My mouth went dry as I stared at the vampire.
“A-All right.”
“From now on, don’t let anyone from The Sanctuary onto this island. Ignore them.”
I nodded, although I could barely focus on his words. He turned on his heel and walked away.
I clutched the door handle, guilt and anxiety welling in the pit of my stomach. Evidently, I was to be the one to tell them the news and then escort them off the island. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing.
I didn’t know why I was feeling like this. I’d thought I’d be relieved to learn they would be booted off the island. All I felt was anxiety as my mind whirred, trying to imagine how I was going to tell them. How I would word it.
Derek had made it clear that he didn’t want me to wait around before removing them. And he was right. Yet every fiber of my being fought against it as I vanished myself from The Sanctuary and reappeared outside the wooden cabin I’d left the two witches in.
I took a deep breath as I clasped the door knob.
Just do it. Just get it over with.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside. I crossed the living room and headed to the bedroom. Both Brisalia and Csilla sat upright on the bed, looking unruffled as if they’d only been sitting there five minutes, showing no detectable signs of impatience. They stood up as both sets of blue eyes settled on me.
My voice caught in my throat as I tried to speak. I still didn’t know how I was going to say this.
Brisalia smiled kindly. It killed me how wide her eyes were with expectation. Expectation that I was about to dash.
“Well, Mona? Have the king and queen granted us a meeting?”
I shook my head, averting my eyes to the floorboards. I gripped the sides of my dress, trying to keep my hands from trembling.
“You need to leave, Brisalia,” I managed.
There was a silence. The most uncomfortable I ever remembered enduring.
Then Brisalia said, “I understand, Mona. That’s okay.”
I looked up and stared at her. I was surprised that she should be so easily accepting after the trouble they’d undergone to come here in the first place.
Brisalia was smiling softly. She caught her daughter’s hand and began heading for the door.
“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much different,” she said as she stopped with Csilla outside the front door. “Though I suppose I thought Sofia would give our offer a little more consideration, given that we could help get her daughter back. I suppose our kind really did put them through the wringer before. Perhaps their trust never can be restored.”
I nodded faintly, then placed my hands on Brisalia’s and Csilla’s shoulders, vanishing us from the spot. We appeared again outside The Shade. We hovered over the waters outside the border of the island. I still couldn’t bear to look them in the eye. I let go of them after I returned their powers and they hovered next to me.
“I… I’m sorry.” My chest felt constricted, my throat tight. “I told you there were no guarantees… but I suppose I thought they’d at least give you a proper reception.”
This time it was Csilla who comforted me. She reached out and squeezed my shoulder, assuming the same understanding smile as her mother. “That’s all right. I guess we weren’t expecting a proper reception. Though it would have been nice.”
I smiled awkwardly. Brisalia leaned toward me. Her perfume filled my nostrils as she drew me in for an embrace. As she pulled away, her lips pressed against my cheek. Csilla embraced me likewise. I felt my face grow hot.
It both thrilled and disgusted me that they should treat me so warmly. I felt like a monster for not telling them the truth.
That moment was the closest I’d ever come to finally admitting that it had been me who had killed Brisalia’s sister, Odelia. But somehow, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Even though guilt clawed at my chest at allowing them to treat me like a friend when I’d done nothing but cause them harm, I didn’t think I’d be able to handle the disappointment in their faces. Because the truth was, a part of me was a coward. I was still running away from the horrors of my past rather than facing them.
“Well, goodbye, I suppose,” I said. I gave them both a faint smile and was about to vanish, but just before I did, Brisalia caught my hand and squeezed it.
“Wait, Mona. Before you go, there’s something I want to give you.”
She snapped her fingers in the air. She clenched her fists, then opened them to reveal a small box.
A gasp escaped my lips. My knees suddenly felt weak. I reached out and took the box from her. I ran my fingers around its gem-encrusted edges, relishing every contour of the small box in my hands. It had been my mother’s jewelry box. My father had given it to her as a wedding present. Tears welled in my eyes as I tried to swallow back the childhood memories this box brought about, memories of my beautiful mother.
“You recognize it?” Csilla asked.
I bit my lip, nodding. “How could I not?”
Opening it up, I was yet again surprised to see the small oblong box was still filled with jewelry. It was my mother’s jewelry, still intact.
I stared at Brisalia, a tear spilling from my eye. “How did you get this?”
She shrugged, still holding that calm smile.
“When your family passed on, my servant was put in charge of sifting through their belongings and keeping anything of value. I wasn’t sure that I would ever see you again. I doubted it. But I knew that if I ever did meet you again, Mona, I would give you this.”