House of Ivy & Sorrow

ELEVEN





My father sleeps almost all of the next few days, and we let him, though there is so much we need ask. He’s so weak, and I feel bad pushing him more than necessary. Nana says it’s okay, since our hunters can’t see us anymore.

But this evening, Kat and I help my dad downstairs, and we spend all of dinner talking about magic. They have lots of silly questions like “Why don’t you teleport everywhere?” or “Can’t you conjure your food?” Most of which can be answered in one way: sometimes the payment isn’t worth it. If I teleported everywhere, I’d be freaking bald. We use magic when the benefit outweighs the payment, when it’s necessary, and, of course, when others pay us to help them out at their own risk.

“So all of Willow’s End has a magical barrier over it?” Kat seems to be having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. “How? What does it do?”

“It warns us if there are any threats to us,” I say as I clear plates from the table. “If someone who intends to harm us tries to get in, it blocks them. The head of house is tied to the spell, so she can sense any attempts to breech it.”

Nana nods. “Our home works much the same way, but the spells are even stronger. No one can step foot on our land without our permission, if they can find it in the first place. Only the truly desperate can be led here without effort, which is probably why Joseph didn’t have any trouble finding the address.”

“I was pretty desperate,” he admits.

After we clean up, Nana pulls out her best pudding for Joseph—pistachio, butterscotch, chocolate peanut butter, devil’s food. She orders it through the mail, and every month we get a big box of exotic flavors.

“Isn’t that one divine?” Nana sits next to him, seeming way too happy that he’s here.

He nods. “I had no idea pudding could be more than a second-rate dessert.”

She slaps his arm. “Bite your tongue, young man.”

“This is so strange.” He searches for his water glass, and I push it into his hand. “Thanks. It’s frightening how much of Carmina I can hear in your voices. I’d always thought she didn’t get along with her family, since she refused to introduce me. Never would have guessed it was against the rules.”

“Not against the rules, necessarily,” Nana says. “You could say it is . . . distasteful. Most of us consider it selfish to risk the lives of those we love. Carmina even considered erasing your memories to protect you, but there were simply too many.”

“No offense, but that’s a load of crap.” He takes a long drink while we stare at him. I’m not sure if I’m offended. At times I totally agree. “If you want to protect something, you keep it close. You don’t push it away and hope nothing will happen. I could have been here for her, maybe not as protection, but as support. And it seems like this house is impenetrable, if whatever was in me can’t enter.”


“It’s probably good you can’t see Nana’s face right now,” I say. She looks positively murderous. I didn’t even make the comment, and I’m cowering.

Nana finishes off her pudding, letting the silence work its dark power.

My phone decides this is the perfect opportunity to ring. I check the window and see it’s a text from Winn.

We really need to have an actual date.

I smile.

I’m game. Friday?

“Who’s that?” my dad asks, since Nana is still fuming.

“Umm . . .” So it turns out no matter how much you know your dad, it’s hard to announce that you are in a relationship.

Definitely, Winn replies.

“It was probably Winn, the boy she’s dating,” Kat says for me.

His eyes widen. “Oh.”

“Back to the matter at hand.” Nana puts her fingers together, as if she’s plotting. “There was a time I would have made you blind for good if you said such things.”

My jaw drops. “But—”

She holds up her hand to silence me. “Joseph, now that we’ve made you welcome and you’ve healed some, we must discuss the evil that sent you here. I need to ask why you decided after all this time to come here. Every detail you can recall could be important.”

He sighs. “I wish I had more information. A letter was sent to my office—that’s it. There was no return address, and the handwriting looked like it was done with an old ink pen. Inside, there was a picture of Carmina. On the back there was just ‘Willow’s End, Iowa.’ No exact address. But it was enough for me.”

“They knew we were here?” I say, shocked. How did they find our town?

“Do you still have the letter?” Nana and I ask at the same time.

“It’s with my stuff at the bed-and-breakfast.”

Nana looks at me. “Fetch his things after school tomorrow, but don’t touch the letter.”

“You mean . . . he’s staying with us?”

“Can’t have him going out there and getting cursed again.” She pulls herself up with her cane. “I’m beginning to think some traditions would be better left forgotten, and it seems he wants to stay anyway.”

He smiles. “I do.”

“Good night, then.” Click goes the cane, then a long creak, over and over, as she ascends the stairs.

“I better get home, too. My mom has texted me twice. Let me know if you need anything.” Kat gives me a hug and leaves, her footsteps echoing down the hall.

“At least you can always hear people coming in this place,” my dad says.

I let out a little laugh. “But . . . can you stay? I mean, you have a job and a life and, well, don’t you have a family or friends? You don’t have to stay out of obligation, really. We protected you for almost two decades, and we can again.”

He shrugs. “I can work things out. It might not be easy, but the answers I’ve always wanted are here. As long as I have an internet connection, I’m sure I can talk my company into letting me telecommute for a while. I do half my job on conference calls anyway.”

I’m not sure if that means he’s in a relationship or not, but I decide I’d rather not know for now. “We don’t have internet.”

“I can fix that.”

I smile. “If you can get Nana to install internet and a TV, I will love you forever.”

He snorts. “Your love comes cheap.”

“You think convincing her will be easy? How little you know.” I’m surprised it feels this natural to talk to him, like there’s a connection between us already.

He sips at his water. “I don’t know. I think she likes me.”

I shake my head, refusing to admit it’s true. Nana is so easily charmed by men. It’s a wonder she didn’t have more daughters from the way she talks sometimes.

My phone beeps again.

I was really hoping you’d call me today.

“I’d better do homework,” I say to my dad as I type.

Will in like 10 min.

“Do you need anything?”

“I’m figuring out how to get around.” He smiles. “The house will probably cave in if I fall, so you’ll be tipped off.”

“True.”

As I head upstairs, I can hardly wait to talk to Winn. But as I pass Nana’s door, she calls for me. I open it as softly as I can. She’s at her writing desk, a quill in hand. The quill isn’t her sticking to some anti-technology thing. Though she’s admittedly old school, that’s how we speak with other witches. “Are you writing the Crafts?”

She nods.

“Why?”

“A few inquiries about the strange shadow we saw. I can’t get it off my mind.”

Here we go. Out comes the serious stuff. I shut the door. “Me either. Have you ever seen something like that?”

“No. It was very dark magic. Perverted. Insane. Whoever created it has to be entirely lost to the blackness, far more than we can comprehend.” She keeps scribbling as she talks, and I picture the Craft sisters watching as her scrawl appears on their enchanted paper. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, Josephine, but I think you sensed what it might be.”

I suck in a deep breath, the reality of what she’s saying hitting harder than ever. If she felt it, too, then I can’t pretend it away anymore. “The Curse?”

She nods. “We barely escaped the trap, my dear. It almost had you.”

“I know.” It comes out in a whisper, the image of that shadow and its desire to consume me all too real even now. This is why witches run. But it’s too late for that option. They already know where we live, might even have us surrounded.

“I will never let it take you. I will die protecting you if I have to.”

The reality of our situation hits again, and I have to force myself not to shake. “Is that why you let Kat and my father in? You think their comfort can replace you?”

Her pen stops for the slightest moment, and then she keeps going. “We need to read the histories for any clues. We’ve been attacked many times, and our bloodline will survive this as well.”

My throat tightens when I realize what she’s not saying. Her entire purpose is making sure I live, and that’s how it has to be. “Of course we’ll survive.”

She looks up at me, her smile sad yet confident. “That’s my girl.”