This is a tale of the falling of two lonely, desperate souls who crashed into each other at the wrong place, right time in a cruel, hidden town that was crumbling from within. And as fate would have it, every time the Heathen and the Siren collide, their pieces shatter and scatter. They become dust, swept into the corners of the universe, waiting for something else to believe that these two belong together. Belief in their hearts alone was not enough.
My thoughts spiraled as I pressed my forehead against the cool car window, watching Weeping Hollow pass on the other side of the glass. Not even ten minutes had passed by, and I hated how empty my finger felt without my ring.
When we pulled into the driveway of the Pruitt mansion, my fists sprang loose and my fingers stretched out. The drive wasn’t completely wasted. Aside from coming up with the synopsis of Stone and my love story in my mind, I also thought of all the lies I’d soon spill.
In no time at all, I was walking through the Pruitt’s massive entryway and was escorted into Augustine’s office, where Cyrus was waiting. He stood upon my arrival, and I looked back to see Viola walking in and closing the door behind her.
“Adora, please sit down,” Cyrus insisted. He grabbed the back of a chair, pulling it out—one of two in front of Augustine’s mahogany desk.
Just like the rest of the furniture in the mansion, the desk took on a Chippendale style, with cabriole legs and ball-and-claw feet. A traditional rug with navy blue accents quieted my steps, and the warm, earthy tones and wooded details surrounding me felt like a hug. The back wall was lined with books, no space spared. And in the corner stood a large, sixteenth century floor globe.
I sat in the chair beside Cyrus, and Viola sat behind us in the corner of the room. It bothered me that I couldn’t see her whenever I wanted.
“Last night was ... eventful,” Augustine replied, keeping his tie back as he sat in his chair.
Uneasiness crept in, but I sat taller to hide it, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Shouldn’t Ivy or ... I don’t know ... my father be here?”
Augustine adjusted his tie and smoothed down his shirt, settling into his chair. “Your fiancé is sitting right next to you,” he said. “Why would we need anyone else?”
“It seems I’m outmatched.” Not a lie. “Whatever this is about, do any of you honestly have my best interest at heart?”
“Yes.” Cyrus leaned an elbow on his knee, reaching out to grab my thigh. I faced him, and his eyes were cerulean blue. Strong, empowered. “Trust me, Adora.”
“Trust you?” I scoffed. “Why didn’t you fight harder for me?”
“You left with the Heathens last night,” Augustine threw into the air.
My gaze darted to him. “Yeah, I did leave with the Heathens,” I admitted openly. “Surprisingly, it’s because of the Heathens and Fallon as to why I’m sitting here. How could I trust any of you after seeing you just stand there while my back was being carved?” I looked at Cyrus. “Augustine may not know, but you saw what Kane did to Phoenix. You know what Kane is capable of. I could have died, and none of you did anything.”
Augustine leaned closer, planting his elbows on his desk, intimidation seeping from his cold eyes. “The question is why would the Heathens get on their knees for you?”
I leaned forward, gripping the arms of the chair. “I. Don’t. Know.”
Because Stone loves me, my heart screamed, like it was the only person in class who knew the answer.
Augustine leaned back, smoothing out his tie again. “Kane is convinced you tried to kill him, and he was acting in self-defense.”
I laughed under my breath. “Self-defense? I’m sorry but did it look like I was the one holding a dagger to Kane’s throat last night?”
The wrinkles between Augustine’s brows deepened. He was getting agitated. “It was your dagger, though, wasn’t it?” he asked, making sure the room was aware. “Do you have an explanation for how it got there?”
I looked down at my lap, plucking lint off me with a smile. “I always have my dagger on me.” I looked up at him. “I never know when I may need it.”
“You have an answer to everything,” he said.
“Lie not and you’ll forget nothing,” I replied.
“I wanted to give you the chance to be honest, but it seems you will hold on to these lies by the skin of your teeth. Last night, you embarrassed us. For that, you’ve left us with no choice but to expedite the wedding to prevent any more surprises. I refuse to put the town in jeopardy because of your actions, and it seems waiting even one more day is a risk. One I’m not willing to take. You are marrying Cyrus at this very moment. In this room.”
“No,” was all I said, my head shaking, trying to find words that would convince him. “How can we be so sure this wedding is what saves the town? What if it’s something else, like the Shadows? Why are we not focused on them?”
“Cyrus is your match. The magic you two will summon and spill back into the coven will give us strength to vanquish the Shadows.” Augustine’s face took on a victorious expression. Like he’d won a game that I never wanted to play. “There will either be a marriage today or an execution. These are your only choices.”
