“But what if it doesn’t? We need to talk about what’s going to happen after.”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “Not yet. Manifestation is powerful. You have to believe. Please, Seth, just believe.” Simon slunk out from behind the peach tree and slowly circled the twins, with wary green eyes.
He stared at her for a long moment but nodded his head. She closed her eyes and began.
“Par la force de l’équilibre, je convoque les esprits de la magie ancienne,” she began, and Simon mewled loudly in what felt like a warning. “I implore you, blood of our ancestors, to remove this curse and restore harmony to our bloodline. Let not one twin perish, but let the magic of light and blood flow through us both, uniting us in strength and power. So mote it be.”
The scent of peach drifted from the garden and mixed with pine from the forest. Sadie could feel the magic brewing in her veins, ancient and powerful, but something felt off. Her eyes snapped open as the hair on the back of her neck stood to attention. Her gaze was drawn to the forest line. Right at the spot she’d entered when she’d tried to call Gigi’s spirit. The figure was back.
It was a man-shaped figure, and the more she stared, the clearer he became. He wore white pants and a matching white suit jacket with a white hat. Well, she’d certainly never seen a better-dressed spirit. She squinted and saw a brown cigarette in his fingers. And as though he didn’t like her staring, he vanished. Just as he did, the circle of oak that surrounded them burst into flames and caught the hem of her pants on fire.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Seth pushed her out of the circle, and faster than Sadie thought possible, had his jacket off and was hitting the flames until they died out.
They were both on the ground, panting, her terror reflected in his eyes.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, it didn’t burn my skin.” At that moment, Bambi shoved through the screen door and yipped wildly as he ran toward them.
“You saw that? In the forest?” Seth asked, catching the dog in his arms and giving him a reassuring pat.
She nodded, swallowing hard, unable to form words.
“Safe to say that one didn’t work, I guess.”
Eleven days.
Another failed attempt. This time from Calliope again. Seth had adamantly refused, and so Sadie tried the summoning on her own and suffered three long gashes in her forearm that wept angry red pus and smelled like rotten bones.
Seth rubbed ointment in and wrapped the wounds with a disapproving look that said I told you so.
They all sat in the living room. Florence, Anne, Kay, Tava, Brian, Suzy, Raquel, Seth, and Sadie. Sage was asleep upstairs. The grandfather clock kept sending out sad, quiet chimes. The curtains shuddered like they were trying to hold in their tears.
They’d been over every notebook and letter, Gigi’s journal, and exhausted every resource they could think of.
And so they were silent, but together. And that made them feel like they still had a chance. Even if part of that chance felt like a lie.
Ten days.
The Wilde family didn’t live in town anymore and weren’t answering her calls.
The Blacks were on their yearly pilgrimage to Stonehenge and unreachable.
The seven founding families of Poppy Meadows had done what they could, and it wasn’t enough.
And still, the scent of Jerusalem cherry tea trailed her around corners, and she woke with it curled up on the pillow next to her.
The house whispered its good morning around her as she made her way downstairs. It stretched its walls with creaks and its stairs with a groan. She opened the back door to let Abby and Bambi out, and there was a pile of peaches at the top of the stairs like an offering.
The day passed in a fugue. She barely remembered getting dressed and arriving at the café to open up. Her magic was too unpredictable to bake from scratch, so she pulled bread doughs out of the freezer and cookie doughs from the fridge.
She went through the motions until Jake showed up in the late afternoon. She saw him talking quietly with Gail, who nodded before he made his way to Sadie. She stood there as he untied her apron, took her by the hand, and led her outside. She didn’t fight him.
“Where are we going?” she asked, and her voice sounded mechanical, even to her own ears.
“For a walk down Main Street.”
Sadie glanced up at the sky, surprised to see how far the sun had trekked when it felt like she’d woken up only an hour ago.
The harvest-themed shop windows sparked orange and russet and cream. Mayor Elias must be proud. Though the town itself wasn’t strictly magic, it had been founded by the seven magical families, and that meant there was always a trail of glittering enchantment if you looked close enough. The street lights chatted to each other through secretive winks of light, and the benches would move ever so slightly to track the patches of sunlight, so whoever sat there would always be warm.
The townsfolk had grown accustomed to it, never knowing that generations ago, the founding families had spelled the ground and blessed the buildings. Only some of them truly believed in magic, but even for those who didn’t, it believed in them.
She took it all in, the gingersnap wind and the stained-glass window of the church where she’d first caught sight of Jake all those weeks ago. The prisms of light seemed to whisper to her.
“Sade,” he said, now, catching her attention.
She looked up quietly and tried to smile.
“I closed on Rock Creek House,” he said.
“So, we’re officially neighbors.”
“Speaking of, how’s Chief?” he asked, though she didn’t think that was the question he really wanted to know the answer to.
“I’m not quite ready to give him back yet. Soon, I promise.”
“You can keep my damn dog. Please, just, tell me how you’re doing. Tell me what’s going on. This isn’t just Gigi. There’s something else, I can tell.”
She thought about how easy it was to love this new version of him. The lingering love of their youth was still there, would always be there. The sarcastic, challenging, loyal traits were what had drawn her to him in the first place. His booming laugh that came so easy and the crinkle at his eyes when he smiled. But the way he saw through her, his new kindness and patience, the way she knew he’d drop everything to be there for her, that was her undoing. He held the love she’d always longed for but could never have. And still, she couldn’t tell him the truth.
“I have ten days to fix something with Seth,” she said instead.
“And you’re not going to tell me what that is?”
“How’s Bethany?”
“She’s—” He ran a hand through his hair and stopped on the sidewalk. “You know, I never knew I wanted to be a dad. It was always this far-off thing. But when Bethany told me she was pregnant, it kind of woke something up inside me.”
“You’re going to be the best father,” she said, and her smile was genuine this time. She tried not to linger on the images too long because jealousy was sitting just under the surface, clawing to get out.
“I’m excited. But it’s like she’s trying to block me out. She won’t let me put my hand on her stomach. Won’t tell me anything about doctor’s appointments.”
“Maybe she’s just scared.”
“I think you’re scared. And I wish I could help.”
“Jake, whatever happens, I believe in you. Whatever path you take, you’ll make the right choices. And I’ll be cheering you on.” It was as close as she could get to saying, “I love you.”
“And whatever this thing with Seth is, look, I know your family isn’t—” He paused, searching for the right word. “Normal,” he finished, and Sadie actually laughed. “But one of my favorite things about you is that you’ll do whatever it is that needs to get done. You’ll sacrifice anything, make the hard choices even if you don’t want to. So, in ten days, I know you’ll have it fixed.”
When she hugged him goodbye, she held on a little longer than she should, memorizing his scent and the way his arms felt like home.