November 25, 2020
64 days until the Crimson Eclipse
The Cantini’s manor was settled on the bend of Seaside Street, towering over a cliff and bold against the tempest of black ocean waves. Iron gates surrounded the castle-like structure, and defiant rose bushes climbed trellises around the Gothic-inspired home.
To Dad, it seemed only fitting to have dinner—or lunch at these times—with my soon-to-be mother-in-law, husband-to-be, and the rest of the Cantini family, which felt wrong to be coming together like a celebration.
We were having dinner with fake smiles while people were dying.
And when I should have been thinking about why Lena’s death wasn’t mentioned in the latest issue of The Daily Hollow, with much guilt, I wasn’t. All I could think about was Stone silently suffering on Bone Island and the kiss we’d shared.
Viola Cantini was an elegant, pale Italian woman with black hair pulled severely back from her face. She preferred form-fitting dresses that belonged to the nineteenth century, and kept her neck and chest free from heavy jewelry. Viola, and those who’d come before her, had made a small fortune in wine, but they’d never boasted or flaunted their wealth in town.
They were the Keepers of Secrets, the only family in Weeping Hollow who held the secrets and truths of this town. They’d practiced fairness and kept their loyalty to their centuries-long oath, living in a way anyone would assume a Keeper of Secrets would live, which was in secret.
At the expansive mahogany dining table, both families gathered around. Cyrus’s father, Darnell, wasn’t present, but it was no surprise. Not many had seen him in years.
Black candles flickered on three black candelabra centerpieces. Fine china and aged wine in crystal adorned the embroidered silk tablecloth. And Ivy’s gaze felt like bullets piercing me from a few seats down.
For much of dinner, everyone remained quiet as they ate.
The maid cleared the dinner plates when Camora, Cyrus’s younger sister, broke the tension. “Have you thought of a design for the wedding dress yet?”
I cleared my throat and brought a napkin to my lips to buy more time. If only I could rid myself of the picture of Stone standing at the window of the lighthouse. The one that had become a permanent fixture in my mind.
Viola observed me from the head of the table, awaiting my response.
She looked at me as if she could see Stone standing there in my mind, too.
Her voice flowed like velvet when she said, “A Saturnalia wedding would have been spectacular. It’s a shame we must wait until January, but I do have the most gorgeous dress in mind for the announcement.”
My thoughts were safe, my secret secure.
My shoulders relaxed, and I eased back into my chair.
“Saturnalia? Do you mean Christmas?” Fable asked. “A Christmas wedding?”
“I prefer to keep to tradition,” Viola countered. “If we don’t, who will? Ronan, would you agree?”
Dad nodded. “Of course.”
Ivy’s eyes flicked skyward.
I imagined a Christmas wedding.
Stone smelled like Christmas.
I cleared my throat and thoughts at once, fixing the napkin resting on my lap. “Since we’re discussing preferences, it is mine to choose a dress for my announcement. I have little room to make decisions, and I’m taking this one.”
“You will look beautiful in whatever dress you wear,” Dad said, then turned to the table. “Adora’s been busy designing everyone else’s dresses for the ball, on top of taking care of the house and her mother in the scarce free time she has—” I coughed into my fist, but Dad resumed, “—Believe it or not, she always puts herself last. Don’t you, sunshine?” He leaned in and searched my face with a smile.
Guilt should have slammed into me for all the time I’d been spending with Stone, but it didn’t. I didn’t feel guilty about it one bit. Dad was right, I’d spent way too much time taking care of everyone else for so long. All I wanted was this time with Stone until I was either burned for killing Kane or forced to live out the rest of my days married to Cyrus.
Keeping my posture, I reached for my glass. “You don’t have to talk so highly of me, Dad. Cyrus has no choice but to marry me,” I settled my gaze on Cyrus, who was sitting across from me, “regardless of where my priorities lie.”
Viola cut in. “If Adora is taking care of everyone, then who is taking care of Adora?”
The question struck a chord inside me, remembering how Stone’s lips felt wrapped around my finger, and the way he looked at me as he drew out my splinter.
My heart raced, and my gaze turned to Ivy for help out of habit.
A silent knowing passed between us as we stared at each other. Something that said, regardless of you marrying the love of my life, I’ll still be here. At least, this was what I hoped to hear from her.
Viola exchanged glances between the two of us. “I understand, Adora. I do,” she began, sincerity in her eyes. “Though you should know Cyrus has always been smitten with you. If anything, this marriage will be the most ideal for both families. I couldn’t have chosen a better daughter-in-law.”
