce. “If the Malandanti know, then I’m as good as dead. So I’m going to leave. I’m going to get out of Twin Willows, go far away where they can’t find me.” He searched my face as though it was the answer to the only question he ever had. “Come with me.”
I leaned into him so that first our foreheads touched and then our lips met again. Heat spiraled between us. A desperate longing overwhelmed me. I lay back, pulling him down with me. He buried his face in my neck, searing my skin with kisses. I held him to me for that moment, that one beautiful, flawless moment, because I knew when it was over, the pain would be twice as bad as anything one of those Wild Dogs could do to me.
He brought his mouth back to mine, catching my bottom lip between his teeth. “So you’ll go with me?”
I kept his mouth against mine as I answered. “I can’t.”
A groan shuddered through him as he sat up, dragging me up with him. I curled into his lap and laid my head against his chest. Beneath the layers of clothes I could hear his heartbeat, fast and hard. I put my hand at the side of his neck. “You know I can’t, Jonah. I can’t leave my Clan incomplete.”
“But if I leave mine,” he said, “your Clan could win.”
“The Call . . .” I began. “The Call reaches everywhere, Jonah. You can’t outrun it.”
He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. “I hate this so much. I just want to get out of here . . . leave it all behind me. But I can’t, can I?” His voice broke, and he looked away. My heart twisted. I could see it all over him, the pain and stress cracking him like a fractured aura. If the Malandanti didn’t kill him, the pressure would.
I threaded my arms around his neck. “We’ll find a way, Jonah. Somehow . . . there has to be a way.” I kissed him hard, as though somehow that would make up for the fact that I was probably lying.
The door to the den banged open. We broke apart as Nerina click-clacked her way over to us. The look on her face told me she knew exactly what was going on before she came into the room. “Still here, Mr. Wolfe?”
Jonah stood. “I had to make sure Alessia was okay.”
“Well, you’ve done that.” Nerina folded her arms. If her gaze could shoot ice, the whole room would be frozen. “So now you can go on back to your little Malandanti Clan.”
I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. What the hell was her problem?
“For your information”—Bree had come in from the kitchen and met Nerina’s icy glare with one of her own—“Jonah tried to save Alessia. His aura clashed with one of the Dogs’. So now his ‘little Malandanti Clan’ knows he’s fighting against them and he can’t go back.”
Nerina’s nostrils flared. “If you’re suggesting we keep him here, that is never going to happen.”
“Why the hell not?” Bree yelled. I dug my fingers into my temples. The aches from the attack were coming back.
“If the Malandanti track him here, we are all dead.”
“I’ll reinforce the protection spell on the house—”
“And the Rabbit could easily undo that.”
I drew my knees up to my chest, trying to make myself small. In front of me, Jonah dropped to a crouch and put his hands on my arms. “Bree’s being her usual pain-in-the-ass self,” he whispered. Somehow, in spite of everything, he grinned. “You know I can’t stay here, right? No way am I putting you in that kind of danger.”
“I know.” I leaned forward until our foreheads touched again. It was just me and him, our connection blocking out the shouted argument that raged just feet away. His breath was warm on my nose. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. Spice and pine. “But where are you gonna go?”
“I have some friends I could go to. Far from here.”
“Why don’t you two stop fighting and ask Jonah what he wants?” Heath’s voice broke into our bubble. With a start, I realized the entire household was now crowded into the living room. A ray of heated anger stretched between Nerina and Bree, their eyes blazing at each other. Heath crossed through them and came over to the couch. He put his hand on Jonah’s shoulder. “What’s your plan?”
Jonah swallowed and rose so that he and Heath stood eye to eye. “I thought . . . I’d go to New York. I have friends there and I figure that’s a big enough city for me to disappear into.”
“I have a better idea.”
Everyone turned.
Mr. Salter stood at the foot of the stairs.
I gritted my teeth. I still couldn’t get used to him being here all the time. What was going to happen when we got to go home to the farm? Would he just move in? I didn’t say anything as he stepped forward.
“He can stay at my cabin. It’s way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. That way we know where he is if we need him.”
We? There was no we here. He wasn’t a Benandante; he didn’t get a say.
But before I could open my mouth, Bree softened her stance and cocked her head at Mr. Salter. “I could do a protection spell around the cabin. No one would think to look for him there.” She turned to Jonah. “But if they Call you . . . I can’t do anything about that.”
“I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do about that,” Jonah said. My chest squeezed tight for him. The thought of him all alone in the middle of the woods, fighting the Call. Hot tears gathered at the corners of my eyes and I tried to blink them away.
