House of Ivy & Sorrow

TWENTY-FOUR





Cats and witches have always gone together, and for good reason. Felines possess the same ability to hold darkness, but on a smaller scale. Most witches have at least two or three, which they use for various purposes. Cats are beloved companions to us, as faithful as dogs but much smarter. I’ve always, always wanted one, and seeing this cat’s eyes makes me long to keep it here forever.

But Nana’s violently allergic.

One strand of cat hair will make her entire face swell up. When she was born, Great-Grandmother Geraldine had to say good-bye to four beautiful Russian Blues. We still have a picture of them on the mantel.

“Once you discover why it has come,” Nana says, “get back inside, shower, and then tell me what we’ve learned, both from the feline and that horrid young man you met.”

“Of course.”

I grab a frog eye from the apothecary and head back to change the front door to the black one. I savor the brass knob’s grimy feel, excited to open it. It lets out a positively gleeful groan, and the world outside crashes into me, all power and shadows and age.

Unlocking the gate, I click my tongue and hold out my hand. The cat emerges from the bush immediately. It’s a pretty thing, sleek and sandy in color. It saunters over like we have all the time in the world. I don’t mind—I’m just excited to hold it.

It hops into my lap, and I run my hand over its silky soft fur. “What’s your name, pretty cat?”

“I am Rose,” she says in a delightfully rich voice. “I am here to deliver a message from my master to Dorothea Hemlock.”

“Who is your master?”

“Sylvia Black.” Rose’s purr tickles my fingertips as I scratch under her chin. “She has heard that you are looking for her daughter.”

My heart skips with hope. “Dorothea is allergic to cats, but I’m her granddaughter, Josephine. Are you authorized to give your message to me?”

Rose nods. “My master knows not of Anastacia’s whereabouts since she is traveling. But if you would like to visit Sylvia, she is willing to attempt contact with Anastacia for you. Her house is in Georgia, on an old plantation called Blossom Ridge.”

“Well, that’s something. Thank you, Rose.”

“You are very welcome.”

I scratch behind her ears, and she purrs. “Do you need anything before you leave? Milk? Food?”

Her ears perk up. “Milk would be lovely, but I can find my own meals.”

I reluctantly put her down and crack the door. “Maggie! Grab a bowl of milk, will you?”

“Sure thing!” When Maggie brings it out, she smiles gleefully at the cat. “Oh! You are so pretty. It’s weird to be in a house without cats. I don’t know how Jo survives.”

I fold my arms. “I don’t. It’s horrible not having them around. I miss them, and I haven’t ever had one.”

“It is a shame,” Rose says. Then she sticks her face in the bowl, lapping up the milk. Maggie pets her as she drinks, this longing expression on her face. I wonder if I look the same.

After we take a few more turns petting Rose, I force myself to stand. “We need to get back to work.”

Maggie frowns, but frees Rose from her hug. “Come back if you can.”

The cat licks her paws. “Thank you for the milk.” Then she runs through the gate and disappears behind the ivy.

As I climb the stairs for my shower, I hear Nana ordering Dad to vacuum the entire front hall and all the way up to the second floor in case we tracked in cat hair. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made him clean the walls, too.

A shower and comfortable pajamas do wonders for my stress level. It feels like the last week and a half has been months, with so much happening that I can barely stop to breathe.

“Jo! Hurry down here!” my dad calls frantically as soon as I shut off the shower. I sigh. From one crisis to another.

He’s at the front door, seeming perplexed. “So I can hear a knock, but when I open the door no one is there.”

I laugh. “It’s the other door. One sec, let me change it over.”

Nana seems impatient when I enter the apothecary to grab more frog eyes, but she says nothing. She taps her fingers on the desk, and the sound makes me pick up my pace. I put my hand to the front door, and my father watches with curiosity.

“There we go,” I say when the Main Street one appears.

He touches it. “That is incredible. It’s like you’re a witch.”