My gaze lingered back to Ivy with panic.
She looked away, stayed silent, her black hair attempting to hide her misery, and peered into her empty wine glass with a heated gaze.
The maid appeared at Ivy’s side and poured more red wine into her glass.
Ivy never broke her stare.
I turned back to Viola. “Since we’re on the topic of the wedding, I’d like to be the one to choose the date.” Viola’s brows shot in the air, and she rolled her wrist, probing me to continue. “If it must be in January, then I’d like January thirty-first.”
Cyrus sat up straight in his chair. “The absolute last day of the month.”
I smiled. “That’s right.” The Crimson Eclipse was on the twenty-eighth. If I were caught, I would die before I could marry him. If I weren’t caught, and Mom awoke, there was a chance she could stop the wedding from happening.
“Adora, I prefer sooner than later.” Cyrus leaned in, lowering his voice. “We should talk about this first.”
“Nonsense,” Viola interrupted. “After what happened in the chamber, this is a positive change in attitude, Cyrus. If this is what makes Adora happy, then the thirty-first should be the day.”
I grabbed my wine glass, sitting back in my chair with a victorious smile.
Cyrus’s eyes turned navy. He was bothered.
Viola continued, “The reason for this dinner is because I had a conversation with Ronan. We’ve come to an exciting decision.” She clapped her hands together, stealing all our attention and bringing the rest of the table back to life. “You will move into the manor to allow time to prepare for the events and adjust to your new home. It will be quite a change in such a short time, and we should all be together as much as possible.”
My spine sprang straight again. “Me?”
Then a sudden shatter took us all by surprise.
Ivy’s wine glass had exploded in place without her ever touching it, red wine spilling across the silk tablecloth and dripping onto the floor. Her emotions had won, allowing magic to slip through. Her chair screeched against hardwood when she pushed backward. She jumped from her seat and darted out of the dining room without a word.
Dad, Fable, and I stood to go after her.
“It’s fine,” Viola waved her hand as if it were no big deal. “Sit, relax. She just needs more time to come to terms with this new arrangement. The maid will make sure she’s all right.”
The maid rushed to the spill and began cleaning. “Of course, Mrs. Cantini.”
Dad returned to his seat with a worried expression. “Perhaps you’re right.”
The rest of us followed suit.
Cyrus was distracted, swirling wine in his glass with his eyes on me.
Viola adjusted her posture. “Where were we?”
“Adora moving in,” Camora said, lifting her glass.
“Ah, yes.” Viola nodded. “Alice is preparing your room as we speak.”
I choked on my wine. “This is happening tonight?”
Cillian, one of Cyrus’s younger brothers, chuckled behind his napkin.
Kaser, the other younger brother, at only ten years old, winked at me from beside Cillian. Fable darted her eyes to me, gauging for a reaction, and I couldn’t understand how Dad had agreed to this.
“What about Mom?” I asked, turning to face Dad, but Stone’s face also flashed in my mind. How could I continue to see him if I was constantly surrounded by the Cantini family? “We’re in the middle of the Panic. You can’t manage Mom and the nights without me.”
Dad took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “The wedding will be here before we know it. We would have to let you go eventually because who knows how long this Panic will last? Now’s a better time than ever to figure out a new routine with you gone.” He patted the top of my hand and looked into my eyes. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be all right. We always figure it out. Plus, you did say the boutique is costing you more to run than what it’s bringing in. Viola agreed to set up a sewing room to get the dresses done so you can temporarily close the shop until the Panic ends.”
Close my boutique? I was in a daze, staring at the empty space where my dinner plate used to be. “Is this about money? Did they buy me out without my approval?” I didn’t mean for my thoughts to be spoken out loud, but I couldn’t help but wonder why Dad would say yes when I was the sole provider for the family.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Viola exclaimed. “The boutique is still in your name. No one is taking it away from you.”
Dad’s gaze steered across the table, then he lowered his voice. “Now is certainly not the time and place.”
“It will be great,” Camora agreed, lost in her own world and distant from the tension surrounding her. “Finally, a buffer in the house.”
Viola leaned in. “I will not allow my daughter-in-law and the mother of my future grandchildren to stay at a cottage and risk her life in trying times. You will stay here,” she leaned back and straightened her posture, “where I know you’re safe.”
I pinched the insides of my palms with my sharp nails. Such a selfish thing to say in a room with my family. “My grandfather built that cottage with his two bare hands. Please, don’t insult the dead with your masked disrespect, and don’t forget the family I would be leaving behind in such trying times.”
