“I’m so sorry.” Justine stands in the backyard, looking over the terrace to the vast forest at the edge of the manicured lawn. I stand at her side, leaning against the stone rail, still exhausted and reeling with everything that just happened. “I would have bitten you. The blood lust…I never imagined it could be so…consuming. Nothing else mattered to me.”

I want to rub her shoulder and comfort her, but perhaps, keeping my hands to myself for a while might be best. “It’s fine, really. I suppose it’ll take you some time to adjust.”

“I hope not too long.”

I offer her a sympathetic smile. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. Without the added magic, I might not have survived.”

She frowns at me and slowly reaches out to take my hands. She swallows hard, and her chest stops moving. To avoid smelling me? I can’t imagine how hard it must be to control every impulse.

“You would have beaten him,” she says. “With Alexander and Sebastian’s help, it would have been possible. From what I saw, you were a perfectly oiled team.”

I scoff at that. “I don’t know about that. Alexander and I might have looked like we’re in sync, but there is certainly no love lost between us. Needing each other was the thin piece of string that forced us to cooperate. Now that his master is dead and he’s free, I somehow doubt we’ll speak again.” I’ll have to give him his hearing back before I go. I tried after the fight, but I was too weak. He’s likely staring me down from a window right now, cursing me for not fixing him yet. I glance back, and there he is at the door, arms folded over his chest. His expression makes me irritated and twitchy.

“Will you leave here?”

“Of course. I have to get home to my sister. Our parents left us a bookstore, and it hasn’t been doing terribly well. I can’t let it go under, and my sister can’t run it herself.”

“Well, I told you before, I’ll always do what I can to help you.”

“I know that.”

“I might not be magical anymore—not like I was.” She flashes me a grin with incisors a little too sharp and pointed for a human. “But I’m skilled in spells and history, and I have connections. The coven will turn their back on me, but they might help you.”

“I appreciate that.”

“And what about Sebastian?”

Sigh. What about Sebastian? I’m not sure how I feel. His dishonesty still stands like a wedge between us. I can forgive him, sure, but trust him again? I’m on the fence about it. I don’t think for a second he’s been honest with me about everything else—not to mention what he’s likely omitted.

“I don’t know. I care about him… I guess we’ll see.”

“I want to hug you and wish you well, but I need time to better control this. I want to throw you down and suck on you so hard right now.”

I stifle a chuckle. “Um…I’m not sure if I should thank you for the compliment or run.”

Her eyes light up with amusement. Her glow hasn’t changed much since she changed over, though it’s a little softer with a little more gray. But she still feels the same to me.

She releases my hand, and I walk away from her, turning back just once to wave, but she already has her back to me as she looks up at the sky. It’s a brilliant blue with billowy white clouds, but with her eyes, it must be worthy of a painting.

The French doors open as I approach. Deaf Alexander watches me with red eyes. He points to his ears.

“I know. I know.” I have nothing left to give, but I can’t leave him like this. He’s like a declawed cat without one of his major defenses. I touch his cheeks and close my eyes. His cool flesh makes me shiver.

When I took his hearing, I didn’t know what I was doing. Instinct took over, and I knew exactly what I needed to do, but I don’t have that right now. It seems those moments of brilliance only come when I’m threatened.

“Can you hear me now?”

“No.”

I concentrate harder. “Wouldn’t it be awful if I can’t fix this?”

He lets go of a low, guttural growl that sounds like a bear.

I’m in serious trouble if I can’t undo this. Maybe I should try with my eyes open… I focus on his ears, imagining them opening up like a blooming flower. “Now?”

He nods, and I lower my hands and drop from my tiptoes.

“I…” he begins. “That was smart, what you did.”

“What I did? You mean, your hearing?”

He nods, his eyes holding mine. “Thank you.”

I hitch a shoulder, not expecting a tender moment. It’s as uncomfortable as I would have imagined. “I’m glad I could help.”

“It’s been...eventful.”

I let go of a quiet laugh. “You could say that.”

“Good-bye, Emily.” He bows his head and takes a step back before whirling out of the room. In the time I’ve spent here, I never really got to know him well. Granted, I didn’t really want to and still don’t. But as I stand here, I wonder if I ever gave him a chance. He’s an asshole, but maybe he’s not as much of one as I thought. He had his reasons for distrusting and disliking me. Namely, he feared I would end his long life. Given who I was before, maybe he had good reason to feel that way.

“Time to go?” Sebastian’s voice is tinged with sadness, and I feel a pang of it too. I don’t want this to be the last time I see him, and I hope it won’t be, but I’m not sure what more we can be to one another now that the dust has settled. And I can’t trust him. There’s that.

He drives me back to my small hometown. It takes a few hours, and we talk very little. There is much to say, and neither of us wants to say it. I guess that’s always the way when you pit needs against wants. I don’t need him in my life, and it will likely be better without him, but do I want him? Very much. I crave his touch, his body next to mine, the brush of his lips on my skin…though I’m not sure if that’s what I feel or if that’s what the Penelope side of me feels. What’s worse? I can’t ever be sure.

He pulls up outside of my small log cabin in the woods and turns off the car. He moves his hands over the wheel, his eyes staring straight ahead. “Why do I have the feeling we’ll never see each other again?” he asks softly.

“I hope that’s not true. My life was…normal and safe, and…I wasn’t happy. Since I met you, I feel alive. I don’t want that to go away, but I think you know that…you and I…we don’t make much sense.”

“Perhaps. Doesn’t that make it all the more exciting?”

“Sure…and I would have happily tried to make it work for as long as I could, but…the truth is…I can’t trust you.”

“Emily…”

“No.” I hold up a hand to urge him to let me finish. “You lied to me, and I’ll always question what you say or don’t say. Maybe in time…when I miss you…” I laugh without humor. “But for now, I need to be with my sister.”

“Hmm. I understand. I don’t like it, and I’ll hold out hope you change your mind, but I understand.” He reaches inside his pocket and pulls out a slip of folded paper. He taps it against his chest and hesitates to give it to me.

“What is that?”

“I did some digging while you were staying with us, and I thought you’d be interested to see this.”

He holds it out, and I slide it from his tight grip. When I unfold it and read the letter, I turn to him wide-eyed. “My birth certificate.”

He nods.

But unlike the first one he showed me, this one is legit.