The taint sashays toward us, her inky dress melding with the shadows, clinging to them as if made from them. Her arms, neck, and face are pale and ghostly against the night, slender, dark veins crawling across her chest and along the column of her neck.
“You’ve been patient,” she says to me. “You’ve been compliant, and I have one final task for you. Complete it and your lover will be freed, just as I agreed. I gave you my word.”
The woodcutter inhales sharply, a warning. What is he warning me about? Think, Willow, think. The woodcutter’s words come to mind.
…simply ensure we examine those words carefully.
Examine her words.
What had she just said? I have one final task for you. Complete it and your lover will be freed, just as I promised.
…your lover will be freed…
My lover, not me. The original deal had been for his freedom. His freedom, his safety. Never mine.
I raise my gaze to meet hers, knowing even before she utters a word what she’ll be asking of me and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I will give it to her.
MERI
I hate tea. Bloody hate it. But Bea has this daily routine where we all sit around in the conservatory, drink tea, and talk about our day, our pasts, anything.
It used to annoy me, but now, I kinda look forward to the chats and the laughter, even if it does involve tea drinking.
It’s even better when Quinn and Tate join us and we’re a complete family.
A family…
Yeah, this is my family, and Bea is the mother hen rushing about and keeping us all in check. Although she’s been preoccupied today, whipping up cookies, several batches to test which one will be best for her movie date with Quinn tomorrow night. They’re all delicious, but Bea wants only the best for the people she loves.
Love…
I haven’t loved many people, but I think I love Bea. The rest of them are growing on me like stubborn fungus.
“Where is she?” Grumble asks, eyeing up his teacup.
“You don’t have to wait. You can drink your tea, you know.” I flutter down to my thimble and take a sip. It’s more bitter than usual. “I think she might have over-stewed it.”
Grumble takes a gulp of his. “Hmmm, maybe it’s a new kind of tea?”
I take another sip and smack my lips against the strange tingling in my mouth. “Urgh…I feel…funny.”
Grumble is too busy taking a second swig of his tea. His face begins to blur and melt.
“Meri…”
His voice sounds odd. Echoey and distant.
Panic makes my pulse beat harder because this is wrong. There’s something wrong…in the tea…The taste…
A shadow passes over us and I catch a glimpse of a familiar face.
No…No, this can’t…
The world goes dark.
QUINN
The sweet flavor of raspberry cotton candy was heavy on my tongue as we strolled through the carnival. To think that only a few days ago this place had been a blood-stained vista of terror after a vampire attack, and now it was filled with laughter and music as if nothing untoward had occurred. Humans sure did have a short memory. Either that or they were super resilient.
Tate strolled beside me, checking his phone every few minutes even though he’d put it on loud before he got here. I’d called him to let him know where I’d be and asked him to let the guys know too. He’d insisted on joining me, turning the girls’ evening into an almost date, although to give her credit, Selene wasn’t fazed by the potential of becoming a third wheel and Tate was hardly acting as if this was a date. Instead, he was in hypervigilant mode. I could sense the tension radiating off him, the anxious anticipation of Lorenzo’s call.
A space had been cleared in the middle of the carnival and several workers were busy cutting patterns into the grass. Ian stood over them, arm in a sling, watching as they worked. He looked up and smiled when our gazes met.
I raised a hand in greeting and he walked over. “Quinn, so good to see you.”
“And you.” My gaze dropped to his sling. “Shouldn’t you be resting? That shoulder wound was bad.”
“I’m fine. I’m healing.” He glanced at the workers and then back at me with a tired smile. “Although I will probably need an early night.”
“What are they doing?” Tate jerked his chin toward the workers.
“I think they call it art.” Ian’s eyes twinkled with humor. “It’s supposed to be viewed aerially. A project one of the young ones was eager to try as part of her online art course.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to do that in the day?” Selene asked.
He sighed. “Yep, but try telling that to an overeager teen. I don’t suppose you know anyone with a plane or helicopter who might be able to take her up so she can snap some pictures, do you?”
Tate shook his head.
“No, sorry,” Selene said.
I reached out and touched his arm. “I’ll ask around for you.”
“Thank you.” His gaze was warm. “I best get back to supervising, make sure they don’t damage the ground. Don’t want the council on my ass.”
We broke away and back into the buzz of the carnival proper.
A huge purple teddy bear prize at one of the many shoot-the-target games caught my eye, and I gravitated toward it.
“I’m gonna try for it.” After hours of practice with a bow my aim was pretty good, but this was a pellet gun range.
I paid and got three shots at the target.
“You’ve got this,” Selene said.
Turned out I hadn’t. Three almost perfect hits didn’t win the teddy, but I did get a bag of sweets for my efforts.
I eyed the teddy again. “Never mind.”
“I’ll take a go.” Tate stepped up and paid.
I stared at him. “Really?”
He always said how ridiculous these games were, how they were rigged so people failed.
He took the pellet gun with a small smile. “Really.”
He aimed and fired three perfect bullseye shots that left me with my mouth open and Selene whooping with delight.
The guy behind the counter looked almost puzzled, lending credence to Tate’s assertion that these games were rigged.
Tate handed him back the gun and pointed at the huge purple teddy. “I’ll take that one.”
Okay, so I might have been a little misty-eyed, but fuck, he’d just won me a teddy. The man unhooked the mammoth cuddly toy and handed it to Tate, who passed it to me, a soft look in his bright hazel eyes.
The moment was totally movie-scene cliché, so of course I had to wrap it up by pushing up on tiptoe and planting a mushy kiss on his lips.
“I love you.”
He cupped my nape and pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you more.”
“And now I feel like a third wheel,” Selene said. But there was a smile in her voice.
I clutched the huge teddy to my side as we continued through the carnival grounds.
I had no idea why I’d wanted the item. Maybe because I’d never owned anything so indulgent and purely for the fuck of it in my life. Maybe because it looked so alone and untouchable pinned above all the other smaller prizes. A ridiculous outsider. Maybe because that purple teddy bear reminded me of me.