Mr. Salter crossed to the couch. “We’ve only got an hour or so before dawn.” He clapped his hand on Jonah’s shoulder. “We should leave now.”
“I’m going with you.” I held Jonah’s hand as I got to my feet, but as soon as I was upright, a wave of pain and dizziness crashed over me. I gasped and fell back to the couch.
/> Jonah leaned over me, cradling my face in his hands. “You need to rest,” he whispered. “I’ll be okay.”
“But . . .” My shoulders hunched. There were too many people watching. I wanted them all to leave. But they weren’t going to, so I couldn’t care what they said. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled Jonah’s mouth to mine. We were back in our bubble, the world belonging just to us, for as long as the kiss lasted. I wanted his lips to brand mine, leave a mark there forever.
He pulled away a fraction of an inch, enough that I could memorize the flecks of gold inside his jeweled irises. “I love you, Alessia. Always.”
“I love you, too.”
A minute later, he was out the door, Mr. Salter, Heath, and Bree following. I sank into the couch, my arm across my eyes, trying to block out the light from the dawn and the pain in my heart.
Chapter Twenty-one
The Blue Book
Alessia
The next morning when I went down to breakfast, Lidia took one look at the backpack slung over my shoulder and pursed her lips. “You’re not going to school today.”
“Why not?” I dropped my bag on the floor and slid into a chair next to Bree, who was already at the table, eating bacon. “I feel fine.”
“Thanks to me,” Bree said.
I rolled my eyes. “Bree, I already thanked you like a million times for saving my life.”
“Hey, a girl can never hear too much of that kind of appreciation.” She pointed a second piece of bacon at me. “Why do you want to go to school anyway? You know he’s not going to be there.”
“I know.” I toyed with a frayed edge of the tablecloth. A fresh knife of pain stabbed through me. Missing Jonah—knowing he was someplace where I couldn’t go—was like a tangible monster who had taken up residence in my chest. I cleared my throat. “But it seems stupid to stay home when there’s not really anything going on here right now.” It was true. Nerina had been locked in the den all night, making all sorts of long-distance phone calls to the rest of the Concilio. Without cluing in any of us, of course. And the thought of sitting around here all day with nothing to do but worry seemed like madness.
“God, you really are a Goody Two-shoes.” Bree shoved the rest of her bacon in her mouth and pushed away from the table. “Take a day off for once in your life.”
The moment she was gone, Lidia slid into her empty chair. I tensed, keenly aware of all the things that were still unsaid between us. She put her hand over mine, but I didn’t soften. “Cara, when Bree came in with you last night, I . . . I . . .”
I could picture the scene in my mind, and for a sliver of a moment I imagined the chaos and fear she must’ve felt at seeing me so hurt. I swallowed. “I’m okay, Mom. Really.”
She shook her head. “This is exactly what I didn’t want for you. What I tried to protect you from.”
“Well, you can’t.” I drew my hand out from under hers. “You can’t keep me in a bubble, no matter how many lies you tell or how many trips to Paris you don’t allow me to take.”
“Alessia.” The sharp tone in her voice stilled me. “I did what I thought was right. I made a mistake. You have to forgive me.”
I stared into her eyes, their soft brown depths pleading with me. When had my relationship with her become so complicated? How had it gone from being the one thing that I could count on to the thing I was most unsure of? “Tell me exactly what’s going on with Mr. Salter.”
She blinked. “Alessia . . .”
“You want me to forgive you? Then you have to be honest with me about everything from here on out.”
The only sound in the kitchen was the drip-drip of the coffee machine. We sat staring at each other, finally recognizing each other for what we were: a mother who was as human as I was, and a daughter who was capable of much more than her mother realized. “Okay, Alessia.” She touched my hand again. “You are right. You deserve to know the truth.”
“Which is?”
She hitched one shoulder up. “We are . . . dating, if you want to put a common label on it.”
“Oh, come on. He’s here all the time. There’s more to it than that.” I tightened my jaw. “Are you in love with him?”
“I . . .” Lidia looked out the kitchen window for a moment before turning back to me. “I am very fond of him. He makes me laugh. I could see myself being happy with him for a long time. So, yes, in that way I guess I do love him.” Her fingers tightened on mine. “But do I love him the same way I loved your father? No. I will never love anyone the way I loved your father. Just as Ed will never love anyone the way he loved Dolly. We have been very honest with each other about that.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “But that does not lessen our affection for each other.”
“Are you sleeping with him?”