“Execution?” My eyes found Cyrus. He looked just as scared. “For what?!”
“Attempted murder, trespassing, treachery ... infidelity. Pick one.”
“Whoa...” Cyrus held up a palm. “Wait a second.”
“I did none of these things!” Another lie, another shocked laugh. “You won’t execute me. You believe the only way to save this town is to marry Cyrus. Why order this then threaten me with my death?”
Augustine grinned.
I could have smacked it off his face.
“Not you,” he said. “Stone Danvers.”
And there went my heart.
And my breath.
And my voice.
My strength.
Just ashes.
Tears pooled in my eyes, but the anger inside me held them back.
“He saved my life last night, and you want to threaten his because of it?” I turned my burning gaze to Cyrus, then back to Augustine, fingers curled around the arm of the chair. “You and I both know these charges are ridiculous and cannot be proven, and yet you’ll still burn an innocent man out of spite?”
There was a knock.
Augustine lifted his chin. “Perfect timing.” And then, “Why don’t you come in,” he called out.
The door opened.
I turned in my chair.
Alice stood in the doorway.
“Please have a seat. We were just going over Adora’s indiscretions.”
I looked down, trying to breathe, but I couldn’t. My chest was heaving. I was backed into a corner. I had no cards left to play. What was I to do? Call Alice a liar? Say everyone was lying?
“Adora, you were saying?”
There was an island in my mind.
On it was a lighthouse, tall and strong.
Inside the lighthouse were my husband, and me, and our children holding my hands. We all had smiles on our faces. We were all happy, surrounded by family portraits, a warm fire, stories we’d read a hundred times, games we’d played, blankets we’d snuggled under, and there was a spider in the corner of the room none of us could part with.
But then the spider faded away. Like it was never there.
So did the blankets, the board games, the books.
One by one, everything in the lighthouse was dissolving into thin air.
Next my hands turned cold. There was no one there. My children were gone. And in my mind, I’m looking into Stone’s eyes as he disappears.
My mouth parted to speak, but emotion threatened to escape. So, I closed my mouth again and took a deep breath, waiting for this weakness to pass.
“I will only marry Cyrus if you free Stone of all charges, in writing, in the books.” I sucked in another breath, my voice shaking. “If you do not free him, I will burn alongside him. Those are your options.”
The only people in the room were the four of us. I stood in the middle of Augustine’s office with Cyrus to my left. It seemed like forever ago when Augustine first ordered our arranged marriage.
Cyrus wore denim-blue eyes on this day as he held my hands.
He didn’t want it to happen like this, and I wished I could have held back the blank expression on my face, but I couldn’t. It was either all my overwrought emotions or none. So, I was absent-minded throughout the entire ceremony.
It slipped by like a blur, and the ring felt cold and heavy on my finger when it was over. Augustine said husband and wife, but my brain couldn’t register. My heart couldn’t accept it.
Viola stood beside Cyrus, with disappointment in her eyes.
This was how her first-born child was getting married after weeks of planning.
I wanted to tell her that my mom is suffering right now. That it could be worse for her. And to get over it.
Cyrus leaned in to kiss me, and I turned my head to the side. He paused, dropping his chin to his chest for a moment, then decided to kiss my cheek.
“We need to talk,” he said quietly before pulling away.
I nodded.
Twenty minutes later, the two of us were in the library.
“Adora, what did I do to you that was so terrible?” he asked, exasperated, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his collar. Like he’d been holding himself together and it all burst out of him. “Why was a Heathen on his fucking knees for you, and why did you go with him? Is this because I had sex with Ivy for all those years? Is this a rebellion or a taste of revenge?” I’d never seen Cyrus so hurt, pacing the library, raking his hand through his hair, pushing up his sleeves. “Say something!”
“No, this has nothing to do with you.”
He paused, cocking a questionable brow. “Then what is it?” he asked, his gaze bouncing around my face. Seconds passed, and the color of his eyes spiraled into darkness as it dawned on his expression.
Then utter ruin flashed across his face. “Oh god, you’re in love with him.”
His eyes slammed closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You fucking love him,” he repeated.
He was trying to calm himself, but he was breathing harder, his jaw grinding.
Then he turned and flipped up the table behind him, throwing it back against the bookcase. I flinched when he turned around. “How could you be in love with him? You’re fated to be with me, Adora! To even fall for anyone else is not possible.”
“Please calm down,” I whispered.
Cyrus sat on the couch, dropping his head into his hands. “You’re in love with another man.” He looked up at me, water rimming his jet-black lashes. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
I took a deep, shaky breath. “Cyrus, I have to tell you something.”