“Adora,” Dad warned.
“Ronan, it’s okay.” Viola’s chin tipped upward when she looked at me. “I apologize. You’re right. I didn’t mean it to come across the way it did. I’m sure this will be hard for you.”
“Hard.” I tsked, catching Cyrus’s gaze with my own. “You’ve been quiet. What do you think about all this?”
The candlelight glowing between us reflected off Cyrus’s black hair. As if he had all the time in the world to answer, he ran his fingertip around the base of his wine glass in deep thought.
His tired eyes lifted to mine, and he dropped his head to the side. “For over twenty years, I’ve known you as one of my best friends. I care about you, and we deserve this time together.”
I sucked in a breath, feeling my chest rattle at realizing this was happening.
In minutes, I was moving out of my home and temporarily closing my boutique. I was slowly losing all that was mine in such a short amount of time. At least if I were going to be married to Kane, I would lose it all with purpose.
How could Cyrus not see that this marriage was only putting a wedge between my sister and me? At what point did he feel comfortable with this decision? It only made me wonder what he would gain from our arrangement.
“And who will be watching over me as I sleep?” I was reaching, trying to pull at any reason I could to buy more time. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to sleep in the same room until the marriage is official.”
“I will,” Kaser interjected with a wicked smile.
The table collectively laughed.
I was alone with my anger.
“That’s why we have Alice, dear. She’ll be assigned to you. There are no shifts in this house, and you’ll be perfectly safe and have a full night’s rest each night. You’ll need it with all the event planning,” Viola assured, then her voice dropped in degree. “You will be safe here, Adora.”
“Safe,” I repeated. But instead, it left me feeling smothered.
My family had left.
It’d pained me to watch them leave.
They were only minutes away, I knew this, but it wasn’t just them I was leaving. It was my family home, too. It was my boutique. And Mom. And I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.
The Gothic home was locked down as soon as the sun dropped from the sky. The sound of locks and deadbolts clicking into place echoed throughout the manor. Then a single bell chime let everyone know that the night had started. No one could leave. No one could enter. Except for the Shadows.
Cyrus led me up the spiraling staircase to the top of the tower where the guest quarters were. Only an oil lamp lit the way and cast our shadows in the narrow hall that looked like spirits. Our steps echoed in this part of the manor I’d never been to, where it was colder with walls made of stone. At the top was a living space, a bedroom, and a massive bathroom.
“Here we are,” Cyrus said, walking to the large, curved window that overlooked my beloved black sea. He placed the lamp on a desk beside the window, drew back the curtains, and crossed his arms over his chest, peering out into the melancholy night.
I walked around the four-post bed, clutching the mahogany spindle.
Atop the dresser was a bouquet of red roses beside a Welcome Home basket. Inside was a stack of the latest issues of Vogue tied up in lace, a jar of hazelnut peanut butter, a sleeve of malt crackers, and a bottle of Barbera wine that was labeled Wicked Affair.
It seemed to Cyrus and everyone else that these were all my favorite things. Did this basket sum up the woman he believed me to be? Did he ever wonder if there was anything more to Adora Oria Sullivan?
I pulled a rose out from the bouquet. The thorns were still intact, so I pressed the pad of my finger into it until blood drew. “Are you happy, Cyrus?”
He didn’t answer right away, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He gazed out the window, and I wished he were facing me so that I could see the color of his eyes.
“To tell you the truth, I’m relieved it’s you.” When he finally faced me, his eyes, though tired with dark circles carrying them, were the prettiest shade of blue. The ocean’s shallow waters. “Think about it, Adora. We’ve always been there for each other, and when I think of you, every moment has been my favorite. Even in the worst times. Hell, you’ve seen me fucking cry. I skipped class to walk you home when you started your cycle—”
“Because I begged you.”
Cyrus grinned. “Let’s be honest with ourselves. You didn’t have to try too hard. But that doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to say is that you and I have always been close, and we’ve spent most of our lives never missing a day without seeing each other. You do realize this, don’t you?” I stared at him, not knowing what to say. “I know you better than anyone, and right now you’re having a hard time believing me.”
“The Welcome Home basket. There’s peanut butter.”
Cyrus nudged his head. “Look in the nightstand.”
I walked to the nightstand and sat on the bed before opening the top drawer. Inside was a large keepsake box. I took it out and set it on the bed.
Cyrus leaned his shoulder against the wall, watching me.
