Night devoured the Norse Woods, cloaking it in utter darkness, while the canopies above kept out the quarter moon’s light. All we had to navigate the woods was sheer memory and determination.
The snow smothered the sound of our footsteps, leaving only the whispers of nocturnal ghosts moving through the trees.
Julian hadn’t spoken to us since we’d left Goody Estate. Though I could hardly see his face, I could feel the anxiousness stir in his chest, drain from his soles, and vibrate under my feet. How does one handle the details of their own death? Though, if he were anything like me, Julian Blackwell was agonizing over the thought of Fallon knowing. How he should tell her, if he should tell her, how to leave this world behind when he’d just promised her forever.
“Don’t tell her,” I answered even though he’d never asked, my voice low, careful not to disturb the spirits. “If it were me, I would not tell her.”
Julian’s silver eyes found mine in the dark.
“The time of your death is still unknown, Julian, as it is for the rest of us. I could die tomorrow, or Fallon the day after that. We should spend each and every day as though there won’t be another because it seems foolish, doesn’t it? Wasting our time counting down the time?” I ducked under a branch. “I know Fallon. I’ve known her since she was a little girl. She’s never cared for anyone the way she cares for you. She will spend the rest of your days trying to find ways to save you.”
“Stone,” Julian said, grabbing my arm to stop me. The others kept walking, and Julian waited until they were out of hearing distance. “I want you to promise me that once I’m gone, you will not bring me back.” He turned to look at the guys, their backs descending farther. “No matter what they threaten you with, no matter if Fallon is on her fucking knees, do not bring me back. I refuse to exchange my life for someone else’s. I would never be able to forgive myself. Do you understand?”
Julian laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “And if you do bring me back, you have better found a way out of Weeping Hollow because I will come for you, Danvers. I will come for you, sever your hands, and hang them from the gazebo in Town Square. That way you’ll never be able to use them again. Not to play Russian roulette with lives. Not to touch Adora. And not to beat your fucking meat after she marries that prick.”
I grabbed Julian’s shoulder as he had grabbed mine. “Self-centered, are we?” My gaze slid between his as I squeezed his shoulder. “The thought of bringing you back has never crossed my mind, not even if the Heathens threaten me, not even if Fallon is on her fucking knees because it’s not you who must live with the choices that I make, Julian. I’m the one who must live with them, as I am living with Winta’s death on my conscience at this very moment.”
“What’s with all the negativity, guys?” Beck asked, appearing beside us. “Can we get on with it? We’re wasting our time out here freezing our asses off, when there are lives to save and Shadows to kill.”
Julian and I let each other go and joined the others, who were waiting outside an iron gate closed by a lock and chain. On the other side was what Beck had once called a carnival. I’d been here once before, when the Heathens had dragged me from the barn and through the woods, which seemed so long ago.
Zephyr pushed open the gate. It creaked as it swung out, the wind taking it the rest of the way, and the woods opened up to a village-like area that had long since died.
As we began the walk down the path, rotting stalls lined the way on each side like a graveyard. Every winter gust snatched up ripped tarps, and they billowed and slapped whatever they could—a hiss and a howl.
We had walked upon a clearing and stopped in the middle of it. Gloom hovered here like an ominous haze, a tell that we weren’t here alone. History had pressed itself into these grounds, these surroundings, compelling its ghouls and ghosts to sleep until they were called upon.
I dropped my head back, my gaze following the large circular object towering above that had to be at least two hundred feet tall. A sight I’d never seen before.
“It’s a Ferris Wheel,” Julian explained.
“Welcome to the carnival, Stone.” Phoenix raised his arms at his sides. “Where all the magic happens.”
“To call it a carnival would be deceiving,” Zephyr chided. “The gods know these grounds haven’t witnessed amusement in almost a hundred years.”
“The grounds witnessed your white ass fuck in that booth three months ago,” Phoenix reminded him. “I would say that would be enough amusement to last a century.”
Zephyr’s glowing eyes flicked skyward. “Yes, because meaningless sex brings us all great joy.”
Phoenix cocked his head. “I can’t imagine Zephyr Goody indulging in any other kind of sex.” He turned to Julian. “Julian, Beck, can you?”
Grinning, Julian shook his head.
“Meaningful … Ze-ze-zeph ...” Beck coughed. “My apologies. I suppose even the two words refuse to share the same breath.”
Zephyr exhaled. “Not that I have to justify myself to you three nitwits, but I do believe any man who doesn’t have a cock for a brain would prefer to choose their holes.” Zephyr gripped his hip bones, staring off as though he were remembering that night. “Not to mention fucking Francesca was torture. I had to imagine a sundae to reach climax. Chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, and all.”
Phoenix laughed, his palms dropping to his knees. “Are you telling me your fucking sweet tooth saved that night?”
“I’m confused.” I chuckled. “You had to think of ice cream?”
Zephyr shrugged. “Turns out freshly baked cookies weren’t fit for the occasion.”
