Page 90 of Heart of a Witch
It was pointless arguing. “Be careful.”
“Always am.” He stood and left the room, not looking back. Whatever he’d made had worked, well enough anyway, that I could think without fractures of the past interrupting my thoughts.
I found my violin on top of the piano and placed it under my chin, closing my eyes and relishing the feel of the wood against my skin. I had so many worries, too many fears, but when I held the instrument, it all melted away—temporary but effective.
As I grazed my fingers along the horsehair bow, I breathed in the polish and let the magic in my veins move my fingers into song, streamlining each stroke. The sound was complicated but beautiful, deep with high notes sliding with each other into a dark, somber melody. Each note pierced my heart, pulling a piece of my soul and putting it into song. In it, I played my grief for Ember, my anger for the hunter, my heartbreak for Alex, and the joy I’d found in our family. I poured out every part of myself until I had nothing left and closed the tune with a final stroke.
Clapping emerged behind me, slow, building. I turned and saw Corbin sitting in the armchair Cas had been in not long before. He stopped and placed his hands on his lap. “Your sister never told me you play. It’s masterful really. I’ve always found such beauty in music.”
I placed the violin back onto the piano. “Did I wake you?”
“No, I’ve been awake for some time.”
It was incredible how different he looked than Elijah or his dad. His dark waves curled around his forehead and the tops of his ears. His skin was a couple of shades darker but still far lighter than ours. He was shorter than his brother, not much taller than me at maybe five foot seven, if I had to guess. He also didn’t hold the same posture as the rest of his family. He slumped over, his hands relaxed, never fidgeting. “Have you seen—”
“Eva? Yes.” He licked his lips. “Her throat has been cut.”
“Yes, about that—”
“You don’t need to play games with me. I’m not my father or my brother. I don’t care about what happens in this house or what you all are. I love Eva, or should I say Alex.”
My heart skipped a beat, numbness gluing me to the spot. Hehadheard everything, and Richard Blackwood had been right. Alex had told him everything.
He searched my expression and sighed. “Alex told me,” he explained. “I’ve known for some time.”
I opened my mouth but closed it again. What could I say? Was he the one who had told his dad about us? It was unlikely, as he did hate him, unless he was pretending to be close to Alex to learn our secrets.
I swallowed hard, but the lump forming in my throat didn’t budge. “I don’t know what she’s said…”
“She showed me more than she said. I took a beating for researching it after.”
I thought back. The grimoire. Alex’s grimoire. She’d lied to us about telling him. I was furious, but she had just been attacked, so I couldn’t be too mad with her. Not right now anyway. “We’re not as bad as you think we are.”
“I don’t think you’re bad people. Alex has a good soul. She’s beautiful in every way, more so than all the people in this town combined. She explained to me about the gods and humans having children and the truth about witches. I always knew something was off with what my father said. He always did have a flair for the dramatic.”
I almost smiled at the boy. What in the underworld was going on? A small part of me wanted to believe him, only because it would be easier, but I knew what humans were really like. I’d trusted my friend when I was a child. We’d cared for each other deeply, and she had still gone to condemn me to her parents. “Not entirely. We are capable of some unworldly dark things.”
“If that’s a threat, there’s no need. I won’t tell about any of you, nor would I ever do anything to hurt Alex.”
“If you do, Iwillkill you.”
He smirked. “I don’t doubt it. I really wanted to thank you, for saving my life. Twice.”
“My brother was the one who saved you the last time.”
“You helped me, both times. Thank you.”
“I know how it feels, you know, to feel so utterly out of control.” I sat on the sofa, crossing my legs. “I just mean, I don’t judge you for taking the opium; however, I don’t want you influencing Alex.”
“I don’t touch that stuff anymore,” he said with promise. “She’s changed my life.”
You’re only seventeen, I wanted to say, and that they couldn’t know love yet, but I kept my mouth shut. If his infatuation was the only thing preventing him from telling anyone else our secrets, then so be it. Alex’s infatuation, however, could cost us everything if she wasn’t careful. “Has she spoken yet?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Whatever your brother gave her sped up her healing, but no words, not yet. I’m confident she will.”
“If she can’t?” I asked, shuddering at the thought of my baby sister forever losing her voice.
“She will manage. She’s a lot smarter than any of us.”