Lidia pulled her hand away. “That, young lady, is none of your business.” But I could tell from the two bright spots that appeared on her cheeks what the answer was. And I kinda wished I hadn’t asked that question.
I picked at a chip in the table. “It was nice of him to let Jonah use his cabin,” I said finally. “Bree said he stocked up on all sorts of supplies on their way up there.”
“Ed is nothing if not resourceful.” Lidia glanced past me, toward the living room, and leaned in close. “And speaking of resources . . . there is something I need. Back at the farmhouse.”
“What?” I pinched my brows together.
“I know everyone thinks it’s dangerous, but I thought that you . . .”
My eyes widened. “Oh, my God, this is the real reason you didn’t want me to go to school today, isn’t it? Wow, Mom. You’ve got more in common with Nerina than you know.”
“I do not have anything in common with that woman.” Lidia stood up. “Get your coat.”
The air outside bit into my skin. Spring was still weeks away, and winter sure was having a hell of a last party. “What do you need from the house?” I asked, my voice muffled by my thick scarf. “And why do you need me to come with you?” When Lidia didn’t answer, I threw my arms up. “Come on, Mom, I thought we were being honest with each other.”
“I can’t answer you because I’m not sure what I’m looking for.” She clung to my arm as we braved the wind. We crossed Main Street and turned down the road. The farmhouse was in sight now, the weather vane spinning madly in the wind.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Many years ago, your father told me that he had hidden something in the house, something that might help the Benandanti should they ever need it.” Lidia glanced up and down the street. “But he never told me exactly where or what it was. And I thought, with your magic . . .”
“You think I’ll be able to find it faster,” I finished for her. “You would’ve been better off with Bree. I bet she could find something like that in about five seconds.”
“Well, I do not want Bree. I want my daughter.”
Behind my scarf, I half-snorted and half-smiled. It didn’t matter if whatever was at the house was useful; she wanted something we could bond over. Although I was pretty sure this was the strangest mother-daughter outing I’d ever been on.
We reached the top of the driveway. I pulled away from her and swept my gaze up and down the street. A bus lumbered past, on its way to Bangor. I looked beyond the house, past the barn ruins, and over the hillside. Patches of brown grass poked up through the crusty old snow. Heath’s cabin lay dormant at the edge of the pasture. The hen trailers were quiet. And the forest beyond appeared empty and barren beneath the gray sky. It all seemed normal. Still . . . “Let’s get inside fast,” I said, and we practically ran down the driveway.
“Any idea where we should start?” I said when we’d closed the front door and shrugged out of our coats.
Lidia unwound her scarf from her throat and hung it over her coat on the rack. “He would’ve hidden it someplace he thought was safe. Someplace he thought no one would be able to find it.”
“But if he told you about
it, he would’ve wanted you to be able to find it.” I tapped my finger on my lips. “The safest place probably would’ve been Nerina’s bunker, but if it was there, then the Malandanti definitely have it.” Everything had been overturned, torn apart, and undone in the underground lair when I’d last been there, the day Nerina had been taken, the day Heath and I had gone after her and been trapped in the Guild with Jonah as our guard . . . I squeezed my eyes shut. That day seemed like forever ago. I opened my eyes. If I let myself stand here in the living room and think about Jonah, I’d be lost. I had to keep moving, or I’d be stuck still forever.
“I thought perhaps . . .” Lidia took a few tentative steps toward the kitchen. “Maybe it was hidden near the amulet. The one you found in the basement.”
“It’s as good a place to start as any.” I followed her into the kitchen and down the basement stairs. It was freezing, the brick walls seeping with a bone-chilling cold. I went right over to the loose brick where I’d found the amulet. None of the other bricks around it seemed to be loose as well, but I felt my way along the wall, testing each brick to see if it would give.
Lidia stood in the middle of the basement, her eyes fixed on the shelves filled with jars of mostarda and jams, dried meats from last season, and canned fruits. “I should really take some of these back for Barb,” she murmured.
“Mother.”
She glanced at me crouched on the ground, digging my fingers around each brick. “Sorry.” She went to the corner opposite me and began her own search.
We worked in silence for several minutes. My fingers were red and sore from scratching along the bricks, and more than one of my nails cracked with the pressure. I finished the length of the first wall—the one where I’d found the amulet—and turned the corner.
The sound of loud knocking on the front door above us froze my hands.
Across the room, Lidia slowly rose to her feet, her gaze fixed on the basement door. “It could be anybody,” she whispered. “Maybe just one of the neighbors.”