Laughter echoed throughout the grounds as five Heathens stood in a circle in the middle of the night. As I looked around at the smiles on their faces, I thought, this. This was what I had always wanted. If only my younger self could have seen this to know that it would get better.
“All right, all right,” Julian interrupted. “Can we get back to the Shadows please?” His gaze steered around the circle, and the laughter faded as Beck drew a pentagram inside the circle with his finger, each point ending where each of us stood. “Thankfully we don’t need pleasure or pain ...”
The directions weren’t complicated. Chant a spell, then drink the vial we’d taken from the Heathen Athenaeum. Each vial contained magic with a strand of hair soaking inside. It didn’t matter who’s hair it was, so long as the person it belonged to was currently sleeping. Once we climbed into the other dimension, we could move from one person’s dream to the next.
Phoenix hovered his palm above the pentagram and whispered a spell.
The whisper surrounded us, the words strung together and coming out like a snake’s hiss. A flame ignited at the point of the pentagram at his feet. It then slithered, following the lines Beck had drawn until the fire touched each point and the entire star was on fire.
We all exchanged glances, clutching the vials in our fists. It was time.
“Aperi ianuam.
Liceat mihi intus.
Ad subconscietiam.
Ego sum apud te.”
We repeated these verses five times, the flames growing higher each time we finished. On the last round, we gulped down the vial.
When I opened my eyes again, the rest of them still had their eyes closed.
“How long did the book say it would take before it started working?” I asked, but neither of them answered. “Zephyr?” I called, and then, “Stone,” I heard behind me.
My chest instantly recognized the voice, and my heart galloped.
Suddenly, I could hear the waves, smell the brine, and taste the ocean. I spun around, and behind me, Adora was running toward the lighthouse.
“Stone, what are you doing just standing there?” she asked, waving her hand, and god, she’s beautiful. One glimpse of her on this island, and I was taken back to a time when she was only mine. “Come here.”
The sun was out, beaming high above us, and I had to throw my hand over my eyes and squint to see her better.
Adora was barefoot in the sand, her hair down, wearing the red dress.
I looked back at the Heathens. They were still frozen with their eyes closed, standing in the middle of the grounds, the pentagram still on fire. And as I faced them, it was nighttime, as it should have been, but when I looked—“Stone!” Adora laughed, and the sound of it spread bliss throughout my body as I turned back to face her, where it was day—bright and warm. “If you don’t get over here in—”
I didn’t give her a chance to finish. I broke away from the pentagram point and charged after her, sand flying up from the bottom of my feet. “Out of all the places in the world you’ve dreamed of visiting, Bone Island is where you choose to be?” I asked, grinning and scooping her up into my arms. “Why, Adora?”
She ran her thumb across my bottom lip. “Because it’s where you are.”
Then she was sliding her fingers through my hair, giving me the look.
The look that told me she was about to kiss me.
A scream echoed in the background.
I turned back to where I’d entered from, expecting to see my brothers waiting for me at the grounds, but only a dark tunnel remained.
Brothers, my mind repeated. I saw them as my brothers.
A slow grin fell on my lips.
But it didn’t last long.
Another scream echoed, and it was coming from the tunnel.
“What was that?” Adora asked.
I faced her, seeing her brows bunched together.
I lowered her until both of her feet were safely back on the sand. “I have to go,” I explained, my thumb grazing her cheekbone. “Why are you sleeping? You are supposed to meet me soon.”
She shook her head with a smile. “What are you talking about?”
Perhaps here, in her dream, we didn’t have to sneak around.
I leaned in and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Wake up, my darling,” I whispered, brushing my knuckles across her cheek. I swallowed, remembering what it felt like to see her with another man, and the ache hit me in the chest all over again. “I have to see you, so I need you to wake up.”
And then she was fading in my arms, taking the entire island with her until I was standing in utter darkness.
The scream came again. The tunnel began to shrink, closing up.
I sprinted to it, every step feeling like I was trudging through deep sand.
Just before the tunnel closed up, I dove inside, rolled across a floor, and crashed into a hard surface.
My eyes opened to a dimly lit room. I lifted myself up off a scratchy maroon rug—the thing that had softened the blow.
The walls were wood paneling, and atop the rug sat a single lantern, the only other thing in the room. I stepped closer, watching as the flame flickered inside. It moved in such an odd way. While the light should have lit the room almost evenly, it didn’t. Light only shone in one direction. Like a lighthouse beam.
My gaze followed the light until it landed on a wooden door.
On the other side, another scream bellowed.
I wasted no time barging through the door, running up the flight of stairs, and down a hall, following the sound. Until I halted in front of another door.
I inhaled, curling my fingers around the knob, then twisted the handle, opening the door. There was a woman standing in the corner of the room, hands clenched at her sides, brown hair under a baseball cap. Though I couldn’t see her face, I recognized the holes in the jeans. “Chloe?” I stepped closer. “No, it’s Cleo, yes?”
“Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up,” she chanted in a low murmur, pressing her entire body into the corner of the room as though it would wrap its arms around her.