“What?” His eyes flicked between mine. “What is it, Adora?”
I had to tell him. He had the right to know. It was the right thing to do.
Out of all the lies I’d told, I couldn’t hide this from Cyrus.
“I’m married to him. Clarence bound us last night.”
“You’re his wife?” he asked, and I bit my lip, nodding, afraid of how he was going to respond. Would he grab me by the nape of my neck and force me to face Augustine to confess what I’d done? Would he drag me to the Wicker Man himself? Would he betray me to honor the Order and the coven?
“So let me get this straight,” he said, his hand shaking as he pointed at me. “The only person in this entire world who is meant for me, who is my everything, is not only married to another man, but she has put me in a position where I have to have sex with another man’s wife.” He shook his head, a bright blue tear slipping from his black-rimmed eye. “Adora, you not only took away my chance of ever becoming a husband to someone, to be rightfully bound to someone, you also just destroyed the respectable man I’ve tried so hard to become.”
“Cyrus, I—”
“No, I want to know something. While you were busy fucking him, and falling in love with him, and marrying him, and I was busy building a life for us, did it ever occur to you how selfish this was? Did you ever once think about what this would do to me?”
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say. Because I didn’t regret what I’d done. I couldn’t be sorry for something I would do again and again. But in the end, it still hurt in my chest to see him like this.
My love for Stone was causing Cyrus so much pain.
“Did he know about me?” he asked.
“Not until the announcement,” I said, and he was shaking his head, like he regretted asking and didn’t want to know the answer. “Cyrus, we were already in too deep by then.”
“How am I supposed to fuck you in two hours when I can’t even stand the sight of you right now?” Cyrus stood up, swiping his arm across a side table, a lamp crashing to the floor. “Fuck!”
My eyes slammed closed.
Cyrus threw his head back. “I’m such a fool,” he scraped out through emotion. “I’ve been eating out of the palm of your hand, and this whole time you were with another man.” He swiped a palm down his face and looked at me. “You should go back to the manor and take a shower; clean yourself up and get ready.”
“Are you nervous?” Fable asked me.
Ivy, understandably, didn’t want to come.
“I mean, we’re talking about sex here. You’ve had sex plenty of times. But in a few minutes, everyone will be watching and I just can’t—”
“You are not helping,” I groaned, head down, twisting the satin tie of my robe around my finger. I hadn’t been able to look at myself in the mirror. “The only thing I’m nervous about is the light. Not just from the sex magic, but the finneuma light. The one that touches the sky. If it appears, it means what the book says is true.” That Cyrus was truly my match.
Fable’s brows snapped together. “So, we don’t want the light.”
“No, we don’t want the light.”
“Light, bad. Got it,” she said, confused.
There was a knock at the door, then Viola appeared. Her black hair was pinned back tightly. She was wearing a black gown, the neckline reaching her throat, with lace trim and an A-line skirt. She’d dressed for the occasion. To watch me have sex with her son. My stomach bottomed out.
“We’re ready for you,” she said.
The booming inside me was fuming and petrified. And I felt like I was going to be sick. “Can I have a moment by myself for a second?”
Her cynical eyes flickered with impatience.
“I’m not going to jump out the window, Viola. Please, I just need a minute.”
She huffed with a scowl. “One minute.”
Fable kissed my cheek. “I will be there, rooting for darkness,” she whispered with a supportive smile. Then her smile faded. “There are words I never thought I’d say.”
Then she was gone.
I waited five seconds, six, seven ... finding the strength to look at myself in the mirror. Then my chin lifted.
These were all decisions that brought me here. This was a mess of my own doing. I ... loved and in every direction love led me in, it hurt and it was wrong. Because I loved Mom, I’d manipulated Kane all these years by having sex with him, and it made me disgusted with myself. Because I loved Lena, I’d helped end her life, and I was the one who must bear the look in her eyes each time she died in my mind. Because I loved Cyrus, it hurt to love Stone, and because I loved Stone, I was sitting in this chair so no one would hurt him. Maybe I loved wrong all along.
“I thought I’d be strong enough to go through this life without you,” I whispered as though Stone was in the room with me. “But look,” my whisper cracked, and I shrugged. “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours and I’m falling apart. How am I supposed to last another sixty years?” I looked down at my hand. “You’ll think I’m weak. You’ll think I took the easy way out, and I am. This is me holding my breath. I just hope you’ll forgive me one day for this.” I took off the cap, tipped my head back, and gulped down the love potion. The vial I’d taken from Jolie.
