House of Ivy & Sorrow

TWENTY-THREE





“That binding spell is pretty convenient,” the boy says in a surprisingly soft voice. “All I have to do is think about killing your friend and here you are. Better than a phone, really, since you have to answer.”

Instead of replying, I put my hand to the charms around my neck, pulling the magic into my fingers.

“Don’t worry.” He smiles, as if he finds this all extremely amusing. “I’m not going to Curse you . . . yet.”

“So comforting.” Kat would be out here if I were in real trouble, but I continue with the spell anyway. The magic makes my hand tingle with power. The charms are definitely working, because I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strong. This stupid boy has no idea what he’s up against.

“Seriously, you really don’t want to do that.”

“Oh? If you’re the one who took my picture and tried to murder my friend, I definitely do.” I let electricity spark from my fingers. My hair will turn permanently gray if I let the spell shock him to death, but that seems like a small payment.

He sighs. “Details, details. I knew you’d stop that bubble curse before your friend died—that’s why I picked the one who was bound to you. I do have a cover to maintain, you know.”

“That makes it okay?” I’m so angry I can barely contain myself. “Whatever you are, you’re evil. You’ve tormented us for the last week and a half! No, for hundreds of years, and—”

“I know who killed your mother.”

My eyes grow wide, and the spell fades back into my body. “W-what? Who?”

His grin turns smug. “Give away my best protection against electrocution? I don’t think so.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

He shrugs, coming a few steps closer. I force myself to stand my ground. I won’t cower—not even if he can Curse me. He looks me up and down, and then says, “Just wondering what all the fuss is about.”

“Who’s fussing?”

His laugh is like a whisper, barely there and yet powerful enough to make me shudder. “It’s cute how you think I’ll tell you. But they weren’t kidding.” He takes in a deep breath, and the ecstasy on his face is sickening. “That is some top-quality magic, and it comes in such a pretty package.”

The lightning surges to my fingers again. “Maybe I should show you what it can do.”

“All in good time, Josephine.”

I hate the way he looks at me, that he knows my name and says it so intimately. I flick a few sparks at him, and they zip right to one of his pretty brown eyes. In my peripheral vision, I can see a lock of my hair turn silver. “Don’t. Push. Me.”

He pulls out a handkerchief to wipe the blood. “Impressive, the control you have not to release the entire spell.”

“I’m sure you know nothing of control.” The spell begs me to do it, to let go and watch him fry to a crisp. It would be so easy, but I can’t give in. He knows who killed my mother. Even if it’s a lie, I can’t risk losing a single lead.

Now his face goes truly cold. “You have no idea how hard it is to restrain myself from tasting your power, but I’m not a fan of taking what’s not offered. Unlike some.”

I tilt my head, completely confused. “Huh?”

He pulls the handkerchief from his eye, and it’s as if I did nothing to him. “There’s a lot you don’t know. Let’s just say people aren’t telling you the truth.”

My eyes narrow. “Yeah, I’m gonna believe some nameless, evil guy.”

“Would my credibility improve if I said my name was Levi?”

“Could be a lie.”

“But it isn’t.”

I grit my teeth, so angry I could scream. Maybe he’s telling the truth, but I really don’t need to be reminded by a freaking stranger that I don’t know what’s going on. I am well aware of that already. “Look, if you’re not going to kill me or help me, then get the hell out of here. I already have enough to deal with.”


“I could help you.” Levi puts his hands in his pockets, seeming almost like a normal boy. He looks at me, hope in his eyes. “If you help me.”

I scoff. “Nice try. That work on the last girl you terrorized?”

He smirks. “Yes, actually.”

The bell rings, and the classroom doors burst open. I freeze when Kat and Winn emerge from the physics room. They immediately spot my horrible new acquaintance, who frowns when he sees them. I run to Winn and wrap my arms around his neck.

“You!” Winn’s glare is ice, and he holds me tightly.

Levi appraises Winn carefully, as if he should know him somehow, and then lets out a laugh. “Interesting boyfriend you have here, Josephine. What’s his lineage? There’s something . . . off about it.”

Winn’s eyebrows raise, and I think I sense fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you better stop stalking her before I call the cops.”

“Cops?” Levi turns to me, like we’re in on some kind of joke. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

I ball my fists before the magic spills out again. It barely works, and Levi seems to notice because he takes a step back, as if he’s honestly afraid of what I’ll do to him. He should be. “That would be my cue to leave,” he says.

“Wait!” Winn calls, but Levi keeps going. Winn turns back to me. “Are you okay? He didn’t try anything, did he?”

“No, I’m fine.” I snuggle into him, wishing this were the last day of school so I could never leave Willow’s End again. “Why can’t some guys take a freaking hint?”

“I don’t know.” Winn visibly relaxes, probably thinking Levi was trying to hit on me.

“What is with the full-frontal hug?” Gwen says when she appears from around the corner with Adam.

“Some creeper was hitting on Jo,” Kat says.

Gwen laughs. “Hate to break it to you, Winn, but you’re gonna have to get used to that. If you haven’t noticed, she keeps getting prettier.”

“No kidding.” Winn finally lets me go, but only enough so that we don’t look like we’re mauling each other in public.

“I have the same problem with you, so it’s even,” I say, though my mind is reeling from who I just met. Nana and I theorizing that male magic users existed was scary enough, but Levi made it all too real.

Girls hitting on Winn—I wish that were the only thing I had to worry about right now.


“Nana!” I yell the second I get home.

“Here!” Maggie calls from the dining room.

I drop my bag, wondering what they’re doing in there. We never use that space—only the kitchen table. Everything in the dining room is original to the house, as pristine as it was when Agatha moved in. The table is dark cherry, each leg carved with hemlock flowers, small like baby’s breath but deadly. The fancy cupboard matches the table and contains fine china with gold-plated edges. And if that’s not elegant enough, the chandelier is stunning, with its draping flower crystals.

Nana and Maggie peer out from behind the thick velvet curtains. “Josephine,” Nana says. “We have a visitor.”

My heart sinks, envisioning something terrible, like Levi standing at the gate. If he got through our defenses we’re doomed. “Who?”

“More like what,” Maggie says.

I join them at the window. The front lawn of the house under the bridge is the same as always, shady and overgrown. I haven’t been out there since my dad showed up, and I ache to walk through the damp grass barefoot, searching for snakes and salamanders. “What are we looking at?”

“Under the ivy by the gate,” Nana says.

I squint at the shadows. There—two glowing eyes. “A cat!”

Nana nods. “Our first clue to where Anastacia might be.”