I walked toward her. “Cleo,” I repeated, laying my hand on her shoulder and turning her around.
Cleo’s eyes were big and glossy under the lid of her hat. She clawed at my arms, yanking me closer and pressing her spine into the corner, her body shaking. Her fingers clutched on to me so tightly that her nails broke my skin. I’d never seen anyone this terrified.
I pulled her close. “What are you so afraid of?”
“She’s trying to kill me,” she whispered. “And now that you’re here, she’ll kill you, too.”
I turned, seeing the room empty.
Not a bed or a window.
Not even our own shadows.
I held Cleo back at arm’s length, bending down to meet her gaze. “Cleo, I don’t see anything,” I said, frustrated and squeezing her shoulders. She seemed so small in my hands, and I felt as though I may break her. “There’s nothing there.”
Cleo froze up, her eyes wide. “Sh-sh-she’s right behind you.”
I turned back again, this time catching someone standing in an open doorway that wasn’t there before. Their back was to me, but I could tell it was a woman. Her hair was dark blonde, sopping wet and clinging to her skin. She wore a dress torn around her thighs, and water dripped from every edge into a puddle at her feet. She was shaking, but I couldn’t tell if it was because she was angry or cold.
Then she turned, ever so slightly, to look over her shoulder.
Her eyes were so haunting, they made me feel things.
Her face was so familiar, it made me feel things.
Every feature carved into her face made me feel things.
And then I was trying to breathe, trying to find my voice. “Adora?”
It wasn’t Adora. I knew it as soon as the name left my lips.
It took a second longer to fight the initial heart-fisting reaction to know Adora’s eyes were a different shade, more feline. Adora’s lips were fuller, rounder. They shared the same nose, and though anyone else could have mistaken her for Adora, I knew that it wasn’t.
I touched every inch of Adora.
My lips had tasted every inch of Adora.
I’ve been drawing Adora my entire life.
That was how I knew this woman was not her.
However, she was someone who looked just like her, and she was wearing the same chain around her neck as Adora.
Cleo clutched my arm, almost screaming in my ear but it sounded as though it were a million miles away. “I don’t understand,” I whispered, shaking my head. “If you’re not her, then who are you?”
Her lips moved, but nothing came out. It was as if her voice had been stolen from her. So, I tried reading her lips, but then she stepped over the threshold, vanishing.
Cleo was now standing in front of me. “What did you see?”
But I pushed her to the side and sprinted after the woman.
As soon as my foot stepped outside the threshold, the walls dissolved and the floor disappeared right out from under me, gravity yanking me down into a black hole. Falling, falling, my stomach churned and my arms and legs moved frantically for something to cling to, fearing what would happen once the fall stopped.
I could see the end drawing nearer.
I thought I would have more time.
But time was running out.
And just before I hit the bottom, my eyes opened.
A plethora of oxygen rushed down my throat, and I turned over, coughing so hard it felt as though it were ripping my lungs apart, my throat on fire.
“Breathe, Stone,” I heard, not knowing who’d said it. I felt a hand push up my spine as I braced myself onto my palms, then dropped to my elbows, curling to open my airways. The cough turned into a wheeze, and my heart was beating a hundred times a second. “Take a deep breath.”
It was Zephyr, and his fingers pushed up my spine again, circulating my blood, commanding things to move as they should inside me. I felt it, and I inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled, feeling everything fall back into rhythm again.
I turned over and lay on my back.
My eyes were watering, and I pressed the heel of my palms into them.
“What happened?” I croaked, then blinked a few times, seeing Zephyr and Beck surrounding me.
“You were out for three hours,” Zephyr said, handing me bottled water.
I sat up, swiped a palm down my face, and unscrewed the cap. “Three hours? What about the four of you?”
“I drank my own fucking hair,” Phoenix grumbled from feet away. “So, yeah, talk about a weird experience.”
I looked at Zephyr, and— “I got caught up in a dream,” he said. “Couldn’t find my way to the next. But we’ve already done the sharing thing. What did you see?”
If three hours had passed, then ... “It’s the witching hour?”
Julian looked down at his watch. “Nine minutes ‘til.”
Adora. “I have to go.” I shot to my feet, but Phoenix jumped in front of me and shoved my shoulder. “Hey, man. Not so fast. Time to spill.”
The men surrounded me, expecting an answer.
“It’s hard for me to be certain of what I saw. And I want to be certain,” I confessed, not wanting to lie to them, but also not wanting to tell them everything. “You have to trust me.”
Phoenix shoved my shoulder again. “Trust you?”
“Don’t provoke me,” I warned. “I don’t want to hurt you, so don’t give me a reason to.”
“Let him leave, Nix,” Julian called out, and Phoenix stepped to the side. “Let him take care of whatever it is he needs to take care of. If Stone is one of us, he’ll do the right thing when he returns.”
A grin tugged at my lips. “Do the right thing like how you did the right thing?”
Julian shook his head in response, and I began to sprint, hearing their laughter fade behind me.