“They’d have to drink the whole bottle. And then you’d have to kiss them for them to fall in love with you,” she had said. And since I’d drank it, all I would need to do was kiss Cyrus to fall in love with him.
The potion was thick like blood but tasted like nothing.
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to hold back my cry.
Afterward, Viola led me to a door. “You will not be able to see us,” she said. “The walls look like mirrors and are all one sided, but magic can penetrate through to your coven.” I nodded. “Your father and Ivy will not be there.”
I nodded again. “I know.”
She said some last words, but I didn’t catch them, in a daze, but I knew they were worthless words. Ones to make me feel better about what I was about to do.
I opened the door.
The room was diamond-shaped, mirrors circling me. A canopy bed took up the center of the room, sheets scalloping the frame at the top and cascading down, curtains all around.
Cyrus was leaning against the bed frame, wearing a white cotton shirt and white linen shorts, his fingertips drumming against his bottom lip. He’d straightened his posture when I entered the room, and I closed the door behind me.
“I don’t know if they can hear us,” he rushed out, stalking toward me. “Stay right there, I need to talk to you.”
I backed up against the door, scanning the room again.
Cyrus stood close, caging me between his elbows. He dipped his mouth to my ear as if trying to hide both our voices and our lips so no one could read them. “For one hour,” he whispered, “can we just pretend that nothing else exists outside this room? I know that’s a lot to ask, but Adora, I’d rather fucking burn in the Wicker Man than feel like I’m raping you.”
I nodded, just wishing to kiss him already to finish the last step and stop this sickness in my stomach. I just wanted to get through this night and the rest of my life. So, I stood onto my toes, grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him.
When I pulled away, Cyrus seemed relieved. His hands slipped over my sides, and his forehead fell to mine. “Thank you.”
The rest happened in a blur.
Cyrus took my hand and brought me to the bed. We avoided looking at the mirrors. Then all I saw was arctic blue when I wished to see black. Cyrus stripped his shirt off his back.
Then he was coming down on me.
A kiss here. A kiss there.
Neither one of us looked down.
But I felt skin to skin, his shorts gone.
And I felt his palm slide down my inner thigh.
My chest was cracking open, and it hurt to breathe.
It didn’t work, it didn’t work, it didn’t work, I wanted to scream.
He aligned himself, and I didn’t want to look at his face anymore.
He thrust inside me. My head fell to the side.
And a warm tear slid down my cheek.
Stone
Winter smelled like wood smoke and snow, and the temperature had dropped from refreshing to freezing. As we filed out of the tunnel onto the Goody property, we expected to see a velvet midnight, but the night sky was monochrome shades of storm gray.
Zephyr elbowed my arm, pointing above our heads. “Look.”
Eyes upward, a meteor shower cut across the sky, streaks of light.
The five of us huddled close, watching the wonder above.
The beauty of it compelled us quiet as the winter whooshed in our ears.
“Make a wish,” Phoenix said quietly. “Like not dying.”
As I closed my eyes, I did exactly that.
And when I opened my eyes again, snowflakes fell upon my content smile.
Whenever Adora wasn’t with me, it was this view that kept me sane. Nothing was the same as it was a hundred years ago. Looking up at the galaxy was like meeting an old friend.
Phoenix turned, facing east. “What is that?”
“Wait, is that coming from the Cantinis?”
Then heavy gazes fell upon me, eyes filled with pity.
It happened slowly from that point forward.
I turned, following their gazes. Beaming from the east was a bright white light hurtling up into the night. My gaze snapped back to the Heathens. “If what you say is true, and she’s his match ... a bright light will shoot up into the sky.” Julian’s words were an echo in my mind. And each time my heart slammed, it seemed to go on forever. Julian was shaking his head, reaching out for me.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” one of them said. “They’ll kill you.”
But they were growing farther because I was backing away.
Not only were they soulmates, she was fucking him this very second.
Dizzy, I turned, lurching forward, vomiting, my eyes watering.
This sickness inside me stole me, causing my lips to tremble.
Then I crumbled, falling to a knee, the snow soaking through my pants.
I cursed, standing on weak legs again, grabbing a fistful of my hair.
Then someone snatched the back of my coat and forced me to look. “She belongs to someone else. That beam doesn’t lie.” It was Julian. “She’s his soulmate. And she’s fucking him right now.”
I turned, shoving his chest, then my fist swung, my knuckles connecting to his face. It was not my intention to strike him. All I wanted was for him to stop and leave me alone so that I could breathe.
Once again, I was wrenched backwards. “You have to calm down.”
“But I love her,” I scraped out through the emotion clogging my throat, looking at the four of them, their sympathetic faces blurring.