“My mother put the basket together,” he said as I lifted the lid. There was a letter sitting at the top, and the first line read, I’m sorry about the peanut butter. “Because I know it reminds you of that day you found out about Adeline,” he continued as I pulled each item out one by one. “A journal for the letters you write and toss into the ocean twice a month. Vintage Vogue issues because you scrunch your face when it’s any year after 1970. A bottle of apple pie moonshine ... and the most important people in your life. Your sisters, your mother, your dad ... a picture of you and me.” A single frame sat at the bottom. Inside was a picture of Adeline and I, holding seashells over our eyes.
I looked up at him.
Cyrus shrugged. “I know you. Never doubt that.”
My mind went numb, unsure of what to do or what to say.
There was so much he didn’t know. He didn’t know I planned to kill our friend, or about the man I was hiding on Bone Island.
“We won’t just be friends, Cyrus. We will be married. You will fuck me and only me for the rest of your life. We will eventually have children and raise them together.”
Cyrus’s jaw clenched. “Does this have anything to do with Kane?”
“Yes.” It had everything to do with Kane, but not in the way he would expect. The only card I had left was to lie, but Cyrus would be able to tell. So, I remained calm, pretending to believe my words were true. “It’s no secret that I’ve always loved Kane. If we both agree not to move forward with this, we may get out of it. We can tell them that you want to marry Ivy. We can find a way around this so that we can both get what we want.”
I dragged in a deeper breath once the last word left my lips. My lungs were thin, and my heart was racing, so I felt the pounding everywhere. I just hoped his hyper-sensory didn’t notice.
Cyrus just looked at me. Blue eyes hard, troubled waters.
Every second in his silence was torture.
If he didn’t speak soon, I was afraid of throwing my fist through the window to get his attention. Very unladylike, I thought, so I pressed against the splinter to calm my nerves, but the splinter was no longer there. I had nothing to allow me to take a breath, nothing aside from clenching my fists and breaking open my scabs.
“Ouch, Adora,” he finally said. It felt like forever, but it couldn’t have been more than a second that had passed. He glanced out the window again before staring back at me. “Let me try to understand what you’re saying ... you’d rather defy the Order than marry me?”
“Yes.” My response came out faster than I’d intended.
Cyrus looked at the ground, smiling in disbelief. “You’re lying to me.” He lifted his eyes until they hit mine. “You don’t love him. You never did. I don’t know why you’re lying to me. Maybe you’re scared, but the consequences of defying will be a hell of a lot scarier.” I closed my mouth, jaw grinding. “This marriage isn’t just about you and me. It’s about our families and our town. Dammit. If we defy, Augustine will remove us both completely.”
“Each day that passes makes this coven feel more like a cult.”
“Augustine does everything with a purpose. Defying him means we don’t trust him. It’s not if he removes us. It will be when. And because we’re from founding families, we won’t end up as flatlanders when he pushes us out. We will be witches without a coven. Lone wolves. And if he decides to detach us from our power, we’ll become the Forsaken.” His voice cut short.
It had been a long time since the mention of the Forsaken—the witches who passed on after losing control of their power.
“Forget you and me,” he continued. “My mother’s standing in the Order would be questioned. Your father will end up like Ben Grimaldi—rest his soul. It will be up to our brothers and sisters to redeem our family names. I refuse to put that pressure on Camora, Cillian, and Kaser. If we defy, there will be no protection. They’ll only use us as an example. Is that what you want?”
“I told you what I wanted, and this certainly isn’t it.”
Cyrus gripped the bridge of his nose. “Such a selfish thing to say for someone who doesn’t understand why we’re placed together in the first place.”
“Then tell me. And it better be for a reason other than a power trip.”
Cyrus’s hand fell from his face. “Adora, I’m offering to give you the fairytale you’ve always wanted. I promise we will be happy. Far happier than you’ll ever be with Kane—”
A clearing of a throat interrupted us, and I glanced across the room to see a rosy, stout woman standing in the doorway, her discomfort beaming from her cheeks. She wiggled her pert nose. “Excuse me, miss. I brought you fresh linens for the night. Where would you like me to put them?”
Cyrus nodded. “There is fine, Alice. Thank you.” He turned to me and dragged in a breath. “We will talk about this later. In the meantime, Alice will stay with you while you sleep and accommodate your needs. And I want you to come get me if you need anything. At any time.”
He stepped away, and my posture stiffened.
“I have things from home I’ll need.” My words came out meekly, tired, defeated.
“Alice,” Cyrus said with a nod of farewell, ignoring me. When he reached the doorway, he paused, then turned back one last time. He tapped the door frame once, and before leaving, he said, “Just so you know, I never loved your sister.”