“You think?” I open the door, and our visitor makes my jaw drop. I thought it’d be Kat or Gwen. Maybe Winn, though he said he had plow duty again. But never in a million years did I expect to see this.

It’s a cable guy.

“No freaking way,” I say.

The man looks between us. “Did I get the wrong house? I’m looking for Joseph Johnson?”

“Right here.” Dad raises his hand. “Do you need any help with the equipment?”

“That’d be great. The TV is pretty heavy.”

“Thanks for hauling that out for me, by the way. We’re so far from everything here, and it wouldn’t have fit in my car.” Dad follows him to the big white truck, and I stand there in total shock. I don’t know how he did it, but I’m so excited I can barely contain myself. They lug a huge rectangular box through the front door, and he smiles at me. “Where should we put it?”

“Oh, um, the living room, probably,” I say.

The cable guy brings in a bunch of other stuff and gets to work. Dad looks at me nervously. “You like it?”


“Uh, heck yeah. I can’t even believe it.”

He laughs. “We should be online in a few hours. I hope you don’t mind, but I bought you a laptop, too. I don’t know how you’ve been writing your school papers, but I figured it would help to have one for next year.”

“Are you serious?”

He nods.

“So . . .” I gulp, suddenly nervous that asking will jinx it. “Does that mean you’re staying?”

He winces. “Not completely sure yet. My company said I could telecommute for a couple months as a trial. Don’t tell your grandmother, though. I only convinced her to let me have this stuff because I’d be here permanently.”

Before I worry about what he thinks, my arms are around him. “You’re the best.”

He puts one arm around me, like he’s unsure of how to do the parental-affection thing. “I can’t wait to see your reaction when I buy you a car.”

I pull away, eyes wide. “Don’t even kid about that.”

“Can’t have you dependent on a boy for transportation.”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously, Winn should be the least of your worries at the moment.”

“Perhaps, but you’ve never been a teenage boy.”

“Thank goodness.” A sudden burst of worry rushes over me. “Does he really bother you that much? You bring it up like every time we talk.”

He shrugs. “I suppose it’s another reminder that you’re already grown up, and . . .” He looks away, his eyes sad and distant. “I missed everything.”

I bite my lip, unable to say how much I wish he had been there, too, now that I’ve met him. “We have photo albums. Maybe later we could watch something on this awesome TV, and I’ll show them to you.”

He smiles my smile. “I’d like that.”

“I better talk to Nana. She’s waiting for me.”

“Right, of course.”

Nana almost glares me to death when I enter the apothecary. Maggie is cradled in the small window seat, seeming positively bored. I sit in the chair and give Nana the run-down on Levi and Rose. When I finish she just sits there for a moment, her hands clasped.

“It seems very strange that he would not Curse you,” she says. “Is he toying with us, or is he someone we can trust?”

“I don’t know.” I wrap my arms around myself. “Trusting him seems like a really stupid idea, doesn’t it? He has magic when he shouldn’t, and we don’t know anything about him but his name.”

“And the fact that he sounds like a total jerk,” Maggie adds. “He almost killed Kat. How did he even know she was bound to you? That is super fishy, if you ask me.”

Nana sighs. “He could have sensed it. If he can sense Josephine’s magic, it must be a skill of his. Maybe that’s how these men have been able to hunt down witches for centuries. And I do not like how he said he doesn’t take what isn’t offered . . . why would a witch offer to be Cursed? It makes no sense.”

“Nothing makes sense anymore,” I say.

“I know, dear.” Nana looks so sad, so filled with regret. “But that boy has answers. I think he does know who killed Carmina, and he certainly knows how the Curse works. We need that information desperately to even stand a chance.”

Levi’s smug grin flashes in my mind. “I think he knows that, too.”

“Certainly.”

“Which means there will be a steep price to pay if we risk seeking his help.” I put my head in my hands, unsure of how much I’m willing to sacrifice to survive.